Morgan Wallen‘s This Bar will open this weekend. Officially. On Friday, TC Restaurant Group announced that the bar, originally set to open Memorial Day weekend, will now open its doors to the public on Saturday, in time for next week’s CMA Fest.
“We’re thrilled to welcome our first guests on Saturday, June 1, to This Bar leading into CMA Fest,” said Grant Burlingame, vice president of operations at TC Restaurant Group, in a press release. “This venue has been a labor of love for us and Morgan. His fans and music lovers alike will love the experiences they will find at This Bar. We’re proud to open its doors.”
Late last month the city council denied neon signage to Morgan Wallen’s This Bar, citing the country star’s chair-throwing incident and past use of racial slurs as the reason. Because of the decision, the restaurant group behind Honky Tonk Highway bar announced it would not be ready in time for Memorial Day weekend.
It’s unclear if the delay was due to the lack of signage, which was set to consist of a 20-foot sign with Wallen’s name. (The sign addition was denied by a 30-3 vote.) According to Scoop Nashville, Morgan Wallen’s This Bar was also denied a pair of permits by the Nashville Beer Board, which must approve the sale of alcohol.
At the council meeting earlier this month, 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.”
The venue features 30,000 square feet with three live music stages, six bars, and a rooftop. The menu for the bar — featuring southern-inspired foods, bar bites, and recipes by Wallen’s mom — is curated by the musician and Chef Tomasz Wosiak, who leads TC Restaurant Group. There is also a merch shop.
“I sing about finding myself in ‘this bar’ and now it’s coming to life,” Wallen shared in a statement earlier this year. “This venue will hold true to everything I love and is inspired by my fans and the way they have embraced me and my music.” The location will also feature memorabilia from throughout his career.