Hitting pause…but it definitely sounds permanent. On the same day that Kane Brown announced he was opening a bar in Nashville, another artist-owned restaurant has announced that they’ve closed their doors and are exploring a “potential rebrand.” E3 Chophouse, the steakhouse owned by Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and former MLB player Adam LaRoche abruptly closed their doors following the Valentine’s Day weekend, announcing the move this morning in a post on social media: “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.” View this post on Instagram The original E3 Chophouse in Steamboat Springs, Colorado was opened by LaRoche and his brothers in 2013, and in 2019 the former MLB player joined with Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan to open their location in Nashville’s Hillsboro Village. At the time, LaRoche praised the country stars for their involvement in bringing the restaurant to Music City: “Jason & Luke jokingly talked for years about opening an E3 Chophouse in Nashville, and over time those talks became more serious. This is the town they call home, and they’re directly involved in the development and design of the restaurant. It’s come a long way from Luke wearing the E3 hat I made as a novelty many years ago, and we are humbled and excited to bring the restaurant to Music City.” The closure was apparently a surprise for employees at the restaurant, which just last week was promoting their Valentine’s Day menu. But according to a post from a now-former employee in a Nashville hospitality employee Facebook group, the staff had no warning that the restaurant was closing: While no reason was given for the closure, many on social media have speculated that it’s related to the recent property tax increases facing business owners in Nashville. The new property appraisals that were completed in 2024 have raised property taxes in some cases up to 400%, leading Rob Mortenson, the head of the Broadway Entertainment Association, to warning FOX17 last fall that the rising taxes could very well spell the end for some of staples of the Broadway scene: “These are folks that have been there for 40 years on Broadway, and, you know, they can’t pay the taxes. Their option is, I was told, we’re either going to go bankrupt or go to jail, one of the two, because we literally can’t pay the taxes.” Layla Vartanian, the owner of Layla’s Honky Tonk on Broadway, previously said that it’s the largest property tax increase she’s seen since she opened up her bar in 1997: “I’ve never seen an increase of any kind of property tax or any kind of tax in such a short period of time. We’re having an increase of 300-400% on these buildings down here, on our commercial buildings. Even on personal properties, residential properties, the increase is 300% and 400%.” And most recently, Acme Feed and Seed owner Tom Morales sounded the alarm that he may have to sell one of the few remaining locally-owned businesses on Broadway due to a tax increase that’s more than their profit: “It went from $129,000 a year to $600,000 a year. That’s more than our rent and net profit combined. … We can’t pay it. It’s punitive.” Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell drew criticism for his response to Morales voicing his concerns, basically saying that it’s not up to him and that businesses close all the time. Of course we don’t know if this is another case of the property tax increase causing a business to close, but I have a feeling E3 Chophouse won’t be the only Nashville restaurant that decides to close up shop in the near future.The post Jason Aldean & Luke Bryan’s Nashville Steakhouse Abruptly Closes first appeared on Whiskey Riff.