For years, 1770 Galleria Blvd was where you went to The Honeysuckle. Then the space sat quiet. On Wednesday, September 23, it reopened as Bravado Small Plates & Pizza Bar, run by Pop Hospitality Group, the same company that had operated The Honeysuckle. The building, the parking lot and the turn off Galleria are all the same. Only the menu is new.
That is how most of this fall's dining news in Franklin has played out. Look at the restaurants that opened or announced a Franklin address between August and early October 2026, and nearly all of them took over a space a previous restaurant had already built out. The one exception is a brand-new building at McEwen Northside, and it is also the opening that took the longest to arrive.
The fall roster, with what each space used to be
| Restaurant | Address | Previously | Status as of October 4, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roots Prime Italian Chophouse | 440 Cool Springs Blvd | Old Chicago Pizza | Open |
| Bravado Small Plates & Pizza Bar | 1770 Galleria Blvd | The Honeysuckle | Opened September 23 |
| Mr. J's Original | 330 Mayfield Dr., Suite D4 | Ground Burger | Open, start date unconfirmed |
| Lefty's Pizza Kitchen | 102 Lumber Drive | Penn Station Subs, Koi Sushi and Thai, and others | Announced, no date |
| Hawkers Asian Street Food | 4020 Aspen Grove Dr., McEwen Northside | New construction | Opens Monday, October 5 |
Four of the five went into existing restaurant space. Most of the recent attention in Cool Springs has gone to new buildings, but this fall's openings mostly came from older storefronts changing hands.
Roots Prime takes a pizza space somewhere more formal
Old Chicago Pizza was a casual stop for pizza and beer. Roots Prime Italian Chophouse, now open at 440 Cool Springs Boulevard, is a different kind of night out. It is the second restaurant from Chef Jose Serrato and Elizabeth Serrato, the team behind Serrato's Steakhouse. The menu pairs an American chophouse with traditional Italian cooking.
The menu shows what they're aiming for. The Filet Mignon Duo is two 4.5-ounce filets with jumbo scallops, crab-stuffed shrimp and lobster sauce. The Bourbon Glazed Pork Chop is a 16-ounce French-cut chop finished with bourbon glaze, candied bacon, cinnamon and apple chutney. These are anniversary dinners and dinners with out-of-town guests, served on a stretch of Cool Springs Boulevard most people know for weekday errands.
Williamson Source reported Roots Prime open on September 15 but did not give an exact opening day.
Bravado closes a 16-month gap
The Honeysuckle closed in May 2025. When it did, the team said a new concept was in the works. This past May they revealed it as Bravado, and it opened on September 23. That's about 16 months between closing and reopening, with the same operator in the same building.
Pop Hospitality Group also owns Nash House, The Row Kitchen & Pub and The Treehouse Nashville. The restaurant's website calls Bravado a place "where good for you ingredients meet great flavor small plates & pizza bar." Before opening, it spent weeks previewing drinks on social media, including a cocktail called No Limits, made with mint and citrus.
"Fresh, bright, a little wild around the edges."
Earlier this year, the Franklin Beer Board granted Bravado a beer permit pending its certificate of occupancy. That's a common step when a second-generation space is reopened under a new name.
Mr. J's keeps the burger in a burger building
On Mayfield Drive, the former Ground Burger space still serves burgers. Mr. J's Original took over 330 Mayfield Drive with a menu of burgers, chili fries, chicken tenders and a signature pastrami sandwich. Owner Jason Flores took over the Hermitage Cafe in Nashville, and this is his first location in Williamson County.
The opening date is harder to pin down than the menu. A June report gave July 15 as a target, depending on permits. On August 20, Williamson Source said no official date had been shared. The county's health-score listings show a routine food-service inspection there on August 31, 2026. The restaurant's own website now lists the Franklin location as open at Suite D4. It's open, but none of these sources gives the day it started serving.
Lefty's adds another chapter at 102 Lumber Drive
102 Lumber Drive has been home to several restaurants, including Penn Station Subs and Koi Sushi and Thai. Lefty's Pizza Kitchen is the next one. It's known for Chicago-inspired pizza with a caramelized crust, plus cheesesteaks, hoagies, burgers, wings, chicken sandwiches and loaded fries on its existing menus.
This will be Lefty's first location in Williamson County. As of its September 30 announcement, no opening date or hours had been set. For now, it belongs on the watch list, not the dinner plan.
The one new building took the longest
Hawkers Asian Street Food is the only fall opening in a building nobody has eaten in before, and it has been on the calendar the longest. When the Williamson Herald announced that Hawkers and Culinary Dropout would anchor the ground floor of McEwen Northside's newest building, Culinary Dropout had a September 10 date and Hawkers was "set to open in early 2026."
Culinary Dropout opened on September 10, 2025. Williamson Source reported the nine-story, $125 million, 300,000-square-foot Block E officially open in early October 2025. Hawkers opens there on Monday, October 5, 2026, about a year after the building itself. Meanwhile, Bravado reopened a closed restaurant in 16 months, and Mr. J's moved into a burger space within a summer.
The menu draws on Asia's open-air markets, with shareable plates like Korean twice-fried wings, five-spice green beans and roti canai with curry dipping sauce, plus craft cocktails and sake. It's the company's second Middle Tennessee restaurant. The first opened in 2020 at 626 Main Street in East Nashville. As of the October 4 report, Franklin hours had not been posted.
What sits around Hawkers at Block E
A new building comes with practical details an old storefront doesn't have. Block E connects to a new multi-level garage with more than 900 free parking spaces. Clothier Oak Hall is on the same ground floor at Suite 130. McEwen Northside's October calendar lists Neighbors Franklin Trivia on October 6 and Ballad Bingo on October 7. If you want to try Hawkers in its first week, either of those nights would work.
Two more Block E tenants have been announced:
- Paris Baguette, announced for Block E in October 2025, with no official opening date at the time.
- H. Audrey, a Nashville-based fashion boutique the Tennessean reported in February 2026 as joining the newest additions there.
Planning a fall dinner around what's confirmed
Taken as a whole, the season mostly gave familiar buildings new tenants. Here's what that looks like on the calendar this month:
- Weeknight burger or pastrami: Mr. J's Original on Mayfield Drive is open now.
- Small plates and a cocktail: Bravado on Galleria Blvd, open since September 23.
- A slower dinner with guests: Roots Prime on Cool Springs Boulevard, open since mid-September.
- Trying something new in its first week: Hawkers at McEwen Northside from October 5, with free garage parking and trivia or bingo nearby on the 6th and 7th.
- Still waiting: Lefty's Pizza Kitchen on Lumber Drive, with no opening date announced as of September 30.
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