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

[MAD]

Big Daddy's or Uncle Sam's........a different era......

Where were they located and when, and what were they?

Only thing I could find was this paper clipping

 

[VolStrom]

Big Daddy's or Uncle Sam's........a different era......

I have fond memories of being thrown out of Uncle Sam's head first as a battering ram for the front doors. Good times.

 

[Wireless1]

Where were they located and when, and what were they?

Only thing I could find was this paper clipping

View attachment 397957

They were night clubs/ Discos Big Daddy's (for some reason they couldn't call it Flannigans here - or maybe I have the names backwards) was where "The Pool Place" in downtown west, Uncle Sam's was on Alcoa highway (Originally The Senator's club) in the area where there's (was) a fitness club.

 

[VolStrom]

They were night clubs/ Discos Big Daddy's (for some reason they couldn't call it Flannigans here - or maybe I have the names backwards) was where "The Pool Place" in downtown west, Uncle Sam's was on Alcoa highway (Originally The Senator's club) in the area where there's (was) a fitness club.

From what I remember the "senator's club" was next door to uncle sams. Uncle sams was much larger and the senator's club was more upscale and smaller.

 

[MAD]

They were night clubs/ Discos Big Daddy's (for some reason they couldn't call it Flannigans here - or maybe I have the names backwards) was where "The Pool Place" in downtown west, Uncle Sam's was on Alcoa highway (Originally The Senator's club) in the area where there's (was) a fitness club.

Okay I do remember those, just forgot the names.

 

[Vjcvette]

Here is a question for everyone, if you could bring back one business, which would it be?

The first one I thought of was Swensen’s Ice Cream at Downtown West.

What would yours be?

I would go with Swensen's and I could not leave out Flannigans....and the "Orange T"

 

[Ted]

(Honorable mention: Duff's)

I went to Duff's on Merchant's Dr. one time with my parents. They lived in SE Kentucky and were down here pretty often, and they went to Duff's every time they could. They loved it!

When did Duff's close up? Mid-80's? Were they based in Knoxville, or were they a chain?

 

[Ted]

Okay I do remember those, just forgot the names.

What was the Irish-themed nightclub on Kingston Pike near West Town Mall back in the early 80's? I went there several times and have some fond, if fuzzy memories!

 

[Wireless1]

[VIDEO=][/VIDEO]

What was the Irish-themed nightclub on Kingston Pike near West Town Mall back in the early 80's? I went there several times and have some fond, if fuzzy memories!

Flangans or Big Daddy’s - it was called something in Knoxville and the other in Daytona Beach

 

[NEVolFan]

I would go with Swensen's and I could not leave out Flannigans....and the "Orange T"

Flannigans was a good place to go back in the day.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

They were night clubs/ Discos Big Daddy's (for some reason they couldn't call it Flannigans here - or maybe I have the names backwards) was where "The Pool Place" in downtown west, Uncle Sam's was on Alcoa highway (Originally The Senator's club) in the area where there's (was) a fitness club.

That building was a Flannigans when it was first built. I remember little teaser advertisements in the paper for a month or two leading up to the grand opening. It might have just been “Coming soon!” over a picture of the guy with a beard logo. Like 2” x 3” newspaper ads.

 

[NEVolFan]

Is Court South still a thing? I was a member there for a couple of years... back in the day, early 80s.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

From what I remember the "senator's club" was next door to uncle sams. Uncle sams was much larger and the senator's club was more upscale and smaller.

I’ve always thought that they were the same building and Uncle Sam’s expanded it. I have matchbooks that my Dad had from the Senator’s Club. And a newspaper story from around 1978 on Hazel Davidson. One of the pics was of her vamping it up at the Senator’s Club. I got her to autograph it for me in 1982. TGO (actually my real name). With Love, Hazel

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Is Court South still a thing? I was a member there for a couple of years... back in the day, early 80s.

Might be National Fitness now.

 

[Vjcvette]

Flannigans was a good place to go back in the day.

I was there a lot in 77 and 78, that is where all of the restaurant people went after work and then when Flannigans
closed for the night then everyone went to a bar at the Roadway Inn on Cedar Bluff rd., back when it was a
two lane rd which is hard to believe now.

 

[MiramarVol]

 

[Ted]

Might be National Fitness now.

The Court South on Alcoa Hwy is now National Fitness. The one on Merchants Drive is still called Court South.

 

[TNnative]

My number one business I miss being in Knoxville? Disc Exchange. Locations in West Knoxville, and near the old Baptist hospital. You could find hard to find CDs cheap, and no matter what genre of music you prefer, they had something for everybody. Hated to see them close their doors.

 

[TNnative]

Is Court South still a thing? I was a member there for a couple of years... back in the day, early 80s.

In the 70's, wasn't that Uncle Sam's?

 

[tntar heel]

The Court South on Alcoa Hwy is now National Fitness. The one on Merchants Drive is still called Court South.

Had membership there. First place my daughter went off high dive in the pool out back. After going off high dive she would no longer go to the kiddie pool area. She would stand there and cross her arms and then point to the diving board.

 

[9296potsguy]

My number one business I miss being in Knoxville? Disc Exchange. Locations in West Knoxville, and near the old Baptist hospital. You could find hard to find CDs cheap, and no matter what genre of music you prefer, they had something for everybody. Hated to see them close their doors.

I spent way too much time and money at Disc Exchange in Chapman.

 

[Ted]

I looked online for pictures of Uncle Sam's, but there were none I could find. People went to nightclubs, but didn't take pictures of them!

Did Court South just remodel the Uncle Sam's building, or was it torn down and the current building (now NFC) was new construction?

 

[MAD]

Everything I could find online that mentions uncle Sam’s which is not much.

1)
Remember Uncle Sams club on Alcoa highway? - Now It Can Be Told - Omny.fm

2)

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I looked online for pictures of Uncle Sam's, but there were none I could find. People went to nightclubs, but didn't take pictures of them!

Did Court South just remodel the Uncle Sam's building, or was it torn down and the current building (now NFC) was new construction?

Pretty sure it was remodeled. Might have added on though. I don’t think that they scraped the lot clean. Developers didn’t use to do commercial tear downs so much as they do now. Like Darryl’s on Bearden Hill. That was a solid building that would have been repurposed in the past. Now the economics are to remove everything and build generic boxes with parking in front of the boxes.

 

[Ted]

No responses on my earlier query about a Victoria Station restaurant in Knoxville.. anyone?