Although they still plan to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday and the open house on Sunday, they won't be opening for business on Monday.

~Russ

I went to the open house at the S&W Grand today. As a native Knoxvillian old enough to remember the original, I can attest that the restoration job they've done on the place is magnificent. The wood molding and the plaster moldings on the ceilings are precise replicas, the funky-colored glass in the mirrors has been reproduced, and the light fixtures, the staircase, and even the air returns are exact reproductions of the originals.

I was stunned. I had flashbacks and goosebumps all at once. Anyone who remembers the original will feel an immediate rush of familiarity.

The owners have resurrected a piece of local history faithfully and with obvious love.

~Russ

Did you think the otherwise "cool" LED lighting was a little too cool in color temp? They make warmer (or softer) white LEDs, but these are a little bluish. It's a little nit in an overall very wonderful refurbishment, but this can make or break the mood of a place. I wonder if they tested them and what alternates were considered.

We have symphony tickets Friday night and are going to try to have dinner here first (us and half of Knoxville, I expect).

It looks good, looking forward to the Lenny's opening up right by it as well.

...it didn't seem at all harsh to me. Unlike the greenish tint that flourescents give off, I thought the cool white/blue made the space seem clear, clean, and open.

It was hard for me to decide whether it was too cold. I hope you're right.

...looking forward to the Lenny's opening up right by it as well.

Really?! I've never tried, but is it truly good? Were it Jason's, OTOH, I could agree with you, but that would be competition for the S&W Grand.

I had lunch at the S&W the day it closed.

I took my grandmother, and it was all I could do not to cry when she said good-bye to Mr. Slim Dixon.

Lunch at the S&W with my grandparents is my very favorite childhood memory, particularly the early days when I'd sit in the lobby with my grandmother waiting for Granddaddy Bean to come through the door in his mailman's uniform. I'd look at that big mural of the tornado bearing down on a farm family and think about the Wizard of Oz and wonder what was going to happen to the animals who were too big to get into the shelter.

There's no place in my memory that means more to me than that old cafeteria, except for First Methodist Church back when it used to be on the corner of Clinch and Locust. The Bijou and the fancy ladies' room in the old Miller's building were up there, too, and the old downtown library on Summit Hill.

I really enjoyed the story in the Sunday KNS, especially the pdf of the old restaurant industry publication telling the S&W story. Founder Frank Sherrill was a heck of a guy.

I did a Metro Pulse story on Slim the year before he died. He was working at Ramsey's then and was 96 years old. He was a remarkable man who used his earnings to help young people go to college. If there's a heaven, Slim's in it, and he's not having to carry trays.