“Unfortunately, the process requires more time, and we are not able to open and provide that experience this Memorial Day weekend,” restaurant group says of stalled opening
The opening of Morgan Wallen’s new Nashville bar and restaurant, slated for Memorial Day weekend, has been postponed at the last minute.
Days after a city council denied neon signage to Morgan Wallen’s This Bar — with local politicians citing the country star’s chair-throwing incident and past use of racial slurs as the reason — and hours before the venue was set to open, the restaurant group behind Honky Tonk Highway bar announced it would not be ready in time for for the holiday weekend.
“We’re proud of our team who has worked tirelessly to prepare Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen for opening. The ground-up construction of a six-story venue launching with hundreds of team members is a tremendous amount of work and a complex process,” TC Restaurant Group said in a statement (via Billboard).
“When we open, we want This Bar to be an exceptional experience for guests. Unfortunately, the process requires more time, and we are not able to open and provide that experience this Memorial Day weekend. Rest assured it will be well worth the wait. We look forward to welcoming guests soon.”
It’s unclear whether the postponement is also related to the establishment’s lack of signage — the 20-foot sign bearing Wallen’s name was overwhelmingly denied by the Nashville council by a 30-to-3 vote — or whether other issues exists: According to Scoop Nashville, Morgan Wallen’s This Bar was denied a pair of permits by the Nashville Beer Board, which must approve the sale of alcohol at the Ryman Auditorium-adjacent establishment, and This Bar also lacks its Fire & Codes approval.
At the council meeting earlier this week, council member Delishia Porterfield said “I don’t want to see a billboard with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who’s saying racial slurs and using the n-word.” Council member Jordan Huffman added, “Mr. Wallen is a fellow East Tennessean. He gives all of us a bad name. His comments are hateful; his actions are harmful.”
No firm opening date for Morgan Wallen’s This Bar has been scheduled, with the venue now promising to open in the vague “Coming Soon.”