Cape Coral’s largest nightlife destination has been sold and will operate under new ownership.
Dixie Roadhouse, long owned and operated by husband-and-wife duo David Townsend and Lynn Pippenger, has been purchased by Robert and Anita Taft.
The sale was closed Wednesday.
The Tafts discovered the Dixie was up for sale through a mutual connection in a former employee of Townsend and Pippenger: Mike McCaffery.
But first, a brief history lesson.
Previously working in the Chicagoland area, Townsend and Pippenger met in 1999 when she walked into Townsend’s Boogie Nights venue in Lombard, Illinois as his new general manager.
Her operational excellence complemented Townsend’s creative vision, which was further enhanced as she was instrumental in the concept design, opening, and operating of their two newest and largest nightclubs: The Bamboo Rooms in Schaumburg and Lombard, Illinois, according to a provided history.
The pair’s relationship gradually evolved into something deeper. After dating for a few years, they welcomed a son together in 2006, joining Lynn’s two children from a previous marriage to create a blended family that would ultimately reshape their business priorities.
“Lynn brought something to the businesses that I didn’t even know I was missing,” Townsend said. “She could see the operational details in the clubs that made the difference between a good night and a great night for our patrons. More importantly, she understood that our business was really about creating outstanding experiences for people — and that started with how we treated our own team.”
In 2010, the pair decided it was time to take on a new project and start a fresh chapter in their lives. After years of combing through different markets and scouring many locations, they found what they were looking for in Cape Coral — a nightclub building, vacant for five years, that spoke to their vision.
“We weren’t just looking for a building,” Pippenger said. “We were looking for a community where we could put down roots, raise our son, and build something that would last.”
Six months of intensive design, construction, and planning later, Dixie Roadhouse opened its doors on Sept. 23, 2011.
Townsend added, “Dixie Roadhouse wasn’t just our business. It became our life. Our staff became family. For 14 years, our home was a one-minute drive from the club, with our son’s elementary school conveniently located between the two. We had finally settled down.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Townsend, then 65 and now 70, found himself asking questions he’d never had time to consider during five decades of non-stop nightlife. What did the next chapter look like? How do you transition from an identity so intertwined with after-dark energy and constant motion into retirement?
“The pandemic gave us permission to think about what we really wanted,” Pippenger said. “We’d accomplished everything we set out to do. Our son was thriving. The business was successful. Maybe it was time to let someone else carry the torch.”
In early 2025, they made the decision that the Dixie would be put up for sale.
While the duo received much interest from all over the country, a blast from the past put the perfect pieces in place, they said.
Among Townsend’s and Pippenger’s most valued employees in the Chicagoland area was bartender McCaffery. Described as loyal, smart, energetic and hardworking — McCaffery embodied everything they looked for in team members. So much so that they had moved him among locations over the years as they opened new venues, using his ethics and expertise to train others in their operational philosophy.
They wanted all of their newest team members to always “Be like Mike.”
Over the years, McCaffery was promoted to bar manager and filled in as a general manager at various properties. His last assignment was at Saddle Up in Aurora, where Townsend and Pippenger once were, but left due to the partnership disputes. McCaffery remained, becoming part of that venue’s ongoing legacy.
In 2020, the Tafts purchased the closed Saddle Up building from Spaghetti Warehouse during the pandemic. Along with the real estate, they inherited the Saddle Up concept that Townsend and Pippenger had created — and relationships with staff members like McCaffery.
When McCaffery learned about Dixie Roadhouse being for sale, he told Robert and Anita about Townsend and Pippenger, about their track record, and about their venue for sale in Cape Coral.
“The moment they walked into Dixie Roadhouse, you could see the recognition in their eyes,” Pippenger recalls. “It was almost identical to what they’d been successfully operating in Chicago for five years. The layout, the music, the atmosphere — it was like they’d found a sister location.”
The Tafts fell in love with Cape Coral and Southwest Florida, and envision not just operating Dixie Roadhouse, but making the Southwest Florida area their home base for future growth of even more nightlife concepts.
They currently own six other locations in the Chicago area, plus have one more under development and another one being built from the ground up. A letter of intent was signed and Wednesday’s closing made it official.
Robert and Anita Taft aren’t just buying Dixie Roadhouse, they’re relocating McCaffery to Cape Coral to serve as its new managing partner.
“You couldn’t write a better ending,” Pippenger said. “Mike knows our concept. Our standards are already ingrained in him. He knows what makes this place special. Our team — our extended family — will be in the hands of someone who helped to create the culture that we’re so proud of.”
McCaffery said, “It’s surreal. I started as a bartender learning their systems. Now I’m being asked to preserve and grow their legacy. It’s the ultimate vote of confidence.”
Townsend said, “This isn’t just about selling a business. It’s about ensuring that something we’ve poured our hearts into continues to serve its intended purpose — bringing people together, creating memories, and supporting the Cape Coral community.”
The Tafts plan to immediately add an expansive patio and later a rooftop bar to Dixie Roadhouse.
“We’re not disappearing,” Pippenger said. “This new leadership and their vision for the future will elevate Dixie Roadhouse to the next level. We’re incredibly excited to watch from the sidelines as Robert, Anita, and Mike introduce significant enhancements to Dixie Roadhouse for our staff, customers, and the community.”
The lights at Dixie Roadhouse will stay illuminated, the line-dance music will continue to play, and the community will continue to come out for a good time. Now, it will all happen under new ownership, connected to the past through relationships that span decades and are bound together by a shared commitment to excellence and constant improvement.
“If you’d told me 30 years ago that Mike McCaffery would someday end up as a partner in a club that we had built in Florida because new owners had fallen in love with our last Chicagoland concept, I never would have believed it,” Townsend said. “But that’s the beauty of this business — and this life. The best stories are the ones you never see coming.”
Dixie Roadhouse is at 1023 S.E. 47th Terrace. More information.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com