Green Frog Coffee & Grill is a coffee shop café that offers a variety of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and catering options. Our drink menu includes coffee, specialty lattes like the Dirty Snowman, smoothies, shakes, teas, and sodas, all made in-house to order. Our full breakfast menu includes omelets, breakfast sandwiches and platters, muffins, and yogurt parfaits. For lunch or dinner, you can grab a daily lunch special, gourmet burger, freshly made salad, homemade soup, custom hibachi bowl, or a signature sandwich like the Fricken Chicken or Radical Ribbit. Our desserts include ice cream made on-site and several choices of cheesecake, cupcakes, and freshly baked cookies. We also offer portable carafes of drinks and food catering for up to 200 people. Orders can be placed inside, through our convenient drive-thru or online ordering.
Our Story
Our story begins with a grandmother named Flossie that fed a five-year-old Timmy jelly donuts and coffee with a lot of cream and sugar during summer visits. It was love at first taste.
Growing up on a dairy farm in West Tennessee, Timm had the privilege of enjoying great meals faithfully served by his mother, Beverly, three times a day at a kitchen table. This time to connect and share with family and fight over extra servings of desserts was the highlight of each day. It was often the only time he would see his hardworking father, James, usually covered in soilage or sawdust.
His childhood involved many chores like splitting wood, cutting grass, working in the garden, grinding feed, and feeding animals. One of his favorite things to do was gather milk from the tanks at the dairy for his family and just scoop the cream off the top. It was on the farm that his passion for excellent flavors and exceptional food was born.
In 2007, after several years of full-time ministry and while writing a book, Timm walked into Java Café in Dyersburg, TN, to do some editing and was offered a part-time barista job. Four months later, he began to manage the cafe.
In July of 2008, Timm acquired Ja Ja’s Café in Bells, TN, inside Green Frog Village (now Green Frog Farms owned by the Freeman’s) with a loan from his parents. Three months later, Timm expanded to downtown Jackson on the square, where he opened his first shop called Green Frog Coffee Co. By the end of the year, with help from former partners, he also purchased Java Café from the former owner.
The stock market crash of 2008 put a tremendous financial strain on the company, and debt spiraled out of control for almost four years. Another two failed locations complicated things greatly. Desperate and looking at bankruptcy Timm turned to prayer one October evening under a tree. Many tears were shed that night. The next day a man showed up at his door and said, “God sent me here.” This man introduced Timm to David Hooper, who helped Timm reorganize his debt and develop a survival strategy.
In February 2014, Timm decided to close on Sundays to reconcile his faith with his business practices. Immediately sales rose 30% overnight, and profits finally took off. Timm also was approached about selling the downtown locations, which helped eliminate debt and allowed him to focus on fine-tuning the original Java Café.
A continuous flow of people from Jackson to Dyersburg demanding the return of the Dirty Snowman to the Jackson market convinced Timm to pursue reemerging in North Jackson. In March of 2017, Timm brought on two Christian families (the Harts and Meltons) as partners to help finance the Jackson location and future franchising.
Today their mission is simple: to be a kitchen table, a place where families and friends can gather to connect and fight over dessert. They hope you find their flavors exceptional and food choices excellent. They pray that their service will be helpful and an encouragement to you every visit.
Whatever we do, we work as unto the Lord and not as unto man, believing one day we will give an account of how we have worked and served.
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Malachi 3:10
A special thanks to the following families: Kerbers, Arnolds, Harris', Freemans, Crockers, Hoopers, Meltons, and the Harts.
