Nashville Restaurant Says Business Has Doubled Since Being Sued By Neighbor Who Calls BBQ Smell A “Nuisance”

Your feel-good story of the day. Over the past few months, the Nashville community has been coming together in a big way to support a local BBQ restaurant that’s being sued by one of their neighbors . Natalie Castillo moved into the home next to Roy’s Meat Service in East Nashville after relocating from California two years ago. But apparently she didn’t do her research, because Roy Meat Service has been grilling up meat in the neighborhood for the past 9 years. So long story short, the neighbor isn’t happy, and filed a lawsuit against the local business, alleging among other things that part of a concrete slab at the restaurant encroaches a foot over onto her property and that the smoke from the constant grilling is a nuisance. Castillo says in the complaint that the constant smoking of ribs, chicken and pork affect her “ability to enjoy her property as well as negatively affects her health.” I mean, what do you really expect when you move next to a restaurant that serves smoked meats? If you ask me that just adds to the enjoyment of the property, getting to smell smoked meats all day. Well Castillo filed the lawsuit a couple of months ago, but since then the community has come out in overwhelming support of the small business. A GoFundMe started a couple of months ago to support Roy’s Meat Service has already raised over $40,000 for owner Jeff Roy in his ongoing legal battle, which according to the organizer has included 46 complaints to city and state agencies about the business. “To date, Jeff has spent more than $20,000 on costs of excessive renovations based on the complaints, and legal fees to cover representation in the pending lawsuit. This has been a nightmare for Jeff and Christie. The lawsuit against RMS has not only become a financial burden to the Roy family, but has inflicted extreme emotional distress.” The fundraiser calls Roy’s Meat Service “a pillar of the community,” and donations are still coming in months after the campaign kicked off. “The Roy Family has been an essential asset to the East Nashville community for generations. Jeff’s grandfather was an iceman in the neighborhood in the 1940s and his uncle was the milkman. Jeff’s father ran a store on Main Street, and like his father, Jeff is doing the same and carrying on the family legacy of serving the community. Jeff and his Wife, Christie, opened Roy Meat Service in 2015. RMS is a convenience store, butcher shop, restaurant, and community gathering spot all in one. RMS is one of the only truly “local” spots left in the growing community of East Nashville. However despite all of this, Jeff has found himself and his business in peril.” But not only has the community been donating, they've been showing up to eat some of that delicious nuisance BBQ. During a recent interview with The Tennessean , Jeff Roy revealed that business has doubled since the Nashville community began to rally behind the local business:

"I'm doing twice as much. If she'd have just left it alone, there'd have been a lot less smoke, a lot less people coming in and out, a lot less cars parked in front of her house."

You love to see it. Roy says that initially he was negotiating with the neighbor to address her concerns, but that she has since stopped responding - so he's just going to let the court handle it: "There's no reason for me to change in any way, so I'm not gonna do it." Amen. The parties are due back in court on May 24 to discuss a motion filed by the neighbor's lawyer to pause the case for four months due to scheduling issues. But in the meantime, Roy has had to expand his capacity to keep up with the demand from the community that clearly isn't happy about the attack on a local business: "Now I have to have two smokers to keep up with the demand." As Roy said, be careful what you wish for...