Franklin’s Tin Roof 2 To Close in October After Contentious Beer Board Meeting

During an hours-long meeting on Friday, two Franklin businesses went before the Beer Board, with one declaring it would close and the other negotiating with the City of Franklin. 

Franklin’s Tin Roof 2 restaurant announced it will close on Oct. 9 during a contentious meeting that saw a $2,500 fine leveled against the 20-year-old business for violations related to overserving alcoholic drinks. 

The surprise announcement came in the middle of testimony at the Franklin Police Department community room from founder Jason Sheer who said, "We just see no way forward. We can't continue to run this business this way."

Co-owner Kyle McPhee declared the Franklin Police Department has “ruined our business.”

“I hardly think that we are a nuisance in any shape of that word. Quite the contrary, I know us as a Franklin staple,” McPhee said.

According to notices of violation found in the Beer Board agenda, undercover FPD operations targeted Tin Roof 2 and Kimbro’s Pickin’ Parlor in 2024. 

In addition to information presented during that operation, police said they responded to 95 calls for service at Tin Roof 2 between Aug. 1, 2025 and Aug. 2, 2026. During that same time period, police responded to 41 calls at Kimbro’s. 

The city said that the 2024 violations were brought before the Beer Board now because they needed time for criminal cases against bartenders at both businesses — two at Tin Roof 2 and three at Kimbro’s — to play out through the court system. FPD charged the bartenders with serving alcohol to a person who is visibly intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor.

In addition to the fine, the three-member board unanimously approved suspending Tin Roof 2’s beer permit for three weeks beginning on Oct. 10, the day after the business plans on closing.

But this isn’t the first time Tin Roof 2 has been under the city’s scrutiny. In 2020, the Beer Board suspended Tin Roof 2’s beer license for 30 days and fined it $3,000 after padlocking the business.

Friday’s meeting lasted more than three hours.

It was not a court hearing, but at times, it operated similarly, with lawyers leading the presentation of facts, arguing their party’s positions and answering questions from the board. Dozens of community members attended, many in support of both businesses, although public comment was not allowed at the meeting.

Attorney Steve Meisner represented both businesses and argued it was unfair he was not able to obtain documents, police camera footage or interview witnesses as part of the defense of his clients.

Deputy City Attorney William Squires argued that Meisner was not privy to the same breadth of information and procedure as one would have in a court case, and the two disagreed on the reasonable scope of public information requests made by Meisner for city documents. Meisner railed against what he called an “incredible abuse of process.”

According to city documents, Kimbro’s — which opened in 2005 and since become a cultural destination for musicians from around the world — racked up two additional alcohol law violations allegedly occurring between Aug. 1, 2025 and Aug. 1, 2026.

The board deferred its decision on Kimbro’s until its regularly scheduled Nov. 10 meeting to allow the parties, lawyers for the city and Meisner to agree on how to ensure that Kimbro’s will enact stricter guidelines when serving alcohol.

“The expectation that we have as a board is that both parties are going to come together and create training and education for staff at Kimbro’s and to have a plan that's going to be put into place. Right now, between now and then, there is no suspension of their permit,” Board Chairman and Ward 3 Alderman Jason Potts.

Business owners raised questions about a bartender’s ability to know how intoxicated a patron actually is when they enter a bar, with FPD noting that undercover officers overheard some patrons talk about consuming personal bottles of alcohol before going to the bars.

Squires argued that “it is the duty and responsibility of those employees to know exactly that,” with him and FPD Chief Deborah Faulkner noting the training that bartenders get while being licensed to serve alcohol by the state. Faulkner also spoke about the challenge of enforcing DUI laws and responding to alcohol related traffic incidents in the city, some of which have been fatal.

“This is why we're here today, to hold accountable any business we believe does not follow the rules set by this board,” Faulkner said. “Franklin officers are tasked by the public and serve to keep our streets safe. My officers are the ones who rush to the scene of the vehicle crashes, and sometimes have to deliver messages to family members when someone is seriously injured, or unfortunately, it's a fatality. We are being proactive regarding impaired driving, alcohol-related public safety concerns, and any dangerous behaviors associated with alcohol, because this must stop. Businesses that sell and serve alcohol have a proactive responsibility as well.”

Meisner and his clients argued that they have been “harassed” and “unfairly targeted” by FPD through both police enforcement efforts and the presentation of police dispatch data, the accuracy of which Meisner questioned.

“Both of my clients, including Tin Roof and including Kimbro’s, are both very interested in partnering with the Franklin City Police Department and moving forward in a cooperative manner versus what has transpired over the past two years. Both of my clients feel harassed. Both of my clients feel that there's been an unnecessary presence of police officers outside of their premises,” Meisner said. 

The alleged harassment of the businesses by police goes deeper with Kimbro’s, which has a more complicated history with local law enforcement.

In 2020, Kimbro’s served alcohol to Ashley Kroese, a then 21-year-old Thompson’s Station woman who later crashed into and killed Brentwood Police Officer Destin Legieza, 30, after she left the bar.

One year later, Kimbro’s settled a civil lawsuit with Legieza family for an undisclosed amount, alleging that the bar had over-served Kroese.

In 2022, a jury convicted Kroese of vehicular homicide by intoxication, vehicular homicide .08 alcohol concentration or greater, vehicular homicide by reckless conduct and reckless aggravated assault resulting in death. A judge sentenced her to eight years in prison.

Meisner and Kimbro’s General Manager Max Jordan allege that the bar has been targeted and harassed by police following Legieza’s death, including officers entering the business and conducting a walkthrough on the anniversary of Legieza’s death in what Meisner characterized as a “show of force.” 

“On the anniversary of a tragedy that broke this whole town's heart, officers walked through our building in force — front door to back patio — and out without a word to anyone,” Jordan said, adding that his staff’s own calls to police are now being used as evidence to label the business a “public nuisance.”

“We were told to call the police when we needed help,” Jordan said. “That's what they asked us to do, and now those calls are being counted against us.”

Faulkner initially declined to take questions from the Williamson Scene following the meeting, but later in an email pushed back against the claims of harassment and intimidation by her officers.

“This allegation is unequivocally, categorically, and completely false," she wrote.