Hobnob Corner Restaurant
The Sampler
Sometimes when something is a constant and abiding presence in our lives, even if it is very good and important, we tend to forget about it and, eventually, to take it for granted.
That’ s why, on a somehow starkly beautiful winter evening, I arranged a rendezvous with my wife down at The Hobnob Corner, right in the center of Nashville, at the corner of Main and Van Buren streets.
We agreed that it is a wonderful restaurant, an old favorite of ours, and a place we often send people to if they ask about a good place to eat around town.
The big white frame structure opposite the Nashville House, the Professional Building, and the courthouse, depending on how you look at it, is the oldest commercial building in the county. Constructed in 1873 by Franklin P. Taggart for a dry-goods store, it was repurposed
24 Our Brown County • Jan./ Feb. 2014 as a pharmacy by Charles Genolin, a pharmacist from Indianapolis, around 1919.
In 1925, The Miller family bought it and operated it as a pharmacy and soda fountain until 1973.
It bears the marks of its previous incarnations— the long counter and mirrored antique back bar from its heyday as a soda fountain; the shotgun dining room, with high ceilings and a bank of tall windows running along one side, looking out on Van Buren Street. The ancient rolling wooden floors, creaking with every step and the walls lined with large Frank Hohenberger prints of Brown County in an earlier time. And the food is great! The Hobnob Corner offers a delectable selection of soups, salads and sandwiches and is especially beloved locally for its outstanding breads, pastries, and Danish baked at the store daily.
The Hobnob is open every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a diverse selection of entrees including Ravioli Pesto, Chicken Mandarin, and Liver and Onions( for those who“ never get it at home”, according to the menu).
The offerings also include an old-fashioned Pot Roast sandwich that is widely admired, steak, spaghetti with Italian sausage sauce, a chicken picante, and many other delightful choices.
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