Kimbro's Pickin' Parlor is keeping its beer license after a marathon, standing-room-only hearing in Franklin that stretched roughly three and a half hours before the city's Beer Board. The board rejected both a proposed $5,000 fine and a suspension of the honky-tonk's beer permit, but it did not let the venue off the hook entirely — ordering Kimbro's and city officials to hash out a fix and report back by November 10.
The hearing centered on a stack of police complaints that painted a picture of a bar struggling to manage its crowds. According to News Channel 5 Nashville, Franklin police cited 41 calls for service tied to Kimbro's between August 2025 and August 2026, describing what officers called a heavy burden of calls for service to the bar over the past year. Those calls ranged from parking problems and welfare checks to at least one auto theft report, the station noted.
Undercover Testimony Details Drunkenness and Fights
An undercover Franklin police officer testified during the hearing that patrons at Kimbro's appeared drunk, and described incidents of urination, vomiting and fighting on scene, per the same outlet's account. Franklin police also filed two reports for alcoholic beverage law violations, though the department could not provide further details about what those two reports involved, the station reported.
The hearing also revisited fallout from a July 2024 undercover police investigation that led to three bartenders at Kimbro's being criminally charged with overserving patrons. Those cases are now resolved or in the final stages of resolution, according to the report. Kimbro's attorney told the board that no one was arrested on the night in question, the outlet noted.
Beer Board Demands a Plan, Not Just Promises
Despite the volume of complaints, the Beer Board declined to impose either penalty on the table, rejecting the $5,000 fine and rejecting suspension of Kimbro's beer license outright. Instead, the board ordered Kimbro's Pickin' Parlor and Franklin city officials to meet and work toward a solution to the underlying issues raised at the hearing.
Kimbro's has agreed to meet with the city of Franklin and separately with the Franklin Police Department to discuss the problems aired during the hearing. Possible fixes on the table include changes to business hours and additional staff training, though the exact terms of any such changes have not been finalized. The bar and city officials are expected to bring a proposed solution back to the Beer Board by November 10.
Supporters of the bar who packed the hearing said they were pleased with the board's decision to let Kimbro's keep operating without a fine or suspension, the station reported. For context, Tennessee's beer boards generally have room to levy civil penalties instead of yanking a permit — the Municipal Technical Advisory Service notes that state law allows a civil penalty of up to $2,500 per offense for violations like sales to minors, in lieu of revocation or suspension. Elsewhere in Tennessee, regulators have gone further: in 2021, the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission cited two Knoxville bars, and WBIR reported that the city's beer board suspended one bar's license for 60 days on top of a state fine.
For now, Kimbro's Pickin' Parlor remains open under its existing beer license while the bar and Franklin officials work out the details of a plan meant to satisfy the board's concerns. The November 10 deadline gives both sides roughly two months to show they can address the pattern of calls without another trip before the board turning into a harsher outcome.
