Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean Being Sued for $1.4 Million Over Their Closed Nashville Steakhouse
Two of country music's biggest names are heading to court — not over music, but over a steakhouse that stopped paying rent and shut down without warning.
Village 21 Investment Partners LLC has filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Circuit Court seeking more than $1.4 million in damages from Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, and former MLB player Adam LaRoche. The claim is straightforward — the trio operated E3 Chophouse Nashville in the city's Hillsboro Village neighborhood, and according to the complaint, they "stopped paying the monthly rent and abruptly closed the restaurant" in February, constituting a default on their lease agreement.
A hearing is set for June 26.
The E3 Chophouse Nashville website is still up as of this week, with a message that reads: "Nashville — we're hitting pause. We're temporarily pausing operations as we evaluate what Nashville needs next. Our team is assessing market opportunities and exploring potential rebrand and re-concept strategies for the future of this location."
A landlord suing for $1.4 million in unpaid rent and damages doesn't typically read as a temporary strategic pivot — but that's the framing the owners are going with publicly.
How This Restaurant Came Together
The E3 Chophouse story starts with friendships built over years rather than a business plan. LaRoche and Bryan became friends more than two decades ago after LaRoche attended one of Bryan's early music gigs in Atlanta. LaRoche later introduced himself to Aldean after the singer performed the national anthem at an Atlanta Braves game, and the two eventually became hunting buddies.
When the Nashville location opened in 2019 it joined an existing E3 Chophouse in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, which LaRoche opened with his brothers Jeff and Andy back in 2013. The Colorado location is separate from the lawsuit and remains open.
The Nashville steakhouse ran for about six years before its February closure — a reasonable run in a notoriously competitive restaurant market, though Nashville's dining scene has exploded over the same period, bringing significant new competition alongside it.
What a Lease Default Actually Means
When a commercial tenant stops paying rent and vacates a property, the landlord typically has several legal options. They can sue for back rent owed, for future rent through the remainder of the lease term, for costs associated with finding a new tenant, and for any property damage. The $1.4 million figure in this case likely reflects a combination of those categories — unpaid months, remaining lease obligations, and potentially costs the landlord will incur to re-lease or renovate the space.
Celebrity-owned restaurants have a complicated track record in general. The combination of name recognition, initial buzz, and investor enthusiasm that gets them open doesn't always translate into sustainable operations. Nashville in particular has seen a wave of celebrity restaurant ventures — the city's tourism boom and reputation as an entertainment destination made it attractive for years, but rising commercial rents, staffing costs, and post-pandemic shifts in dining patterns have made the market significantly harder to navigate.
E3 Chophouse Nashville rode the early wave of that boom, opening in 2019 just before the pandemic hit and operating through years of disruption before ultimately closing in early 2026. Whether the closure was primarily financial, strategic, or a combination of both will likely become clearer as the lawsuit moves through court.
Bryan and Aldean's attorneys have not yet responded publicly to the complaint. With a hearing already set for this Friday, the legal timeline on this one is moving quickly.
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