Where Bearden's Kingston Pike Favorites Went This Summer, and What's Taking Their Corners

The bright orange roof at 6914 Kingston Pike, next to Born This Way, Cook Out and Synergy Tattoo, went dark one weekend in July. Denton's Burgers & Fun Foods posted the news on Facebook and put it on the sign out front. The Denton family has cooked for Knoxville since 1946, and this storefront had served corn dogs, funnel cakes and orange drinks on the Pike for more than a decade.

Within a few weeks Nixon's Deli announced it was leaving its Kingston Pike building after 35 years, and WVLT counted it as the third Kingston Pike business to close in about a month. Look at each closing one by one, though, and you find the same thing. These businesses mostly gave up their buildings, not their customers. Denton's is going back to fairs and festivals. Nixon's is looking for a new spot in Bearden. The old Long's Drug Store counter is going to two brothers who grew up eating there. What changed on the Pike this summer is who holds which address. Most of the names are still around.

Starting at the Long's Corner

Begin at the east end, where Bearden's oldest landmark is getting a new tenant.

Long's Drug Store opened at 4604 Kingston Pike in 1956. It was a pharmacy and a lunch counter that sold burgers, milkshakes and prescriptions, and it closed more than two years ago. On Sept. 16, Knox News answered what Bradens describes as the question many people driving down Kingston Pike had been asking about what was going in there.

The answer is RestWell. It's a new concept from Bradens Furniture built around sleep and rest, and brothers Nick and Alexander Braden plan to open it this fall. Both ate at the Long's counter as kids. Bradens' Sept. 21 post still calls the opening upcoming, so there is no firm date yet.

Around the corner, Honeybee Coffee had already moved in. Its third Knoxville shop opened at 4520 Old Kingston Pike, next door to Bearden Beer Market, with the brand's beehive logo over the door. The company had hinted at the location for months and said little until it was ready to open, and Knox News reported it open on July 14.

This stretch picked up two local businesses this summer and lost nothing. Both new ones are local names choosing Bearden on purpose. One is a coffee company adding a third shop, and the other is a furniture family taking a building they grew up in.

The Middle Mile, Where a Lease Ran Out

Heading west, the Nixon's Deli story is the clearest case of a business that still had a following but lost its building.

The owner told WVLT that a new landlord bought the 5716 Kingston Pike building last November. He said the landlord had no contact with the deli until it tried to negotiate a long-term lease. According to the owner, the landlord then proposed a rent increase of about 20 percent. When the deli tried to negotiate, talks stopped and he was asked to leave. He was required to be out by Sept. 15.

The last day of service was Sept. 10. Nixon's locations page says the business is looking for a new home in the Bearden area and will share the address and timing later. As of late September, it lists no new address and no opening date. The deli has not closed for good. It is looking for a new storefront in the same neighborhood.

A little farther west, The Volunteer Club announced its first storefront at 6601 Kingston Pike, with a grand opening set for Friday, Sept. 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. Its announcement lists Tennessee merchandise and one-of-a-kind collectibles, including a 1930s scoreboard and an old Neyland Stadium bathroom door, plus free orange soda. The club's contact page still lists the 6601 Kingston Pike address. Call ahead or check its site before you go, since the store's own pages are the main record of the opening.

Past the Orange Roof

The west end of the Bearden stretch had the busiest summer, and what happened there backs up what happened farther east.

Denton's said the decision was "the best for our family, and the business." Its farewell post pointed customers to the events where the family first got its start:

"Thank you Knoxville for many GREAT years! We hope to see you at the fair and local festivals. Fun Foods at where they originally started. The legacy continues just in different locations…"

The restaurant at 6914 Kingston Pike is closed, but the recipes are still being served at events across East Tennessee.

A few doors west, Plum Tree Chinese Restaurant at 7052 Kingston Pike served its last day on July 31. The owner's retirement didn't leave the building empty. A new owner took over on Aug. 1 with plans to turn the space into a Thai and sushi restaurant after renovations, and the target is a November reopening. The new restaurant's name has not been announced in the reporting so far.

The one closing that follows a different pattern is up on Bearden Hill. Bravo! Italian Kitchen at 106 Major Reynolds Place closed while its parent company was in bankruptcy, according to a Sept. 17 Knox News report. That closing came from the parent company's finances, not from a local lease or a family decision. It is also the only one this summer where no local owner said anything about coming back.

An Italian option is coming back, though from a different direction. In August, Knox News reported that Annette Morejon, who spent more than ten years working as a tour guide in Italy, is opening an Italian restaurant and market called Il Mercato in Bearden. No address or opening date has been published in the coverage so far.

The Pike as of the Last Week of September

Here is the corridor from east to west, with each address's status as of Sept. 30, 2026.

Laid out this way, the summer adds up to a clear count. Seven of the eight rows involve a local business either arriving or still operating somewhere else. In just one row, the Bravo! space on Bearden Hill, a name has left with nothing local announced in its place. Three addresses have no announced tenant: 5716, 6914 and 106 Major Reynolds Place. The Nixon's and Denton's names are still in business. Of the spaces filling in, RestWell and the Plum Tree replacement have target seasons, and Il Mercato has an announcement but no location.

For anyone watching the Pike, the next updates to check are a Nixon's address, a name and opening date for the restaurant at 7052, and RestWell opening at the old Long's corner before the end of the year.

Corridor changes like these shape how Bearden feels to the people who live in it, and they come up when owners start thinking about what's next. If you're weighing a move nearby or wondering how this stretch of Kingston Pike affects your own home, Johnnie Creel and the Creel Group follow these streets closely. Schedule a private consultation with the Creel Group, and we'll walk you through what is changing near your address.