BEARDEN Shopper news • JUNE 17, 2013 • A-5
Remembering the Frontier House MALCOLM’S CORNER | Malcolm Shell One of the true iconic eateries of several decades ago was the Frontier House on Kingston Pike. And for the locals, it was often used as a landmark to identify other Kingston Pike establishments. It was also known as the “Farragut Country Club� because most of the clientele knew each other and gathered there regularly to socialize. To that extent, it was very similar to an English Pub or German guest haus. It was initially operated by John Lee McCarter who hired Marie Turner as manager. John purchased the building in 1959 from Barbara Osborne who, along with her mother and aunt, ran it as a tea house. When John took the plunge, he knew very little about the restaurant business, and I am sure he never envisioned the success he would have in that venture. “In 1959, the entire area was very rural,� John recalls, “and it was so far out in the country our vendors wouldn’t even deliver supplies to us. We regularly had to go into Bearden or Knoxville to get our supplies. There were not many restaurants out this far, and the vendors didn’t feel it was worth coming out here to service such a small number.� When John first opened the place, he had a fourmember band that played on Friday and Saturday nights in the back room. We lived very near the es-
tablishment and on any given weekend night, we would often get a group of our neighbors together and enjoy an evening of dining and dancing to a great band. The band members were Charley Baker on saxophone and Jim Clayton on guitar. The other two members were Mel Hines and Ronnie Anderson, and I cannot remember which instruments they played. After several years, John was ready to “enjoy life� again and decided to sell. At about that time, his brother, Charlie, returned from California and John offered him the opportunity to take over the reins. “It was an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up,� said Charlie. “And besides, I knew John would be there to offer advice if I needed him.� The menu offered good Southern country cooking such as fried chicken and country ham, but the real winner was the “Charlie burger.� As a connoisseur of hamburgers, I can honestly say that it was a burger that had no equal – a large piece of prime ground beef smothered in fried onions with all the trimmings. The exhaust fan also played an important role because if you drove by with your car windows down and caught the aroma, you were sure to turn around and enjoy a “Charlie burger.� Two of the many factors that contributed to Charlie’s success were a great
The exterior of the Frontier House as seen from Kingston Pike.
The bar at the Frontier House in a photo dated 1962. Photos submitted sense of humor and a genuine concern for people. The children loved Charlie, and many of the kids that first came with their parents brought their children when they became parents. On their closing night, a group of good friends gathered to bid Charlie and his wife, Faye, farewell. Faye remembers that some of the children cried. Although the establishment sold beer, the McCarters maintained strict discipline and if someone got too loud they were asked to leave. John remembers one night he threw a crew of people out who he knew
to be truly bad people. John says he was sure they would come back after closing and vandalize the place. “I spent most of the night on the roof with a shotgun,� says John, “but they never came back.� Charlie’s sense of humor caused him to tell about two regulars – Earl Hall and Jack Watson – who were having lunch there one day when an ambulance came by with its siren on. When they pulled the curtain back to see what was happening, there was so much grease on the window that the sunlight
shining through the glass caused a rainbow effect. Earl turned to Jack and said, “I know why Charlie has to charge so much for the ‘Charlie burger,’ he has to pay for these stained -glass windows.� The McCarters always supported the community events and organizations, particularly those that sponsored children’s activities. John recalls that he sponsored a little league baseball team called the Cardinals. But because they sold beer, the organizers would not allow him to use the Frontier House
name on the uniform. John recalls that he just put his name on the uniform but that was just as good as using the Frontier House name. Everyone knew who John represented. When Charlie sold the restaurant, the new owners assured him that everything would remain the same – menu, personnel, etc. – but they decided to do considerable modifications which apparently did not go over well with the clientele. And business dropped off almost immediately. I guess that is a good example of the old truism: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.� Today, the Concord/ Farragut community is blessed with an abundance of restaurants that offer a diversity of many ethnic cuisines, and I really enjoy the variety. But I still yearn for the ambience and friendliness of the Frontier House. And who knows, perhaps someday an establishment will come up with a burger that rivals the “Charlie burger,� but as yet, I have not found one.
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