Tin Roof 2's owners say the City of Franklin forced them out after 20 years in business.
Co-owners Jason Sheer and Kyle McPhee posted a farewell statement on social media Sunday, Sept. 27, as first reported by Williamson Source, accusing the city of driving them to close. The downtown bar and music venue will shut its doors for good on Friday, Oct. 9.
The statement said the city does not want the bar in Franklin and that the owners have dealt with the city hassling their business for years. It also noted that Tin Roof 2 has employed many Franklin residents over its two decades.
The owners invited the community to visit before the final day, asking patrons to come share memories. They thanked current and former employees, expressing hope that staff members would land on their feet and find workplaces that appreciate them.
The farewell follows a Sept. 18 Franklin Beer Board hearing that drew about 100 supporters to the Franklin Police Department's conference room. The three-member board, made up of Aldermen Jason Potts, Greg Caesar and Clyde Barnhill, voted 3-0 to suspend Tin Roof 2's beer permit for three weeks starting Oct. 10 and to impose a $2,500 fine, according to Beer Board records.
The bar was accused of serving alcohol to visibly intoxicated patrons during 2024 undercover operations conducted by Franklin police. Two Tin Roof 2 bartenders were arrested after grand jury indictments on charges of serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, a Class C misdemeanor, the Williamson Scene reported Sept. 19.
McPhee announced at the hearing that the bar would close Oct. 9 regardless of the board's decision. Sheer told the board he saw no path forward.
"We just see no way forward. We can't continue to run this business this way," Sheer said at the Sept. 18 hearing, as reported by the Williamson Scene.
The dispute is not new. Franklin police responded to 95 calls for service at the bar between Aug. 1, 2025, and Aug. 1, 2026, according to the Williamson Scene. The bar also faced a 30-day permit suspension and a $3,000 fine from the Beer Board in October 2020.
At the Sept. 18 hearing, Sheer said Tin Roof operates 19 other locations in 15 states with no similar problems, as reported by the Williamson Herald Sept. 22. Franklin Police Chief Deb Faulkner testified at the same hearing that DUI arrests in the city rose from 151 in 2024 to 184 so far in 2026, with nearly 400 alcohol-related crashes recorded in 2026, three of them fatal.
No public response from the City of Franklin or the Franklin Police Department to the owners' Sept. 27 statement has been found.
Tin Roof 2 opened Oct. 10, 2006. Its last day is Friday, Oct. 9.
