On the heels of last week’s closing of the Kingsport Ryan’s, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the restaurant throughout the years.
The Early Years (~1986 to 1991)
Ryan’s opened across the street from my middle school when I was in seventh or eighth grade. My family’s original opinion of the place was that it was good, but not as good as Prime Sirloin. However, I preferred eating at Ryan’s personally, due to the free dessert bar. Being a bit immature in those days, I would complain loudly whenever we went to Prime Sirloin (so that employees could hear me) about how ridiculous it was that they charged for their dessert bar when Ryan’s was free.
During this time, I really liked the buffet at Ryan’s. In particular, I remember their unique miniature slices of pizza with a really nice crust, and their excellent mexican/taco bar. On the days that I didn’t order the buffet, I’d order the flounder instead. It was very good, but alas, they removed flounder from their menu by the time I graduated high school, and they never offered it again. Oddly enough, I rarely ate steak at Ryan’s for the first several years of its existence.
The Middle Years (1991 to ~2004 )
Sometime around 1991, Ryan’s made some changes to their buffet (called the Megabar by this time) that I didn’t like. The pizza disappeared, and the mexican bar was reduced to nothing much more than some ground beef and cheese sauce. Being a bit immature in those days, I remember complaining loudly so the managers could hear me about how much better the buffet used to be.
Due to the flounder no longer being offered and the fact that I didn’t care much for the buffet any longer, my standard meal during this period became hamburger steak with mushroom gravy and fries. You never knew quite what you’d get with hamburger steak at Ryan’s. Sometimes it would be juicy and prepared just right, while at other times it resembled a used piece of charcoal.
Renovations were also made to the restaurant during this period. It went from being a traditional looking steakhouse with large, dark wooden beams to a much brighter, casual dining style. I didn’t like that change, either, but being a bit more mature by then, I didn’t complain about it too loudly.
The real problem with Ryan’s during this time period is that quality of both the food and the service became terribly inconsistent. It went through some periods where it would be really good, but they also went through some phases where it was so bad that we would stop eating there for a while.
The Later Years (2004-2008 )
Sometime between the later part of the middle years and the early part of the later years, the Megabar began to improve again. They added a carving station that featured ham and roast beef, and even steak on some nights. They frequently offered some pretty decent seafood, and I particularly liked the whole fried catfish. To this day, I don’t know the proper way to eat those, but I developed a method that worked pretty well and allowed me to get most of the fish without too many bones. The downside was that I thought the Megabar was way overpriced during this time.
The food and service were still somewhat hit and miss during this time, but for the most part, it was much improved.
The End (Feb. 12, 2008 )
On Feb. 12, 2008, Ryan’s suddenly closed. Since my last post, I learned that the parent company of Ryan’s filed bankruptcy, and several lower-performing restaurants around the country were being closed. However, the Kingsport Ryan’s was the only one in our region to shut down.
Originally, I had thought that I would still drive to Bristol or Johnson City occasionally to eat at Ryan’s. However, after hearing how the company treated their employees in Kingsport, I do not intend to give that company any more of my money. The employees were told the day of the closing that the restaurant had been shut down, with no prior warning. You can’t tell me that the corporate management of that company didn’t know at least a few days in advance that the restaurant would be closing. They could have let the employees know so they could be looking for another job. That is a lousy way to treat your employees.
