A Generous Pour: Tall Tales from the Backroom of Jimmy Kelly's

by Mike Kelly

The story of Jimmy Kelly’s Steak House, Nashville's oldest fine restaurant, and the family who started it—of stills, saloons, and speakeasies, and of a family who was tough and resourceful, who lost everything, and picked themselves up and started again. 

When young James Kelly fled the Irish Famine in 1848, he arrived in America with a roll of copper tubing under his shirt. To make whiskey, of course. And he did—in the green rolling hills of Middle Tennessee. Later his son John would open a saloon, initiating the family custom of serving up “a great steak and a generous pour of whiskey” that continues to this day.

Readers will delight in tales of bootleggers and rumrunners, saloons and speakeasies, of hard workers with strong family values, the old genteel Nashville and the new Nashville recording industry, and the mysterious difference between whiskey and bourbon. There are stories about Jack Daniel, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (and even Trigger), Al Capone, Bob Dylan, Grantland Rice, John Jay Hooker Sr., and local characters only a Nashvillian could love.

The story of the Kelly family in Tennessee takes readers from the Civil War to Nashville’s postwar boom and the turn of a new the Roaring 20s that followed the first World War, the temperance movement that led to Prohibition, and the speakeasy solution that led honest Kelly men to defy a patently bad law as they built a family legacy of beloved restaurants in Nashville. Mike Kelly—James’s great-grandson—has written a fine and rollicking tale of a most interesting time in American history. His affection for his family and his community shows on every page.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2022

Reviews

[Maggie Ellett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book when I visited Nashville to learn more about Nashville. It gives a history of the city, and even the country, through the personal story of the Kelly family. Talks a lot about prohibition as well which I’m always intrigued about. It was fun to read and I’d love to go to the restaurant owned by the Kelly family if I visit Nashville again, but it’s not a book I’d write home about.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I have been going to Jimmy Kelly’s all my life. I celebrated my senior prom there and the Kelly’s treated us like royalty. Of course the Kelly’s had watched all of us grow up, so they enjoyed it as much as we did. I always recommend Jimmy Kelly’s when people ask me where to go. The history in the book is wonderful and it reads just like a story being told around the dinner table. Love it!

[Haynews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, light read with a lot of Nashville history. You feel like you’re belly up to the bar, hearing barroom tall tales.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great personal and historical account of the Kelly family of Nashville in the late 19th through the 20th century dealing with prohibition, mafia figures, and how whiskey became king in the south. Mike Kelly closes the book with many currently well known Nashvillians telling their recollections of Jimmy Kelly's . It is a very colorful and descriptive book about the famous family restaurant. I really enjoyed it!

[Andrea Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Nashville native, this book brought me so much nostalgia. There is a tremendous amount of history that I never knew, and other parts of our local history that I have forgotten. I love Jimmy Kelly’s, and I long for old-time Nashville. This book brought back many memories of places and people that no longer exist, a Nashville of a much simpler time. I didn’t want this book to end!!!

[Joshua Tregoning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this book from a friend that introduced us to Jimmy Kellys a few years ago. If you are a fan of Nashville, or are fascinated by old bootlegging stories this is a fun book….if you have been to Jimmy Kellys you will appreciate it even more. If you have never been to Jimmy Kellys, go there!

[Mark Bunch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. the true story of a Tennessee institution.

[Martha C · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable read about an amazing restaurant in Nashville Tennessee. The history behind Jimmy Kelly’s was great! History buffs will enjoy this story.

[Tina Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading true stories from the Kelly family’s history and Nashville. We love to eat at Jimmy Kelly’s!

[Betsy Matlock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read especially if u r from Nashville! So very interesting about the folks who have been at the restaurant!

[Chloe Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and easy read to learn about Prohibition in Tennessee and an iconic Nashville restaurant.

[Deborah Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 I enjoyed reading about Nashville’s history. Jimmy Kelly’s is part of this history and enjoyed knowing about this.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read on the history of the family who founded one of the popular local restaurants in my home town.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
An enjoyable telling of the history of Nashville and its oldest restaurant, Jimmy Kelley’s.
March book club selection

[Adam Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been spending a lot of time in Nashville and this book was so timely. What a fantastic story of a local family who has lived multiple generations in Nashville and seen everything this town was, is, and likely will continue to shape what’s yet to come.

[Kelly Epperson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Tennessee native, this book was full of nostalgic value! It was a fun read and had a lot of interesting history about Prohibition. I enjoyed reading about that time from the perspective of "an honest lawbreaker."

[Celia Joyner · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75