Kahlil Arnold

00:00Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, a podcast for and about the people of the Nashville restaurant scene. Now here's your host, the CEO of New Light Hospitality Solutions, Brandon Styll. Hello Music City and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll and I am your host and we got a great show for you today, ladies and gentlemen. Our guest is going to be Khalil Arnold, the owner of Arnold's Country Kitchen on 8th Avenue downtown Nashville and we're gonna talk about it all today. We're gonna talk about how he's doing, how he feels about this whole pandemic, what he's been doing, talk about our local government and he even makes a proclamation at the very end that I think you'll want to hear. First we're gonna talk about local businesses, local small owned business. I continue to talk about supporting locally owned and today I'm going to talk about one of our own. We're gonna talk about Gifford's Bacon which is a Prime South Meats as the company and they produce Gifford's Bacon and Gifford's Smoked Bologna which is the only place you can get these is at the best restaurants in Nashville until now. We're talking about the pandemic, things you have to do to to make it and pivot and they are opening up to the general public for now. You can go online and order Gifford's Bacon for the first time. You should do it. Go to NashvilleRestaurantRadio.com. On the home page, you just scroll down right there.

01:34There's a Gifford's Bacon page. Click the get bacon now button and help them out. Support local guys. Get out there and support your local businesses. This show is also sponsored by Springer Mountain Farms. We implore you to go to SpringerMountainFarms.com and join the block. Get out there and put your email address in. They will send you really cool emails every week, not all the time, every week. Let you know all about the cool things that are going on with what farms they're using, cool weekly recipes. That's at SpringerMountainFarms.com. Thank you guys for listening today. We are premiering YouTube videos all week long this week. If you go to our website, click the watch button. You'll be able to see all of the different videos we have. A bunch of little snippets from the interviews that I've got put out so far. It's not all hour long, 45 minute long videos. Some four, five, six minute videos that are kind of the cool parts of individual interviews. Hopefully you'll dig that. We'll always put up segments from our weekly show on Friday, The Roundup. That will be coming out Friday again with Delia Jo Ramsey. Be prepared for a brand new What's the Delia segment coming out. Subscribe. Go to our YouTube channel. Subscribe to that channel and you will get those videos immediately when you click that you like those notifications. Thanks for listening everybody and I hope that you enjoy this interview. Kalil, how are you doing today, man? Great to see you, brother. Glad you came in, man.

03:02Super excited. We've been trying to get this together. Yes, yes. You know we just been in limbo. It feels like the past few months trying to figure out, you know, keep your head above water, trying to figure out what to do next. It's kind of just, it's been a wild ride. Has something been going on? Well, let's see here. First started off in Nashville with the tornado. Luckily we were fortunate enough not to be, you know, fall, fall, yeah, we're hit. Definitely weren't hit by it, but there were several friends over in East Nashville that were. We used to be donated a bunch of food to a bunch of different causes over there for that. Glad to help out. I mean that's what Nashville does. They help each other. So but right now, man, it's just trying to figure out what to do to keep business going. So that's my next question is like, how are you doing? Like are you, are you, not necessarily business-wise, but I think that anybody who's alive right now, especially in this business, has been through some traumatic experiences. Like the question of how are you is something that I'm asking people is typically a greeting. Hey, how are you? But right now I think that question itself is so powerful. Like, what are you doing, man? The first is a huge exhale. Like, well, let me tell you, because it's like, I mean, you know, you see, you see your, something, your family tradition and your lifestyle kind of crumbling before your eyes. It's like, my dad started this in 1983. You know, Nashville has always been, you know, it was, at that time, it was a lunch spot. So everybody would come into town at that time and then go home. And then you evolved to the 90s, early 2000s, where it's been, you know, more, we've come more of a destination spot, you know, us, Nashville in general. And it just seems like it's been, you know, it was, business was thriving. And then we were fortunate enough, about ten years ago, we bought the property because the business was thriving, everything was going great. And then, you know, and we're a tourist spot. And then, you know, Nashville's great. And then now it's like, you don't know what's going on. I mean, it's like, day to day,

05:02first, you know, you have to shut down your, you have to shut down the inside. So we started doing to go business, which, you know, we started off really slow and then it got better and better. And then now it's, and then now you're trying to adapt. And then now it's to where you have people coming in, but your business is still down 80%. So it's like, you know, how we're doing is this, there's, with that, it's just, to answer that question, it's like lost, almost. You feel lost. You feel like you don't know what to do next. You want to, you know, you don't want to get your customers who have been your bread and butter, who don't want to put them in jeopardy. But then you have to be able to stay open to pay the bills. And it's like, so it's like, that's just a loaded question. It's like, how are you doing now? It's like, I don't really know. I just, I want to survive, but I don't know how to survive. So there's no right or wrong answer to that question. I think there's just a genuine, that's how you're doing, man. You don't, we're, my head is above water. I'm treading water like crazy. I'm trying to stay afloat. That's a totally legitimate and okay answer, 100%. So you said business been around since 1983. Tourist people come here. What is it that makes Arnold's so, like everybody, I had an interview with a guy named Howie Kahn. He's a James Beard award-winning writer. He lives in New York and I got done with the article, the interview, and I said, can't wait till next time you come in Nashville, man, let's get you guys to have lunch. He goes, I want to go to one place if I come Nashville and it's Arnold's. What is it about Arnold's that has that draw? You know, I think there's so much that makes Arnold's what Arnold's is. You know, number one, I think it's the customers that you see, that you see a walk of life of all the Nashvilleans at Arnold's. You know, you see anybody from judges to people that work at the homeless shelter, to politicians. It's a melting pot. Well, and you see a lot of music industry people. I mean, it is a melting pot of Nashville and I think that's first off and foremost and I think that, you know, we try to treat everybody like family when they come here and I think that's a huge draw to, you know, I've worked in restaurants and that was something my

07:04dad always said to me. It's like, son, you know, you got to make them feel like family, you know, and that's something I've always tried to do and so I think that's also, you know, a part of it. It's like, it's, and then my dad always says, son, you can work at a restaurant and you might not have the best service but always remember that the food is one of the foremost things. So food and service are the two things that make a restaurant a restaurant and that's something we've always tried to strive. So we get local produce, we get local poultry, we get, you know, we try to serve the best product we can, something that we're proud of, and then we also make sure we make everybody make them feel like family. I mean, you know, it's like our food isn't, you know, it isn't the prettiest food you're ever gonna have but it's gonna taste damn good and we're gonna make you feel like family every time you walk in the door. Speaking of that, there's Phyllis. Phyllis, how are you doing? And I think that's what it's all about, you know. I think it's, you feel like you're you're at home with family, you know. And you're always here. Yeah, yeah, that's gotta be, always be here. I met you I think in 2005. Yeah. And I ever met you on, I'm sure for my brother, only two people, we've been in the same circle for a long time but really on the dock at Ernest Williams. Yeah, I remember that. Because I used to be creation gardens on the dock every morning at like six o'clock in the morning. I'm talking to Scotty and Justin and we're there. I'm picking up produce and you were always there picking out produce. Oh yeah, I would go, my dad always said, you know, you need to go pick out your produce and he would always go there. Every morning he would get to work at five in the morning and he would go to the farmers market. He would go to the to the produce places like, you know, creation gardens and Mid-South produce and places like that. And we used to be Ernest Williams. He would go and pick out his produce. He would make sure that he was serving the best product, you know, and that's something that has kind of been installed in me. It's like you want to serve the best. You need to go out and do it. You need to put the extra legwork in. Make sure that you're getting your customers the best produce. And you're picking out the produce and then now you're in the building. You're greeting people. You're kind of, you know,

09:06like the mayor to a degree of this place. To a degree, I think you have to be. I think people, I mean, people like to feel, people like to feel welcomed. I mean, in here, I think that's huge. Everybody, I mean, I appreciate people spending their time a day to come see me. The least I can do is go out and greet them. Yeah. You know, I mean, they're taking the time out of their day to come see us. The least I can do is give them the respect of their time. So I know that a lot of people come in here and they love to see you. They love to say hi to you and your mom, Rose. Yeah. They love to come in here. The food is great. Like you just mentioned that family atmosphere. When you're ordered by the government to close down, COVID-19 is here, and you're asked to close your restaurant doors, when you're used to seeing people on a regular basis, what did that do to your psyche having to close and not see people for that long? It totally, what it did to my psyche, I mean, to be honest, it sucked the life out of me. Yeah. You know, I mean, I fed, it's like I feed off people's positive energy. I feed off people's energy. I mean, whether it be positive or negative, you know, I feel like I can, I want to go out there and I want to not only make sure the food is good, I want to see how they're doing. And that to me builds me up every day. And without that for a long time, it just, I would go home and I would just sit there and just look at TV and just be like something is missing in my life. And it was, it was not seeing my customers, not seeing people how they're doing, not, not feeding off that energy. Yeah. And it just, I mean, it was just, it was dismal. It was, it was just, I mean, you know, knowing that, knowing that not only they couldn't come in because they closed this, knowing that how they were doing, hopefully they're not getting sick like John Prine. I mean, what, what happened to him? It was just like, you know, that was a customer that was here. That was just, to me, he was a normal customer because John Prine came in here, you know, a couple times a week.

10:59We always knew he had meatloaf. He's the nicest person to everybody. People would come over and I was like, Oh, don't bother him. You know, but I mean, John, John loved it. He would welcome it. You know, he was, he was the essential of Nashville. It was the essential of Nashville, the quintessential of Nashville, quintessential of Arnold's. That's everybody is, no matter who you were, no matter, you know, being, being just above and beyond, you know, normalness, I guess, it's a star who he was, he would still greet everybody and still had to take his time to talk to everybody. And I think that's what it's just the love of just being just, just a nice person and, and not thinking that, Hey, I'm this big, you know, music star. I, why are you coming over and talking to me? It's like John Prine is the quintessential of Nashville. It's always approachable, always willing to listen and just, just a nice person. And I, that's what I think Nashville's about. So you've had a lot of people like that over the years. I had Jim Myers on the show early, right in the middle of the pandemic. I don't know if he let the cat out of the bag on the show or if it was after, I don't know if I should say anything, I don't know, but I'm sure it's knowledge. He's writing a book.

12:08He's writing a cookbook and it's pretty awesome. Yes, about Arnold's, about the history, about the family, about the customers. Got a lot of customers in there. And I think that's what it's about. It's kind of just a more book. It's a cookbook, but it's, it's more about just Nashville and just kind of like a history of us, but also a history of, of, of what Nashville is and just, you know, I mean, it's going to be amazing. He's got everything from a quote from, I don't want to let out, but he's got a cool quote from Dolly Parton, you know. Oh yeah. Dolly. What was that like? What happens when a Dolly Parton walks into Arnold's? Does the whole room just stop? So Dolly gets a lot of her family to pick up her food. Okay. If Dolly's only been in a couple of times and when it was, it was going to like, everybody's just like, you know, it was one of the coolest experiences ever. We shot this little segment with Dolly several years ago and everybody that it was at the end of the day and everybody was told that Dolly Parton was coming. It was the coolest thing ever. So Dolly come in, we, we cooked some chicken and I made her, she loves chicken livers, cooked her chicken livers and the people could stay if they wanted to meet her. Well, this one woman, her daughter name was Jolene and she was from Kentucky. She'd never been to Nashville before. She was like, she was like, Oh my God. She's like, I stayed and waited. My daughter, I named her after your song, Jolene. And it was the coolest experience because Dolly came over and she was like, Oh my gosh, really? Dolly came over and sang a couple of lines from the song, Jolene. The whole place was just like, I mean, it was just like, I was just like, Oh my God, I think I cried. I was just like, you know, Dolly Parton, here she is. One of the gracious people on the face of the planet. Not only came over to thank everybody herself for staying, she came over and she sang the little girls, Jolene, a couple of verses. And I was just like, this to me, it's what Nashville is. This to me is what the energy that I love, the energy that it's like, this is amazing. I mean, it's like, you couldn't make this, so you couldn't get it. You

14:10couldn't make it in a movie any better than what, than what happened, you know? And to me, that's what Jim is trying to capture in the book. And, and that's what we try to capture in Arnold's. It's like, you know, we appreciate your time and we want to show you that we're, it should be an amazing experience here and in Nashville in general. A hundred percent. And that's, I was going to say, do you have a story, something that, I think you just nailed it. I think that's it right there. I mean, that to me is what Nashville's about. And that to me is what makes Nashville special and what makes Arnold's special. You never know who's going to be there. And not only that, we appreciate no matter who you are, where you are in life or what you are, we want to make you feel special, you know? Because everybody, you don't know what kind of day anybody's had, you know? So we try to be understanding of that. You know, I've mentioned this in my podcast several times that the most important role, I think, in a restaurant is the host or hostess because they have that initial greeting. I've always said you have no idea if somebody just left a funeral, if they just had to put their dog down, if they just won the lottery. You have no idea where they're at when they walk in the door and just a smile, a friendly greeting can change somebody's entire outlook on their day.

15:17And I think in the hospitality industry, we feed off of that. We do feed off that. And without that, I feel like I've just been lost. I mean, you know, I mean, there's customers that I've come over to that this one kid, I saw him a few times and I didn't realize that he'd been going to Vanderbilt and they drove out from Chattanooga. And I went over there and I remember he asked me for my autograph. So I saw you on TV. Can I get your autograph? And I'll never forget it. I was like, I was like, and his family told me everything that he'd been through. And before he left, I was like, you know, I want your autograph because what you have been through in your lifetime is way beyond what I've ever thought I could experience. And I was like, to me, you're my idol. You know, here you are. You know, he's like 13 years old, wanted to cook. He was just such a great kid. And I was like, it's like you feed off that energy. It's like this is it. And I think that that's what running a restaurant and it's part of it. You know, those experiences. So that's, I just love hearing stuff like that. That's one of the, that's the thing. And I want to ask you about some other things that are not as fun about being in the restaurant business, but that's, I think that's what one of the questions I'd like to ask people is what sucks you out of the sheets in the morning? What's the thing that drives you to get up and do this every single day? And I think you just encapsulated it.

16:31This is the love, the love you receive from the people, the love you get from seeing somebody eat your food and just, I mean, it's just, it's everything. And that's, that's what it's about. It's like to see what you can do to food. But the main thing is to see the people at the table and to see what you've done for their day. Well, I love the culture of the melting pot of people there. And you can walk into Arnold's any time of day and you will, there's, there's no class of any kind of, there's not like a certain class of people that eat. It is everybody, it is the quintessential, everybody is welcome to eat here. I love it. You are, I think the fifth or sixth James Beard award-winning person to come on Nashville Restaurant Radio. Hey. Tell me about, tell me about that experience. What, tell me about winning a James Beard award. You know, that was crazy because at the time it was like, what, that was like 2010, I want to say. I think it was 2010, 2012. And when they called, we didn't know exactly what it was. It was like, this is, you know, this is blah, blah, blah from New York. You know, we're going to talk to you about, you know, you won a James Beard award for American Classics. And I was, you know, I was still green under the collar and I was like, you know, we were the first place to win in Tennessee. And I was like, at James Beard, I was like, do you, do you, so you're telling me you need me to come up there and cook something?

17:48She started laughing and she was like, no, no, no, that means you come up here and receive an award. And I was like, oh, okay. And then I looked it up and I was like, you know, oh, oh my gosh, this is like winning an Oscar in the culinary industry. Oh yeah. And since then, I mean, it's amazing. It's, they work great. My dad went up and my mom both got treated like royalty. And in the food industry, you're recognized and it's like people, oh, you won a beard award. I want to aspire one day to wearing a beard award like you. And at the time I was like, what? And I was like, all I do is get up in the morning and do what I love. And to me, it was like to win, to, I guess, to see my dad, to get the recognition, I guess that for doing what he loved, you know, and seeing that it was to me, it was just like, I mean, there was no better, just gratitude, just respect that he finally, finally got for doing. I mean, this is a mom and pop meeting three, you know, this isn't, this isn't like the French laundry. This isn't like places like that, that, you know, have Michelin stars. This is just a guy who wanted to serve good food, wanted to make people happy and to receive kind of the Oscar of the food industry and the James Beard award. It was, you know, just felt grateful and just amazed all at the same time that he, you know, he did that before he died.

19:15I wanted to get to talk to you about your dad a little bit. If it's, tell me about your dad. Like, what was he like? He was, you know, I guess there is, there still will, hasn't been and will not be in this restaurant a bigger personality. You know, he wasn't afraid to mix politics. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind, but he could always do it in a funny, charismatic way and tell jokes all at the same time. And I think people would come in because he would always have a joke every day and he'd always figure a way to put himself in his joke. And he was a storyteller, you know, beyond, beyond anything. He could take a 30 second joke, turn it into three minutes, didn't care how long the line was. And people just respect it. And they knew that, I mean, he was hard, didn't matter if you were family. It was actually harder on family than he was his own employees. And he wanted everything to be perfect. You know, I said he was the original Gordon Ramsey because he was that way. It's like I would bring something out and he would taste it and be like, this is terrible. Take it back. And I'd be like, I think it's great. And be like, no, it isn't the best, don't serve it. And that's just how he was. And so I think that's how we've always been. It's like, if this borderline, no, no, you wanted this to be the best. And so, you know, I guess he taught me to be good to see you. Behave yourself. And standard of excellence.

20:38Standard of excellence. That's what he taught us, the standard of excellence. And it's like, that's what I try to pass on. And that's what I fortunate to have great employees who try to pass that on. I think people should come in here and they should feel like, you know, they're family. And so that's what he's installed in me. He was the best storyteller. He was one of the hardest persons to ever work for. He worked, you know, as a kid he would tell stories. We walked uphill both ways to school. You know, so his standard of excellence is something that I've tried to maintain. Is it, do you feel like, have you found your own? I mean, do you feel like now you run into a place, do you feel like you're trying to fill his shoes in any way? I have for a long time and I think I'll never fill him exactly. But I think that I try to fit his standard. But I also think that, I think this pandemic and this everything's gone has just sucked the life out of me. Let's jump into that. I want to talk about that because I don't feel like I was, I'm not the same person I was three months ago.

21:40Whether it be what has happened, whether it be not seeing customers, whether it's just, I don't know what's happened, but it's just not the same. The love is almost gone. These beautiful people here, best customers in the world. They did. They came every week during the pandemic. They're here every week. They are the best. I mean, it's like people like that, people like that. It's like they make me still feel human. They make me still feel like, why do this? Because there's been a lot of strife lately. Not only closing, but then it feels like right when you're getting back on your feet, then you have this, the taxes, which we'll talk about. Yeah. Well, I was just going to say, we've gone through a tornado which you were instrumental in helping a bunch of people.

22:43That's Nashville. I feel like everybody in Nashville sets up to the plate. There's no difference. There's a love and sense of restaurant and family community that is just second to no place in the world. It's that I've found, that I've heard of. Everybody always steps up and it helps everybody anytime. I could call any chef right now and they'd be like, what can we do to help? You know, I had, Brian Baxter was here on Monday. He's a new chef at Catbird Seed. And he was like, you know, he was like, I was talking to somebody. I see you guys are hurting. He was like, what can we do to help? You know, and that's, that's what it's been. You know, it's like, I was talking about a Mookie Betts called me. He's been coming here since he was a child. He lived in Murfreesboro. He called me and said, hey, he's like, what can I do? He called me up and was like, what can I do? Do you need to borrow money? He was like, what can I do to help you stay afloat? The Bird, the Bird family, the last family that lived in the Bill Mead Plantation called me. There are several of them that come in here. He's a doctor, head cardiologist over at Vanderbilt. You know, he was like, what can I do to help you guys? We don't want to see Arnold's clothes. So it's like, that is the Nashville community in general. It's like, and it's like, brings a tear to your eye and it's all inspiring. And then Mayor Cooper said 32%, right? That was what he said. He proposed 32%. And then they had the big marathon meeting and they came out that night with 34% tax increase on your property tax. How are you getting it? Obviously there's been some pretty vocal opponents of this in the small business community. Tell me your thoughts on kind of what's going on there. How's that going to affect you? I mean, you feel like, you know, I'm scared of heights. So I felt like I just, during the pandemic and the tornado and everything, I felt like I had climbed to the tallest building and I was looking off the ledge, not sure what to do. And then with this, with what he did, it felt like, it felt like you were walking back in the building. Then it felt like Mayor Cooper just walks out and just tells you to

24:44jump. It was like, what can you do now? It's like, we're having to be closed. My business is down 80 to 85 and 90%. And then you expect me to jump off a building now because there's no way we can pay $57,000 is what it's going to be for the property here. I mean, you know, we would make part of our money by renting out our parking lot at night, which, you know, there's no business in downtown. So we're not going to get the $18,000, which helped pay for the $42,500 before. Our business is super, our business is not what it was. It was down like 80, 70 to 80%. And that's with people that are coming in regularly helping out, but businesses are closed. These are local people coming in and helping me. Downtown is not busy. It's dead. Most places are working from home. And I understand that because, I mean, they got to take care of their own, take care of their families. You got to do, you got to look out for yourself. So that I've totally understand. So, I mean, it's just like, I'm completely in awe of it. I thought that they would, you know, Kerry Bringle had a meeting over at his place when the councilman came and spoke of all this ideas.

25:59I mean, he had brilliant ideas that, you know, put new parking meters. There were so many different proposals that he had that sounded like, okay, maybe they're going to work and figure a way about this, you know, and maybe they were going to show some, what's the word I'm looking for? Maybe they were going to show ingenuity, thinking outside the box. Just, I don't know. It's just, I mean, I'm just blown away by it because I thought that they were going to have some kind of sacrifices or ingenuity or so, some kind of creativity besides, I'm just going to raise taxes and property taxes. I mean, I'm just going to stick it to small businesses. Yeah, at the end of the day, because I don't think Amazon's paying tax. Amazon? No, Amazon's not paying tax. So you've got four blocks not paying taxes. You've got places like the J.W.M. which we're excited to be here. But you've got places like us that have been here that are the bread and butter, what made Nashville, what Nashville is, you know, and people come to Nashville to eat at Arnold's. That's a destination to come to Nashville. And with $57,000, who knows how much longer we're going to be able to be here to, I mean, we can't afford it now. I mean, that's a hundred percent. We don't have $57,000. I mean, we'll be lucky. I mean, we're saying we've got to pay our mortgage. We got to pay our, you know, income tax. We've got to, I mean, just, it's like the mayor did that. And then the governor, we thought we had hope with the governor's new, they had set aside $200 million to stimulus for $200 million for small businesses. And he announced that here at this restaurant. Yeah.

27:36We were all excited. You're like, yeah, we were like, okay. And my mom was going to give you one of those big, huge checks and be like, I thought that's what was going to happen. Starting with Arnold's. That's what I mean. We felt like that's what was going to happen. He was, you know, gracious came in here and did that and we were all excited and my mom started researching it. We didn't even qualify. You don't qualify. I don't qualify. It's not like we make it gazillion dollars, but you can only have gross like $500,000. And if you only gross, think about it. If you only gross $500,000, but you pay, you pay at the time $42,500 in property tax. That's not a profitable business. I mean, at least you can not even pay yourself. I mean, so you're saying a 10th of that, you know, was going to be paying taxes. Well, 10th of your gross already gone. So, I mean, and then, so yeah, we didn't qualify. So it was like, this doesn't make logical sense, but he wanted to do it at Arnold's because it's an iconic Nashville place. Right. Yes. And I don't know. I just feel, I feel lost. I feel like, I feel like the city, the council, the state government, I feel like they're in a loss of what it really means to be a family owned business. I feel like they don't understand that family owned business means yeah, you're coming every day. Your family works there like most of mine does. I've seen your mom walking around us like five times. We've been talking, greeting people, talking to people.

28:59She's been working. My brother's, my mother, my sister, everybody's here. I've got my son working here right now. He's in college. And it's like your family owned business, you do everything, you know, together. And not only affecting, when they do this, it's not only affecting me, it's affecting my family, it's affecting my children, it's affecting my customers, it's affecting everything. It's affecting my mentality. You know, it affects everything. And so when you feel like you've been let down by your own community, that's what I was just about to say. You look like you feel like you've been let down by like a really good friend. Like you love this city so much. I do. You're so passionate. I am too. I have. And then like you have all this hope that, you know what, we're going to rally together. We're going to do this. I trust my mayor and the city council to come together with an idea that we can all rally behind because I imagine that if they came up with something like that, you'd be behind it. You'd say, everybody, let's all pitch in to help out. Yes. But when they just go, oh, let's just, let's just raise probably like 34%. Let's not even try. Let's just do that. And let's just stick it to people like you. It hurts. Like it's painful. Like I can look in your eye right now. It's almost like it's just painful. It is painful. I mean, so the beginning of this, I lost 10 pounds, probably 15 pounds during the pandemic. Couldn't sleep because I didn't know what to do.

30:18And then this, and I'm still not sleeping. It's like right when I started feeling like I was getting back to sleep, it was like, then this happens. It's like, I thought when somebody called me the next day and told me about it, I was like, you're kidding, right? Like there's no way that that actually happened. Like there was so many other ways. And then, you know, I mean, it's just, not only is it gut wrenching, the more stuff I hear about it, it's even more gut wrenching. You know, they gave, last year they gave themselves from an 18,000 to a $30,000 raise. Okay. That's a part-time job. I've got some employees that work full-time that I can barely afford to pay that kind of money to. So it's like, so I feel like- Benefits for life? Benefits for life. I mean, I'm just in loss for words that I knew this happened in the federal government, but then in the local government, I feel like they're lost and I feel like I'm lost.

31:23And it just feels like there are people that love this city so much that would do it for free. Yeah. I would go a meeting a few times a week to maintain my city for free. And so, and I would help in any way possible. And there are so many people that do. In the restaurant community, we do stuff. We work for free so many times for other people's causes to help out other people. And then here we are now at one of the hardest hitting businesses, the hospitality business, one of the hardest hitting businesses of the pandemic. So many people are out of work in the restaurant industry. I mean, I myself, Monique Chauhan, Margo, a lot of us hosted when this first happened. Creation Gardens gave us produce and stuff to pass up. I came here for free on the weekend and I would do it a million other times to help out my neighbor, my customers, and I would do it over again. And it's like for free we did that. And I expected my municipality, local municipality to take care of small businesses like us and to look out for our need. But I feel like that didn't happen.

32:33And I'm not trying to bad mouth them. I'm just stating a fact. And it's like, do you just feel just, I mean, how am I supposed to feel? Family owned business, 1983. In 2010, I think our taxes were like $11,000. And in 2020, we're paying $57,000 next year if it starts July 1st, in like a couple weeks. So it's like, I don't know what to say. I'm not a honky tonk. I mean, think about that, $57,000. So $2,000 a month will be $24,000. You're looking at almost five grand a month. I mean, $4,700 a month. You're looking at a really nice house for that. I know. I mean, I don't even, I don't know. We still, when we pay, let's see here, we pay sales tax. We pay, obviously we pay for the property. We pay for the bill that we just built.

33:35It's very frustrating. So it's like, we have so many other stuff to pay. It's not just paying sales tax, our property tax. It's like, that's just a drop in the bucket of all the taxes we have to pay. So what do you think's next, man? What do you, you know? I don't know what we're going to do. We're going to have to figure out, we're going to have to figure out opening more. We're going to have to figure out. The problem is Nashville isn't what Nashville, Nashville is not back to Nashville right now. So it's not like I can open up all of a sudden and I could just be back to where you were, be back to where I was and just expect to be busy on Saturday and Sunday. You know, it's not like that. I can't just all of a sudden get an alcohol permit and just, I'll make the money in alcohol or just pass that dollar on to my customers. I mean, we already had to raise it because, I mean, my beef prices have doubled. Well, the good thing is I was already paying a little more than most because we use Bear Creek and we use Porter Road and I've always paid a little more, but I didn't mind paying it because that's the, that food, it, I mean, it goes on to my customers and my customers eat better, better quality products. What kind of chicken do you use here?

34:39Springer Mountain. We, we paid the top echelon for all of our, all of our food is, we, we don't go cheap. That's the best chicken in the world. Yeah. They're a sponsor. I love them so much. Springer Mountain, you use Springer Mountain chicken and I did at the beginning of the pandemic. I couldn't get it and I was using other chicken and my goodness, it sucked. I couldn't wait to get back to Springer Mountain chicken. Seriously, like customer, I had a customer say like, what's your chicken trying? I'd be like, boom. I'd be like, I brined it. I fried it. I do everything that I normally do, but you were used to eating Springer Mountain chicken here and you can tell the difference. I mean, but it's like, I don't mind paying a little bit more because I'd rather get a little less profit from that, but give a better product to my customers. You know, Jesse, what's up? How you doing, man? And very well. One of my favorite customers here every day, you know? I mean, it's like, what's what makes Nashville Nashville? I mean, they take care of us. This guy takes care of me. And today is brisket day. Yeah. He knows and he knows the menu. So it's like, that's, that's to me is awesome. But where were we going with this? What you're doing next? What am I going to do next? I don't really know. We're going to have to obviously open more, but I mean, that's just not the answer upon it. I don't, I don't know.

35:55It's like, it's like standing on it. It's like being dropped off at the desert. And, and then you were given a couple of things to start a fire with, and then they have those things taken away from you and be like, what are you going to do now? I'm like dropping the middle of the lake. Yeah. I'm dropping the middle of the lake now. You know, that's a good analogy. It's like, now what are you going to do? And I'm like, I'm going to be treading water. Yeah. I don't really know what we're going to do next. So one of the questions, I think the natural progression is what can people do? So I mean, not just yourself, what you're going to do, but as the general public, we talk about voting, right? Making sure we get people in office. And I think that one of the positive things that we're dealing with through all of this, we've talked about a bunch of the negatives here, but one of the positive things are people are paying attention now. You know, taxes raised, they do whatever they're going to do around the city, but now this 34% is a major news deal. People are paying attention. I think we're going to start looking at politicians' platforms and what they do with their time and how they spend their time.

37:02If you look at it, that much time they spend raising money for their own campaigns, it's ridiculous. Well, and that was funny. I was talking to somebody about that yesterday, and they were talking about, you know, there was a politician, I'm not sure who it was, locally, that right before the last election, they went to this, it was an African American church. And I'm like, you know, why should you feel like you have to be who you are all the time? And be who you are all the time in politics. I don't really, I could go on. I think that this has people realizing that it's not only affecting my pocket, it's affecting their pocket, their home, their taxes, their house taxes, you know, their property taxes are going up. It's affecting what they're buying, where they're eating, what they're buying, how much they're paying. And not only on top of that, sorry, where was I going with that? Because I have so many things I want to go with that. I think it's really, it's opened people's eyes that who are they really putting in office? I mean, I think Mayor Cooper's, his whole platform was, I'm not going to raise taxes. It's been like two years and he's raising taxes. I mean, what are they doing with their money? They went from, you know, like I was saying about Metro Council, they have the authority. We don't have the authority. We used to have the authority when politicians got raises. They've taken that away from us. And now they're raising, they can raise their pay without us having word on it. And it's making, it's raised a lot of people's eyebrows. And who exactly, who's in office? This is supposed to be a part-time job. So your part-time job now has gone from $18,000 to $30,000. After your second term, we're paying for your insurance.

38:46But yet half the people I know, I mean, have problems with insurance. And it's like, I don't know, you were supposed to be, you were supposed to be an extension of the people looking out for people's good. But now you don't feel like you're, it feels like they're not looking out for our good anymore. So a lot of people are ready to make a change. The Black Lives Matter movement has a lot of people wondering, you know, the rhetoric of, oh, all of a sudden we're going to, you know, this is disgusting. We need to make a change to this. We need to make change how the police department's been doing business. And where was that several years ago? This, this, it isn't like politics as usual, NFL as usual was going on for years. You know, you're unpatriotic if you don't stand for this and that, you know, and it, it seems like all of a sudden people all of a sudden want to change. Well, I mean, this should have happened a long time ago. And it feels like people are finally realizing, and it's coming into light, people are paying attention more. They're seeing themselves giving themselves, they're seeing the tax hike, they're seeing, you know, what that police officers, there are a lot of them that do a fantastic job and I, and, and needed a pay raise. And it's funny because they didn't get it. But then the, the council got their raise. And then now they're going to give Metro, Metro got like a 3% pay raise last year over like 10 years where it hadn't. Anyway, there's so many, and people are finally seeing that they're like, wait a second, what is going on? And, and not only Metro government, but federal government. And, you know, it's like, they're paying more attention and there's this kind of just, they're like, you know, it feels like we've all lost our voice. I mean, it feels like the, I feel like the federal government, we're trying to gain a voice. And I think that the movement is happening. And I think that's people protesting is not only for Black Lives Matter, they're protesting for just, they're tired of being a not heard and, and tired of

40:50just being thrown, thrown to the side. And, you know, it's like, okay, we voted for you, but then you do nothing, but we wanted you to do. We feel like we voted for you and we still have no voice. And it's like, that's not what it's supposed to be. I, I, like you were saying, it feels like they're out there raising money for their campaign more than they're out there doing good for the community. And that's what they should be doing. I want somebody who, I mean, goes out and that's their, that they've been doing good in the community before this. They didn't get a photo op and I'm going to be out there, I'm going to get a photo op because I did this charity event. No, they were at, they, I want a person who was at that charity event way before they ever decided they were going to run for politics. And I think that's the kind of people that are going to change. When there's no cameras. And those are the people that are going to change. Those are the people that are going to change. This movement needs those kinds of people in office now that could care less about furthering their political means. Amen. So one thing that I think that we can do as the people that are listening to this right now. Yeah. Obviously with your ballot, by physically registering to vote, going in and voting for who you believe will support their constituents the best is what you need to be doing. And then also spending your money, which is voting with your wallet, spending your money with locally owned and operated businesses.

42:06A hundred percent. When you can go spend money at Arnold's, which employs people in town who you have roots here, you've lived here, you're supporting the community on a regular basis, spending your dollars here versus at Red Lobster or, you know, any of these chain restaurants. Every time you go to a chain restaurant, you're just sending money outside of our community and spending money with locally owned and operated restaurants. Margot, going to Margot, going to Loughlin Table, going to these restaurants you just mentioned that were there on their days off distributing produce to hospitality workers who were unemployed, who just got furloughed. Those are the people who constantly give to the community. The hospitality industry is constantly giving to our community and this is the time for the community to really show up and give back. Yeah. Using your, voting with your wallets, coming in and spending money with people that are nourishing the community on a regular basis. A hundred percent. Is a major factor right now, now more than ever. Yes, more than ever, more than ever. I mean, we, I mean, there are restaurants that still have GoFundMe pages even though they're open because they're not making the business. They weren't like, we're not, we're down 80% a day. I mean, we're not putting a GoFundMe page. We did that for our employees, which was great. We were able to pay our employees a few weeks. We appreciate it, but that's, you need to go help out those restaurants.

43:24I mean, you need to spend money at Margot, all those local places, whether it buy a gift card, buy a t-shirt, just donate money. Call them and just donate money. I mean, people have called us just to donate money. I mean, those places, I mean, a lot of places aren't even going to reopen. I don't know. It's just, it's, it's, it's almost, I'm almost just at a loss for words. It's just exactly what has happened to the community. I mean, just exactly what has happened to the whole hospitality industry. I mean, it's just like a blink of an eye. What do you do? Well, I think a lot of people don't recognize right now that they're like, oh, well, I've seen a couple of restaurants close. It hasn't been this mass closing, because you know what? Forbearance is a real thing and people have applied for this. And a lot of restaurants have, by the grace of whatever, they've only had to pay escrow essentially on their mortgages or their leases. You know, maybe that ends in July 31st. You know, people, they get a three month, they get a four month forbearance. They don't have to do that. They're staying afloat. But when they have to start paying those huge notes again, the end of July, I think you're going to see a lot of places go, 100% go down. And right now is the time, if we're out there supporting those people, we give them a fighting chance. So I tell you, and this is something that I'll tell you, and I'm telling the people that are listening to this right now, if you're going to be the person that goes on Facebook and goes, damn, I can't believe Arnold's closed, get your ass down here and come eat. Because I never forget when Davis Kidd and Green Hills closed, everybody said, oh my God, Davis Kidd closed, Davis Kidd closed. And I went, when was the last time you went there?

45:00I was there all the time. I don't go there. I don't go there. I go to Amazon now and I go, that's why they closed. My mom used to go to the restaurant. It was great, dude. I would eat there all the time. It was great. When it was upstairs in Gracie's Baza and then when she moved it downstairs. We used to go there all the time. It was a great place. But then when it closed, it was like, oh man, I wish I would have gone there. This is your chance. Get out and go to those places. If you are afraid to go downtown because there's so many tourists, well guess what, they're not here. This is the time for locals to come downtown and enjoy it. Yeah, it was funny. I was talking to a customer today and I was just like, look out that window. It was like, there was a full couple minutes where the car didn't pass by and I'm like, it's the middle of the day, 8th Avenue South, and there's not cars passing by. I mean, it's like, it's an eerie feeling. It's weird. But now more than ever, local places need their support. I mean, we need their support. We need locals more. It was funny. Stephanie Langston did a great article and talking about it. It's a great interview. And people thought that we were closing when I was saying was, which I still will say it, reiterate that I'm not saying we're closing tomorrow, but if it stays like, I mean, this, I mean, you're not making money. It's hard to pay.

46:11The banks, you know, fortunately we own this property, which is great. But the bad thing is the banks, we still have to pay the bank every month. We still got to pay the property tax every year. We still got to pay the electric bill. We still got to pay our employees. I mean, it's like, and then the PPP loan was a very, it'll float to you for six weeks to eight weeks, but that's it. It's like, and this is going to be going on for six months to two years. And it's coming back right now. The cases are higher than they've ever been, higher than the middle of the pandemic right now. So it's a crazy, you know, I think a lot of people don't understand that this is a math problem, right? So people, there's a lot of goodwill and there's a lot of positive energy that's associated with Arnold's. But at the end of the day, when it comes down to all of that doesn't matter. When it comes down to the end of the day, it's a math problem. And when you're paying 34% property tax and you're paying all of your vendors and you're paying your staff and you're paying to keep the lights on and you're paying the gas bill and you're paying all of the things you got to pay on a monthly basis and you're not bringing in enough money to cover that. At some point you go, I guess we'll sell the property and we can put another condo building in this spot and Arnold's goes away. Which, which I hope, I hope to God that doesn't ever happen. But I mean, reality is reality. If this doesn't change in six months, we have no choice. I mean, you're not making any money. I'm praying that, you know, hopefully something changes. I mean, this is, this is an eerie feeling. Like I said, I don't, we don't know what to do. We, we, we, I don't know. I mean, we're definitely going to open for more hours, definitely going to have to do more things. I mean, I don't know. I just. Well, I like, I like to end every interview. Yeah. And I ask people, I say, if there's something you want to say to the Nashville community, you've talked to me now for 40 minutes. Oh God, has it been that long? 30 minutes, 40 minutes. I didn't realize. 45 minutes. Okay. So what would you, Mike is yours.

48:12What do you want to say to the hospitality community and the Nashville community in general? Number one, the hospitality community. I love you guys because I mean, they're, everybody, there's nobody I couldn't call at any time that I didn't feel like wouldn't help out. Nashville community, best, best customers, people just in the world have always taken care of us. I appreciate it. But I think in the same sense, you know, I'm at a loss. I know they're at a loss. You're trying to figure out what the right thing to do. I don't have an answer. I know they don't have an answer, but now more than ever, I think that you need to get out and, and help small businesses, whether it be the hat, shut up the street, the trophy place, the restaurant in your neighborhood, whether it be the mom and pop, I mean, whatever it is, fixing lawnmowers, I mean, whatever, whatever it is, support local businesses now more than ever, because it seems like without their support, they will not be here. We will not be here. And it doesn't seem like we're getting any help from the federal local governments. I mean, I don't see, I haven't seen Mayor Cooper knocking at the door telling me he's going to forego, forego my, you know, furlough my taxes for a couple of years. You know, we're going to have to, but you're not Amazon. We're not Amazon.

49:29You know, unfortunately, unfortunately, we've been here since 1983. We didn't come here last year and tear down, you know, four blocks and not have to pay property taxes. We are, we, we are Nashville, you know, and I just, what it means to be a, we are Nashville. Let's see, let's prove it. You know, let's figure a way to get, get through this together. And I mean, I've always had your back. I guess it's time for the people to have our backs. So, you know, we're looking forward to it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for spending this time today. And you're welcome. I appreciate it. Resonates through, through our town. And I thank you for coming in and doing the interview. Excited to be on your show. Sorry about that. We did it. We did it. Finally. Let's hope that it changes all in Nashville right here, right now. I love it. People should be sick and tired of it. Get out there and vote, get out there and vote, make a difference, run for office. You know, I mean, anybody can be in office. I think I'm going to, and now it's open my eyes. I never wanted to be in politics, but I think after this, I'm running for mayor. You heard it here first. Oh, there it is. All right. Thanks guys.

50:36All right, everybody. Khalil for mayor. Anybody in? Love to hear more about that. We'll see, see what goes with that. So thank you for listening. Again, click that subscribe button there on your YouTube channel and look forward to sharing many, many more videos with you. Um, Wednesday, this show is going to be out on audio clips. Click subscribe to that as well. We thank you guys so much for joining us today. Hope that you're being safe and love you guys. Bye.