Are you looking for a hot cup of flavored coffee? How about smoked brisket with all the fixings? Or are you wanting to add another tattoo to your collection?
Look no further than Gnaw Bone. Since August, at least three new businesses have joined this unincorporated community just east of Nashville: Gnaw Bone Coffee, Sugar Creek BBQ Co. and the Heartland Tattoo Co.
They join several others already in business, including an apartment complex, plumbing company, bakery, tourist cabin rental headquarters, storage units, gas station, winery, distillery, campground and flea markets, just to name a few.
Growing up baking
Gnaw Bone Coffee opened in August. It’s one of the first stops on the left on State Road 46 East as you’re coming into Gnaw Bone from Nashville. Cecil and Joy Martin bought the building in 2014 and worked on renovations off and on until it was ready to open.
Joy works in the shop full-time; Cecil works in Columbus. She had quit her job at Cummins to take care of her elderly father, who lived with her family for seven years. “We thought about doing something together. He and my mom once had a bake shop back in the ’50s, so I kind of grew up baking things,” she said.
“I remember saying, ‘Dad, you should have sold coffee. Who doesn’t like coffee and a roll together?’”
Martin took that idea and ran with it. “He (my father) didn’t live to see it, but he’s here with me,” she said.
Her father’s 20-quart mixer, which he used in his bake shop, is now used in this shop.
The Martins decided to open in Gnaw Bone because it’s close to the couple’s home and Martin thought the building was “cute” with potential. “It was on a main road. I just thought it had a good feeling about it,” she said.
Despite a slow winter season that extended into the spring, Martin said business is picking up as the days get warmer. “I am hopeful. I was open in the fall and that was pretty good,” she said.
Gnaw Bone Coffee makes its “Gnaw Buns” from scratch in the shop, in iced cinnamon or caramel pecan flavors. “Sometimes I have others. I have had a peach cobbler-type roll and an apple dumping. Those take a little more time,” she said.
Martin uses coffee from Brown County Coffee company to make regular, espresso and flavored coffee drinks, served hot or cold. The shop also sells teas, hot or cold, including tea lattes.
The mocha salted caramel latte is a popular choice, along with chai tea lattes. Other special coffee flavors include white chocolate raspberry, chocolate raspberry, hazelnut and hazelnut with vanilla. The shop has French syrups customers can choose from, too.
“Even though it’s not fall, pumpkin (spice) is pretty popular,” she said.
She also sells sugar-free coffees, including vanilla, chocolate and caramel flavors. “They taste just as good as the regular,” she said.
Breakfast and lunch are also sold at Gnaw Bone Coffee. First responders and veterans get a 15 percent discount.
For breakfast, customers have options like a sausage-egg-and-cheese casserole or biscuits and gravy. For lunch, the menu changes; soups, grilled chicken wraps, grilled cheese and chili cheese dogs have been served before.
“All of our breads are house-made. It makes every item that has the bread in it that much more yummy,” Martin said.
Gnaw Bone Coffee also sells aprons handmade by a Brown County resident and secondhand items that Martin’s sister picks out. She also displays and sells paintings made by her nephew, Nicholai Shaver, an Indianapolis artist.
If veterans give Martin a photo of themselves in their uniforms, she will hang it in her “Heroes Corner” and that person will get a free cup of coffee. Her father, sister, brother-in-law and nephew are all veterans.
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Gnaw Bone Coffee” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Address: 4040 State Road 46 East, Nashville (Gnaw Bone)
Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; closed Sundays and Mondays
Facebook: @Gnawbonecoffee
[sc:pullout-text-end]Fast-casual BBQ
Down the road from Gnaw Bone Coffee on State Road 46 East is Sugar Creek BBQ Co., across the street from Forest Hills Apartments.
The smell of smoked meats fills the air and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” serenades customers during lunch rush hour. The walls are decked with metal signs blessing America, emergency responders and veterans. A “Farm to Fork” sign hangs under the television and American flags can be spotted throughout the restaurant.
Chris Johns and David Johns own Sugar Creek BBQ Co. The father-and-son duo opened Feb. 22. Chris was on a competition barbecue team before his team decided to venture into catering.
“We were kind of joking around about getting a building. We were looking around and this building just happened to be perfect,” Chris said. “We thought we would jump in and get it.”
David retired as a computer programmer and Chris quit his job as a quality engineer when Sugar Creek BBQ Co. was born.
“We kind of walked into this one here a little blind, but we’re learning. We’re learning something new every day,” Chris said.
Chris describes Sugar Creek BBQ Co. as “fast-casual dining” that serves traditional smoked meats that are smoked daily. The restaurant also serves “homestyle specials” daily, including a meatloaf dinner or a catfish dinner on Friday nights.
“We’re not fast food, but we are fresh food as fast as we can,” Chris said. “It’s a friendly, family atmosphere.”
Pork and brisket are the popular dishes at Sugar Creek.
Because the meats are smoked daily, there may be some days when they run out of brisket or pork.
“Some people don’t understand that, but that’s what we try to explain to them: We’re not McDonald’s; we’re not pulling it out of the freezer and frying it,” he said.
The Johns are from Johnson County, but Chris remembers visiting the area as a kid. “I remember coming to Gnaw Bone because of flea markets and everything. (State Road) 46 (East) would be backed up,” he said.
The Johnses spoke with other Gnaw Bone businesses when they were deciding whether or not to open here. “They were all talking about rejuvenating Gnaw Bone. It kind of felt like a little niche we could get into and be part of the rebirth of the town here, try to offer something for locals,” he said.
Sugar Creek BBQ Co. offers a 15 percent discount to military members, police officers or firefighters. The Johns have veterans, firefighters and police officers in their family.
“Down here, you can be more of a family-oriented business. Some days you might see my kids in here working or something. Like in Johnson County, Franklin and all of the cities, they are starting to be a lot more hustle and bustle, more commercial stuff there. It’s a better fit (in Gnaw Bone) for what we’re trying to do,” Chris said.
Despite the weather and some learning curves, Chris said business has been pretty steady.
“We struggled at the beginning because we didn’t know the restaurant business. Everybody said the food was great, but service wasn’t. We made changes and got new servers,” he said.
“For the most part, everybody is happy, and we have some regulars who come in now.”
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Sugar Creek BBQ Co.” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Address: 4359 State Road 46 East Nashville (Gnaw Bone)
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays; closed on Mondays and Tuesdays
Facebook: Sugar Creek Barbeque Co.
Website: sugarcreekbbqco.com for more information on menu and catering
[sc:pullout-text-end]Different kind of art
Next door to Sugar Creek BBQ Co. is Heartland Tattoo Co. Two signs greet you as you enter the double doors: “No whining” and “Cash only.” Inside, you’ll hear classic rock and the sound of a tattoo gun working away.
Midday on a Wednesday, Amy Hodge was getting her second tattoo from owner Tim Rupp. Rupp and manager/artist Bob Martin have been friends for more than 30 years and have 60 years combined experience in tattooing thousands of images.
“I got him into tattooing after I got into it,” Rupp said.
“I’ve been tatted ever since,” Martin added.
Rupp was drawing a watercolor wolf on Hodge’s arm. It’s her fourth tattoo overall.
“I love wolves. I also have a husky that is kind of like a wolf, he’s a beautiful dog,” she said.
Martin and Rupp were both tattooing out of a shop in Bloomington when the owners of that building decided to sell. “We decided to get out of dodge while the gettin’ was good,” Martin said.
Rupp started working in the Bloomington shop after he moved to Bean Blossom to live in an 85-year-old cabin from Indianapolis.
“I always knew, when I had the opportunity, I was going to come down here and live,” Rupp said. “I just had all my ducks in a row and was able to buy my property.”
The duo was unable to find a space to open in Nashville. They looked to Gnaw Bone, and started talking with the owners of House of Thunder Motorcycle Outfitters, which is next door to Heartland Tattoo Company. It just happened that House of Thunder was looking for a tenant.
“Then we just walked in. They answered our prayers and we answered their prayers,” Rupp said.
“The stars were lined up just right,” Martin added.
The shop is set up as a hangout as well as a business. Not far from Rupp’s tattooing station is a pool table, and musical instruments sit in a corner. Both men play music, and customers will even pick up an instrument to play, Martin said. The men also have their motorcycles on display in the store.
Their plan is to offer some of the shop space to other artists to sell their work on consignment, like candle makers and painters, Rupp said.
Rupp attended the Herron School of Art and Design and is a painter.
“I used to be a paint contractor and hired this guy to work for me that was tattooing at his house. This was back in the day before tattooing is what it is now,” Rupp said.
“I never meant to be a tattoo artist. I never set out to ever dream I would ever be one. It just found me.”
Rupp and Martin say they love tattooing because it’s the most personal kind of artwork. Rupp called it “spiritual.”
“For the rest of her (Hodge’s) life, she’s going to have a piece of me with her. Even if she had it removed, it would still do pigment damage to the skin where she would know I was there,” Rupp said.
“I could sell her a painting, and the next thing you know, 10 years from now, it doesn’t match with the couch and she would sell it in the garage sale.
“We’re touching and talking. It doesn’t matter if it’s a guy or a girl, it’s an intimate thing. It makes it a way cooler art form than to paint a canvas.”
“That’s the neat thing about it,” Martin added. “You put something on somebody that’s going to be there for the rest of their life.”
During this extended winter, business has been slow, but they hope that as more locals learn the shop exists and the weather warms, business will pick up.
Rupp said people should come to their shop because it is the only one in the county and they have a lot of experience.
“We’re not moody youngsters,” Rupp said.
“Just being nice to people goes a long way sometimes,” Martin added.
“We just try to give our customers exactly what they want,” Rupp said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”The Heartland Tattoo Co.” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Address: 4413 State Road 46 East Nashville (Gnaw Bone)
Hours: Noon to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; closed on Mondays and Tuesdays
Facebook: The Heartland Tattoo Co.
Website: heartlandtattooco.com for more information on designs and artists
[sc:pullout-text-end]Also in the neighborhood
Gnaw Bone Wilderness Cabins also opened within the past year on State Road 46 East in Gnaw Bone. The company builds and rents small cabins on trailers to people who want to camp in more comfortable conditions than in a tent.
The cabins are delivered and picked up at different campsites in the county for an additional fee.
Visitors can rent cabins starting at $60 a night or $360 for one week, according to the website GnawBoneCabins.com. Cabins are also available for purchase.
Next door to Gnaw Bone Wilderness Cabins is the Gnaw Bone Bakery and Country Store, which, for decades, was the Gnaw Bone Sorghum Mill. That store sells baked goods, jelly, jams, Gnaw Bone T-shirts and sweatshirts, cedar furniture and other goods made by local artists. The business was featured in a June 2017 story in the Brown County Democrat.
