A longtime downtown Franklin staple is returning with a new menu and a new location.
Historic Don and Dona’s Restaurant is planning to move into the space where Triple Play BBQ is currently at the Pavilion at Franklin on Jefferson Street.
Along with the well-known restaurant, a handmade craft and retail store in Nineveh, Hoosier Heritage Craft, is adding a second location in the building, and Shale Creek, a brewery that’s been open in the building for about two years, is adding a kitchen and will begin serving food.
The decision was made after Don and Dona’s owners Kathy Barnaby and Chris Nix approached Fred Paris, who owns Triple Play and the Pavilion, looking for space in the building. Paris offered the space Triple Play had been in and decided to close the barbecue restaurant. Triple Play is closing.
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Paris had not planned to keep the restaurant open long-term, and had only opened it because he wanted visitors to Shale Creek to have a place to eat, he said. He also found that downtown Franklin was lacking a barbecue restaurant, he said.
But with construction on Jefferson Street that closed the street for months and the learning curve of opening and running a restaurant, Triple Play lost money and Paris was subsidizing the restaurant by selling his own real estate investments, he said. Still, Paris had not planned on closing yet, and was working on a new menu when the owners of Don and Dona’s approached him, he said.
Two other potential tenants had approached Paris in past months about moving into the space, but when he heard from Barnaby and Nix, he knew this was the right choice, he said.
“I was after something that would be here and last a long time,” Paris said.
For Don and Dona’s, the location gives them a chance to continue serving Franklin, Barnaby said. The restaurant has continued serving its well-known biscuits and gravy through a delivery service.
“We never left downtown, just the name left, not the spirit,” Barnaby said.
Don and Dona’s closed in 2014 after being open for nearly 30 years at its former location in another building on Jefferson Street. The restaurant had been closed for about a month for renovations and façade work, and the owners at the time decided not to reopen.
Now, diners can expect many of their old menu favorites, including the biscuits and gravy, along with some new additions. The owners are working on a menu rebrand and finalizing what they will offer in the coming weeks, Barnaby said.
The goal is for both Don and Dona’s and the kitchen at Shale Creek to open in early March. The exact date hasn’t been decided yet.
Paris had hoped to be able to close Triple Play and then have Don and Dona’s open, but first, part of the restaurant is being redecorated and the kitchen is undergoing a partial remodel, he said.
In the meantime, Don and Dona’s will offer carryout of its biscuits and gravy on Saturday mornings starting this weekend, from 8 a.m. until around noon or when they run out, Barnaby said. And customers will also get a sneak peek of what Hoosier Heritage Craft will offer, including bath and body items that are all organic, owner Jacquie Hayes said.
Shale Creek will continue offering its custom beers while kitchen work is ongoing.
And the event venue inside the Pavilion, which operates as its own business, will continue hosting events as planned. An event planner is also being hired to help better promote the venue, Paris said. The space, which includes a retractable roof, is unique in Franklin and the area, Paris said.
