Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Pal's "Sudden Service" Restaurants: Fast Food in the Tri-Cities Region

Aside from the Miracle Mall (better known as The Mall at Johnson City), Johnson City in my previous post offered few other points of interest retailwise.  Perhaps part of this can be attributed to the fact that most everything there aside from the struggling downtown area is new.  While this is also largely true of Kingsport, Kingsport is the largest of the Tri-Cities, and it is absolutely full of surprises.  It had the first mall in the region and it still has an abandoned 1960's strip mall relic, another big struggling mall and of course, the rather interesting Pal's fast food restaurants.


An older style of Pal's in downtown Kingsport, which I assume is the original location.  It definitely has that 1960's vibe.


Another view a bit closer to the building.

Pal's is found in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, but mostly Tennessee.  It's furthest south location is Greeneville, furthest west Morristown and furthest north Norton, VA.  I did not have a chance to try it while I was there, but I can honestly say that it looks to have a standout menu compared to many larger chains for a rather diverse palate much like Hardee's used too.  Serving items such as the "Sauceburger", "Chipped Ham", "Chiliburger" and a chili dog alongside the usual burger and fries sounds a bit unique and fun.  Considering how the chain has grown, it must be decent.  It definitely seemed to attract more business than regional chain Jacks in Alabama did, but nothing on here could be easy for the waistlines of the area (except maybe the Chipped Ham sans mayo).


This much newer location is a bit frightening.  Most look like this.  This is across from Fort Henry Mall in Southland Shopping Center, which once housed a (Kuhn's) Big K.

Besides the food, what also stands out about Pal's is the absolutely frightful decor used on the place.  The logo itself is the name inside a sunburst, and the buildings themselves have hideous turquoise tile topped with a big fake hot dog.  In fact, the only location I saw that was different was in downtown Kingsport, which I am guessing is the flagship.  Both styles are featured here for comparison as well.  I guess it was good I went downtown or I wouldn't have seen both.  The older style looks more like a vintage 1960's piece in the vein of the early Burger Chef, but I found it was more eye-catching and appetizing than a cotton candy colored cube.


Here is the sign at the Southland Shopping Center location across from Fort Henry Mall.  After eating a Sauceburger, play vollyball with them.  Maybe they'll do tenis next week.

The whole phenomenon of local fast food joints are curious, though it is well known that all started out as such.  Probably why some are national while others are not has a lot to do with the location.  Consider that McDonald's and Taco Bell both started in California, which is probably how they obtained a national following vs. something found in a place like Kingsport.  I can think of many other examples of local chains like Pal's including fore-mentioned Jack's in Birmingham, The Varsity in Atlanta, Lion's Choice in St. Louis, Krystal in Chattanooga, Rush's in Columbia among others.  Some, such as Lion's Choice, I would love to expand out of their region.  In all, local chain restaurants are always part of my curiosity of making retail trips to cities across the South, I am glad to feature this rather unique local flavor.

12 comments:

  1. I just heard about this chain for the first time about a week ago from a thread at roadfood.com and I'm scheming to visit the nearest one as soon as it's feasible. Probably December!

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  2. The "flagship" is more 50s in font and design than 60s.

    California, esp. southern California actually has lots of local fast food places--small chains like "The Hat" (Pastrami), Tops (one of many local burger chains, this one in Pasadena), Tommy's (more burgers), plus a couple that have broken out to other states: Fatburger and the now heavily hyped "In and Out Burger".

    As for why some fast food joints stay local--The Varsity is the only place where I've truly gotten heartburn--I suspect that this has kept it in the range of cult status, although the onion rings are probably the only decent ones in ATL.

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  3. Fifty years from now when our grandchildren are in their fifties, they'll look at pictures of these Pal's and label them perfect examples of "retro googie" architecture. As for now, you're right...they're scary. Hopefully there will still be one standing fifty years from now to appreciate.

    We pass by these often while on vacation, but haven't ever had the courage to go and actually eat something from there. There's enough of them in the tri-cities region that they can't be all that bad. They can't be any worse than Jack's, although Jack's in Alabama and NW Georgia do tend to really look like fast-food restaurants rather than free-standing cartoons.

    As for Varsity...they just closed their first branch, the Varsity JR. near the corner of Cheshire Bridge and Lindbergh. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted them as saying they didn't have room to expand. They mentioned there would be two new Varsity locations within a year. One was to be in Alpharetta, but I don't remember the other one. Varsity, with a long-time location in Athens, GA, could almost now be considered a regional chain, but it will always fall into the cult classification. Are there other chains like this that actually take their food on the road to small towns for street festivals? Varsity takes themselves all over the metro area with food trucks.

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  4. Pals #2 has a unique design unlike Pals #1 and the subsequent units. #1 and #2 appear to have opened about a decade apart, and were the only 2 Pals locations until the 80's. Pals #2 is located near #1 in suburban Lynn Garden on the northside of Kingsport near the Virginia border.

    It reminds of an old McDonald's but the lighting is more like vintage Burger King/Carrols location, but with a Paul Bunyan sized mascot.

    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Kingsport,+TN+Pals+&sll=37.09024,-95.712891&sspn=33.435463,107.138672&ie=UTF8&hq=Pals&hnear=Kingsport,+Sullivan,+Tennessee&ll=36.57749,-82.567749&spn=0.125446,0.41851&t=h&z=12&layer=c&cbll=36.577361,-82.567728&panoid=PrcqR2G3uRymCrT4AQ5_sA&cbp=12,271.68,,0,-6.83

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  5. If your ever back this way dont be afraid to stop in. The burgers are great but you have to have a chili dog. The owner, Pal Barger, was an old army budy of Ray Kroc who founded Mcdonalds. When in the service, they both said they wanted to open a hamburger chain. To keep it local and so he can check in, Pal wont build one thats not within a days drive of the original. To make sure everything stays fresh, they change out their fries every 3 minutes and burgers and hot dogs every 5.

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  6. Pal's is the only fast food type restaurant I know of that has won the Malcom Baldridge Award - and excellent it is!!!

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  7. would be so nice to have a Pal's where you can dine in.

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    Replies
    1. Try the Pal's inside The Mall in Johnson City as there is plenty of seating.

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    2. the Pal's in Greeneville is a dine in... it's in the jc penney/kmart shopping center.i live in Kingsport & I always eat at this Pal's when in Greeneville it's one of the BEST

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  8. I live about 30 minutes outside of Greeneville Tennessee and we now have 2 Pals. Both on Andrew Johnson Highway (US 11E). You have got to try the Big Pal's Cheese Burger, Frenchie Fries and a chocolate shake. Don't be afraid of the outside...the food is to die for. Always fresh and hot and very generous! What is the old saying..."Don't judge a book by its cover".

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    Replies
    1. they do have the best of the fast food.... always fresh & hot

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  9. Pal's restaurants consistently garner outstanding health ratings, often getting 100 percent.

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