We may be landlocked, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need a boatload of seafood restaurants.
Smyrna has one that getting ready to make landfall.
Juicy Seafood is set to occupy the old Shoney’s restaurant at 267 N. Lowry St. in Smyrna.
According to its website, Juicy Seafood, which has a location in Hermitage, serves Louisiana-style fare.
Joining the party, Murfreesboro will soon be home to Seafood Sensation, which is slated to open in August. The restaurant will be located at 123 S.E. Broad St., former home of The Block restaurant. The Murfreesboro shop will be the third in Middle Tennessee for Seafood Sensation, which offers dishes like conch fritters, lobster tails, giant crab legs, salmon, crab fingers, gator bites, and a good old-fashioned crawfish boil.
Don’t like seafood? The old Bobo Chinese restaurant now houses a new concept, Acapulco Burrito. Located at 1312 N.W. Broad St., this is the third spot for the authentic Mexican mini-chain. Acapulco Burrito also has locations in Donelson and Antioch. The menu offers typical Tex-Mex dishes along with items like menudo, pupusas, tortas, mole and beef caldo.
Another family chain (this one out of Georgia, Alabama and southern Tennessee) plans to open a new store in Murfreesboro. With plans to open by the end of the year, a new Las Trojas Cantina serves “authentic Mexican dishes,” a company spokesperson said. The 10,501-square-foot restaurant will be built off Medical Center Parkway between the Holiday Inn and Marriott Hotel.
Set to open sometime this summer, Smash Bowl hopes to capitalize on Murfreesboro’s health-conscious community. The restaurant serves a “combination of organic, exotic superfoods that is packed with nutrition,” owner Mike Westcott said.
If you aren’t into healthy eating, Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar has an alternative for you. The menu offers a dozen different burger options with a variety of toppings as well as wings, salads, nachos and sliders. The upscale bar and grill is set to open in late summer at 2243 Medical Center Pkwy.
After you finish your burger, you’ll be able to walk next door to the new Krispy Kreme at 2231 Medical Center Pkwy. After more than a year of waiting, the doughnut joint opened June 4 to the people of Murfreesboro. Keep your eye out of the “Hot and Ready” sign, the restaurant will be serving your favorite 16 Krispy Kreme flavors and specialty coffees.
Nashville’s Red Bicycle Coffee & Crepes recently announced plans to add a Murfreesboro location to its spots in Germantown, The Nations and Woodbine. The cafe is renovating 2,000-square-feet in the shopping center at 1733 St. Andrews Drive. The shop could be opened by August. According to its website, Red Bicycle offers high-end roasted coffee, a variety of both savory and sweet crepes and sandwiches.
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Fountains at Gateway Announces New Jewelry Store
Kneucraft Fine Jewelry & Design has leased a 1,484-square-foot retail space on the ground floor of One Fountain Plaza at Fountains at Gateway. Kneucraft is a family owned and operated custom jewelry store that designs and hand-makes bridal, special-occasion and casual jewelry as well as high-end, one-of-a-kind pieces. The store also carries upscale watch lines.
Kneucraft has been in operation for 28 years in upstate New York, in the city of Plattsburgh. Owners Shawn and Kimberly Kneussle and their son and head jeweler Ryan Kneussle are relocating the business to Murfreesboro. The build-out of Kneucraft Fine Jewelry & Design is underway and slated to open in mid-June. Kneucraft is known for its old-school hand fabrication which includes hand carving and the creation of wax models, a proven tradition that guarantees accuracy down to finite detail. The jeweler also uses the latest CAD design technology, which pinpoints accuracy and balance in the design. Visit kneucraft.com for more information.
The Fountains also got its coffee shop when a Just Love Coffee location opened in early May. Just Love Coffee Café serves a full menu of its specialty drip coffee, traditional espresso, cold brews, and signature lattes as well as a wide range of breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees, sandwiches, salads and sweets.
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Moving Around
A few downtown businesses have found new homes or expanded the ones they already had.
ReVintaged Lemon has moved across downtown. The sophisticated farmhouse decor shop closed up its little yellow house on North Walnut Street and moved into the former location of Moxie Art Supply. ReVintaged Lemon is now at 302 W. Vine St. in Murfreesboro.
Garage Barre vacated its storefront on the west side of the Square for new digs on the east side. The fitness studio is now located in the spot at the Vine and Church intersection last occupied by Smotherman Antiques.
While it’s not moving, Woodsviking Barber Shop is expanding. Perhaps the manliest barber in town, Woodsviking is taking over the space next to them, former home of Two-Tone Tattoos.
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Looking for a Job?
Murfreesboro Tech Council recently launched a local job board in support of its community jobs initiative. The job board allows applicants to create a résumé profile and search for available jobs in Murfreesboro and allows Murfreesboro business owners create a business profile and to post open positions on the board free of charge as long as they are a member of the Tech Council. Creating a profile on the website will link to the business owner’s website creating an external link (which aids the company’s SEO.)
To sign up for membership and to use this free business tool go to murfreesborotechnology.com and register. Support is available from the MTC Team at info@murfreesborotechnology.com.
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Hop Springs Grand Opening
Murfreesboro now officially has a new beer park, now that Hop Springs celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting Thursday, May 23, at the venue’s operations just off John Bragg Highway.
Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron, venue founder and co-owner Mark Jones, MTSU fermentation science program director Tony Johnston and others proclaimed Hop Springs, which had a soft opening in late December, officially open. The crowd then ventured outside for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The event included music, food and beverages, and tours of the new analytical and fermentation science labs in Hop Springs’ building space.
The MTSU degree program, which recently graduated its first class, has gained interest from prospective students from all across the country. The recent grads had internships with Yoplait yogurt, Hop Springs and other companies. Fermentation science has had its first graduating class of six students, all of whom are now working in the industry.
Jones, an MTSU School of Agriculture alumnus, and business partner Derrick Morse opened their venture and partnered with MTSU to provide lab space in the large facility that features soon-to-open Steel Barrel Brewery.
In addition to numerous craft beers, customers can purchase a craft root beer and extremely popular MTSU chocolate milk along with a menu of food items. To learn more, visit hopspringstn.com or call 615-628-8776.
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Other Stuff
While it can’t be named at this time, plans for a new “major retailer” were approved for a store at The Avenue. Blake Nelson, senior vice president of CMH Architects Inc., The Avenue’s architect, said the store can often be found in “high-end centers.”
The new store will be located in the existing building next to Talbots, which will be expanded to accommodate the retailer.
Upscale Male Spa & Skincare Center has replaced cucumbers with bourbon and opened on Church Street. The men’s grooming center offers haircuts, waxing and manscaping, skincare and massage.
I’d like to congratulate Sole Collections for its third anniversary. Catering to sneaker culture, the store buys, sells and consigns sneakers from its location on Vine Street in downtown Murfreesboro.
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Closing Corner
National retailer Dressbarn is closing all 650 of its stores. The company’s chief financial officer, Steven Taylor, said Dressbarn has not been operating at an “acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment.”
The women’s clothing chain has been around for nearly 60 years and employs about 6,800 people.
