Margot Cafe & Bar
Margot Cafe & Bar is a French-inspired, farm-to-table 40-seat neighborhood restaurant in East Nashville's Five Points, founded by Chef Margot McCormack in 2001. Revenue comes from dine-in service, intimate cooking classes, and branded merchandise. Operations are scheduled to conclude on June 5, 2026.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersNashville, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Margot Cafe & Bar does
Margot Cafe & Bar is a French-inspired neighborhood restaurant located at 1017 Woodland Street in East Nashville's Five Points district, founded by chef Margot McCormack on June 5, 2001. The 40-seat establishment occupies a converted 1930s Fluty's service station and serves a daily-changing menu built around locally sourced, seasonal ingredients prepared with French technique and Southern sensibility. The restaurant operates as a single-location independent, with dine-in service as the primary offering supplemented by an intimate cooking class program ($100 per student, capped at 5 per session) and a branded merchandise e-commerce storefront priced between $20 and $50. Headcount is approximately 8 employees, with a lean leadership team comprising Chef-Owner McCormack (CIA-trained, four-time James Beard Best Chef Southeast Semifinalist) and Executive Chef Hadley Long (L'academie de Cuisine). The business is privately held with no venture capital, private equity, or institutional investment, and no parent company or subsidiaries.
The restaurant has built a 25-year reputation in the Nashville dining scene, earning six consecutive Nashville Scene Best Restaurant awards (2005-2010), four James Beard Best Chef Southeast Semifinalist nominations for McCormack (2008, 2009, 2013, 2018), and a Springer Mountain Farms Celebrate the Chef Award (2017). Distribution is entirely domestic: a single physical dining room with a covered brick patio and pet-friendly open-air area, supported by an email newsletter signup and organic social presence. Pricing for the dining menu is not publicly disclosed; cooking classes are priced at $100 per session and merchandise is unit-priced between $20 and $50.
On November 12, 2025, McCormack publicly announced that June 5, 2026 will be the restaurant's last day of service, ending a 25-year run that survived 9/11, the 2008 recession, the Nashville floods, a tornado, and COVID-19. The business is now in active wind-down, with cooking classes sold out and the website displaying a closure notice that invites private-event inquiries during the transition period. There is no disclosed succession plan, no buyer, and no brand-licensing or franchise strategy indicated.
Margot Cafe & Bar firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Margot Cafe & Bar
- Legal name
- Margot Cafe & Bar
- Website
- https://margotcafe.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Margot Cafe & Bar is a French-inspired, farm-to-table 40-seat neighborhood restaurant in East Nashville's Five Points, founded by Chef Margot McCormack in 2001. Revenue comes from dine-in service, intimate cooking classes, and branded merchandise. Operations are scheduled to conclude on June 5, 2026.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Margot Cafe & Bar industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Casual Dining Restaurant
- NAICS
- Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (722410)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Independent Neighborhood Cafes (THAFADAC)
Keywords
Where Margot Cafe & Bar is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nashville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Margot Cafe & Bar business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Restaurant dining: Traditional dine-in restaurant service offering French-inspired cuisine with southern influences. The menu changes daily and focuses on locally sourced products, seasonal ingredients, freshness, and simplicity.
- Cooking classes: Intimate cooking classes with Margot McCormack at $100 per student per class. Classes are limited to 5 students and include welcome snack, main course paired with wine, and dessert.
- Merchandise sales: Sale of branded merchandise including apparel (t-shirts, hoodies), accessories (market bags, aprons, hats), with prices ranging from $20-$50.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Cooking class per session |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Branded merchandise |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
Margot Cafe & Bar product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Margot Cafe & Bar operates a French-inspired Southern neighborhood restaurant in East Nashville serving a daily-changing menu built around locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, complemented by in-person cooking classes with Chef Margot McCormack and a branded apparel and accessories merchandise shop. The restaurant seats approximately 40 guests across indoor dining rooms, a covered brick patio, and a pet-friendly open-air area.
Product overview
Margot Cafe & Bar is a French-inspired Southern restaurant located in East Nashville offering a single, unified dining experience centered on a daily-changing menu focused on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. The restaurant operates a companion cooking class program taught by Chef Margot McCormack (currently sold out) and sells branded merchandise including apparel (t-shirts, hoodies), accessories (hats, aprons, market bags), all available through the company's Squarespace-based online shop. The restaurant closed its doors on June 5, 2025 after 25 years of operation, with June 5, 2026 announced as the final day of service.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Cooking Classes with Margot
Companies that use Margot Cafe & Bar
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Margot Cafe & Bar technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Margot Cafe & Bar partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Margot Cafe & Bar competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Husk Nashville: Chef Sean Brock's Nashville outpost of Husk, a Southern-rooted, ingredient-driven restaurant with national reputation. Comparable as a marquee chef-led, locally anchored Southern restaurant in Nashville.
- Bastion: Tiny, reservation-only Wedgewood-Houston Nashville restaurant from chef Trevor Moran with an intimate format. Comparable to Margot as a small-footprint, chef-owner-driven, hard-to-reserve Nashville restaurant.
- Josephine: Chef-owners Jonathan and Julie Waxman's intimate 12th South Nashville restaurant featuring seasonal American cuisine. Comparable as a chef-owned, small-format, neighborhood Nashville restaurant with strong culinary identity.
- City House: Nashville neighborhood restaurant known for chef-driven, ingredient-focused Southern-Italian fare. Comparable as a chef-owned, single-location, neighborhood-anchored Nashville dining destination.
- Marché Artisan Foods: East Nashville European-inspired cafe and market where Margot's executive chef Hadley Long trained as an extern. Closely comparable as a neighborhood-scale, chef-influenced European-leaning Nashville concept.
- The Catbird Seat: Nashville chef-driven tasting-menu restaurant with an intimate counter-seating format and daily-changing menu. Directly comparable to Margot's chef-owner model, small footprint, and emphasis on seasonal, locally sourced cuisine.
- Rolf and Daughters: Chef-owned Nashville Italian-influenced neighborhood restaurant with strong critical reputation. Comparable as a chef-led, single-location, neighborhood-anchored Nashville restaurant focused on craft execution.
- Henrietta Red: Julia Sullivan-led, chef-driven Germantown Nashville restaurant focused on seasonal, ingredient-forward cuisine. Comparable as a critically acclaimed, chef-owned Nashville restaurant with national press attention.
- Adele's: Jonathan Waxman's Nashville restaurant serving seasonally driven American cuisine in The Gulch. Comparable as a nationally recognized chef's neighborhood restaurant operation in Nashville.
Regional players
- Pinewood Social: Larger-scale, multi-concept Nashville dining and gathering destination operated by M Street Entertainment. Comparable as a Nashville independent restaurant group with multiple revenue streams under one roof, though significantly larger than Margot.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Margot Cafe & Bar social profiles
Digital presenceMargot Cafe & Bar financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Margot Cafe & Bar leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Margot Cafe & Bar funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Margot Cafe & Bar M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Margot Cafe & Bar
What does Margot Cafe & Bar do?
Margot Cafe & Bar operates a French-inspired Southern neighborhood restaurant in East Nashville serving a daily-changing menu built around locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, complemented by in-person cooking classes with Chef Margot McCormack and a branded apparel and accessories merchandise shop. The restaurant seats approximately 40 guests across indoor dining rooms, a covered brick patio, and a pet-friendly open-air area.
Is Margot Cafe & Bar a public or private company?
Margot Cafe & Bar is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Margot Cafe & Bar founded?
Margot Cafe & Bar was founded in 2001. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Margot Cafe & Bar based?
Margot Cafe & Bar is headquartered in Nashville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Margot Cafe & Bar make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Restaurant dining is the primary driver. The others are cooking classes and merchandise sales.
Who are Margot Cafe & Bar's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Husk Nashville, Bastion, Josephine, City House, Marché Artisan Foods, The Catbird Seat, Rolf and Daughters, Henrietta Red and Adele's. Pinewood Social is listed as a regional player.
Does Margot Cafe & Bar have an API?
No public API is recorded for Margot Cafe & Bar.
What industry is Margot Cafe & Bar in?
Margot Cafe & Bar's product category is Casual Dining Restaurant. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFADAC, Independent Neighborhood Cafes. Its NAICS code is 722511 and its SIC code is 5810.