Shoney's

At a business group meeting the other night, a speaker was recalling the days of her youth. She spoke of a family shopping trip that was punctuated with an evening meal eaten at the most special restaurant of that time: Shoney’s. That conversation reminded me of my first adventure to that eating establishment.

The visit took place sometime in the 1960’s. Uncle Ed and Aunt Rosie were visiting from Cincinnati. They were childless, but when upon their arrival in Knoxville, no fewer than nine nephews and nieces descended upon us. The two were the same age as our parents, but infrequent trips to Knoxville made them special, and their spoiling of us made the visits the next best things to Christmas.

On that summer visit to Knoxville, the two opted to take Jim, Dal, and me to lunch at the newest restaurant in town. The Shoney’s was located in Bearden on Kingston Pike. Next door was a theater. For our uncle and aunt, the visit wasn’t that special. They’d eaten numerous times at Frisch’s, the Cincinnati version Shoney’s. Aunt Rosie wanted onion rings, and Shoney’s specialized in them. Up to that point in life, I’d never heard of onion rings and wondered what could be so special about a slice of onion unless it was covered by a hamburger bun or it floated on top of a bowl of pinto beans.

We slid into one to the big booths and looked at the menu. On it was the now famous figure of the “Big Boy” and all sorts of offerings made choosing difficult. I thought about ordering the Big Boy hamburger, the first one I’d ever seen that was two patties with double buns, lettuce, pickles and secret sauce. Then I saw the perfect thing. It was a Kingfish sandwich. At home, we’d had crappie, fish sticks, tuna salad, and canned salmon, but I’d never experienced a sandwich with a huge hunk of fish. A side of fries and a glass of tea, sweet tea that is, rounded out a wonderful meal.

Aunt Rosie scooted a plated piled high with onion rings in front of us three boys. With hesitation, I picked one up and prepared for oncoming nausea. Instead, my taste buds delighted in the combination of batter, grease and onion. We shared the order and wished more had been coming.

After our meals, we sat back and enjoyed talking with family that weren’t around too much. Uncle Ed declared that we had to have dessert before leaving. The waitress came, and he ordered strawberry pie for all of us. I wasn’t thrilled about that. Mother had made her version of strawberry pie plenty of times. She’d usually included some rhubarb that counteracted sweetness with tartness. I’d rather have had lemon pie of a bowl of ice cream.

When our server delivered the slabs of pie, I was amazed. The berries were huge and they were held in place with a sweet substance that made us want to lick our plates. On top was a thick layer of cool whip. In a matter of what seemed like seconds, we devoured the pie and plopped back to allow our swollen bellies room to expand.

Over the years, I ate plenty of meals at Shoney’s. It was a good place to take a date or eat a meal after church. Later, it became the best place for breakfast. These days, I don’t stop at the home of Big Boy, but the memories of the food and time with family are plenty filling.