The husband-and-wife team of Matt and Michelle Bell know it might seem like East Nashville is full when it comes to bars.

“We definitely didn’t open this place because Nashville needed another bar,” Matt says.

And the couple definitely didn’t need something to do. Matt is one of the partners behind Rosemary & Beauty Queen and was the former general manager of Mercy Lounge and Cannery Ballroom. He’s also in the band The Pink Spiders. Michelle is the winemaker at City Winery and a former touring stage actress.

But Strega , their new bar, opens Friday on Gallatin Avenue.

“We opened it because we just wanted a place where we wanted to hang out, and figured other people might too.”

The idea is a place that is casual, but not sloppy. Strega features a big courtyard with two pool tables un

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