Meet The Print Shop: A New Restaurant in Smyrna, TN

Jeff Adkins

Smyrna’s restaurant scene is undergoing a remarkable transformation, experiencing a surge in growth and diversity that mirrors the town’s expanding population and dynamic culture. One of the city’s newest restaurants is The Print Shop Restaurant, a bar and grill housed in a former printing press building in downtown Smyrna’s Depot District. 

The restaurant in Smyrna, TN, is owned by Caleb Spearing, founder of Syndicate & Co., a conglomerate of real estate, construction and hospitality businesses. Find out what Spearing has to say about turning a historic space into a modern meeting place. 

What inspired you to open The Print Shop? 
I wanted to create a place – a restaurant – where we could equally be profitable and care about our employees. I saw The Print Shop building in 2019 and immediately knew I wanted to open a restaurant there. Every time I drove past the building, I said ‘Lord, please give it to me.’ In 2020, I met the former owner, and he agreed to sell it to me when the time came. We agreed on a price right then and there. Two years later, he honored that price; I bought it and never looked back. 

What is your favorite thing about the space? 
It’s two stories, but it’s all one restaurant. Food and drink are served upstairs and downstairs. What I love most is the history of the building, and we tried to preserve it as much as possible. We took the old windows and hung them on the walls. We used the old ceiling rafters to make a custom chandelier over the upstairs bar. The floors on the first floor are over 100 years old, but we salvaged them. 

Is there a menu item you’d recommend to first-time diners?
The Saucy Shrimp is an appetizer that I love. We call it Saucy Shrimp because, around the office, I use the word “saucy” a lot. It’s synonymous with awesome. I’ll say, ‘Oh man, that’s saucy!’ The chicken tenders are my favorite. We marinate and bread our chicken in-house. 

What makes Smyrna a great place to live and do business? 
I bought a house in Smyrna in 2018, when things were really starting to boom in a big way, and I just loved it. I made some really good friends, and I have this great community. I saw there was a lot of opportunity for a young guy, and I felt like the Lord asked me to plant roots here, so I did.

I fell in love with downtown Smyrna. There is so much history here, and I felt like Smyrna was hungry for something like this in their community. My office is downtown; Red Bicycle (a coffee shop he owns) is there. I live there. I can see the restaurant from my front yard, so my entire livelihood and everything is just right there in downtown Smyrna.