Drake’s has announced that it will open a seventh Tennessee location—as well as three more Kentucky locations and one in Missouri—in addition to its 23 existing locations. One of the new locations will be in Murfreesboro at the new Clari Park development along Roby Corlew Lane. The restaurant will offer burgers, beer, steak, sushi, salads, chili, fried pickles, buffalo chicken quesadillas and more.

The restaurant will also feature its popular boneless bites and beer of the month for $10 every Tuesday, a reward program where members can earn points per every dollar spent, complimentary birthday and anniversary desserts and more. For more information, visit drakescomeplay.com.

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Photos courtesy of Art Growden / Facebook

A new Guatemalan restaurant called Guatelinda has opened at the former Fresh Kabob restaurant at 206 N. Thompson Ln. The restaurant offers a variety of options including pepian, which is a thick Guatemalan stew made with chicken, tomatoes, chiles, sesame and pumpkin seeds, achiote and corn tortillas. Other menu options range from ponche de fruta (a warm fruit punch), carne asada, tostadas, flautas, and fried plantains to fried fish and other seafood dishes. The new restaurant is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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Mexichina has opened at the Marathon gas station on the corner of Thompson Lane and Old Fort Parkway (2206 Old Fort Pkwy.). The restaurant offers fried rice and lo mein options, birrias and other tacos, dumplings, boba drinks, chicken wings, shrimp and a variety of breakfast options. Hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

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Pickleball Kingdom has announced a new location in the Murfreesboro area in response to the demand for more local pickleball facilities. Local couple Sam and Jami Zolt, who say they both thoroughly enjoy the sport, will own the Murfreesboro franchise.

“We are excited and honored to partner with Pickleball Kingdom to bring the fastest growing sport in America to Murfreesboro, with a first-class indoor facility featuring professional grade courts. We want to create an environment where both beginners and advanced players can come and have excellent game play, along with a fun social experience,” according to a statement issued by the Zolts. The couple said they had not yet selected a location for the new business, but that the plan is for the pickleball facility to include between 13 and 16 indoor courts and to offer lessons for those less familiar with the sport.

“This expansion into Murfreesboro is a testament to the incredible growth of pickleball on a local and national level,” said Pickleball Kingdom’s CEO Ace Rodrigues. “Tennessee has been on our radar, and I’m thrilled that we’re developing this territory with the Zolts.”

A second Tennessee Pickleball Kingdom location will open in Nashville. For more information, visit pickleballkingdom.com.

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LRB Skate and Record Shop has opened at 517 W. Main St., just off of Broad in the same building as Chrome Halo Tattoo. LRB offers products from a variety of popular skate brands including 187 Killer Pads, Dogtown Skateboards and Triple 8 NYC’s certified helmets. In addition to skateboard accessories, LRB also offers new and used vinyl records and “rock ’n’ roll” items for men, women and kids.

“We also buy n’ sell, new n’ used records n’ LPs and anything rock ’n’ roll related,” according to the new shop. “LRB Skate & Record Shop is your one-stop shop for all your rockin’ ’n’ rollin’ needs.”

Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit facebook.com/lrbskateandrecordshop.

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Bigfoot and the Bee Coffee Company has secured a permanent location for its mobile coffee cafe at 5021 NW Broad St. Usual hours are from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., although since the business offers catering and mobile service as well, hours and days may vary. In addition, the company is in the process of building an espresso cart which will offer catering for corporate events, weddings and anywhere else coffee fans gather.

“When my wife and I started talking, she was on a family trip in Gatlinburg. I told her that if she sees Bigfoot tell him that he owes me back child support. One of our first few dates we took a day trip that included a visit to the Bigfoot Museum in Georgia,” according to Bigfoot and the Bee owner Anthony Smotherman. “These days, the goal from our travels is to find something Bigfoot-related and hide it in every room of our house.”

This unique coffee truck makes all of its syrups and sauces, with the majority of the ingredients being organic and sugar-free.

“Our local Bigfoot is diabetic, and we hated only having vanilla and hazelnut as sugar-free options when we went out for coffee. We were determined to not only have more options but have them taste better and less chemical as well,” according to Smotherman.

Fan favorites include Bigfoot Bourbon Maple latte, Buzzin’ Berry, which is dark chocolate with strawberry sweet cream, and PBC, a peanut butter and chocolate combination. It also serves “Yetis”—espresso, cream and various flavors blended with ice, an ode to Bigfoot’s frozen counterpart.

For more information, find Bigfoot and the Bee Coffee Co. on Facebook and Instagram.

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The Hit Lab has announced that it will move from its current Nolensville location to a new facility at 3939 Richard Reeves Dr.

The Hit Lab is a state-of-the-art baseball and softball training facility dedicated to the science of strength and conditioning. The new location will offer golf training as well. The facility will offer 9,000-square-feet of turf, six hitting tunnels, two exclusive HitTrax tunnels, one moveable pitching mound, a Trackman golf simulator, Fungoman pitching machines, monthly memberships at a discounted rate, one-on-one lessons, seasonal camps and clinics, cage and mound rentals and more.

For more information, visit thehitlabtn.com.

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Harmonized Brain Center has opened a Murfreesboro location in addition to its Thompson Lane location in Nashville, as well as four other locations in Colorado. The new facility is located at 427 N. Walnut St.

Harmonized Brain Center helps those who suffer from anxiety, depression, ADD, ADHD, PTSD, sleep disorders and other conditions by offering lens therapy sessions, which involves treatment by low-energy radio waves sent directly to the brain for bursts of just a few seconds, with treatments lasting just a few minutes. Owner Sheri Rowney and her team are certified lens practitioners and continue to collaborate with the Colorado offices, allowing for better treatment and service through education and consultation between lens providers.

During a patient’s first visit, Harmonized Brain Centers will conduct a 21-site mapping, which will provide an overview of how efficiently the brain waves are working and where there might be some irregularities, and will help provide a plan for how to move forward in future sessions. Three small sensors are then placed on the head: two on the ears and one placed on different areas of the head. A low-energy radio wave is then sent to the brain, alerting the brainwaves to new stimulation, and redirects them to return to a more normal state. Through this method, the brain begins to quiet brainwaves associated with low performance and increase those associated with optimal brain function.

The procedure is non-invasive and completely avoids electric shock therapies.

“Any form of non-drug therapy that can help people with these types of problems has to be worth investigating,” said Rowney.

For more information, call 615-331-8762 or visit harmonizedbraincenterstn.com.

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The Murfreesboro Planning Commission has looked at plans for a 14,500-square-foot grocery store located on the 2.4-acre lot behind McAlister’s Deli on Medical Center Parkway, but a grocery brand has not yet been publicly tied to the project.

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Four Sisters Antiques and Vintage opened last month at 1056 Seals Way near Park Place. Owner Dawn Goodman has experience in managing another antique mall and has since found her passion. The new antique shop offers more than 6,000 square feet of space and 64 dealers for clothing, jewelry, home décor, furniture, gifts and collectibles and more. Hours are 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, visit facebook.com/foursistersantiquesandvintage.

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Temporary Closings

Just Love Coffee Cafe, Atlas Orthopedic, LT 360, Legacy Family Dental and nearby businesses closed temporarily to work on repairs after an early-November fire erupted at Just Love. According to reports, the fire happened just before 6 a.m. on a Saturday before employees arrived and no one was injured.

“Our team is working hard to reopen the cafe as soon as possible. We are assessing the situation and making repairs so we can continue serving you your favorite coffee, breakfast and lunch offerings in a welcoming environment,” according to a statement from Just Love. “In the meantime, please enjoy our Murfreesboro East and The Fountains locations in Murfreesboro.”

For more information and updates, visit justlovecoffeecafe.com.

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M.T. Gyro continues working to open at 1733 St. Andrews Dr., at the corner of Cason Trail.

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Boro Bagel will open soon at 1520 Memorial Blvd. in the former Jimmy John’s location. Owner Patrick Doughtie confirmed that the restaurant will feature New York-style bagels with popular toppings and seasonings, and will also offer burgers, breakfast options and lunch sandwiches. The business has also announced that it is hiring cooks, kitchen staff and team members with full-time and part-time availability.

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A new Ascend Federal Credit Union location will open at 3402 S. Church St. in front of the Aldi. This will be the fifth Ascend location in Murfreesboro.

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Ferguson Enterprises, known for its appliances, bath, kitchen and lighting items and plumbing and HVAC supplies for residential and non-residential properties, has announced that it plans to construct a new warehouse and office space building on Richard Reeves Drive.

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Dr. Ron and Amy Fausnaught, owners of the local Crumbl Cookies location, have announced further details on their first Eggs Up Grill. The first Murfreesboro Eggs Up will be located in the Westlawn Pavilion on Veterans Parkway, and is expected to open during spring of 2024. Eggs Up will add 10 other locations across the Southeast. Locations in Germantown and Johnson City have already opened, with one on Lebanon Pike in Hermitage opening soon.

Eggs Up’s menu items include Hash Benedict with potatoes, onions and spices; made-to-order omelets, grilled blueberry muffins, shrimp and grits, burgers, salads and a variety of coffee beverages, juices and mimosas.

Entrepreneur magazine ranked the brand as the number-one breakfast franchise in its Franchise 500, with the average annual unit volume for 2022 exceeding $1.1 million. For more information, visit eggsupgrill.com.

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Food Drive

Woods Air Movement and Alpyne Strategy have teamed up on a food drive to combat hunger in Middle Tennessee this holiday season. The food drive will run until Dec. 20 and will support the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Those dropping off food may do so at Woods Air Movement’s office located at 3930 Richard Reeves Dr. and Alpyne Strategy’s office at 1500 Medical Center Pkwy. Food accepted includes all non-perishable food items with the most needed being peanut butter, canned meat including chicken and tuna, canned fruit and vegetables, soups and stews, pasta and cereal. Those who donate are automatically entered into a contest to win two tickets to “Nashville’s Nutcracker” at TPAC.

All donations will go towards Rutherford County food banks with the goal of helping as many families as possible. Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee has been combating hunger and addressing food insecurity for over 45 years. For more information, visit secondharvestmidtn.org, woodsairmovement.com and alpynestrategy.com.

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Andy Brunelle and Amanda Conklin have announced the addition of Lauren N. Bowers as an associate attorney at Brunelle | Conklin.

Bowers will focus on criminal defense. A Middle Tennessee native who has lived in the Murfreesboro area since 1999, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Anthropology from Middle Tennessee State University and later earned her Juris Doctorate from Belmont University College of Law.

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After 12 years in business, Sauce has announced that the pizza and pasta business will currently only offer food by delivery. This comes after the business announced that it wasn’t doing too well in sales after a combination of the impact of the COVID years, rising rent costs, and issues with DoorDash and Ubereats scams.

Sauce did mention via its Facebook page that it will not yet announce permanent closure due to the hope that it can still make a turnaround or open a Murfreesboro location.

“Given our 12+ years of history together, Sauce was awarded a generous grace period by its landlords during the last few months of closure. No matter how slight, there was always a chance to reopen. That window of opportunity—officially—has closed,” according to the statement.

“The goal for Sauce remains the same as it has been since we closed unexpectedly: to reopen ASAP on the south side of Murfreesboro, and this time, do it bigger and better.”

For details and updates, visit facebook.com/sauceboro.

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CLOSINGS

Juicy’s Wellness Cafe on Medical Center Parkway recently announced its closure, but also confirmed that the McMinnville Juicy’s location will remain open. The decision didn’t come easily for owner Mary Beth, and fans of the cafe have expressed their feelings and appreciation via the business’ Facebook page.

“It is with a heavy heart and many tears that we announce the closure of Juicy’s Wellness Cafe of Murfreesboro. We want to take a moment to express our sincerest gratitude for your unwavering support and love throughout the years. Juicy’s has been more than just a cafe to us; it has been a community hub where health-conscious like-minded people have come together to nourish their bodies and uplift their spirits. We are immensely grateful for the memories, laughter, and connections made within these vibrant walls. As one door closes, another opens, presenting new opportunities for growth and transformation.”

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Cultivate Coworking announced that its shared office space at 107 W. Lytle St. will close permanently on Dec. 22 after nine years serving downtown Murfreesboro. Those who currently work from the space will be allowed to use the building up until its set end date.

“If you would like to move your business, mailing address and coworking space, Square Wheels, a local coworking space, is offering a transition or permanent spot for our Cultivate family. You can find them at 112 S. Maple St.,” Cultivate Coworking posted on its website, encouraging those who used its space to migrate over to another local business in the area.

For more information on Square Wheels, call 206-701-4123 or email josh@sqwheels.com.

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After a little over two years at the location, the New Salem pOpshelf announced that it has closed. This recent closure comes just after the Murfreesboro Road location in Franklin closed unexpectedly.

However, according to the pOpshelf location’s manager, the former pOpshelf store will convert into a Dollar General (which is pOpshelf’s parent company). The Avenue pOpshelf location still remains.

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Desi Hangout – Chaats & Ice Creams has closed, after only a few months in operation at its Medical Center Parkway location. According to management from the nearby Ugadi Indian Grill, which ran Desi Hangout as a partner restaurant that focused on Indian street food, Desi Hangout “got good support” but the team is focused on opening a new Ugadi Indian Grill location in Nolensville and expects both the Murfreesboro and Nolensville Ugadi restaurants to serve all items from the Desi Hangout menu.