The Diner That Never Closed

In 1967 this corner of Keith Street opened as a Burger Chef, back when the chain was second only to McDonald's with more than a thousand locations across the country. One by one those other Burger Chefs went dark. This one never did.

One night the old sign came down, and the next morning the same building reopened as The Chef, same A-frame roof, same flame-broiler, without closing for a single day. It is the only original Burger Chef building in America that has never shut its doors, which is how it came to be called the most historic diner in Tennessee.

The signature Hot Slaw has been served here without interruption since those early days. In 2024 it became the first official state food of Tennessee, and food writers from the New York Times to Atlas Obscura have traced the dish straight back to this counter. Come hungry, the biscuits are scratch-made and the welcome is the same as it was in 1967.