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Not even a hot bowl of their homemade chicken noodle soup will make this feel better.
The Noshville deli franchise, a high-energy hotspot for celebs and thousands of others when it opened in Midtown in 1996, will end its first 31-year chapter in summer 2027 when its last remaining restaurant in Green Hills closes, owners and managers told The Tennessean.
"I’m not happy at all. It’s like a part of my life is going to be gone," said Mary Loventhal Jones, 77, the only surviving original co-owner and sister of Noshville founder Tom Loventhal.
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"It’ll be very emotional at the end."
Noshville owners sold the brand name to Ben Weprin, founder and CEO of Nashville-based global real estate investment firm AJ Capital Partners, which, among other projects, is turning the old Belle Meade Plaza into a mixed-use Belle Meade Village, set to open in 2028.
A firm spokesperson said, though, Weprin bought the Noshville name — after finding out the restaurant was going to close — as a personal investment and not as part of AJ Capital's holdings. The spokesperson said Weprin wanted to preserve a legacy restaurant brand. No definitive plans on when or where a new Noshville restaurant might open have been announced.
Noshville managers stressed that the Green Hills restaurant will remain open until June 30, 2027, when the restaurant's lease with the building owner expires.
"We want everybody to come out and support us and enjoy the Noshville concept for the next year," said Melissa Hall, a 27-year manager of the deli, "make your mother happy; eat and enjoy."
Hall and Jones said they decided to end Noshville in its current state because of rising costs, increasing restaurant competition and difficulties hiring staff, among other challenges.
"We're all getting older and we want Noshville to go out on a high note," Hall said. "So we decided that it was time when our lease was up to close this chapter and say goodbye to something beautiful."
'They are not impressed by your celebrity or social status'
The journey started in the early 1990s when Nashville native Tom Loventhal, a businessman-turned-restaurateur, fell in love with New York-style delis in his travels and decided Music City needed one. After eating dozens of corned beef sandwiches and gathering investors, Loventhal and his partners opened Noshville deli at 1918 Broadway in December 1996.
The restaurant — with red and white booths, a desserts case, a big counter and a sassy New York-native server named Spike — drew huge, loud crowds right away. Country stars, Vanderbilt hospital docs, Music Row execs and Yankee natives flocked to Noshville for its giant sandwiches, matzah ball soup and New York attitude.
"They are not impressed by your celebrity or social status, and they only want to serve," said longtime talent agent Brian Hill, who first fell in love with delis more than 30 years ago in Los Angeles.
Deli lovers relished foods that had been hard to come by in Nashville, like potato knishes or blintzes or latkes, potato pancakes.
"I was quite excited when Noshville opened and I could get a good half sour pickle!" said Allison Ferrara, a wealth management client specialist from Old Hickory whose stepdad used to take her to New York delis. "And a black and white cookie as big as your head."
Behind the attitude was a warmth that even the most well-heeled Southerners felt.
"There was love baked into everything and always a kind greeting at check-in," said longtime music industry publicist Jacquelyn Martínez Marushka. "Everything about Noshville makes me feel like I've been given a hug."
Noshville eventually expanded to three more locations, Green Hills in 2005, and Cool Springs and the airport in 2007. The Cool Springs location was the shortest-lived, closing after six years. The airport location lasted 14 years.
The original location closed in December 2015 after Loventhal sold the building to a hotel developer who promised to keep Noshville anchored on the first floor, Jones said. But a year later, that developer sold the building and the land to Vanderbilt University.
Through the years, some of the traditional deli offerings and traditions started to drop off, even more so during COVID. Gone were tongue sandwiches, knishes, chopped liver, the giant portions, the New York cheesecake.
"We noticed that the younger generation was not purchasing the Old World deli favorites," Hall said, "and this forced us to move away from some of our traditional offerings."
End of an era
Still, the Green Hills location, the only one open for the last five years, developed a loyal clientele, with nearly two-thirds of its diners coming several times a week, Hall estimated.
None have been as loyal or as high profile as country music star Vince Gill, who earned a CMA Lifetime Achievement Award last year. Gill sits at the counter every morning he's not touring, the staff said, speaking with nearly everyone who walks by.
Gill helps sustain the close-knit community that has long been part of the restaurant group, several servers said.
Contributing to that is the fact that many Noshville employees have worked there for more than 10 years. Among the longest serving employees are bartender/manager Linda Gross, 30 years, kitchen manager Christanne Coleman, 25 years, cook Steven Griffith, 24 years, server Mamie Bunn, 19 years and counter server Gina Szetela, 15 years.
Though it's nearly a year away, staffers already are mourning the loss of the Noshville tribe.
"Me and a bunch of the regulars at the counter have decided that we're going to meet once a month and have breakfast together as family," said counter server Renee Stewart, "and cut up and laugh."
"It's the end of an era. It's like a family," said nine-year server Savannah Brown, "so it's really sad for me to be losing this."
Reach Brad Schmitt at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Noshville to close in summer 2027 | Exclusive
