Nashville, TN (March 28, 2024) – Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ, in partnership with Nick Pihakis of Pihakis Restaurant Group (PRG), will open its first Tennessee outpost on April 5, 2024 at Chief’s, the six-story downtown Nashville establishment from country music star Eric Church and AJ Capital Partners CEO and founder Ben Weprin. Both raised in the Carolinas, Scott, and Church share the story of home and a love for Carolina barbecue. Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ will overlook lower Broadway with its ‘Hell of a Q’ restaurant on the Chief’s rooftop, celebrating Church and Scott’s roots for a first-of-its-kind Southern experience in the heart of downtown Music City. The partnership between Church and Scott brings another landmark to Broadway: the first walk-up window serving delicious fare from breakfast through late night.
“I’ve cooked whole hog in a lot of places, but none quite like Broadway,” says Scott, a James Beard Award-winning pitmaster who got his start in his family’s barbecue joint at just eleven years old. “I’m excited to team up with Eric as he creates something special for his fans and the music community as a whole in Nashville.”
“It’s going to be a slow, artisanal process,” reflects Church. “We’ve done that in every layer of this and I think that Rodney Scott is the epitome – in the food variety – of what we’ve always done musically. We took great care not to rush, to do it the right way; doesn’t matter how long it takes, get it right. And he does.”
On Broadway, Chief’s stands out with an unparalleled entertainment experience for fans, from inspirational interiors and thoughtful focus on unique live performances to ownership of the building itself. The six-story bar, restaurant, and live music venue was designed with Church at the helm and is meant to be a physical representation of the CMA Entertainer of the Year’s musical journey with décor elements including more than 4,000 concert posters from throughout his career papering the ground floor. AJ and Weprin led the restoration of the historic building, assisting Church with the design, and will soon operate the venue. The duo then engaged Scott to create a new dining experience on Broadway.
For the Chief’s outpost of Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ, which has four locations across the Southeast, Pihakis Restaurant Group will expand its offerings with new menu items, including Rodney’s take on the classic Nashville hot chicken, beef brisket and burgers, alongside the classic South Carolina whole hog BBQ for which Scott is celebrated across the world. The restaurant will be situated on the top two floors of Chief’s, including the ‘Hell of a Q’ rooftop, and offers both sit-down and grab-and-go options. With the ability to host private events and catering, the restaurant will become a staple on Broadway across a broad spectrum of offerings. The final menu is linked here.
“Chief’s is bringing something entirely new to Broadway, so we saw an opportunity to expand upon our Rodney Scott’s experience with this incredible rooftop location overlooking the city,” says Nick Pihakis, founder of PRG. “We’ll still have the signature Rodney’s menu items, of course, but wanted to also provide a uniquely Nashville food experience to match the impact that Chief’s will have on Broadway.”
Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ at Chief’s is set to open on April 5, 2024, and will be open for lunch and dinner from 10:30am to 11pm daily with brunch served from 10:30am to 2pm on Saturday and Sunday. A special late-night menu is served on the rooftop from 11pm to 2:30am. The street-level walk-up window serves breakfast from 8am to 11am and lunch and dinner beginning at 11am. For further details, follow along at @rodneyscottsbbq & @chiefsbroadway or visit the website www.chiefsonbroadway.com.
About Pihakis Restaurant Group:
Pihakis is a collective of restaurateurs, chefs, and creatives coupled with technology, management and accounting professionals who came together with a singular goal of creating restaurants with the highest levels of care for their people, their guests, and their food. Founded by Nick Pihakis in 2014, the group has grown to six brands including Rodney Scott’s BBQ, HERO Doughnuts, Breakfast and Lunch, Little Donkey, Tasty Town Greek Restaurant and Lounge, Luca Lagotto, and Luca Mercato Lagotto. Headquartered in Birmingham, AL, the company operates restaurants throughout the South in cities including Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Charleston, SC; Montgomery, AL, and Nashville, TN. The very core of the business is built around growing a kernel of culinary inspiration into a thriving business that provides delicious food, pleasant environments, and employment opportunities to local communities. The Pihakis team believes that restaurants are places to enjoy – the food, the company, the atmosphere, and, above all, the experience of belonging. Learn more at pihakis.com.
About Adventurous Journeys® (“AJ”) Capital Partners:
Adventurous Journeys ("AJ") Capital Partners is a vertically integrated real estate investment manager founded by Ben Weprin in 2008. The firm specializes in creating distinctive, design-forward properties in high-demand yet underserved locations. The multi-disciplined team at AJ brings expertise in placemaking, inspired design, and hospitality to fuel a diverse portfolio, currently valued at $5.3 billion across 100+ properties in 50+ markets. The company focuses on hospitality, mixed-use, and residential sectors. Learn more at www.ajcpt.com.
About Chief’s:
Chief’s is a six-story bar, restaurant, and live music venue designed to celebrate Eric Church’s ever-expanding musical legacy. Located in historic downtown Nashville, Chief’s will feature a ticketed music venue, inspirational interiors, and a thoughtful focus on unique live performances, offering fans an unparalleled entertainment experience in Music City. Chief’s will house a studio for live broadcasting, inclusive of Church’s Outsiders Radio SiriusXM channel, with the capability of hosting broadcasts by various media partners. Chief’s will also feature a restaurant partnership with James Beard Award Winning Pitmaster Rodney Scott. Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ – part of the Pihakis Restaurant Group – will overlook downtown with its ‘Hell of a Q’ rooftop offering. Situated at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Broadway, Chief’s is set to open at 200 Broadway.
About Eric Church:
A seven-time ACM Award winner, four-time CMA Award winner (including the 2020 award for Entertainer of the Year) and 10-time GRAMMY nominee, Church has amassed a passionate fan base around the globe known as the Church Choir, plus a critically acclaimed catalog of music. Known for his tenacity on the road, his recent The Outsiders Revival Tour earned rave reviews as he brought a rotating lineup of emerging artists along for the first fully-outdoor tour of his career. His prior outing, the 55-city The Gather Again Tour, offered fans an in-the-round arena show and earned the 2022 Billboard Music Award for Top Country Tour. Church is currently working on new music as the follow up to his most recent chart-topping project, the Heart & Soul triple album, which featured the results of a marathon session during which he spent nearly a month writing and recording a song per day while sequestered in rural North Carolina. This followed his Gold-certified Desperate Man, which earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album (his third nod in the category) and prior releases including the Platinum-certified Sinners Like Me (“How ’Bout You,” “Guys Like Me”), Carolina (“Smoke a Little Smoke,” “Love Your Love the Most”) and Mr. Misunderstood (“Record Year,” “Round Here Buzz”), the Double-Platinum certified The Outsiders (“Like a Wrecking Ball,” “Talladega”) and the 3x Platinum-certified Chief (“Springsteen,” “Drink In My Hand”),as well as 30 Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum certified songs. Church is also a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, a co-owner of the iconic Field & Stream brand, has his own SiriusXM music channel, “Eric Church Outsiders Radio,” his own liquor offering, Whiskey JYPSI, and will soon open Chief’s, a six-story venue on Nashville’s famed lower Broadway. For more information, visit www.ericchurch.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter/X @ericchurch and Instagram @ericchurchmusic.
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