A line flows out the door of Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls and So Much More into snowy March air.
Patrons gather around a tall space heater on the patio, eagerly waiting their turn to get their hands on a delicious pastry.
When finally inside, the physical warmth is no match for the warmth that David and Kathleen Chilcote offer their customers.
If they don’t yet know your name, they’ll know it by the time you pay and well before a delicious cinnamon roll is set before you. You may even leave with a hug from the owners.
This is what the Chilcotes have offered every day they’ve been in business since 2018.
After nearly one year in a new and larger space filled with even more love, they’re looking to their next chapter: retirement.
Both David and Kathleen have lost parents in recent years; David’s mother and father passed away two years ago at 86, and a mother figure of Kathleen’s passed away recently at the same age.
Kathleen’s mother and father are now approaching that age.
“We’ve lost a lot of parents, and we’re not getting any younger,” she said on March 23.
“We kind of want to kick back and enjoy the last 20 years of our life. … We’re just following our hearts like we have been from day one.”
“My parents’ deaths and her mom’s setbacks have impacted us a lot about how much time we have left,” David said.
“Life is short and we still have things that we want to do.”
Four months ago, the Chilcotes didn’t know that they were going to make the decision to sell their business.
What started as a dream they’ve seen turn into a destination, with customers often visiting from hours away for an Ooey Gooey cinnamon roll.
The vision to make cinnamon rolls for a living came to Kathleen in a dream in 2016.
At the time, the couple lived in Naples, Fla. Kathleen was an automotive manufacturing recruiter. David was a children’s counselor and director of a home health company.
Over the next couple of months, Kathleen perfected a cinnamon roll recipe.
The couple decided to quit their jobs, sell their house, put their belongings in storage and go on a journey to find a new town that would support a cinnamon roll business.
They traveled for 60 days throughout the United States, from the Carolinas to Georgia to Kentucky.
Nashville was their last stop.
They began selling their cinnamon rolls out of their vehicle in parking lots and at local farmers markets, then they’d share their leftovers with the employees at the former Pine Room Tavern. Owner Betsy Oblack allowed them to sell the rolls there, too.
After the Pine Room closed, the couple took the opportunity to start their own shop in the Camelot Building at Van Buren and Washington streets.
The Chilcotes sell made-from-scratch lunches and breakfasts, along with other baked goods, like brownies and pies.
The caramelized apple ooey gooey cinnamon roll is the overall bestselling product. But they also offer 19 other different flavors of cinnamon rolls, from cherry chocolate to peach cobbler.
Kathleen has a degree in gourmet cooking and had experience with catering, but never had the opportunity to do a lot of baking before opening Ooey Gooey.
“Following your dream is important. This one shocked us,” David said.
“It really has been wonderful,” Kathleen said.
Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith, she added.
“When we decided to build this (space) out and move here — that was a big jump for us,” she said.
“We always said at the other little place, ‘We’re not going to expand, we’re going to stay small.’ Then all of the sudden, we opened the floodgates.”
With a small kitchen space in their first shop and a high demand in business, they found themselves needing a bigger space.
The previous owner of the Redbud Shops came to Ooey Gooey’s old location on Washington Street and watched the Chilcotes and their customers — especially those who left because they couldn’t get a seat.
He told the Chilcotes that he had a spot for them on Main Street.
“He made an offer we couldn’t refuse,” David said.
They agreed and at the end of 2021 they closed temporarily as they began the process of moving to a new location and making the renovations necessary to convert it into a café.
Complete with ample seating and two kitchens, the Chilcotes are now looking to sell both their business and the building, which they purchased last year from Robinson.
The very first week they opened in their new location, Kathleen tore her rotator cuff and has dealt with the pain every day since.
The combination of an injury, aging parents and limited time spent with family influenced the Chilcotes’ decision to sell.
“We’ve got five kids and grandkids we never see,” Kathleen said.
It wasn’t an easy decision to make, and it’s come with many tears, the couple said.
“This has been my dream, to build this out,” Kathleen said.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve built here,” David said.
Passing the torch
From their small storefront on Washington Street to their expanded location on Main Street, they put their own money into the building before they even owned it.
Kathleen said that it made sense for them to own the building, and that they had every intent of being the “full throttle people,” and staying in the business.
Now they’re looking for someone younger to take over.
“We thought it’d be nice if a younger couple could come in and go full throttle with this because it’s such a great thing for the community,” Kathleen said.
The couple has a passion to pass the torch to someone that wants to carry on the business as it is.
“They could walk right in,” Kathleen said.
“We’ve built the client base, it’s already profitable, we did the build-out — there’s nothing you need. It’s turnkey. Walk in next Sunday and you’ve got the line to the street, and you’re profitable. All you’ve got to do is for us train you and we’ll give you the recipes.”
There are things to take into consideration, too, such as training that will need to happen for new owners ahead of the busy season.
Carrying on the business of Ooey Gooey isn’t just learning how to craft a perfect cinnamon roll — there’s a bit more to it than that.
David said they hope to find a younger version of themselves willing to treat customers with genuine care — or “Ooey Gooey Love” as they call it — and make them feel like family.
The way they do what they do, the Chilcotes said, they will teach the new owners.
It’s a passion and a truth to the Chilcotes.
“We genuinely care about you, we do,” David said.
“We’re willing to teach people that ability to care. … We care about people. We just happened to bring a restaurant along.”
He said since it’s a profitable business, they hope somebody younger will come in and take the reins.
“It’s my hope that somebody sees the value and the impact (the business has),” David said.
“And the economic (value) for them. It’s a good value for somebody. If they don’t, it will be a lost value.”
“And we’re so proud of this place. And we’ve enjoyed all the people,” Kathleen said.
“It’s kind of bittersweet, but it’s time for us to move on and someone else to do it.”
Even if Ooey Gooey doesn’t sell as a business — which the Chilcotes said would be disappointing — it does mean that the rarity of restaurant space would be available for lease.
Regardless whether or not the business or building sell, the Chilcotes are planning to be done the middle of May. If it’s not sold, it will close. When all is said and done, they will sell their home and move to Florida to be closer to family there.
“It’s what we need to move on,” David said.
Making an impact
Since it opened, they’ve called their business “Ooey Gooey Church,” customers coming in and sharing stories of loss and victory.
Someone coming in for lunch by themselves following divorce proceedings, little kids coming in unable to talk to servers then opening up as time goes on — it’s not just been a business, but a place of healing and growth, the owners said.
“It’s been a blessing for us,” David said.
“It’s filled our hearts for sure,” Kathleen said.
A family of four who frequented the café moved to Colorado, the Chilcotes said, and the kids had a hard time adjusting.
When they were out west, the father of the two young kids asked if David and Kathleen would write them letters.
David said the father said, “They love you and they will listen to you. They’re having a hard time.”
“We sat down and penned letters to them that helped them out there,” David said. “And they wrote us back — it was an amazing moment. That’s what happens at Ooey Gooey.”
Another young customer came in and brought a picture she had drawn for David, depicting the two standing close to one another in a sunny field.
A drawing by Sophia, a young customer, shared with the Chilcotes. The creation has a special place in a frame at Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls and So Much More, a busines that has made an impact on customers of all ages.
Abigail Youmans | The Democrat
“It’s been fun and it’s a part of (Kathleen’s) dream, I think. To impact people’s lives and use food as the medium,” David said.
“(We had) never baked a roll in our life — I thought she was nuts.”
“He did! But I said, ‘David, this is a vision, we’re supposed to do this,’” she said.
Kathleen often found herself asking why this was a vision given to them, but she knows now it has been to help, serve and love people.
They’ve been blessed by their employees over the years too, and the crew has become a family.
“All of our employees have been spectacular. We’ve been really blessed with that,” David said.
“Customers ask all the time if it’s family run.”
They’ve captured all the comments online, good and bad. There were only two negative comments, though, David said.
All notes from customers have been shared with the staff for encouragement.
“It’s teaching them,” Kathleen said.
“Sometimes students come to (work with) us, they can hardly speak they’re so timid, like 14 or 15 years old, never worked a job. By the time they leave we’re all family.
Requirements to work at Ooey Gooey have been to love music, and love listening to Kathleen sing music off-key, she said, and to hug everyone before they leave at the end of their shift.
They also need to tolerate the couple’s differences at times.
All new hires are told, “If David says one way and Kathleen says one way, go with Kathy’s way.”
Before they open, Kathleen walks into the dining room and says to the staff, “Is everybody ready?”
“Everybody just puts on the Ooey Gooey, no matter what they dealt with the night before,” Kathleen said, which can help them in their own lives, she added.
The local community has impacted the business, too, supporting them however they’ve needed over the last five years.
“We’re thankful for the love and support of this community,” David said.
“It’s overwhelming for us to be accepted. We’re not always easy to be accepted. The acceptance in this community has been unbelievable. … It’s beautiful.”
They’ve been accepted by other businesses in town, who have often helped in times of need too.
Brown County Inn, Out of the Ordinary — they’ve given Ooey Gooey supplies when they couldn’t get them, out of their own kitchens. Ooey Gooey’s whole crew has also worked as extra help at other restaurants that needed the help.
When Ooey Gooey was short staffed, customers even came and washed dishes for six hours.
“That’s Brown County,” David said.
The impact of Ooey Gooey on the community and its customers is something the Chilcotes say they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
“Every single person, from here to Chicago, to Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee,” David said.
“Thank you.”
“Their love, their love has meant so much to us,” Kathleen said.
“We have loved every single minute.”
Ooey Gooey
Address: 146 E. Main St., Nashville
Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays; closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Facebook: @OoeyGooeyrolls.us
Website: www.ooeygooeyrolls.us for more information on catering, the menu and prices.
