A few new coffee shops have plans for Murfreesboro.
Morning Brew offers the normal coffee shop stuff plus smoothies, biscuits, muffins and baked goods.
It’s located at 405 N. Front St. in Murfreesboro and has daily specials on specialty drinks.
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Murfreesboro coffee roaster Florida Coffee Works (named for owner Jeremy Florida, not the state) is in operation and roasting beans. It can be found at MOAB, Batey Farms, Hamery and other area retailers. Find out more at facebook.com/floridacoffeeworks.
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While it’s not quite coffee, tea is a good alternative if you’ve got the caffeine shakes. And Murfreesboro’s Public Square has a spot to try out.
Music City Tea opened at the beginning of August.
Owner Jenny Zhong relocated her shop, where she sells almost 100 different teas and blends, along with traditional tea accessories, from Franklin.
Zhong hopes to introduce Murfreesboro to the health benefits of tea and the culture behind it by hosting tea ceremonies.
She’s open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday at 105 N. Maple St.
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Another local brew had big news.
Panther Creek Brews announced it will be canning Panther Scratch, its hoppy brown IPA, for wider distribution. Panther Scratch is now available in the ’Boro at Murfreesboro Wine and Spirits, Old Fort Liquor and Wine, Media Rerun, Liquid Smoke and Jack Brown’s.
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Brewmaster Derrick Morse announced via Facebook that Life Is Brewing is moving some of its production and taproom to Murfreesboro.
“The entire LIB team decided to move our sour beer production to Hop Springs to consolidate our efforts into the new Murfreesboro location. This means we’ll be closing the Mantra taproom in conjunction with moving all sour beer production to Hop Springs,” Morse said.
Now all Mantra Artisan Ales and LIB’s sour beers will be made at Hop Springs.
“MTSU and the fermentation science program have been and will continue to be a huge part of Life is Brewing,” Morse said.
Its former location at 216 Noah Dr. in Franklin will be taken over by Mill Creek Brewing.
“We’ve always had a good relationship and when it came time to find a solution, we reached out to the Mill Creek folks. Chris Goings and his team came in and it was a quick and easy decision to have the other Williamson County production brewery take over the space,” Morse said.
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It’s not beer but, CBD sure is relaxing.
And Half Hill Farm, owned and operated by Christian Grantham and Vince Oropesa, opened the third location of their Wellness Emporium in Murfreesboro where they sell kombucha, extracts and CBD.
Half Hill Farm makes and bottles kombucha, botanical extracts, apple cider vinegar tonics, tinctures, teas and more from its production facility on High Street in Woodbury. In addition to the new location is 2136 Middle Tennessee Blvd., Grantham and Oropesa operate emporiums in Jackson, Woodbury and Bell Buckle.
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Murfreesboro has crabs.
And that isn’t the only seafood option, either.
In addition to Crab Fever, Bubba Gandy and a handful of other seafood joints, two new ones have jumped into the deep end.
Seafood Sensation has officially opened at 123 S.E. Broad St. Owner Ronald Matthews said that he wants to give Murfreesboro “everything South Beach mixed with what Nashville has to offer.”
I’m sold. When are we going?
Red Crab will take over the restaurant formerly known as Logan’s at 740 N.W. Broad St. The Florida-based chain serves up seafood and lets the customer choose the seasoning and spice level. No opening date has been announced.
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Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar plans to open Sept. 9 at 2243 Medical Center Pkwy. The upscale bar will feature burgers with house-made sauces. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
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Don’t feel like cooking but don’t feel like going out either? You can put down Uber Eats and swing by The Full Plate, which offers heat-and-eat family meals beginning in mid-September.
Owner Rachel Anderson Wheat will continue to offer her cakes and cookies, but will add a to-go menu to her new store front at 1800 S. Rutherford Blvd., Suite 102.
She said the meals will be fresh, never frozen and posted weekly to her Facebook page.
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Other foodie items of note:
• Slick Pig is coming to Smyrna. The new location will open in early September at 1303 Plaza Dr. in Smyrna.
• An odd handwritten sign appeared at Chicago Gyro on Broad Street. It says “Taqueria and Gyros.” Somebody check it out and report back.
• The Blackman community will be getting a new grocery store soon. According to plans filed with the Murfreesboro Planning Commission, an unnamed grocery store is proposed for the Westlawn development on Veterans Parkway near Interstate 840.
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If you want to get the food from the store but not actually go into the store, Kroger has an option in Kroger Pickup service (formerly known as ClickList), which will be added to the 1622 Middle Tennessee Blvd. store as it gets remodeled. For a $4.99 fee, the Kroger team will collect your groceries for you and bring them to your car; the service fee is waived for your first three orders.
As reported last month, Kroger finally admitted it wasn’t going to build a new store in the former Rose’s department store location on Mercury Boulevard. Instead, the grocery store chain has decided to spruce up its old building, calling it “a minor remodel.”
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Smyrna Ready Mix announced it will relocate from Nashville and build a new headquarters on West Jefferson Pike off Interstate 840 in Smyrna.
The six-story building will house about 250 employees out of the 2,000 Smyrna Ready Mix employs across nine states.
The commercial development will be called Cornerstone at Smyrna. In addition to the 60,000-square-foot headquarters, it will boost commercial space for restaurants and retailers along with a 150-acre rock quarry on the north side of the property (which I’m sure the neighbors are very happy about).
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REOX Automotive has rebranded as Doctor Boltz Automotive Clinic. The Sapienza family owned Doctor Boltz Automotive Clinic in Hermosa Beach, California, for decades starting in 1983, as well as their Motorsport company, Doctor Boltz Motorsports. Doctor Boltz participated in numerous racing events with its ’98 VW VR6 Yellow Beetle.
But all good things do come to an end. The family decided to close their doors after 25 years. REOX owner Jojo Sapienza then moved to Middle Tennessee in 2012 and opened his own shop.
Now he wants to continue the family tradition and has renamed REOX, to Doctor Boltz Automotive Clinic. Still located at 1602 Bradyville Pk. in Murfreesboro, Sapienza will continue to offer quality European vehicle service to the local community.
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Two new national names have opened in the ’Boro.
Sportsman’s Warehouse opened to business in late August at 468 N. Thompson Lane. Located in The Oaks shopping center (the old H.H. Gregg), the store offers quality brand-name hunting, shooting sports, fishing, camping, apparel and footwear merchandise.
The new Sportsman’s store is more than 30,000 square feet and has a selection of more than 60,000 items for region-specific activities; also enjoy fun seminars, special events, instructional classes and discounts at the new store.
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If you would rather hunt for decorations, the new HomeGoods is finally open at 484 N. Thompson Ln. (also in The Oaks). At HomeGoods, shoppers can find an ever-changing selection of furniture, rugs and décor.
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Closing Corner
On Aug. 22, Pizza Inn posted a simple message that saddened pizza lovers across Murfreesboro.
“I regret to inform you, Murfreesboro. We no longer can keep the doors open. Thank you for your support. We will be open today and that’s it,” it said.
Guess I’ll have to find another pizza buffet for lunch.
I wasn’t so sad to see that the White Castle in the Marathon gas station at the corner of Thompson and Old Fort has closed. The space is available to rent.
Party Fowl, which has occupied a Broad Street restaurant space that many locals label “cursed” for the past couple of years, announced that it will close its Murfreesboro store. Sept. 8 will be the hot chicken restaurant’s last day of operation. Owner Austin Smith hinted that a new Party Fowl should come soon to a neighboring county.
I could go into the insanity around Murfreesboro Little Theatre being forced out of its historic building, but I’m almost out of space. Just know for now that Walnut House has stepped up to offer a place for MLT productions and other projects that used the building.
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