9 Regional Restaurant Chains Tennesseans Will Defend to Anyone From Out of State

Krystal started in 1932 in a Chattanooga building just 10 by 25 feet.

Criticize it or any other hometown chain in front of a Tennessean, and you’ll hear about it.

Here are the regional restaurant chains Tennesseans will defend to anyone from out of state.

1. Pal’s Sudden Service

Pal’s Sudden Service opened in Kingsport in 1956.

Pal’s says it has 31 locations, all independently owned and operated, mostly in Northeast Tennessee with a few in Southwest Virginia.

If you pull up to a Pal’s window, you’re ordering from a chain that received the Baldrige Award in 2001.

2. Krystal

Krystal began in 1932.

The first restaurant was a Chattanooga building 10 by 25 feet, and entrepreneurs Rody Davenport Jr. and J. Glenn Sherrill started the company.

Krystal moved its headquarters to the Atlanta area in 2013.

In 2024, a franchisee group opened its 93rd Krystal on Brainerd Road in East Chattanooga, and you’ll find it near the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.

3. Hattie B’s

Hattie B’s Hot Chicken opened a Cumberland Avenue restaurant in Knoxville in August 2026, the chain’s 20th location and its ninth in Tennessee.

The chain began in Nashville in 2012, started by father and son Nick Bishop Sr. and Nick Bishop Jr.

You’ll find the Knoxville restaurant at 2001 Cumberland Ave.

4. Calhoun’s

Calhoun’s opened its first restaurant in 1983 on Kingston Pike in West Knoxville, just past Pellissippi Parkway.

Calhoun’s says it now has 20-plus locations across East Tennessee.

Visit Knoxville’s October 2025 roundup lists four of them in Knoxville itself. You can try the original, Bearden, Turkey Creek or Volunteer Landing on the Tennessee River downtown.

The same roundup says Calhoun’s won the grand prize ribbon at the National Rib Cook-Off in Cleveland, Ohio.

Calhoun’s also says it feeds veterans and members of the Armed Forces at no cost every Veterans Day.

5. Captain D’s

Captain D’s is headquartered in Nashville and was founded in 1969, according to a May 2025 company release.

The seafood chain has more than 530 restaurants in 23 states, and 74 of them are in Tennessee.

A Memphis-area franchisee, which the company calls its second-largest operator, has opened 24 Captain D’s restaurants, 23 of them in the Memphis area.

If you’re in Jackson, you can find the city’s second Captain D’s at 73 Chloe Place Dr. in Park Place West, with a Memorial Day 2025 opening.

6. Puckett’s

Puckett’s started as a 1950s country store in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee.

Andy Marshall bought the grocery in 1998, then turned it into a restaurant and music venue in 2002.

Puckett’s says it has six restaurants, in Franklin, Nashville, Columbia, Chattanooga, Murfreesboro and Pigeon Forge.

The company says Franklin became its first full-service restaurant in 2004.

Downtown Nashville followed in 2010, Columbia in 2013, Chattanooga in 2014 and Murfreesboro in 2017, and the company says Chattanooga was its first restaurant outside Middle Tennessee.

Pigeon Forge opened in 2019, and the company says it launched Puckett’s first counter-service model there in September 2021.

7. Tops Bar-B-Q

Tops Bar-B-Q’s motto is “Memphis’ best since 1952.”

J.W. Lawson started the chain, and its first restaurant opened in a shopping center on Macon Road.

Memphis Magazine reported in 2019 that Tops had 15 locations, including two in North Mississippi.

Tops says on its website that it now has 19 locations across the Mid-South.

8. Corky’s

Corky’s first opened in 1984 in East Memphis, on Poplar Avenue.

Corky’s says it started cooking ribs and pulled pork to ship overnight in 1987, and that franchised restaurants began opening in other Southern cities in 1990.

The company also says a second Memphis-area restaurant opened in Cordova in 1998, and a third in Collierville in 2001.

Corky’s website now lists restaurants in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. If you’re in Brentwood, Olive Branch or Little Rock, you’ll find a Corky’s on that list.

9. Buddy’s Bar-B-Q

Buddy’s Bar-B-Q opened its first restaurant in Knoxville in 1972, after its founders ran the Pixie Drive Inn in Seymour.

Chattanooga station WTVC reported in August 2026 that the chain has grown to 19 locations across East Tennessee.

If you’re in Cleveland, Athens, Hixson or East Ridge, you can find a Buddy’s Bar-B-Q in town.

O'Charley's Closings

O'Charley's was founded in Nashville in 1971, with its first restaurant on 21st Avenue.

On September 10, 2026, Restaurant Dive reported that the chain had reportedly closed, or was closing, all of its locations.

Cannae Holdings owns the chain and has been reviewing its restaurant group.

At the end of the second quarter, O'Charley's had 49 company-owned restaurants and three franchised ones across 13 states, down from 250 at its height.