I was down on 2^nd Avenue in Nashville the other day, working an investigation for a client. I decided to grab a hamburger at one of the “nighttime hotspots” that are open during the daylight hours since they aren’t very crowded around lunchtime. I stepped into B.B. King’s Blues Club and was not disappointed. 

This jazz saloon, with its roughed-out brick walls and eclectic artwork, serves up some of the best musical entertainment in town every night – and that’s saying a lot in Nashville. But unbeknownst to most, the Blues Club also serves up some of the best food during the day – and it made me wonder why Johns Creek doesn’t have a couple of places like this.

Yeah, I know – Nashville is Music City USA and Johns Creek is an upscale family bedroom community. But that’s no reason not to have unique little places that make a great meal by day and combine it with world class entertainment at night.

Let’s face it: Johns Creek has the money, the population and the celebrities to pull this off. We’ve got music mavens, movie moguls and pro ball players as well as some of the richest people in Georgia living here. We’ve hosted world-class events and have beautiful venues to handle the needs and tastes of anyone who wants to come play, eat or entertain.

Don’t get me wrong; the family restaurants like Chili’s and Applebee’s and Longhorn’s are very good places to gather up the kids and go for a good meal or meet some friends and take in a ballgame in the bar.  But it would be nice to have a few “adult” places to hit in the evening – places that have that “dive bar” sort of “whole-in-the-wall” mystique where parents with babysitters back home or couples with intimate agendas on their minds can go to hide out and enjoy the nightlife for a while. Not to mention the kind of places that serve a great “hangover breakfast” or a real good lunch that isn’t the cookie-cutter café fare that we see on every street corner in America.

Johns Creek doesn’t need a restaurant makeover – just a little outside of the “take-out” box thinking and a customer base that will support it.  Some have said that a well-defined central town square might help, but I think the small pockets of commerce filled with interesting shopping that are tucked away around town offer a “neighborhood feel” and are readymade for such ventures.

Johns Creek will never become Nashville – and it shouldn’t.  But Johns Creek could have its own identity when it comes to interesting nightlife, great entertainment or just good daytime lunch spots.