5 bar gay street knoxville tn

Restaurants, in particular seem to be bustling with waits often the norm. For Urban Woman and me, this one stings a bit as it was one of our favorite restaurants — particularly for brunch, but often for dinner, especially when we had out of town guests. For us, from the time they openeda visit to Five felt just a little like traveling without leaving town.

Maybe it was just the chandeliers which gave it a bit of a fancy touch without all the fuss. And we really liked the food. We liked the simplicity of the five choices.

Guide to Gay Street in Knoxville, Tennessee

My fish was always just right, the shrimp appetizer could not be beat. We often made a meal of just that. The brunch hit all the right notes for us. I love a little jazz in the background and when we could get an bar table on a warm Sunday morning, the volume of the band was perfect. The crab cakes and beignets were always perfect.

We did notice that sometimes not as many people joined us as we might have expected. Still, it was a surprise when I was contacted by co-owner Chris Eddings this weekend with the information that Five would close at the end of this week. Sometimes businesses start to feel like they may be struggling, but if there were symptoms knoxville this closure, I missed them.

And we will miss them. We also had one of our most profound Thanksgivings thereeating at the table gay a homeless man. The restaurant opened its doors every Thanksgiving to anyone, regardless of ability to pay. Those who paid or made a donation had their money given the love kitchen. All the labor and food street donated.

Also missed will be the free meals they provided to area subsidized-housing facilities. Through their American Lunch programthey took fresh food to local people in need. Employees volunteered eventually earning a bonus for the work to serve those in need via the American Lunch truck.

It was a much appreciated human gesture for many of the residents. Five is a chain restaurant — Knoxville was their fifth location — but they never felt like a chain, to me. With their charity work and relationship with groups like the Love Kitchen, they really tried to integrate themselves into the community.

In the end, however, rent has to be covered, employees paid, food and supplies purchased, and enough has be left over to make the business worth remaining open. We fell in love with Knoxville when we got here, and we are still in love with it. We had hoped to do great things, but businesses have to be profitable to survive.

We gave it our full effort for almost 4 years and we are just not able to continue.