Gannons is getting ready to bring its acclaimed American fare to 438 Houston Street, Suite 160, inside Houston Station, where co-owners Gannon Leary and David Wileman are preparing to open the restaurant’s second Nashville location. The move was first revealed through a Metro permit filing reported by the Nashville Business Journal. The pair recently shared additional details with WhatNow Nashville about the vision behind the new restaurant, which is expected to welcome guests in late August.
The restaurant will take over the former Earnest Bar & Hideaway space, which closed in 2024 after seven years. According to the Nashville Business Journal, the Houston Station location places Gannons among the growing collection of restaurants and bars helping shape Wedgewood-Houston into one of the city’s premier dining destinations.
For Wileman, the neighborhood itself made the opportunity hard to pass up. “WeHo is incredible. It’s amazing how this area has changed over the last five years,” Wileman told WhatNow Nashville. “There was a very cool space available that had previously been a restaurant, and we just wanted to be part of what’s going on over here.”
While Gannons’ downtown restaurant inside the Courtyard by Marriott Nashville Downtown is known for its art deco setting and elevated atmosphere, the new location is being designed with a different purpose. Leary and Wileman said they want the Houston Station restaurant to become a welcoming neighborhood destination where guests can drop in any day of the week.
“We’re a local small business as opposed to all these corporate restaurants coming into town,” Wileman said. “We want it to feel like a home away from home—not too pretentious. We want a neighborhood hangout where everybody feels welcome.”
Because the space was previously occupied by a fully operational restaurant, renovations have been relatively modest. Gannon said the team focused on refreshing the interior while preserving much of what made the venue appealing to its existing customer base.
When the doors open, guests can expect Gannons’ signature menu of American comfort dishes with French and Italian influences alongside an oyster bar, weekend brunch from day one, daily happy hour, and late-night food offerings. Gannon also said the restaurant is considering adding live jazz piano in the evenings to create a relaxed atmosphere that complements the surrounding neighborhood.
Although the owners see additional growth in the brand’s future, their immediate priority is establishing Gannons as the neighborhood gathering place they believe Wedgewood-Houston has been missing.
