Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon, Annie’s (small gray building to left) and White Lily Flour Mill (far left). Library of Congress.
PATRICK SULLIVAN’S SALOON AND EATING HOUSE
As the railroad was being developed in Knoxville in the 1850s, a large community of Irish moved into town to labor on its construction. The Sullivan family settled in Knoxville, and their son Patrick became one of the most famous Irishmen in town. Since the late 1800s, everyone here has known the name Patrick Sullivan.
Patrick Sullivan was born in County Kerry, Ireland, in 1841. The Sullivan family immigrated to America when he was a child and eventually settled in Knoxville. They were one of the founding families of Knoxville’s first Catholic church, Immaculate Conception, where Patrick as a teen helped build the first church building on Vine Avenue. During the Civil War, Patrick enlisted in the Union army and worked as a supply train commander, rising to the rank of captain. When the war was over, he returned to Knoxville and opened his first saloon. Patrick operated out of a small wood-frame building before building his grand and ornate masterpiece at the corner of Jackson and Central in 1888.
Located at the bottom of a steep hill, the turreted building commands the neighborhood. Near the turret are heavily pedimented gables and a seven-bay curved extension that echoes the curve of the sidewalk. In its graceful design, the building seems to fan outward, welcoming guests from every direction.
After the Civil War, the railroad assisted Knoxville in becoming a wholesaling center. Large wholesale warehouses sprang up along Jackson Avenue where the freight from the train cars could be unloaded straight into the buildings. Wholesale companies featured elaborate showrooms in the front of their buildings to display goods and employed so-called street drummers, who would greet visiting buyers near the trains and guide them to the showrooms. Before or after these business dealings, the street drummers would customarily treat customers to beverages or refreshments. Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon was located at the center of trade among Knoxville’s wholesaling warehouses and was convenient for such activity. Sullivan’s Saloon was known as progressive, selling to both male and female patrons.
Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon, Annie’s (small gray building to left) and White Lily Flour Mill (far left). Library of Congress.
A favorite story of some Knoxvillians relating to Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon is of the infamous outlaw Harvey Logan, aka Kid Curry, who has been called the wildest of the Wild Bunch Gang, headed up by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, William Pinkerton, called Logan the most vicious outlaw in America, stating, “He has not one single redeeming feature. He is the only criminal I know of who does not have one single good point.” After a string of bank and train robberies out west, Logan headed east, somehow ending up in Knoxville. Having a penchant for alcohol, Logan naturally wound up at Sullivan’s Saloon, among others, where he had been drinking before getting into a dispute with another man. When two deputies tried to break up the fight, Logan shot them. He was arrested and held in jail, where as many as five thousand curious Knoxvillians went by to get a glimpse of the notorious criminal. Many of the female visitors even took him food and gifts. Logan mysteriously escaped from the Knoxville jail and was seen riding out of town on the sheriff’s horse.
Prohibition forced Sullivan’s and all Knoxville saloons to close in 1907. The building was later bought by Mike Armetta in 1921 to house his general store and Liberty Ice Cream Company. Armetta was from Sicily and came to Knoxville to work for the railroad. He first had a store on Market Square but, after returning to Sicily to marry, brought his new bride back to Knoxville and settled on Central. Having no source of refrigeration, Armetta kept his ice cream cold by packing ice around it. Ice was brought into Knoxville by trains and stored in a building across the street from Armetta’s. When Armetta closed his shop, he rented the building to an upholstery shop until the 1960s. The neighborhood languished under its reputation as a rough and unsavory part of town. Then, as if by magic, enter again Kristopher Kendrick, who purchased and restored the property.
The costs for the renovations of the four-thousand-square-foot building were nearly $300,000. Kendrick’s rehab of the Sullivan Building included incorporating vintage lumber salvaged from other old buildings in the Old City and restored chandeliers. A fifty-foot cherry bar, hewn from a single tree, was installed. The bar stools were covered with remnants of an Oriental rug and fringe. A brass rail separated the bar from the dining tables, whose chairs were from the Andrew Johnson Hotel, and one side of the building was lined with booths from the old Atlanta Café. Stone wedges anchoring the bar came from the old Williams House in Fountain City, which was said to have been modeled after the original saloon. Stained-glass windows were hung above the front doors. The original floor was kept and polished.
The new Patrick Sullivan Saloon opened on St. Patrick’s Day 1988, one hundred years after the original saloon had opened. Kendrick insisted on the name of the establishment, noting, “That’s what it has to be called, because he built it, and he deserves it.”
My tour passes through this area often, and many times I have heard locals reminisce, “Oh, I used to really enjoy eating at Patrick Sullivan’s.” The fond memories of great meals can be traced back to Frank Gardner, Kendrick’s partner in the Sullivan project. Gardner was known for his restaurants Timberwinds and the Burning Bush in Gatlinburg. His signature dish for Patrick Sullivan’s was Shrimp Jameson—Gulf shrimp in a creamy sauce flavored with Jameson whiskey over linguini. The menu also featured Buffalo Bill’s Pepper Steak, Filet Oscar, Sullivan’s Prime Rib, Crabmeat Shrimp Imperial, Roast Rack of Pork and Porterhouse Steaks. Gardner arranged for seafood to be shipped in fresh from the Fulton Fish Market in New York. An Irish soda bread with caraway seeds was served, as well as fresh-baked croissants, baguettes for chili dogs and rolls for burgers. Daily blue plate specials such as fried chicken and meatloaf filled the lunch hours, and rich, gooey desserts of chocolate bourbon pecan or peach pies, strawberry shortcake, cheesecake and pound cake smothered with strawberries and whipped cream or chess squares—chess pie filling on a cookie crust served warm with ice cream—topped off a meal. Gardner’s strategy was to serve ample portions to encourage repeat visits by customers. This tactic worked well in Knoxville.
Kendrick and Gardner used a unique marketing tool for the Old City and their new restaurant by creating a “founders’ society” called Sullivan’s Clan. The clan was promoted to be for individuals who were interested in the revival of the Old City and restoration of other buildings like Patrick Sullivan’s. It featured three types of memberships at different dollar amounts, with the stipulation that the cost of membership was fully redeemable at Patrick Sullivan’s in food and drink credits. A Sullivan’s Clan plaque was to be displayed with names of all the members. Patrick Sullivan’s closed for a short time, but Gardner reopened it in 1999, only to close again in 2011, citing health concerns.
The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, featuring urban western cuisine by Chef Tim Love, opened in the Patrick Sullivan Building in 2016. Love attended school at the University of Tennessee and got his start working in restaurants in Knoxville. He gained notoriety in 2006 when he defeated Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in Battle Chile Pepper on Food Network’s Iron Chef America. Love has also appeared on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters and makes regular appearances hosting cooking segments on NBC’s Today Show and ABC’s Good Morning America. He starred on CNBC’s Restaurant Startup, where he had the opportunity to choose new restaurant concepts to invest in. Love has been featured in the New York Times as well as Food & Wine and Bon Appétit magazines, among many others.
From outlaws to celebrity chefs, over 125 years later, Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon is still going strong.