Wed
Sep 6 2006
07:37 am
Tomato Head coming to Maryville
By: R. Neal

Good news for Blount County. The Tomato Head is opening a new location in downtown Maryville.

Topics:
R. Neal's picture

{snark}Does Maryville have

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 7:57am.

{snark}Does Maryville have 50 tragically beautiful things to staff the place or will the help have to come from Knoxville.{/snark}

Ruby-T's found some, at least for opening week. They may have imported some of them, not sure. At least one we talked to was local. She was a Maryville College student. There were handsome young men, too. They all matched the hipster neo-industrial/deco decor. I was impressed with all their staff, and the obvious training. Not so much with the food, but we had takeout and it's hard to judge by that.

WhitesCreek's picture

"...hipster neo-industrial/deco ?"

Submitted by WhitesCreek on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 8:07am.

Oooooo....excellent modifier...Must steal!

 

But the food? I've only eaten at the TH downtown before concerts when a Downtown Brown liquid diet won't be enough. (Like next week before Lyle Lovett or possibly the Drive by Truckers)

Michael's picture

My first impression is that

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 8:26am.

My first impression is that this is a positive for Maryville.  But I also recollect Lula, Scott and Mahasti's short-lived neuvo mexican restaurant on Market Square.  Ultimately, that business was closed.  The reason given was that the strain of running two restaurants was too stressful. Perhaps things have changed (as I recollect, they had just had a baby when Lula was closed), and they now feel that it will be feasable to operate two restaurants several miles apart.  Lula was only a few doors down from the Tomato Head.
~m. 

zilla's picture

Yum

Submitted by zilla (not verified) on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 9:24am.

A great place to stop by on the way back from the mountains. That and Lemon Grass.

I think Lula wasn't the right place at the right time. I think TH Marvyille is.

R. Neal's picture

I also noticed in the

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 10:23am.

I also noticed in the article that Sandy Beale (Ruby Tuesday) encouraged them to open a location to help downtown Maryville.

I wonder if he'd also like someplace new for lunch, and maybe would like to keep an eye on them for a possible franchise opportunity and to see if the formula is repeatable? Although I'm not sure it is on a franchise scale.

edens's picture

Remember too that Lula

Submitted by edens on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 11:40am.

Remember too that Lula opened when downtown was a pretty discreet club. Essentially Scott and Mahasti were doing about the same business with twice the overhead. Maryville works much better in that regard,since I doubt many folks from Maryville drive down to Market Square for lunch.

As far as Ruby's taking the concept wider, I don't know. What's the saturation point for funky local/regional pizza joints? Seems like there are a lot of them around already.

Michael's picture

Remember too that Lula

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 12:48pm.

Remember too that Lula opened when downtown was a pretty discreet club. Essentially Scott and Mahasti were doing about the same business with twice the overhead.

That's a good point.  They were essentially competing with themselves at the time.  I guess I just took the reasoning they offered on face value.
~m. 

Les Jones's picture

metulj:

Submitted by Les Jones on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 12:58pm.

"{snark}Does Maryville have 50 tragically beautiful things to staff the place or will the help have to come from Knoxville.{/snark}"

Well, There's a tattoo parlor a block down the street that can take care of the cosmetic aspects.

I don't know where they're going to find enough free trade vegan lesbians with a commitment to social justice, though. Most of them emigrated after the Great Maryville Tofu Famine of '96. 

Hey, Les, why don't we just call each other assholes and get it over with. - Somebody on the old Southknoxbubba.net (if that was you, claim your quote and win net.fame!)

Number9's picture

I don't know where they're

Submitted by Number9 on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 2:11pm.

I don't know where they're going to find enough free trade vegan lesbians with a commitment to social justice, though. Most of them emigrated after the Great Maryville Tofu Famine of '96.

You can feel the snark today. Les and Uncle versus metulj. rikki should join in and it could be a cage match.

Les Jones's picture

Happy happy joy joy

Submitted by Les Jones on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 10:23am.

What good news.

Re: Lula's. Lula's was just bad when it opened. Their food was missing a certain something. A something called spice. Their food was unseasoned and they were too trendy to have something as banal as salt and pepper shakers on the table. Towards the end they started using spices and I loved their food but in the early days it was a Blandomat. A Blahtorium. A Nothingtosseum.

Hey, Les, why don't we just call each other assholes and get it over with. - Somebody on the old Southknoxbubba.net (if that was you, claim your quote and win net.fame!)

Factchecker's picture

I would sure be happy for

Submitted by Factchecker on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 12:54pm.

I would sure be happy for TmHd's owners if they could cash in on their intellectual property, so to speak (pardon the ugly buzzword, but it fits).  But cookie cutting TmHd a la the RT Corp. would ruin what works about it, IMO.  The first few RTs were killer premium burger/salad/drinking spots.  Now, RT is just another awning place in the boring, overpopulated world of generica.  It's probably an "efficient" business, but who cares?

R. Neal's picture

The first few RTs were

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 1:04pm.

The first few RTs were killer premium burger/salad/drinking spots. Now, RT is just another awning place in the boring, overpopulated world of generica. It's probably an "efficient" business, but who cares?

Exactly. And they got rid of the signature french onion soup and quiche in the process. But they get credit for practically inventing the awesome sald bar.

bizgrrl's picture

Hey, let's think capitalism

Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 1:35pm.

Hey, let's think capitalism here. Maybe Mahasti Vafaie wants to grow so much that kitchen/dining room hands on will no longer be required by her. Nothing wrong, in my book, with aspiring to be as successful as Sandy Beall even if Ruby Tuesday's are not like they used to be. What is? Not much.

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