Good Neighbor Podcast for the Greater Chattanooga Region

Max Poppel's Story: Rock Climbing, Ernest Chinese & The Crash Pad

September 13, 2024 • Scott Howell

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What if your passion for rock climbing could morph into a thriving local business? On this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, we welcome Max Poppel, the ingenious mind behind Ernest Chinese and the Crash Pad in Chattanooga. Max takes us along his entrepreneurial journey, sharing how his love for climbing led to the creation of the Crash Pad, a unique hostel that melds communal living with boutique hotel charm. He also reveals how he transitioned from the beloved Flying Squirrel restaurant to living his dream of eating dumplings every day at Ernest Chinese.

Our conversation with Max delves into the core philosophy of his ventures, emphasizing the importance of fostering a vibrant community for travelers. Discover the significance of 'third places'—environments where people can connect outside of home and work—and learn about the irresistible offerings like 'dumpling hour' at Ernest Chinese. Max also shares the touching story behind the name Ernest Chinese, named after a cherished cat, embodying the spirit of his businesses. Tune in and find out how supporting local establishments like Max’s can invigorate our community and enrich the Chattanooga region. Don’t forget to nominate your favorite local businesses to be highlighted on our show!

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Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Scott Howell.

Speaker 2:

Hello, good neighbors, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast brought to you by the Friends and Neighbors Group of the Greater Chattanooga Region. We appreciate you being on the show today. Of course, my name is Scott Howell and I'm your host, and you know the purpose of the Good Neighbor podcast. We get asked this a lot what is this all about? Well, what it's about is to strive to bring awareness to the residents living in our communities about locally owned and operated businesses that are in those same communities or across, in another little town, or all the way across the Chattanooga region. We just want to highlight everybody that we can. Got a lot of new people coming into the area and we need them to know you know who are out there and what's offered and need them to understand that all these things are available to them.

Speaker 2:

And so we. But we want to focus on those locally owned and operated companies. You know, too many times down this big corporate giant world we're living in, they get lost and people overlook and forget there's actually people who live here, that own their businesses and work here, and it might be better customer service, might be a bigger smile or it might be a warmer thank you, but whatever it is, we want to make sure that everybody knows they're here, because every local business has a story to tell and on the Good Neighbor podcast, we want to just help them tell it loud and proud to all the Chattanooga region. And today we got one of our neighbors here. His name is Max Popple, with Ernest Chinese and the Crash Pad. Max, thanks for being with us today.

Speaker 3:

Hey Scott, Thanks for having us on Love what you're doing here.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, sir. Thank you, I love it too. It allows me to meet new people like you, and just so glad I got the opportunity to do that. And, max, I know we're here today to talk about your business and what all you offer and what it's all about, but at the same time I want to give you an opportunity to start off the podcast. Just maybe tell a little bit about yourself and your family oh, that's, uh, that's awesome.

Speaker 3:

I love starting there. I've got a beautiful wife, katie. I have two children coming up on seven and ten, parker and hattie. And uh, yeah, today was the first day of school, so life is back to real life is calming down again, right right.

Speaker 1:

As they say.

Speaker 2:

For everybody, except for the teachers. They're calming. The storm is over now, right.

Speaker 3:

Maybe after these first few days of chaos.

Speaker 2:

All right. Well, I want to hear all about it, man, I want you to just start where you want to Tell us about your business, tell us about your journey, how you got there, and just kind of just give us all the details.

Speaker 3:

Sure thing. Well, I guess we started our Chattanooga journey 19-ish years ago. We came here for the rock climbing and fell in love with it. Ended up moving here after college my business to support the climbing and sushi habits. And eventually saw the need for the base camp for climbers who were coming to stay, with no kind of iconic either campground or any you know larger accommodations.

Speaker 3:

So we modified that and that grew from the idea of a campground out by some of the climbing to well, there are all these other outdoor enthusiasts coming through town and we know these things called hostels and we think they have some redeeming qualities and maybe this would be a good fit for downtown Chattanooga. So that's where the kind of idea was born for Crash Pad. And then we wanted to be able to serve food and drink to our guests at the end of the day but we weren't going to be able to get our liquor license with the setup of Crash Pad so that grew into its own sister business that was Flying Squirrel.

Speaker 3:

That was our restaurant that we had for the last 10 years or so. And then we just did a total rebranding, shut that concept down in favor of eating dumplings every day, which was a dream of mine, and I'm fulfilling it. So we are now.

Speaker 1:

Ernest.

Speaker 3:

Chinese and last year we opened up. So we are American Chinese food with some Sichuan cuisine, and then we have a tailored tiki drink menu to go with it, as well as still a full bar.

Speaker 2:

Sounds like fun, sounds like a fun place yeah, we got something for everybody. Tell me. I want you to talk about one word that you said that a lot of people might not know what it means, and that's the hostel.

Speaker 3:

What a great question. A hostel, born in Europe out of school groups traveling on the cheap and staying in kind of bunk beds in larger style rooms that's the general concept is you're going to go. It's like a hotel overnight accommodation but shared spaces. You might be in a bunk room with some other people A lot of them, like ours, also have private rooms, if you're not into that sharing spaces as much thing, but it's basically a more economical way to go and experience a city and not spend all your money on a hotel room.

Speaker 2:

Okay. So the basic concept is you're basically renting a bunk in a room that there are other bunks in. That's the basis of the hospital, exactly the most basic form of it.

Speaker 3:

But then again ours, we try to, we call ours the uncommon hostel. We try to take the best of that traditional model, you know the communal nature and the camaraderie, but blend that with the boutique hotel on, like the cleanliness style, charm front. So and then again we do have private rooms and we actually have one full, one bed, one bath suite.

Speaker 2:

Nice, okay, and so when people come to town, there's an alternate place to stay, if they are really going to be like that family that says we just need the room because we're going to be outside all the time, going to the river, on the creeks, on the rock kind of wall, wherever it's at we just want a place to sleep. This is a good place to look at.

Speaker 3:

Yep, Come get a comfy bed for a reasonable price. And the other one of the keys to a great hostel is being centrally located, being able to be walkable if you are in a city as opposed to like one, that you know some that are on that Blatchen Trail of their own kind of charm and are a different nature. But you know, for us you can park in our lot and walk wherever or get your public transport to us and not need a car and have a full Chattanooga experience.

Speaker 2:

What part of town are you in, Max?

Speaker 3:

Another great question. We're on South Side, we're up Main Street behind Meat Loaves.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay, I was over there the other day, but I wanted you to tell it, not me. That's a great location too, because you can get to a lot of things in a pretty short period of time from that area.

Speaker 3:

It is nice there's the classic riverfront that still has a lot of appeal and fun stuff to do with the family. So you know, head one way, that way Head the other way. You're on Lookout Mountain. Any other direction, you're on the hills and trails. It's paradise.

Speaker 2:

So, when it comes to the hostel, are there any myths and misconceptions that people have about what it is that you might could share with us?

Speaker 3:

yeah, uh, some of the biggest are because, you'll hear, within the hostel realm there's youth hostels, elder hostels. We are for everybody.

Speaker 3:

We're for if you have an adventurous spirit and that doesn't just mean like you're sharing spaces and that's like a euphemism for like an uncomfortable experience, but it's like you know those who want to get out there and like actually meet people interact, like, uh, you know, just form, form bonds, and you'll have, like some, a group of older ladies that are down for, uh, hanging out doing a ladies wine night, and then you'll have a group of motorcyclist dudes and they're all kind of hanging out and swapping stories.

Speaker 2:

They're just a lot of kindred spirits. Yeah, all right.

Speaker 3:

And then, uh, but there's a restaurant there close by you're talking yeah, it's on the uh, it was on the property as well, so the property as well, right right through the landscaping.

Speaker 2:

You get right on over there yeah, so they did not far to walk to find something good to eat or good to drink, and there's other good businesses around that area too, you know.

Speaker 1:

A lot of great stuff.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we've had a lot of restaurants have come in there, but also tons of nightlife, so you can really have a kind of full experience down there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I've interviewed a few of the businesses on Main Street before you. Even so, I found out some things I didn't know about business down there, so it's pretty cool. It's a growing area. I mean Southside is a great place.

Speaker 3:

It's amazing to see all that's going on downtown in our little pocket. And then all these other projects that are going on revitalize other little areas.

Speaker 2:

Anything in the works, coming down the road, coming down the pipe, or are you just kind of focusing on this right now?

Speaker 3:

For us, us just trying not to go crazy with two businesses and two young families. My business partner also has two kids that are on the younger end, and so, uh, yeah, just trying to trying not to go crazy, I'll work every day.

Speaker 2:

I heard that well, me well. Tell us that max when you're not, when you're in your family, not going with these businesses. What do y'all do for fun?

Speaker 3:

Sure. Well, right now my family and I have moved on out to the country a little ways, about 30 miles north of town here, so nice to have a little bit of space and get our recreation on out. Here we have chickens, which is new to me, but the kids are taking off and loving it. So right now it's just been family mode out in nature.

Speaker 2:

Now you just need some goats and cows and get you a donkey.

Speaker 3:

I hope my wife's not listening.

Speaker 2:

It's a little mini farm going there, max, we're well on our way.

Speaker 3:

The barn cats just showed up, so we're good.

Speaker 2:

We came packing with three dogs already and you said your kids are, what ages uh, about to be seven and ten, so it's are they any kind of stuff are they any any kind of hobbies at school or clubs, or?

Speaker 3:

oldest, she is into volleyball and the youngest he's into baseball.

Speaker 2:

So that's oh good taking up time on those fronts two great sports that help kids learn about teams and working together. So that's awesome.

Speaker 3:

It's been fun to watch them grow with it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know it's what you said about the earnest Chinese and the crash pad and then kind of being married together and going together and everything you offer. Now I do want to ask you about one thing that you told me before that we started recording. I hope this is okay. You said that it's out-of-town people only right.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we are not here for the locals. We are here for traveling people. So tell your. If you have traveling family that you don't want sleeping on your couch, tell them to go support local business and stay at the crash pad, there you go, but you know there's a reason for that, right.

Speaker 2:

I mean, if people there's no reason for people to be offended and go, oh my goodness, they don't want us local, but there's a reason for that.

Speaker 3:

Right, yeah, again, it's a protection just that we've learned from the hostel industry and bigger cities really any cities just to help make sure that you are there for the travelers and the clientele coming through town.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. You're not. In other words, you're not a place where people can just take up residence. You're there for people that are traveling through. Yeah, exactly, and along those lines.

Speaker 3:

We also have like a maximum night stay rule as well, just because we want people to not basically move in and these communal spaces and make everybody else feel uncomfortable.

Speaker 2:

Like we're here to make friends.

Speaker 3:

We're here to go enjoy the city and then go about our business.

Speaker 2:

And there's plenty of hotel that do allow those type of things. So no need for anyone to be offended, just keep it in mind. Want to be offended? Just just keep it. Keep it in mind. You got somebody traveling through, friends passing through or whoever, and you say, hey, there's a great place to to stay downtown and all kind of things around for them to do, got a restaurant and just all kind of good things. So there's no reason and we'll do a shameless plug.

Speaker 3:

Now you can go next door seven nights a week for dinner at earnest chinese. We also do lunch now on the weekends. Oh really cool, we deliver through Uber Eats and, most excitingly, we just launched dumpling hour.

Speaker 1:

So weekdays five to six.

Speaker 3:

Oh yes, and weekends three to five you get half off dumplings, crab rangoons and our draft tiki drinks. So come check it out. And that's what time during the week? Weekdays five to six. So once you get off work come on down and then weekends at three to five, spot between lunch and dinner cool high price dumplings say it ain't.

Speaker 2:

So I'm telling you, and the crab rangoons, if I may say.

Speaker 3:

I was never a fan growing up, but they were always kind of cream cheese wads, never did it for me. Chef made the first prototypes and I just haven't stopped eating them, so they are one of our best items. And yeah, those are also at price. Come check it out.

Speaker 2:

I need to try those out. I've never heard of that before, so I need to try that out, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Oh they are. They will be your new addiction. You're welcome.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, sir. I appreciate that my new addiction.

Speaker 3:

Like I needed one more Right, Semi-healthy when it comes to food.

Speaker 2:

We all need an addiction, right, Right? So I always like to ask this question, Max, of everybody that I talk to on here If there was one thing that you wish our listeners knew about the heart of Max Popple, Ernest Chinese and the Crash Pad and your partner too, of course, about the heart of the business, but you probably wouldn't know unless you shared it with them and you'd like to state it loud and proud here on the Good Never Podcast, what would that be?

Speaker 3:

Well, I guess you wouldn't know unless you came down, but we are your third place. So your first place, your work. Second place, your home. Your third place is now coming back, breed of establishment where you go to, like, not stare at TVs but to go interact with people and to go live life. And that's what we are at the core. We are hospitality through all of our businesses, be they lodging or be they restaurants, food and beverage, be they lodging or be they restaurants, food and beverage. So just come on down, and I mean full disclosure. We're a couple of damn Yankees but we are bringing the Southern hospitality.

Speaker 2:

As long as you're nice, we won't hold that against you, max. Thank you, I appreciate that. All right. Well, max, I want you to just take a moment to share with people how they can find out more or reach out to you or whatever, online or offline. Just just tell us all about it, sure?

Speaker 3:

thing. Uh, crash pads website is crashpad at chattanoogacom. Uh, earnest chinese is earnest chinesecom. We've got instagrams and things that are run by younger people than me who actually know how to run those, and you can probably find them yourselves easier than I can point that to them, but there are pictures out there.

Speaker 2:

I love how you say that, because I feel the exact same way. So one more question how did you come up with the name Ernest Chinese?

Speaker 3:

Ernest was a cat, so the elephant cat in the room is that we named our Chinese food restaurant after a cat. But that's because Ernest lived with Dan, my business partner on the property, back when we opened Crash Pad. Dan lived there for a few years before he got domesticated and he came with Ernest just took over the patio.

Speaker 3:

If there ever was like a mascot or an icon of our overall business, it was Ernest. So when we were trying to come up with a name, trying not to do something generic, trying not to do something offensive, trying to do something that kind of true to us and our roots, it's like, oh well, ernest, and then Dan, kind of hand drew a portrait of him and dragonized him a little bit and that became our logo.

Speaker 3:

You'll notice there's a paw in it with a little sixth claw. The dewclaw Ernest was a Hemingway cat that was famous for the six-clawed cats, dewclaw cats, so that is where the name comes from.

Speaker 2:

That is awesome. I love that story. That is cool. I just thought we'd throw that one in for good measure, because that's a. I knew there had to be a good story behind that.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's better than some of our other ones.

Speaker 2:

Oh, max, I appreciate you, man. I can't wait to come down there and get some of that Yankee Southern hospitality. We're waiting for you, scott. All right, max. Thanks for being with us today, buddy, it was wonderful meeting you. Hey, thank you again.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And to all the good neighbors of the Chattanooga region. After listening to Max talk about Ernest Chinese and the crash pad, I know that him and his partner hopes that y'all will keep them in mind. You know, go down there and eat with them. You don't have to stay at the crash pad to eat at Ernest Chinese. Go down there and order Uber Eats. Go, enjoy the ambiance, check out their hospitality, however you want to do it, but try them out.

Speaker 2:

And, of course, keep that crash pad in mind when family or friends are coming to town. That crash pad in mind when family or friends are coming to town. Let them know about it. Let them know that it's available and, like he said, it is a locally owned business. So I know they appreciate your support. And, of course, before we sign off, I'd like to thank all you listeners for taking the time to be with us today and listening in on the podcast. Always remember to support the locally owned and operated businesses in the greater Chattanooga region. From Cleveland to Dalton, from Jasper to Benton, there's a lot of businesses out there. Let's remember them all and see if we can't support them. Thank you for being with us today. My name is Scott Howell of the Friends and Neighbors Group Signing off. Everyone, go out and make this a remarkable day.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPClevelandcom. That's GNPClevelandcom, or call 423-380-1984. Thank you.

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