Exclusive first look: McCabe Pub makes way for Lion's Share

Chef Robbie Wilson and restaurateur Emily Perry Wilson always knew they would return to Nashville.

Now, more than a decade later and with two children, the couple is back in town. They are opening a new restaurant, Lion's Share, in the renovated McCabe Pub building in Sylvan Park.

The dining room will open April 11, restaurant group 74 and Sunny Hospitality announced to The Tennessean.

"Nashville became a little darling of the restaurant world, and it's really trying to position itself with a cachet in a global sense," Wilson said. "You see these brands come in, all the hotels. But one of the reasons why we turned down other projects to be over here is we just want it to feel like Nashville. We want Lion's Share to be for Nashville."

Seating inside at Lion's Share in Nashville on Wednesday March, 25, 2026.

The Wilsons' first Nashville chapter dates to around 2010. The couple spent two years working with M Street Hospitality, relocating Virago and opening Kayne Prime in the Gulch, before an enticing offer from a California investor lured them to Santa Barbara. The promise of multiple restaurants in wine country, partial ownership and creative control was an opportunity they couldn't refuse.

They launched two acclaimed fine-dining restaurants over the course of six years, one of which received a Michelin Guide nod and the other made Wilson a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef.

Outside at Lion's Share in Nashville on Wednesday March, 25, 2026.

"We always thought we would return because we really loved it here," Perry Wilson said. "At its core, Nashville still feels as charming, and welcoming, and kind as it was when we were here before."

Lion's Share, the latest project in their repertoire, is designed to foster that warm, approachable, neighborhood-centered energy that made them fall in love with the city.

What to expect from Lion's Share: Live-fire cooking, raw fish, deep hues

Situated between Caffe Nonna and Edley's Barbecue in Sylvan Park, a stone porch and sconces welcome guests into Lion's Share. Warm wood, hunter green walls and antique-inspired artwork fill the space, reminiscent of an old English tavern.

From the main dining room, patrons can easily see into the open kitchen as chefs prepare their meals, partially over a live, wood-burning fire.

The menu is filled with hearty proteins, prepared seafood, raw fish, grilled vegetables and a bar program meant to perfectly play the hits.

"We're not a special occasion restaurant," Wilson said. "I don't want to be the best restaurant in Nashville. I want to be your favorite restaurant, and there's a difference."

Still, the flair of his fine-dining training will be imbued in the menu too if customers know where to look.

For example, the shrimp cocktail comes served on a bed of crushed ice made from the corbullón in which the shrimp was cooked, adding an extra layer of flavor, and other parts of the shrimp are incorporated into the dipping sauce.

"That being said, when you look at our menu, we're not going to have all of that geeky stuff on there," Wilson said. "It's a flex we don't need to flex. It's not important. All our guests need to know is that it's a really delicious shrimp cocktail."

Candles are lit and placed on display inside at Lion's Share in Nashville on Wednesday March, 25, 2026.

Wilson put that level of attention to detail in every dish on the Lion's Share menu. If guests want to know the nitty-gritty details, he said, all they have to do is ask.

"We can't be all things to all people, but we certainly strive to check all the boxes we can," Perry Wilson said.

When the Wilsons took over the McCabe Pub building

A 1988 photo from The Tennessean's archives shows customers dining in the original McCabe Pub on Murphy Road

John and Jo Dean opened the pub in 1982 with a vision of tasty, affordable food and community gathering. After more than four decades in business, the family decided they were ready to close the chapter, and that's when they met the Wilsons.

Ahead of McCabe Pub's closure announcement, the Wilsons agreed to take over the property with plans to modernize it while remaining a welcoming neighborhood spot.

"As we move on, we are confident we are leaving our customer base in good hands," the Deans' daughters Katie Dean Egbert and Stefanie Dean Brown said in a statement at the time of the closure.

While the building itself offers few glimpses into its history post-renovation, the Wilsons want Lion's Share to be just as approachable and beloved by the community as McCabe Pub.

"It's going to feel like it's been here a long time," Wilson said. "We just wanted a space that started with comfort."