On this eve of Veterans' Day, a Tallahassee Navy vet and his family are embarking on a new enterprise. The new "Ground Ops Roastery and Bakehouse is set to open within weeks at one of the city's major intersections. Here is the family that's launching the new business.
"Shannon C. Smith, and Chris Smith."
Oh, and there's one more familial part of the team.
"My son Connor will be roasting all the coffee," remarked Chris Smith.
And the name of this fine establishment will be, "Ground Ops Roastery and Bakehouse" with the obvious question being, where the heck did THAT name come from?
"Well, it's a combination," explained Chris. "We love coffee and we'll be roasting our own coffee in-house. So the ground coffee. Plus my time in the military and law enforcement, which is the 'ops'side of it. The name was from my son's wife Amber. She came up with that: 'GroundOps.'"
Chris Smith was in the U.S. Navy from 1986 until 1990 and then joined the Leon County Sheriff's Department. But he also loved baking for friends and family. His homemade cinnamon rolls were highly acclaimed. So after retiring from the Sheriff's Office, he began planning a new career based on his culinary skills.
"When you find something you like, you make it and then you kind of keep going with it. And that's what we've done with the cinnamon roll. So not only the original roll, but many different flavors to go with the sweet, including s'mores, peanut butter and chocolate, lemon-blueberry and along with that, the savory side of the roll, so we do the bacon, egg and cheese roll, sausage, meatball...."
Chris Smith said the site of the new Ground Ops Roastery and Bakehouse" is at a place often referred to as "The Point."
"The actual location is going to be 810 Thomasville Road, where Thomasville Road meets Monroe Street.
Shannon Smith said remodeling is well underway. The eatery will offer both inside and outside dining with the patio being pet friendly.
"We're also going to make sure that the inside feels like a home-away-from-home for people. We want everyone to feel like family when they walk in the door and we want to create that vibe for people to be there and have meetings or study as you're enjoying your coffee and food."
A grand opening is planned within a month or two. And in the meantime, she says future customers can even suggest menu items.
"We're aiming for December. If not, then early January of 2023. You can follow us on Instagram: 'groundopstlh' and just let us know what you're interested in, because we want to know what you're going to want when the shop opens."
It'll be the latest home-grown establishment in Tallahassee's growing Midtown district.
