After nearly 46 years of serving scratch-made breakfasts and homestyle plates out of one of Brown County's oldest buildings, Hobnob Corner has closed its doors for good. The restaurant served its final meals in early November 2025, following a September 2025 announcement that the property owners would not renew its lease at 17 W. Main St. in downtown Nashville, Indiana.
The closure was confirmed by WTHR, which reported that the decision not to renew the lease brought an end to the beloved diner's run inside the historic F.P. Taggart Store building. The station's report notes that the announcement came in September 2025 and that the restaurant's doors closed for the last time roughly two months later.
Betsy and Warren Cole bought Hobnob Corner in December 1979 from previous owners Bob and Liz Hamilton, running it for nearly 46 years alongside their son, Chef Eric Cole, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, according to the Brown County Democrat. Warren Cole had worked in food service while studying law at Indiana University before taking over the restaurant, the paper notes. When the Coles first took the reins, the front room ran a daytime breakfast and lunch kitchen while the back room handled a separate evening pizza operation, according to Our Brown County Magazine. The two kitchens were later unified to focus on scratch-made American home cooking, the magazine's account adds.
A Final Act of Generosity
Before shutting its doors, Hobnob Corner donated a truckload of surplus food to Mother's Cupboard Community Kitchen, a local food pantry serving Brown County residents, according to a video posted on Facebook. It was described as the restaurant's final act of community outreach after decades of serving locals and tourists alike.
A Fast Food Club feature published Saturday, titled Fast Food Club's piece on Hobnob Corner, described the restaurant as still operating and merely preparing to close after a long run. That characterization does not reflect the restaurant's current status: reporting from WTHR confirms the venue has already permanently closed following the property owners' decision not to renew its lease.
The Oldest Commercial Building In Brown County
The building that housed Hobnob Corner carries its own long history. Built between 1870 and 1875 as a dry-goods store, the structure later operated as Miller's Drugstore and retained its original oak fixtures and historic soda fountain counter throughout the decades, per the Brown County Democrat. Known historically as the F.P. Taggart Store, the balloon-frame building was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1983, according to Wikipedia. It is recognized as the oldest commercial building in Brown County.
After Hobnob Corner's 2025 closure, property owners Andy and Aaron Rudd funded major structural, floor, electrical, and plumbing renovations to preserve the 1870s landmark, according to Our Brown County Magazine's May 2026 coverage. The incoming restaurant tenants covered the cost of remodeling the kitchen themselves, the magazine reports.
Bird's Nest on Main Takes Over
That incoming tenant is Bird's Nest on Main, a new restaurant from local restaurateurs Tyra and Lance Miller, which moved into the historic storefront in September 2026, according to Tanglewood Hideaway. The Millers previously operated the nearby Bird's Nest Café in Nashville, the same report notes.
The turnover at 17 W. Main St. lands against the backdrop of Brown County's tourism-driven economy. The county draws approximately two million visitors each year, pulled in by its state park, arts heritage, and downtown Nashville shopping district, according to Indiana Uplands regional data. Hobnob Corner served locals and visitors. Statewide, tourism generated $16.9 billion in visitor spending across 83 million visitors in 2024, a full recovery past pre-pandemic levels that supported over 210,000 jobs, per the Office of Governor Mike Braun.
For now, the Taggart Store building's next chapter is underway under the Millers, even as Hobnob Corner's near-five-decade run as a Nashville institution has come to a definitive close.
