BARGERSVILLE — New businesses are coming to the town of Bargersville and people have been buzzing about two new additions to the community online for weeks.
Coffeehouse Five is Johnson County's only nonprofit coffee shop. The organization is well known in the community with two other locations in the county, the first in Greenwood and the second in downtown Franklin.
Owners Brian and Michelle Peters celebrated a grand opening today at their third location off Plummer Avenue in Bargersville.
The coffee and food served up helps support their mission to break barriers and provide free mental health and marriage counseling for people in need in the area.
"We wanted to come up with a way to provide help to people without charging for it," says Brian. "So we had this crazy idea of operating coffee shops to generate revenue."
As a "For-Benefit" coffeehouse, their net revenue funds our five initiatives which include premarital counseling, marriage counseling, addiction recovery programs, mentor training and the rest of the proceeds are dedicated to other mental health needs.
Brian says it gives him a feeling of satisfaction when he sees couples out at events in public who came to them for counseling, knowing that years later they made it as a couple. He says that he and his wife understand the importance of counseling after going through their own counseling to deal with his addiction to alcohol years back.
He originally looked to Bargersville for their first location, but they had trouble securing a space, and he says that now is a great time to join this growing community.
"Almost on a weekly basis we get requests, not just from Johnson County, but from around the state, people asking us to start a business like this in their location," says Brian. "And we are trying to meet that demand. We are sticking with Johnson County for right now, but who knows."
Some unique offerings at this third location include an outdoor patio, coffee flights and opportunity for pop-up events when pairing with other local organizations.
Coffeehouse Five is open Mondays through Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Just a few minute drive down the road from there, you can take a step off Whiteland Road and State Road 135 and step back into time.
The Knuckle Sandwich is a 50s inspired diner complete with classic cars, checkered ceilings, a jukebox and memorabilia decking out the walls of the brand new space.
The restaurant itself is familiar to folks in the community thanks to their first location off State Road 144 and State Road 37 in the Bargersville-Waverly area.
That location got demolished by the state in order to make way for the new I-69 interchange.
Owners Brent and Linda Plunkett were approached by Duke Homes about this new space off Whiteland Road and they've been working to make it their own for months.
That includes bringing in a classic car booth and hostess stand that has the community buzzing online, with many people driving by and asking when they are opening for business.
Brent tells WRTV, he did not expect that overwhelming interest and support.
"Not that much. I expected people, because we had a good following at the last location, but nothing like what we've had," says Brent. "I had been wanting to keep it a secret, but how do you keep a 57 Chevy car booth and a 65 Ford Mustang hostess stand a secret?"
The Knuckle Sandwich is known for their burgers, tenderloins, sundaes and shakes. Those popular items will be available when the Knuckle Sandwich opens to the public on February 13th.
Looking to steal a seat in that old Chevy?
That is reserved for people taking part in their eating challenge. Rules are on the restaurant walls and the scoreboard in the center of the establishment will keep track of just how many people can beat the house and grab the prize!
And if you are wondering where the name "Knuckle Sandwich" comes from, Brent says he used to ask his mom what is for dinner and she would hold up her fist and say A Knuckle Sandwich!
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