I didn’t know NYC did country music in Midtown, until I went to a fun event at Opry City Stage. I am not a big fan of country music, but I did spend about a decade of my life in Southern bell state, Georgia. So, I do have appreciation for their music for sure. This spot is a branch of the classic Nashville venue, and serving Southern food and live country music.
After we entered through the fun guitar door knobs, we walked into a fully country-themed interior. The first floor was mainly a gift shop, with a handful of tables. I am not sure if anyone really dines at this particular spot, being so close to the door…but once they get fully packed, I am sure this space will be utilized.
They have total of four floors, and the main lobby has really tall ceiling, making the small space feel much larger. The staff at the host station was dressed up in a country-style, and was very friendly. Our event was up on the third floor, but since we arrived early, we decided to look around the merchandise before going up the stairs.
The shop had lots of cute little country-themed items for all ages. They had magnets, bottle opener, toys, clothes…etc, etc… They were all fun and adorable. I don’t really thing of “country-themed gift” from NYC, but for country music fans, or tourists from overseas might find them awesome.
In the back, they even had some vinyl records! Pretty cool! Of course they had CDs also, if you don’t own a vinyl record player. I always wanted to have a vinyl record player, I love the sound that comes out of the vinyl record…
After we finished browsing the shop, we head upstairs to the second floor. There were lots of great photos of country music singers and some quotes. If there is no one behind you who is in a hurry to go up, take your time and look at some photos.
But maybe not every single photos, as they have so many! It certainly is a wall of country music fame.
At the top of the second floor staircase, they had a fun spot to take photos. Grab the microphone and pose as though you are singing at the Opry City Stage! On the top of the third floor, I found a cool collage of colorful vinyl records. I liked all the decorations.
The second floor is the main dining area. This is where the stage is, and also holds huge, and I mean HUGE screens. If there is no live band there, or then they will play the music video of country songs. Pretty nice resolution on those screens. The light had strange red-to-purple hue, and floor was kind of old-fashion looking, checkerboard design.
The floor had two levels, with a little elevated section on the left side. Here, they still have a nice view of the stage since their seats are elevated. Also, they had some memorabilia such as clothing/costumes of famous country music singers.
Back to the main floor. They have a bar to the right, fully stocked. The ceiling goes all the way up to the fourth floor. The design of the ceiling was pretty cool.
The third floor is quite small, as the main dining floor below is open to the ceiling. It is also divided into two sections with elevated level. Even thought the total area is small, but they still provide pretty good amount of seating. They also have a few smaller screens, so if you can’t see the stage below, you can still catch what is going on down there.
You get a great view of the stage and the screens from up here. During our event, the live band performed many country songs, which was pretty fun! I don’t know if want to sit right in front of the stage though…unless you are there to enjoy the music, without really talking to your company, then I think it will be ok.
We sat mid way between the front wall and the back wall. We had a spectacular view of the stage, dining area and the bar. We also got to see the sound technicians work too, which was interesting. They were situated in a kind of balcony area of the third floor, with no obstructing view of the stage. Yes, they are serious about their music here!
We started our feast with a nice red wine. They had red and white wines, and we went with red. I don’t know what kind it was, but it was aromatic, full-bodied and perfect for meat-heavy Southern cuisine (in my opinion).
The first food sample we received was their Gumbo with Andouille Sausage & Chicken. It was a small sample portion, but it still was packed with flavor and ingredients. And they actually bringing out so many of them, we got to taste more than one of these babies. Score!
You can see, they had this big chunk of chicken AND sausage in one of these small silver cup! The chicken was juicy, tender, and had nice kick to it. The sausage was meaty and flavorful as well. I liked the overall flavor of the gumbo, it was comforting and satisfying.
Next up was Everything Toast with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese. The toast was super crunchy and tasty, the salmon was quite fresh. It was a very nice little appetizer.
Then there came the army of Sweet & Spicy Pulled Pork with Coleslaw & BBQ Sauce. This thing was great, although I didn’t see any coleslaw. As this was made as sliders, maybe they had to make it in a bit different way. Instead, it had a nice, thickly sliced pickles on the top, which went really great with the pork. The bun was soft and fluffy, pork was flavorful and really tasty! It was more sweet than spicy, but it was great regardless.
Then the food samples just kept coming. My goodness they know how to host an awesome event for food lovers. We were told this is a Whisky Bacon. It was sweet and smokey, thick and little crispy. Very meaty and just the right crunchy texture. Nice whiskey infused flavor!
Next up was a cute little appetizers. I tell you, they were feeding us really well…our tummy was getting happy!
They brought a tray full of Sausage with Pimento Cheese on a Biscuit. I always liked biscuit, and this was an interesting combinations.
The sausage was nice and meaty, I believe it was the same kind of sausage that was in their Gumbo. The biscuit was doughy but I felt that it was a bit too dry. Pimento cheese was nice, it went well with the sausage. It also had some kind of sauce on the top, which brought all the different flavors together. My hubby really enjoyed this one, he liked the cheesy flavor on the biscuit.
Deviled Egg with Creole Mustard was nice too. It had red and green pickled jalapeño on top. It was creamy with a kick. We were also told that it had “Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken Spice” on it. I liked it, nothing too fancy but an egg with some hotness as devil should! LOL
They brought more Pulled Pork Sliders, and at the same time, they brought out a different kind of sliders with fright chicken in it! It was Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich, with Coleslaw & Pickled Peppers. Again, this is made into smaller size, so there was no coleslaw, but instead, jalapeño peppers and nice thick pickles. The chicken was super juicy and tender, it was great! And yes, it was really spicy! Certainly cleaned out our sinuses.
When we thought we were done, they started to bring out desserts!!! Their love for us was deep and sweet… I tell you, Southerners know how to treat you well with loads of food!
The first thing we tried was I believe white chocolate mousse? It had fruit chunks (I think pineapple?) on the bottom and whipped cream on top. Then a chocolate mousse with chocolate chips and nuts on the bottom. They were nice, I always enjoy any kind of mousse, so I was happy with them. They were not anything spectacular, but a good light sweets to have at the end.
We also had chocolate chip cookies, which was a pretty good cookie. It tasted homemade, soft and comforting.
For more health-conscious ones, they also had oatmeal cookies. It had some raisins, soft and slightly chewy. Filling little cookie.
Then they brought another cake-looking dessert in a cup. This time, it was Sweet Potato Pie! It had caramel swirl with granola. Fun dessert with different textures and flavors! Creamy without being mushy, it was a good pie.
We thought that it had to be the end of the event…but then, they started to bring out HUGE plate of shiny goodness. Monkey Bread with Salted Caramel & Vanilla Ice Cream!!! It was dense and rich, yet flaky and fluffy. Sweet and caramel-y. A bit sticky as it should, a king of all desserts!!! Definitely a dessert to share among large group of family and friends!
And if that was not enough, we got one last dessert before the event really ended. It was a Humming Bird Cake, which were told “similar to carrot cake.” Well, it looked similar to carrot cake, but it certainly was not! It is made with Banana, Pineapple, Pecans, with Cream Cheese Icing. With one bite, I was surprise how tasty it was! It was delicious and excellent all around! Sweet in an elegant way, great flavor of nuts and icing. Moist and airy, very well done!
Their bathroom on the third floor was a nice size, bright and clean. With so many people there attending this food event, I thought the bathroom would be messy, but the staffs must have been cleaning in here constantly. It was impressive.
All the staffs there at the events were friendly, nice and helpful. They were picking up the trash and dirty dishes at all time, keeping the area and tables clean. Very efficient! This was such an awesome event, we ate until we couldn’t take another bite. Everything was delicious and they took a great care of us from the beginning to the end! It is a fun spot to visit if you want some country music or Southern food. Definitely a fun place to have some kind of event with lots of people! Get your cowboy hat and cowboy boots out and head over there!
Opry City Stage – 1604 Broadway, New York, NY 10019