This Nashville lounge is among one of the best bars in US. Everything to know before you go

The Lipstick Lounge in Nashville made USA TODAY’s list of best bars in the country. The USA TODAY Bars of the Year 2024 list, released today, features 27 bars from dives to high-end cocktail bars.

It was a sleepy Sunday in Nashville. But nothing was sleepy about Lipstick Lounge.

Within blocks of the front door, you could hear the low thrum of a bass beat. Within about 20 yards, you could hear the laughter rising above the music.

Inside, the bar was festive with streamers and balloons and also customers in blue eye shadow, muumuus and nun costumes. Here, Pride Month and a "Golden Girls" pub crawl had collided in a riot of color.

See the nationwide list: USA TODAY's Bars of the Year 2024

Though it can be loud and bright, nothing is intimidating about Lipstick Lounge, which has held festive court on the corner of Woodland and North 14th streets since 2002.

That's by design, said Christa Suppan, who co-owns the bar with Jonda Valentine. And a lot of it starts with the welcoming attitude of the entire staff, she said.

"It works because of the family we've created there," Suppan said. "We're creating that safe space and creating a place for love that people might not be getting from anywhere else. We're trying to fill that gap, whatever that gap may be."

Lipstick Lounge is a place where you can buy shots like the Pink Panty Pulldown, a Malibu rum and passionfruit concoction that's generously poured to about cocktail size.

More: How USA TODAY's list of best bars was decided

"Give people more than they expect and they’ll come back," Suppan said. "We want people to have a good time and come back again, which is why we keep it as affordable as we can."

There is food here: burgers and quesadillas at night and boozy French toast and fried chicken burritos served on weekends with a side of whiskey-spiked syrup.

But the community is the main draw, Suppan said. One of the bar's earliest regulars even became her wife.

"I love the bar life, and it has nothing to do with partying, with alcohol," she said. "It has everything to do with meeting amazing people from everywhere, and not just Nashville."

Thirteen years ago, Suppan traveled to Mexico with her sister Laura, who joked about finally finding a place where Suppan wouldn't be recognized.

"Then we get to Mexico and we're at this resort laying out in the sun and look over, and there's this couple I met from Italy wearing Lipstick Lounge hats, and my sister is like, 'You've got be freaking kidding me,'" Suppan recalled. "I said, 'I told you Laura, it’s everywhere!'"

Details: 1400 Woodland St., Nashville, Tenn.; 615-226-6343, thelipsticklounge.com

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's Lipstick Lounge among USA TODAY's best bars. What to know