ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, November 14, 1996            TAG: 9611140045
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER

NEW SERVERS TO HANDLE COFFEE POT

BUT PATRONS SHOULDN'T expect any big changes, because one of the new owners says "I love the traditions of this place."

The Coffee Pot on Brambleton Avenue had been for sale for a while. It's just that owner Carroll Bell had never received what he considered a serious offer for the National Historic Landmark bar and restaurant - until recently.

And after some drawn-out negotiations and lawyering, the ink is dry on the sales contract for the log-ribbed watering hole.

The new owner is none other than Wasena community activist Joe Nash.

The ponytailed politician launched a formidable but unsuccessful independent bid for a City Council seat this year. More recently, City Council rejected his nomination for a seat on the city School Board.

Owning a bar has long been a dream of Nash, who's been frequenting the Coffee Pot since the 1960s. But patrons shouldn't expect any big changes.

"I love the traditions of this place," he said.

A popular watering hole and rock'n'roll venue with hundreds of regulars is just the kind of place a budding politico could use to enlarge his base of voter support. Nash said he's a definite candidate for another City Council bid.

Bell said he is tired of the business, which he bought Jan.1, 1978, from Jill Nesbit.

"I just need a change. I'm tired of dealing with the public," he said. "I'm burned out, you could say."

Bell intends to help his wife in her herbal food supplements business and to look for other business opportunities. He'll keep his finger in the restaurant/bar pie by retaining ownership of the building and its land.

Nash and two equal partners, Mike Holdren and William Brailley Jr., will own and operate the bar and restaurant and pay Bell rent on the building. Nash will be manager. The partners expect to take over Dec.9. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Nash, 41, is transportation manager for Adams Construction Co. Asked if he's relishing trading in that gig for the 14-hour-a-day (or more) headaches of running a bar and restaurant, he quipped:

"I'm running 55 truck drivers a day now. You think that's not a headache?"

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ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  1. File\June 1996. Wasena community activist Joe Nash 
          and two partners just bought the 60-year-old Coffee Pot Restaurant 
          and bar on Brambleton Avenue.
          color. 2. Joe Nash Coffee Pot fan since the '60s.