It’s been quite a while since I’ve written about restaurants in Kingsport. I decided it is time for some new posts on the subject. In Part 1, I’ll re-examine some of the restaurants I have mentioned in previous posts over the years. In Part 2, which is coming later, I’ll discuss some new restaurants that have opened in Kingsport. In Part 3, I’ll rank some of my favorite Kingsport restaurants in various categories.
When I was reading my previous posts about restaurants, one thing that I noticed is that 3 of the restaurants I had in my list of “Top 10 Local Restaurants in Kingsport” have gone out of business. One of these is Fisherman’s Dock, although they recently re-opened in Colonial Heights after being closed for an extended period of time. I haven’t eaten there since they opened in their new location, but when I’ve driven by there, it’s been packed. Another restaurant on my list that is now closed down is Kingsport Grocery Company. I heard that the year it closed, the winter was so bad that they had several bad weekends due to people not travelling in the snow. They had announced plans to reopen the following Spring, but it didn’t happen. Yet another place that went out of business was Tomoko’s Japanese Restaurant that was located in front of K-Mart. I heard that either some of the staff or the original owners left to open the similarly-named Tamiko on Eastman Road. After being closed for a short time, Tomoko reopened, only to close again a few months later. The restaurant has once again reopened as of mid 2011, this time under the name Sakura.
Besides the places mentioned above, there is yet another Kingsport restaurant that I’ve written about in the past that closed down – The Red Apple Chinese Restaurant, which was located in the former Ryan’s building near Robinson Middle School. An infamous event occurred at Red Apple shortly before they closed down. One day, they advertised free buffets for all diners, with no purchase necessary. I heard people were lined up around the building at lunch. By supper, they had to close because they were out of food, and many people were turned away (myself included). I’m not sure if this is what led to the Red Apple’s demise, but they went out of business soon after. An event that was undoubtedly meant to get people to try their food and increase their future business backfired and alienated all of the customers who didn’t get their free meal. A new Chinese Restaurant, The Golden Dragon, has since opened in the same building, and seems to be getting a lot of business.
But the list of restaurants that have closed since I wrote about them doesn’t end there. I have another one to discuss – Sharon’s Burgers. After being in business as Sharon’s Barbecue for several years, the restaurant briefly closed before reopening as Sharon’s Burgers. The new Sharon’s only offered burgers, fries, and drinks. But the food was delicious, and they continued to get a good business. Then suddenly, they announced they would be closing down. Sharon’s was owned by the same company that owns the many Pal’s restaurants in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. When they announced the closing, they said that Sharon’s Burgers had been an experiment to help them improve the Big Pal burger sold at Pal’s restaurants. I believe they might also have admitted (or strongly implied) that they never intended to keep Sharon’s Burgers open for the long-term. A new restaurant named Henry’s Downtown Grill has opened in the building very recently.
That’s all for now. I’ll be back with Part 2 soon, where I’ll talk about some new restaurants in Kingsport.
