7 Things Pal’s Regulars in Tennessee Know That First-Timers Don’t

First-timers at Pal’s often notice something’s different before they even get their food.

Tennesseans who stop in regularly know the reasons why, and a few of them go back decades.

Here’s what regulars know that first-timers don’t.

1. Ordering From a Person

Pal’s drive-thru has no speaker box, with a person taking your order instead.

A May 2026 Food Republic profile describes the same setup, with customers giving their order to a worker at the window.

The company calls that service fast, cheerful and accurate.

2. Baldrige Award

In 2001, Pal’s won a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a federal agency, says Pal’s was the first business in the restaurant industry to receive one.

It was a small-business award.

If you’re wondering how big Pal’s was then, it served mainly drive-through customers at 17 locations, all within 60 miles of Kingsport, Tennessee.

Food Republic adds that Harvard Business School teaches a case study about Pal’s operating practices.

3. Pickup Window Speed

At Pal’s pickup window, it takes an average of 18 seconds to receive an order, according to Food Republic’s May 2026 profile.

An earlier figure comes from the NIST profile, which says order handout time fell from 31 seconds to 20 seconds since 1995, a pace it put at almost four times faster than Pal’s top competitor.

Start a stopwatch when you reach the window, and you can check that average against your visit.

4. Training Hours

Pal's workers go through up to 120 hours of training before they even start, according to Food Republic's profile.

They can also face pop quizzes about kitchen procedures.

A 2017 Harvard Business Review podcast says workers are certified before they make an item like french fries, then recertified periodically.

NIST's profile described a four-step training model of show, do it, evaluate and perform again.

Employees had to show 100 percent competence before they were certified to work a station.

5. Owner-Operators

Pal's says on its about page that each store you visit has a highly trained Owner-Operator.

The company doesn't sell franchises.

Food Republic's May 2026 profile describes the stores as company-owned.

Pal's builds a new store only after a long-time employee who's a good fit is ready to run it.

A 2017 Harvard Business Review podcast describes the owner-operator as an employee, not the store's owner.

Pal's locator page, meanwhile, calls each store independently owned and operated.

In those sources' telling, Owner-Operator is the title of the person who runs your Pal's, not necessarily the store's owner.

6. Revere Street Original

Pal's began in downtown Kingsport in 1956, according to Visit Kingsport, a tourism site for the city.

The site's page carries no date, but it says the original store is still open on Revere Street.

If you're mapping the original, Pal's locator lists store #01 at 327 Revere Street in Kingsport as of October 2026.

If you'd rather step up to a counter than pull up to a window, Revere Street is one of only two Pal's walk-in counter locations.

A 2017 Harvard Business Review podcast likewise describes all but two stores as drive-through only.

The locator marks Revere Street with an asterisk and notes that some stores offer special menu items.

Kingsport has seven of the Tennessee stores on that locator, more than any other town.

7. Breakfast Biscuits

Pal's menu lists six breakfast biscuits, including bologna, gravy and country ham.

If you want Cheddar Rounds with coffee, both are on the breakfast menu too.

At store #01 on Revere Street, the locator shows breakfast from 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday.

Sunday breakfast starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 11 a.m.

You can check each store's hours the same way.

Giving Back in Kingsport

If you're curious where Pal's founder put his money, a 2015 profile in a restaurant trade magazine, Quick Service, reported donations of more than $1 million to local projects.

The money went toward an athletic field house and scoreboard at Dobyns-Bennett High School, his alma mater.

It also went toward an automotive training center at Northeast State Community College.