Meet Carey & Melanie Hollman! Carey and Melanie are longtime Gainesville residents and love their community. To be even more involved in the community, they decided to open two eateries, in one location, Roll On In and Buzzed Bull Creamery. Both are set to open in June at 130 Bradford St. NE just off the downtown Gainesville square. 

We want to thank the Hollman’s for spending time with us recently to tell us more about their life and love of Hall County. 

Q: Tell us the story of Roll On In and Buzzed Bowl and how you decided to jump into the restaurant scene?

A: Carey: “We’re locals, we come here all the time and we saw a need for a couple of things. One of them was fast casual dining, but the biggest thing was that we wanted to have some different dessert options. We really liked the idea of doing ice cream and some baked goods, and with Buzzed Creamery, it’s a very unique experience for everyone. It’s really fun for the kids and it’s also still fun for the adults, with the way that we make it and the different ingredients we use. We really wanted to bring something else down here to the community and to the historic square area.”

Q: Please tell us a little bit about you, your family and your background.  

A: Melanie: “I made my way in the restaurant industry while attending college. I was a server and a bartender while earning my degree in Dental Hygiene.  Customer service has played a huge role in all of my employment opportunities.  I enjoy being around people, getting to know and serve them.  Carey and I wanted to give back to the community and began looking for ‘our niche.’ Carey has a background in the ice cream industry and it’s one of our favorite desserts, so we naturally gravitated towards a bakery or dessert opportunity.”

Carey: “I started my career in the Navy and now I serve in a corporate sales and marketing capacity. I worked for Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream, and I’ve always had a love and passion for food and drink and like Melanie said, customer service has always been something that’s important to us. We enjoy that whole energy of trying to make people happy and delivering a smile.”

Q: How long have you lived in Gainesville? 

A: Melanie: “I have lived in Gainesville for 11 years now, but I was born and raised in Georgia.”

Carey: “I’ve been in Gainesville for about 20 years and for me, having been in the military and being in a family that moved around a lot, I’ve lived in Gainesville longer than I’ve lived anywhere else my entire life. It’s home to me, more than anywhere else I’ve lived.”

Q: How long have y’all been married? 

A: Melanie: “10 years.”

Q: What’s your favorite thing about Gainesville and Hall County? 

A: Melanie: “I would say the community and Lake Lanier. I fell in love with lake life, making Gainesville my favorite place I’ve ever lived. We started frequenting the Square years ago. It quickly became our “go to place” and only made sense to open our business here.”

Carey: “The people for sure, since I’ve been here, everyone has welcomed me and our kids into the community. My kids have been here their whole life, so this is their home, the only home they know. It’s kind of a hard thing to say, ‘what do you like most?’ What I like most is I’ve always felt at home even from the very beginning, Gainesville is a very homey place. There’s a very laid back and comfortable atmosphere and I’ve always felt very, very safe here. It’s always been like a warm, safe blanket of a place to be.”

Q: What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in our community?

A: Melanie: “Recess…hands down! The food is consistent and the staff make us feel special. I love the vibe and customer service.”

Carey: “We both travel quite a bit for work so when we’re gone, I just want to get home and go to Recess, but I also love Consuelo and Atlas Pizza.”

Q: What was the first movie you saw in the theater?

A: Melanie: “‘Amityville Horror’ is the first movie that I can remember seeing with my older sister. Probably because I had nightmares for years after.”

Casey: “My first movie was ‘Annie’, but when I was five years old and my Aunt Connie took me to see the original ‘Star Wars.’ I was only five years old and I still distinctly remember standing in line, not even knowing what we were going to see but ‘Annie’ was actually my first movie with my mom.”

Q: What is something on your bucket list?

A: Melanie: “I would love to go to Hawaii. We travel a good bit and we’ve been very blessed to see many places around the world, but this is one place we haven’t vacationed yet.”

Carey: “My bucket list is opening our own restaurant.”

Q: What do you think are some of the favorite menu items for Roll On In and Buzzed Bull that you would want to tell people to look out for? 

A: Melanie: “Definitely the sushi donut at Roll On In…I think this is an unique food item to our restaurant. It’s white rice mixed with cream cheese, battered, made into the the shape of a donut, and then it’s deep fried. The donut is served on a bed of spinach, topped with crab salad, avocado, spicy mayo and masago. It is amazing! As far as Buzzed Bull, I’m a huge peanut butter fan, so I definitely would recommend the Tiger Stripes. It is a peanut butter chocolate concoction with loads of Reese’s cups.  For the adults 21 + that choose to add alcohol, I would recommend Spiced Rum or Screwball Whiskey.” 

Carey: “To pinpoint it would be difficult. I really like the sushi donut because I love our crab salad but all of our appetizers are really, really good. If it was going to be a dish, it would be something we call the ‘trio’ because we get steak, chicken and shrimp and avocado, street corn and all the other goodies over rice,. And then, of course, when you have good sauces, like our spicy mayo and sweet soy and it is just a really good bowl overall.
“On the ice cream side, again it’s one of those that’s hard for me because I love ice cream, it’s a mood thing for me. If I had to narrow it down, it would be the ‘Honey Bourbon Pecan’ it’s a great balance with the honey and pecans with the bourbon, and one of my favorites.”  

Q: Can you  explain Buzzed Bull if they haven’t been to one before? 

A: Carey: “Well, first we make ice cream with a homemade sweet cream base with a good butter fat content.  We use liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream because it is very cold, about -320F, when the liquid base is mixed with the liquid nitrogen, the rapid evaporation of the nitrogen causes the liquid to freeze almost instantly.  This process helps create smaller ice crystals, giving the ice cream a very smooth and creamy texture.  Using liquid nitrogen is a very safe and efficient cooling method and we can also add any type of alcohol without ruining the creaminess of the ice cream, which for adults is a fun option.  For the kids our process also creates a bit of a theatrical flair to the ice cream making process and they absolutely love it.”

Q: Are there some specialty items on the Buzzed Bull menu for children that you would want to highlight?

A: Melanie: “Actually, every single item on the menu is kid friendly. Personally, I think most children enjoy being able to create their ‘own ice cream.’ They can literally choose the flavor and any toppings and experience it transforming from a liquid to their specialty order before their eyes. How cool is that?!”

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?

A: Melanie: “To be successful business owners and being able to offer more to our community.” 

Carey: “I’m very much with Melanie as this as our focus, in five years I would like to see us with a thriving business that’s popular in the community. I see us both being more ingrained in the community as well, because it’s a big part of why we wanted to open here.”

Q: What would you rate 10 out of 10?

A: Melanie: “My husband and children. No family is perfect, but they are mine!”

Carey: “Our family. Well that’s at least an eight out of 10 because there are eight of us, but seriously, our family is a 10 out of 10 for me.”