The investors who transformed longtime Sylvan Park tavern McCabe Pub into a fine-dining restaurant found themselves at odds just four months after opening. Lion’s Share partners banded together to push chef Robbie Wilson and his wife Emily Perry Wilson out of the business on Aug. 26.
The remaining ownership group, including Kent Kirby and Jim Caden, plans to rebrand Lion's Share as an upscale neighborhood tavern as it was initially intended, they said.
"We’re grateful for the Wilsons' contributions and wish them the best in their next venture," the managing partners said in a statement. "Our focus remains on our guests, our team, and the continued success of the restaurant as we return to the original vision for Lion’s Share. While there are no
confirmed details to provide at this time, we’re confident in the new direction of the restaurant and look forward to sharing more soon."
They informed staff members of the forthcoming changes Aug. 27. Meanwhile, the Wilsons, who own a third of the business, said they were in favor of adjusting the existing Lion's Share concept before their forced exit.
"Our argument was: Let's definitely evolve as we should be, but let's build on what has been successful," Perry Wilson said.
Days before their sudden departure, the Wilsons spoke with The Tennessean in an exclusive interview about Lion's Share's first four months. They described a restaurant already changing in response to what they were learning about customers, while trying to balance Wilson's ambitious cooking with a more accessible neighborhood restaurant.
How the Wilsons became the face of Lion's Share
The couple first came to Nashville in 2010, working with M Street Hospitality before decamping a few years later for opportunities in California, where Wilson became a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef.
Theyreturned to Nashville in 2025 and opened the casual SuperNormal in Sylvan Park, followed by Lion's Share next door. But in the years they were away, they found Nashville's tastes had changed.
"I've learned that Nashville's really no different than me being in San Francisco in a sense that it's not a meat-and-potatoes town," Wilson said. "If we look at the data of what we cook, fish is king here, cooked and raw."
The menu included lightly cured Hokkaido scallop with buttermilk and dill, kampachi crudo with yuzu and $140 wood-fired bone-in strips with crisp frites.
More recently, the restaurant added happy hour and a bar menu that included fish and chips and a burger.
Lion's Share used data from OpenTable, MarginEdge and its own sales system to track what customers ordered and how they used the restaurant.
"Every day. Every week," Wilson said when asked how often he was course-correcting. "We want to be a Tuesday restaurant and a Saturday restaurant."
But the extent and pace of those changes apparently became a point of disagreement among the owners.
Perry Wilson said Lion's Share's sales declined during the summer after a busy April and May. She viewed the decline as part of a typical seasonal slowdown and believed the restaurant was gaining momentum heading into fall.
The other owners concluded a larger, swifter change was needed, she said.
"Just to make a 180 in direction was a very hard pill for us to swallow, and we pushed back on that," Perry Wilson said.
Beloved former McCabe Pub space to undergo more changes
The Wilsons had big shoes to fill when they took over the former McCabe Pub building at 4410 Murphy Road in late 2024, while still living in California. It was shortly after the West Nashville pub closed down, and the community was mourning its loss.
John and Jo Dean opened the pub in 1982 with wood-paneled walls, a menu full of comfort food and a lot of regulars. It was a place for community gathering with a loyal following, but the Dean family felt assured in their decision to hand the space over to the Wilsons.
"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.
The Wilsons and other investors didn't purchase the building but instead entered into an agreement with the Dean family, who ran McCabe Pub for 41 years. At the time, the Wilsons said the plan was to modernize the space while upholding the building's history as a welcoming neighborhood spot.
Just four months in, Lion's Share is still in the midst of developing that reputation.
Wilson initially described the restaurant as a "luxurious tavern" inspired by the Cotswolds and old English drinking club with a menu striking the "balance between comfort and adventure."
The menu included a grilled avocado with ponzu and wasabi for $18, pork belly with vindaloo and labne for $34, lemongrass and coconut jumbo asparagus for $22, full caviar service and $16 banana cream puffs.
An accidental text followed by an email broke the news
Perry Wilson said she and her husband did not meet with their partners before learning they would no longer be involved with the restaurant, though she didn't feel completely blindsided, given previous conversations.
"We didn't sit down with them," she said. "We literally found out by email that this was the decision."
She also provided The Tennessean with a screenshot of a text message she said Kirby inadvertently sent to her on Tuesday, Aug. 25 while communicating with another investor.
"Heads up. Pulling the trigger on removing the Wilsons tomorrow," the message read. "The turn around will go much faster and smoother without them. Rebranding to Lion's Share Tavern and improving all aspects."
Days before the decision, the couple pointed to measures they believed showed Lion's Share was gaining traction. More than 20% of customers who made reservations returned during its first four months, according to Wilson, with some visiting as many as 10 times.
Perry Wilson said internal metrics showed business trending upward heading into fall and she expected that growth to continue.
What's next for Lion's Share
For now, Lion's Share remains open, and the managing partners have no plans to shut down during the transition. The Wilsons said they are negotiating the terms surrounding their 33% ownership stake.
The leadership change also opens up more questions about SuperNormal, the neighboring restaurant the Wilsons previously operated with the same group of investors. It closed for the winter in December 2025 and never reopened once warm weather returned.
Perry Wilson said she and her husband proposed reopening SuperNormal with a more streamlined operating schedule after learning from its first season. Their partners did not approve the proposal.
"I can't speak to what they'll do with it in the future," Perry Wilson said. "Perhaps they will reopen it. I am frankly not sure."
Perry Wilson said they remain committed to Nashville and are "working on something new," though she did not provide details.
"We've been working on (Lion's Share) for two years, and to have it taken away after four months is heartbreaking," Perry Wilson said. "But we are trying to focus on the fact that it is the end of our story with Lion's Share, but not the end of our story by any means."
Days before the ownership dispute ended their involvement, Robbie Wilson described the four-month-old restaurant as a work in progress.
"You'd be foolish in the first four months to think you've got it figured out," he said.
Mackensy Lunsford is the senior dining reporter for The Tennessean. Reach her at mlunsford@tennessean.com. Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work,subscribe to The Tennessean.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville restaurant owners nixed in feud over Lion's Share, ex-McCabe Pub | Exclusive
