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The wait is over. Nolensville's Uncle Bud's Catfish Shack opens its doors today.
It took owner Craig Dever and Jay Smith a month and a half to get the building that housed Martin's BBQ Joint redone as Uncle Bud's. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
"We're ecstatic to be opening," says Dever. And from what he's heard from customers at their mobile kitchen that's been serving out front, people are just as ecstatic as he is.
"We've had all kinds of questions," he says. Most often people want to know when the restaurant will be open." And then they tell an Uncle BUd's story of their own."
The original Uncle Bud's, Buddy Rogers, started selling catfish and fixins in the Grasslands community of Franklin in 1980.
He moved the growing business to the spot on Hwy 96 that a lot of people remember. He sold it in 1989 to a group of investors who sold to Morris Dever, who added five more locations around the state. Dever sold in 1995 to late restauranteur Dave Wachtel. Under him, the business grew to about 15 or so restaurants. Wachtel died in 2001 and eventually all the Uncle Bud's locations closed.
In 2006, Craig Dever (yes, Morris' son) and Jay Smith registered the Uncle Bud's trademark that expired and opened their first restaurant in Tullahoma, Tenn. Dever had worked at the Hwy 96 restaurant as a teenager, never expecting he'd grow up into the restaurant business after college.
But Dever and Smith, best friends since their school days at Ezell Harding, had been working on a business idea for a while. Why Tullahoma? Well, they could buy land there. The restaurant is still doing well. In 2008, they opened a Hendersonville location, which wasn't as great an experience. They closed it just after Christmas, because, honestly, it had been operating in the red for months.
Now, their focus is on Nolensville's new fast-casual restaurant and on catering. Dever's baby is the restaurant. Smith's baby is catering.
Speaking of babies, Dever's wife is due to have their second child next week and Smith and his wife have an 8-month-old. Could life be any crazier for these two?
Be nice to them on opening day, chances are they'll have been there since 3 a.m. working on last-minute details.
"We're passionate about great food and service," says Smith. The menu includes the favoriates, such as catfish, chicken, hush puppies, and adds salads and po-boys. "Customers were asking for them," says Dever.
In the fast-casual restaurant, customers order their food at the counter, get settled and their order is brought to their table. "You get your food faster and a little lower-priced than at the regular sit-down restaurants," says Dever.
By the way, the restaurant is still hiring cooks, dining room attendants and cashiers.
Save me some hush puppies!
Contact Nolensville resident Vicky Travis at
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