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Talk of the Town




Chubb’s owner Wyane Holloway stands outside the newly renovated and repainted restaurant Monday, which is located on West Franklin Street in downtown Gallatin. JOSH CROSS

Chubb’s owner Wyane Holloway stands outside the newly renovated and repainted restaurant Monday, which is located on West Franklin Street in downtown Gallatin. JOSH CROSS

One of downtown Gallatin’s most popular restaurants has a new look that is hard to miss.

Chubb’s, located at 122 West Franklin St., reopened Saturday to celebrate two years in business following a week-long building renovation and repainting project. The work coincided with the unveiling of a new food and drink menu along with other changes aimed at appealing more towards families.

“When I first opened this place, I just kind of wanted to create a place for friends to watch football, gather and drink a few beers,” owner Wayne Holloway said. “Now, we’re kind of softening that approach a little bit and appealing more to families than we currently have been.

“This should be a place where you can come on a Friday night with your kids and let them go play games while you sit there and have a nice drink or dinner and get away for a few minutes.”

The restaurant, which dropped sports bar from its name, has added several items to its menu including new appetizers, flatbreads and a deep-fried Philly cheesesteak. Returning favorites include the most popular hamburgers, pulled pork nachos, brisket sandwich, ribs, bologna sandwich and the club.

The menu’s largest burger, the Chubzilla, has also been replaced by the even bigger Chubby, which includes three grilled cheeses, two burger patties, brisket, Canadian bacon, onion rings, egg, lettuce, tomato, pickle and four slices of cheese.

“When you unveil something that is really, really large you want somebody to give up before they eat it all,” Holloway said. “When I would see people order (the Chubzilla) they would always finish it. Nothing is impressive about finishing a burger, so we had to fix that. I want the burger to beat you.”

Other changes at the restaurant include the addition of several arcade machines, a revamped music offering and various clothing items for sale. New outdoor seating on the building’s second-floor balcony is expected to be available in the coming weeks.

Of all the changes, the building’s new color scheme of red, yellow and orange has received the most reaction on social media. Some of the comments posted on Facebook in response to a picture of the restaurant’s exterior have called the look “hideous” and done “in very poor taste.”

“Terrible color and eyesore now,” one person wrote. “Should have left it alone!”

While the Chubb’s building is part of the National Register of Historic Places District, which covers most of downtown Gallatin, the designation does not restrict what color property owners can paint their buildings, according to Jillian Ogden with the city’s planning department. Therefore, no approval was needed from the city before the restaurant was repainted.

Holloway said that red and yellow colors were chosen to honor the building’s history as a former city fire station and that orange “just kind of looks good with it.” He hopes that pictures of the restaurant will be shared on social media and generate more interest in downtown Gallatin.

“I just wanted a place on the square that was kind of like a landmark that people wanted to come take pictures with,” Holloway said. “I’ve heard some people have mixed emotions about the colors, but I think it will really draw people here.

“This will bring some attention to the square that I love, the city that I love and word will start traveling and Gallatin will benefit from that.”

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