"For years, seeing a movie meant leaving downtown," Hooky Nashville general manager Joshua Pemberton said in a news release about the entertainment complex's spring opening, as reported by The Tennessean. The paper described it as the first chance in decades to go to the movies in downtown Nashville.
That opening was the first of a run. Since April, the blocks of Nashville Yards around Church Street, Platform Way and Exchange Lane have added a bakery, a kitchen and bar, and a taco spot opening later this month. A distillery and a record shop are still to come. Several of the newest leases went to businesses from Williamson County. Taken together, a campus best known for The Pinnacle, Amazon's towers and two hotels is getting the small, repeat-visit places that make a few blocks feel like a neighborhood street.
Hooky Set the Tone on Church Street
Hooky opened on Wednesday, April 29, at 931 Church St. It has seven movie theaters with dine-in service, eight bowling lanes, a 15,000-square-foot arcade with more than 48 games, and a sports bar and restaurant. The timeline slipped along the way. A Nashville Post report in May 2025 had planned on an October opening.
The pricing is what makes it an easy weeknight plan, according to The Tennessean's opening coverage:
- Entry to the sports bar and restaurant area is free.
- Movie tickets run around $20 per person.
- Bowling starts at $30 to reserve a lane, plus about $4 for adult shoe rental.
- Hours are 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Most of what opened after Hooky sits on the short walk between Church Street and The Pinnacle's box office on Exchange Lane.
Platform Way Filled In Between April and June
Earls Kitchen + Bar came first, at 26 Platform Way South. Nashville Lifestyles announced an April 16 opening in March, and WKRN covered the grand opening that same April day.
A few doors down, Christie Cookie Co. returned as a standalone bakery at 17 Platform Way S. Its grand opening was set for June 6, according to WKRN coverage posted by Nashville Yards in late May. A June food-notes column in the Nashville Post confirmed it was open and noted that Buffalo-based Rich Products owns the business.
Those two joined Prime + Proper, which opened at 1000 Broadway on February 23. They also joined the everyday spots already on campus. Nashville Yards' dining directory lists Hummingbird Coffee Market in the Grand Hyatt lobby, Crisp & Green in Amazon Tower I and Handel's Ice Cream at The Emory. Between them, coffee, a salad, a cookie and an ice cream cone are all within the same few blocks.
The address that comes next on Platform Way changes the mix.
The Williamson County Address Book
When Luna Record Shop announced its second store in August, the Nashville Business Journal opened its story this way: "Another Williamson County business is expanding to Nashville Yards, joining Culaccino Italian Restaurant + Bar and Leiper's Fork Distillery."
| Business | Address | Status as of October 12, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Culaccino Italian Restaurant + Bar | The Emory, first level, 900 Commerce St. | Open |
| Leiper's Fork Distillery | 21 Platform Way S. | "Opening Fall 2026," hours listed as TBA |
| Luna Record Shop | 930 Exchange Ln., near The Pinnacle box office | Planned to open by the end of 2026 |
| The Wine Bar, linked to Franklin's Vintage Vine 100 | Not yet published | Announced in 2025, no opening date found |
The distillery is the biggest of the group. Its Nashville Yards page describes a 7,500-square-foot space with a full-service bar and restaurant, an active distilling program, guided tours and tastings, a retail shop, private dining and live music built around Nashville's songwriting heritage. Its schedule has also moved. When the Nashville Business Journal first reported the lease in June 2025, the opening was expected in mid-2026. Today the distillery's own site says fall, with no hours posted yet.
Luna is the smallest and maybe the most neighborly addition. Sisters and native Nashvillians Brenna Gentry and Calvert Gentry McMahan founded the shop in 2015. The new store will be 2,300 square feet, twice the size of the original, with room for more inventory, more events and more in-store experiences. Brenna Gentry and her son Harrison Gentry will run it, with Harrison as general manager. A record store next to the box office of a major music venue is an easy fit. It also gives people a reason to stop at Exchange Lane on nights with no show.
Puesto Opens October 23, on a Pinnacle Night
The next opening on the calendar is Puesto at 991 Exchange Lane. Its Nashville page lists an October 23 opening. The Visit Music City restaurant roundup updated in early October still lists "summer 2026," so the restaurant's own date is the one to go by.
According to Puesto's listing, the posted schedule is:
- Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight.
- Taco Tuesday, with half-off tacos from 3 p.m. to close, dine-in only.
- Daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m., plus a late happy hour from 9 p.m. on the front patio and at the bar.
October 23 is also the first of Dom Dolla's two nights at The Pinnacle, so opening night shares Exchange Lane with a concert crowd.
The Pinnacle's October Run Shapes the Blocks
Every new address above sits within a short walk of the venue. On show nights, the sidewalks and garages around Exchange Lane get much busier. These are the October bookings listed on the Nashville Yards events calendar from today onward:
- Ole 60, October 15
- Jesse Welles, October 16
- Interpol, October 17
- Knocked Loose and Denzel Curry, October 19
- Dom Dolla, October 23 and 24
- Morrissey, October 25
- Riley Green with Randy Houser, October 30
That's three shows in the stretch from Friday the 23rd through Sunday the 25th. Dinner at Earls, a reservation at Culaccino or a lane at Hooky will be easier to plan on the other nights.
The Free Calendar at the Landing
The Ascension Saint Thomas Landing is the campus's public green. It has an amphitheater, fire pits, food-and-beverage containers and a dog park. Next to it, Dinkville Under Broad offers five pickleball courts and nine-hole mini golf.
Here's what's left on the Landing's October schedule:
- Iconix Sunset Yoga, Tuesday, October 20, at 5:30 p.m.
- Xfinity Movie Night: Hocus Pocus, Friday, October 30, at 7 p.m.
- little lou/na Red Container, open 4 to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 4 to 7 p.m. on Sundays, with $7 drink specials and a burger at $12 single or $16 double.
The movie nights are free and open to the public. Nashville Yards announced the series in May, and the Hocus Pocus screening was on the list from the start. The Landing is reachable by the spiral stairs at the Grand Hyatt or the outdoor staircase at The Union Station Hotel near Broadway and 11th. Hocus Pocus on the lawn on October 30 is a short walk from Hooky's arcade, which stays open until 2 a.m. that night.
Openings like Luna and Leiper's Fork Distillery tend to shape how a building's street level feels to the people living above it. If you own downtown and want to know how the new tenants on Platform Way and Exchange Lane factor into what your condo is worth, The Luxe Collective is happy to walk those blocks with you. Schedule a free consultation.
