Last call for Munchies.
The downtown Shelbyville restaurant and bar, located at 39 Public Square, will close its doors one final time Saturday, citing financial difficulties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the downtown redevelopment project.
“We are deeply saddened as we sit here writing this. The damage that we sustained during the pandemic, and PRIMARILY CONSTRUCTION, has left us in a hole that we are unable to dig out of,” said Adam Tindall in a media release Wednesday night to the Shelby County Post. Tindall and Maryssa Huntsman own and operate Munchies.
“To everyone who has supported us, visited us, told your friends about us, laughed with us, listened to our frustrations, and became friends with us, THANK YOU,” the media release continued. “Your friendship and support mean more to us than you could imagine.
“We will be closing permanently at the end of the day on Saturday. Come on by for one last hoorah, one last beer, a tenderloin, a Philly, or you last plate of totchos. We will be selling food until we run out.”
Fifteen months ago, Huntsman vented her frustrations at the March 15, 2021 Shelbyville Common Council meeting at City Hall. While Huntsman and Tindall were in favor of the downtown redevelopment project and its proposed end results, timing issues with the construction at the front and rear of the restaurant (photo) were difficult to understand.
“I don’t think anyone is maliciously doing it,” she said at the meeting. “I think it’s more they are trying to get it done and not thinking about the collateral damage in the mean time.”
The city continuously worked with Genesis Property Development, the project manager, and Beaty Construction, the project contractor, to provide updates to local businesses but Huntsman continually cited a lack of communication with the timeline.
“I can’t get excuses on letterhead and pay my light bills,” said Huntsman at another 2021 council meeting. “I have huge business losses at no fault of my own.”
Cadillac Jack’s, 29 Public Square, also struggled throughout the construction project and was eventually sold to new owners to continue operations now that the redevelopment project is complete.
