Gone but not forgotten: Knoxville area restaurants and retailers we miss.

[NEVolFan]

Anybody on here hang out at the Orange Tee in the late 70's?

Early 80’s for me.

 

[Roustabout]

Add Babalu a trendy taco spot in Knoxville to the list, permanently closed due to Covid 19

I heard Babalu was already closing long before this.

 

[NEVolFan]

I went to Bearden Jr High and West High School.
The bathrooms were unbearable with all the smoke.

Used to run after work at the Bearden track.. was a popular thing in the 80’s. They left a loose chain around the gate so we could get in.

 

[Roustabout]

Seems I remember the Holiday Inn restaurant was a comedy club at some point in the late 80s or early 90s.

it was.

 

[Roustabout]

I don't remember a motel right at the corner. Hill's Shopping Center was at the NE corner, Putt-Putt was across Papermill, and Arby's was just a little farther west, then Kay's Ice Cream beyond that. Several restaurants filled in between Putt-Putt and Arby's (including the original Grady's). The Mount Vernon Hotel was a motor court type of motel just a little farther west that had many businesses in it after it stopped operating as a motel, including a bar/nightclub. The Mount Vernon building lost a few rooms on the eastern end for the first Wendy's, but the rest of the building still housed businesses until about 5 years ago when Weigel's built a bigger store at their corner and tore the rest of MV down.

Are you taking about where “the spot” was located?

 

[Vjcvette]

I have heard @Thunder Good-Oil mention it a few times, the driving range.

There was a building there at the Orange Tee where there were probably four pool tables and they had beer there and it was really a big hang out for young
people.

 

[MAD]

I went there a few times. Also ate at Alexander's once or twice. It was in a big white house that iirc was just east of the Orange Tee... kind of up on a hill. The house was the American Legion or something like that. Hanna's Restaurant was also just across Kingston Pike kind of back in the woods. I never ate there. It was on property that had been in Jack Hanna's family. The Colombus Zoo guy that used to be on Johnny Carson. I don't remember a whole lot else in that area. I think that Cedar Bluff Road was a narrow 2-lane in the 70s. CB had gas stations at the NW and SE corners with I-40. Regions Bank sits on one spot and the ramp to I-40 east sits on the other. I don't remember if anything was on the SW corner. The same hotel building is on the NE corner. It was a Holiday Inn.

I ate at Hanna’s back in the day. Also I had a friend that somehow lost his arm by one of Jack Hanna’s animals on his property.

 

[Vjcvette]

I ate at Hanna’s back in the day. Also I had a friend that somehow lost his arm by one of Jack Hanna’s animals on his property.

Oh no, that is terrible that he lost an arm, I went to Hanna's back in the late 70's maybe one time.

 

[NEVolFan]

There was a building there at the Orange Tee where there were probably four pool tables and they had beer there and it was really a big hang out for young
people.

Played the par 3 a few times.

 

[1972 Grad]

same for west high, where a couple of teachers even lit up in class.
it could pretty smokey at halftime in stokely, too

Professor or Doctor?? Bill Cherry used to light up when he taught Geography class at U.T. all the time.

 

[1972 Grad]

Mount Vernon:

There was a florist in that building at one time too, but I can't remember which one it was.

Edit: Flowers by Jane, maybe?

 

[1972 Grad]

Bundulee's, Pickle-U-Pub, Discount Records:

View attachment 277229

That looks familiar. Was that on the Strip?

 

[Wireless1]

Anybody on here hang out at the Orange Tee in the late 70's?

As the Orange Tee or the Mouses ear?

 

[Vjcvette]

As the Orange Tee or the Mouses ear?

Orange Tee, the building where the pool tables were by the driving range

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

That looks familiar. Was that on the Strip?

The Pickle-U-Pub was Immediately west of Wendy's. The house on the right was probably the last private home on the Strip. An older lady lived there.

The Long Branch Saloon was also in an old house that was still there last I noticed. It is/was immediately east of Taco Bell. But it was a fancy dress shop for a long time before the Long Branch moved there from across the street. It hadn't been a residence for a long time.

 

[1972 Grad]

The Pickle-U-Pub was Immediately west of Wendy's. The house on the right was probably the last private home on the Strip. An older lady lived there.

The Long Branch Saloon was also in an old house that was still there last I noticed. It is/was immediately east of Taco Bell. But it was a fancy dress shop for a long time before the Long Branch moved there from across the street. It hadn't been a residence for a long time.

Approximately what year was that picture taken?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

There was a florist in that building at one time too, but I can't remember which one it was.

Edit: Flowers by Jane, maybe?

Sounds right. Rick's (Smith?) All-American Sports was at the far eastern end of Mount Vernon and was one of 2 or 3 businesses in space that was demolished to build that Wendy's.

 

[1972 Grad]

Sounds right. Rick's (Smith?) All-American Sports was at the far eastern end of Mount Vernon and was one of 2 or 3 businesses in space that was demolished to build that Wendy's.

I remember the Putt Putt and Arby's being there a long time ago. Edit: And Kay's Ice Cream.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I remember the Putt Putt and Arby's being there a long time ago. Edit: And Kay's Ice Cream.

Kay's, Arby's, and Putt-Putt were all sevveral hundred yards east of Mt Vernon. Putt-Putt was not quite a half mile east of Mt Vernon. Putt-Putt was actually on Papermill Road a couple hundred feet off of Kingston Pike. The intersection has been aligned with the entrance into Deane Hill just a little farther east. Golf Club Road. The library was right at GC and KP before it was rebuilt slightly to the east.

 

[1972 Grad]

Kay's, Arby's, and Putt-Putt were all sevveral hundred yards east of Mt Vernon. Putt-Putt was not quite a half mile east of Mt Vernon. Putt-Putt was actually on Papermill Road a couple hundred feet off of Kingston Pike. The intersection has been aligned with the entrance into Deane Hill just a little farther east. Golf Club Road. The library was right at GC and KP before it was rebuilt slightly to the east.

I was talking about that general area. I haven't been out there in years. Let me ask again in case you missed it. The black and white picture of the building on The Strip. Approx what year?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Approximately what year was that picture taken?

I'm guessing mid to early 70s. Discount Records was in the ACME Boots spot and I think, but I'm not sure, that ACME was there first. I don't see a sign for Bundulee's which was there in the late 70s/early 80s. If ACME was first, then it's probably 1975 or earlier. If ACME came after Discount Records, then the pic could be in the early to mid 1980s. The For Sale sign could indicate that Bundulee's was already closed. Key clue is what was 1st, ACME Boots or Discount Records? The entire building was redeveloped into a bar sometime just before or after 1990. It eventually became Bar Knoxville which had an incident or two while Lane Kiffin was the HFC in 2009-10.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I was talking about that general area. I haven't been out there in years. Let me ask again in case you missed it. The black and white picture of the building on The Strip. Approx what year?

I can't type fast enough.

 

[1972 Grad]

Kay's, Arby's, and Putt-Putt were all sevveral hundred yards east of Mt Vernon. Putt-Putt was not quite a half mile east of Mt Vernon. Putt-Putt was actually on Papermill Road a couple hundred feet off of Kingston Pike. The intersection has been aligned with the entrance into Deane Hill just a little farther east. Golf Club Road. The library was right at GC and KP before it was rebuilt slightly to the east.

What was the name of the theater that was just west of West Town Mall (same side of K Pike) that was built around 1968 or 69 that later became a Bridal Shop and a Big and Tall Shop?

 

[1972 Grad]

I'm guessing mid to early 70s. Discount Records was in the ACME Boots spot and I think, but I'm not sure, that ACME was there first. I don't see a sign for Bundulee's which was there in the late 70s/early 80s. If ACME was first, then it's probably 1975 or earlier. If ACME came after Discount Records, then the pic could be in the early to mid 1980s. The For Sale sign could indicate that Bundulee's was already closed. Key clue is what was 1st, ACME Boots or Discount Records? The entire building was redeveloped into a bar sometime just before or after 1990. It eventually became Bar Knoxville which had an incident or two while Lane Kiffin was the HFC in 2009-10.

Wasn't that record store location also where Ireland's Restaurant was located at one time....or somewhere close to there? I was at U'T. from 1967 until 1972, and I remember that building, but not a house next door. I thought that pictured was earlier, like in the early/mid 60's.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

The old lady that lived in the house next to the P-U-P drove a mid 1970s Ford 2-door (Elite? Green?). She used to pull into her lot from the ally running behind all of those buildings. Her driveway might have run the entire depth of her lot on the eastern edge.