"Everything we do is in partnership with a local operator," Mark Waldo told Nation's Restaurant News last fall. "They are true owners who make investments with us, who sign on debt with us."
One day after Waldo's Chicken & Beer opened on Hillsboro Circle, a real estate developer opened its first full-service restaurant on Richard Jones Road. Green Hills gained two places to eat in two days, September 15 and 16, 2026. One sells chicken tenders in a former fast-food building. The other serves agnolotti and snapper in a glass-walled dining room. Neither is a franchise or a typical chef-driven restaurant group. Each is run by people with a stake that reaches past the dining room, and that shapes their hours, prices and parking.
A Former Wendy's Run on a Local-Owner Model
Waldo's opened Tuesday, September 15, in the former longtime Wendy's at 4106 Hillsboro Circle, Davidson County Source reported. Anyone who used that drive-through will recognize the footprint. The menu inside is different: Southern fried and rotisserie chicken in sandwiches, baskets, bowls and plates, with house-made sides, signature sauces, cheese biscuits, beer and cocktails.
The brand started close to home. Mark Waldo opened the first Waldo's in Germantown in 2019. Before that came a fried and rotisserie chicken concept called Two Birds, which had to close after a cease-and-desist letter over the name. Waldo told NRN that from day one the company has had "no franchisees or company-owned locations." Every restaurant is a partnership with a local operator who invests in it.
That model is why the Waldo's website says menus and prices vary by location. Each store is run locally. It also means Green Hills is joining a group of nearby Waldo's that includes Belle Meade, Charlotte Pike, Brentwood, Cool Springs, Franklin and the original in Germantown.
The Green Hills store's posted schedule, from the Waldo's locations page:
- Sunday through Thursday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Happy hour: two-for-one draft beer and $5 Waldo-Ritas, daily from 3 to 6 p.m.
- All-day happy hour: Tuesdays and Sundays
That afternoon window becomes important once you look at the hours of the other restaurant that opened that week.
An Apartment Developer's First Dining Room
Lupo Notte opened Wednesday, September 16, at 2035 Richard Jones Road, inside Vertis Green Hills. The owner is Southern Land Company, the Nashville-based developer that built Vertis. This is the company's first full-service restaurant. Southern Land already runs the dining at Westhaven Golf Club in Franklin, and its announcement called Lupo "a strategic evolution" of its commitment to placemaking and hospitality.
The developer's goals are clear from its own words. In the opening release published by Visit Music City, Southern Land founder and CEO Tim Downey described "an everlasting upscale dining destination that serves this community and all of Nashville for generations." A restaurant group plans around its lease term. A developer that owns the building can think in decades, and it benefits when the courtyard downstairs gives people a reason to visit.
Executive Chef Owen Lane runs the kitchen. He grew up on a family farm in Leipers Fork and has worked in hospitality for nearly 30 years. His most recent job was executive sous chef at Pastis, and he has also cooked at Audrey and June in East Nashville and at The Boardroom in Franklin, which is inside Southern Land's Westhaven community. Lupo's menu was developed with Westhaven Golf Club chef Manlio Melloni, and the 12-inch pizzas bake in a three-deck oven.
Prices on Lupo's October 2026 dinner menu:
| Section | Price range | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Table share | $8 to $32 | Whipped ricotta with focaccia, $15; Lupo meatballs, $21; charcuterie, $32 |
| Salads | $16 to $18 | Little Gem, Caesar, burrata with fall squash |
| House-made pasta | $21 to $27 | Campanelle cacio e pepe, $21; tagliatelle bolognese, $26 |
| Pizzas | $21 to $25 | Margherita, $21; soppressata with Calabrian honey, $22 |
| Entrees | $28 to $35 | Chicken parmigiana, $28; Faroe Island salmon, $32; snapper, $35 |
| Desserts | $8 to $10 | House-spun soft serve, $8; tiramisu, $10 |
If you only want one thing, the $21 Margherita and the $21 campanelle are the cheapest full plates on the menu.
How the Two Divide a Green Hills Day
Put the two schedules side by side and very little overlaps. Lupo is open for dinner only, from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Southern Land said lunch and online ordering would start later this fall, but Lupo's website still lists only dinner hours.
| Time of day | Waldo's, 4106 Hillsboro Circle | Lupo Notte, 2035 Richard Jones Road |
|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Open | Closed; lunch announced for this fall |
| 3 to 5 p.m. | Happy hour | Closed |
| 5 to 6 p.m. | Happy hour continues | Dinner service begins |
| 6 to 9 p.m. | Open | Open |
| 9 to 10 p.m. | Open Friday and Saturday | Open nightly |
| 10 to 11 p.m. | Closed | Open Friday and Saturday |
Waldo's covers lunch, a mid-afternoon meal and the early-evening happy hour. Lupo covers late dinner. On weekends, Lupo takes its last hour after Waldo's has closed.
Getting In the Door
The logistics are different too, and they follow from each owner's model.
- Reservations. Lupo takes them through OpenTable, linked from the Lupo Notte contact page. The dining room seats about 110 inside, with roughly 20 more seats across two patios.
- The chef's counter. Lupo has an eight-seat counter facing the open kitchen, past the glass-walled conservatory bar at the entrance.
- Parking at Lupo. Use the Vertis Garage, operated by Metropolis Parking. Lupo validates two hours for dining guests. Take the elevator marked "Restaurants" to the first floor, then follow the sidewalk and marked crosswalk to the entrance in the open-air carport on the Vertis residential side.
- Waldo's. It works the way that corner always has: you walk in during posted hours. The chain advertises itself as group-friendly with a dog-friendly patio. Call the store at 615-729-8699 to confirm what the Green Hills patio offers.
Southern Land's grand-opening release, distributed through PR Newswire, says Lupo's design was done by the company's in-house team with Nashville firm HASTINGS Architecture. HASTINGS principal David Bailey said the courtyard expansion "adds the ambiance of a glowing lantern, inviting in residents and patrons." Residents of the building come first in that sentence, which says a lot about why a developer would want a restaurant there.
Waldo's partner program follows the same logic at a smaller scale. The owner of a fast-casual location has invested in that location and signed on its debt. At 4106 Hillsboro Circle, that owner has replaced a longtime Wendy's with a chicken spot that opens at 11 a.m. every day.
If you want to understand what changes like these mean for your own street or your home's value, Urquhart Realty Company can walk you through it. Schedule a free consultation, and bring your questions about the corners you pass every day.
