About Regas Restaurant, a Knoxville Institution​ 

Regas Restaurant was a Knoxville institution for over 90 years. It began in 1919, when brothers Frank and George Regas opened the Ocean Café. By the early 1920s, they moved to the Watauga Hotel on North Gay Street and renamed it the Astor Café, later becoming known as Regas Brothers Café. Initially, it was a small 18-stool counter open 24 hours, serving Southern Railway passengers.​​

 

In the 1940s and 1950s, the restaurant expanded significantly, eventually seating over 275 guests. It transitioned from a casual café to a fine dining destination in the 1960s and 1970s, becoming a popular spot for business lunches, celebrations, and special occasions.

 

​​In the 1960s – 1990s, multiple family members, including George’s children, Frank Regas (lead all food operations, Gus Regas (lead bar operations), and Kiki Liakonis (hospitality evangelist), and Frank’s son Bill Regas (president), continued the success of the operations.​​

 

Frank G. Regas retired in 1989 from Regas Restaurant, it was a top 50 restaurants in the United States during his leadership and passion for food.​​

 

Regas also played a role in local history—Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas worked there as a teenager in the 1940s, and its clam chowder was famously served at President Reagan’s inauguration.​​

 

After a brief closure in 2000 and reopening in 2001, Regas finally closed for good in 2010. At that time, it was recognized as Tennessee’s oldest continuously operating restaurant.