Sam & Andy’s Forever
Those of you who lived, worked, or went to school in Knoxville at any time during the latter-half of the 20th Century (that’s the 1900’s for any of you who are chronologically challenged), will doubtless remember the greatest haunt on the strip of dilapidated buildings known to the Tennessee faithful simply as “Cumberland.” While I know there will undoubtedly be some of you who swear by Old College Inn, The Last Lap, The Library, Spicy’s, The Varsity, or (for some ungodly reason) the Torch, and say that I am crazy, this is my ship and I decide where it goes (even if that is straight on to the rocks). Yes, in my opinion, the greatest loss suffered by the Tennessee community in the last … well, pretty much since the Civil War, was the closure of the venerable eatery known as Sam & Andy’s.
Sam & Andy’s (circa 1998)
Due to the pressures of time, the almighty dollar, and the rise of crappy, half-assed, uppity chain restaurants, Sam & Andy’s was replaced by McAlister’s Deli (one of the aforementioned chains, this one owned by some dentist from Oxford, Mississippi) in 1998.
Sam & Andy’s was my kind of place.
Sam & Andy’s was as much a part of the university as Neyland Stadium and Ayres Hall. It was a tradition for over sixty years on Cumberland. It had been the job of Sam & Andy—both of whom retired or died many years before I first walked through the door—to oversee the nutritional well-being of generations of college students. They served classic college food at reasonable prices in a surly and smug atmosphere. Sam & Andy’s was actually three different restaurants housed under one roof: Sam & Andy’s Tennessean, Sam & Andy’s Roman Room, and Sam & Andy’s Deli. Each of three restaurants were connected (to hell with the fire code!) and served, more or less, the exact same thing for the same price. Each of these restaurants, however, had completely different personalities and customers. In fact many frequent patrons, such as me, rarely if ever ventured into any of the other areas; that is unless they needed to use the restroom or buy condoms from one of fourteen different machines on the wall in the single set of restrooms which served all three. That building was a living tradition.
The Men’s Bathroom Wall
I always frequented the deli which was in the rear of the building. It was a simple open room with a chest-high white wood and formica counter running the length of the back and right-hand wall. Near the door, the counter dropped down to waist level, and a small collection of little baskets containing salt and other condiments sat next to a neat stack of napkins, all of which sat in front of an old cash register which appeared to have come over on the Ark with Noah. The left-hand wall was completely obscured by a floor to ceiling beer cooler like the ones found in convenience stores. The front wall was home to a much smaller Coca-Cola cooler, several racks of potato chips and snacks, and a TV suspended on the wall which was always on but rarely seemed to be watched. In the middle of the room were nine or ten plain white Formica tables with simple yellow vinyl covered chairs. The walls, or at least the parts that could be seen, were light brown wooden paneling, and were covered with old newspaper clippings, pictures, awards, and beer posters.
The Deli Entrance
Over the grill, in the back, hung the menu boards. From these boards a student or anybody who was hungry could order anything from a Hoagie, a Vol or Pizza Burger, to a Sub, or anything else in between. It would always be served up in the same manner- on wax paper in a small red plastic basket with a pickle on the side. In all of the hundreds of visits I made to Sam & Andy’s, I don’t think I ever ordered anything other than a Kielbasa Sandwich on dark bread (and it was really dark) with provolone, spicy mustard, and mayonnaise; well, except for a brief “angry” period in my college years when I ordered a few Ribeyesteak sandwiches. While my coronary arteries are probably still reeling from these meals, my heart sure loved them.
The place smelled of meat and cheese. It was always hot in there because they steamed the sandwiches, which meant the room was pretty much constantly in a fog. God, how I loved those steamed sandwiches. Over here in ACC country where I live now, if you ask the guy at the sandwich place to steam your sandwich he looks at you like you just introduced the topic of nipple-piercing while having a conversation with the Pope.
Sam & Andy’s was the kind of place that understood customer service and where they knew how to treat people right. They tended to treat out-of-towners and uppity types like they had a contagious case of desiccated rectal cancer, the regulars—like myself—they simply ignored. That said, once during my sophomore year I went there with my roommate, and realized I didn’t have any money to my name. My buddy ordered his sandwich, and I just sat. Then the heavyset guy behind the counter (I never learned his name, but he wore glasses and had blondish-brown hair parted in the middle if anyone knows who he was) asked what I was having.
“I’ve got no money, man.” says I.
“Ahh, you’re in here all the time. Just write us an IOU.” came the response from behind the counter.
Thus, that night I ate purely upon the value of my name written on the back of some old business card. Now in the 1950’s that might have been common in a small college community, but this was 1995. I made sure to stop by the next day and settle my debt.
Best I could ever tell, George Captain owned the place during my years in Knoxville. He was always behind the bar in the Tennessean part of the building. I think he was Sam or Andy’s nephew. I also know that a few other establishments around campus (Vic & Bill’s Deli behind the law school and Gus’ Goodtimes Deli on Melrose), were owned by other cousins. I guess their philosophy was keep the competition in the family.
George Captain
Anyway, in 1998, McAlister’s Deli bought the land and Sam & Andy’s closed. I grabbed one of the last take-out menus before I left on the last day of business.
Sam & Andy’s Menu (circa. 1998)
Sam & Andy’s re-opened in the old Swensen’s building across the street a few years later, but it wasn’t the same. The atmosphere was all wrong, and it was more like a “normal” restaurant. They seemed to do a good business, but a year or two ago they lost their lease and Moe’s moved in. I hear that they still have places in Fountain City and out in West Knoxville, but I haven’t been.
On the day that McAlister’s opened, I chanted a hex on the restaurant that I learned from some voo-doo panhandler down in New Orleans in return for $5.00 for a bottle of Ripple. I think either I said it wrong or got ripped off, because McAlister’s hasn’t burned down, I haven’t seen un-dead zombies trashing the place, and there haven’t been any swarms of locusts around the joint. Still, I hope it gets hit by a bus, burned to the ground, and Mr. McAlister—whoever the hell he is—gets a chronic case of piles.
So next time you’re on Cumberland, lift a glass to Sam & Andy’s … and empty your bladder on the front door at McAlister’s.
— Go Figure … lawvol
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Made me cry.. I remember fondly from the time I was 3-4 years old going to The Roman Room. George has known me almost my entire life. He didn’t know my name, but always recognized me every time we walked into the place..
I can say that in the Roman Room, I have never had anything on the menu but a Hogie, on light, with Mayo and Mustard. Fries. Coke till I was 21, beer after 21.
My family (Dad, Mom, Me, Sister, her kids) ate there on the last night it was open. We cried, I think George did too..
I go to the West Knoxville one about once every two months. Some say George will even work there sometimes, but I have yet to see him there. Same food, but atmosphere is much different, thus the food tastes different for some reason..
Thanks for the blog,
Moment of silence for Sam & Andy’s
ElConquistador.
Glad to know that you liked it.
QUALITY!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. A truly special place.
-Fed
Fantastic walk down memory lane. Great to see the photos. I go back to the days when Uncle Andy and his handlebar moustache still manned the cash register out front.
The biggest problem in this nation today, and the one that I constantly am up against in my profession, is the corporate mentality that has taken over everything from corner delis and drugstores to used car lots and hardware stores. It is choking out the entrepreneurial spirit that is needed for healthy communities.Let em have the utilities, gas stations, and even some big box stores, but something has to be done to allow small businesses to exist in America.
Nevermind. I see why.
Being from Oxford, I don’t see any problems with it though, too bad it replaced a landmark in Knoxville.
Yeah, it’s just sort of a completely irrational and juvenile rant…
After spending more time in the Roman Room in the late “60’s than I did in class, I finally moved on. I knew Andy, George and a surly waitress named Lucy. In 1992, I was in Knoxville on business took a colleague by the Roman Room, after an absence of 23 years, I walked into the restroom said Hi to George and without hesitatipn called me by my first name! I still have the 1992 menu George gave me. Prices had shot up. their famous spaghetti w/meatballs had gone up to a whopping $3.95.
Scott
You forgot you are a second generation Sam and Andy lover. I ate there 50 % of the time….my dorm and my apartment were 1/2 a block away. Great article. Loved the pictures. All true.
The shop in Farragut has some of the old atmosphere, (UT photos, separate rooms) but it is in Farragut (enough said)
Oh, by the way, they still ONLY take cash! God bless America.
Sam & Andy’s will long be missed on cumberland. The grandson runs the fountain city location and has done a good job with carrying on the tradition with the same food and by keeping up with the times by adding new menu items. You can’t really call it a deli or you cant call it a grill…. those of us who have been lucky enough to know its best described as Sam & Andy’s
GO SAM AND ANDY’S!!!
Their Steamed Roast Beef Subs were the best – wish I could find one today. I used to get one in the mid 70’s whenever I could. The bartander – Victor – in the Roman Room used to have some reasonablely priced draft as I racall.
All I have to say about this is it breaks my heart. Not that it’s gone, but that I didn’t realize what a relic it was before it was gone.
My freshman year was in 1998, and they were just getting ready to send S&A on its merry way into Restaurant Heaven, and I only ate there once that I can recall.
It would have to be up there with The Chophouse or Ruth’s Chris to take the place of Gus’s in my heart, for Gus’s is the place where I carried my drunk ass on hundreds of nights throughout college.
Thankfully, Gus’s is still there. Whenever I go to Knoxville, I have to eat there … and at Sawyers … for old time’s sake. I don’t know what I would do if Gus’s wasn’t there. Knoxville wouldn’t be Knoxville.
So, I know how you feel to an extent. My Uncle Randall, at the mention of Sam & Andy’s name, bows his head, closes his eyes and shakes his head. Sometimes, I think he’s going to weep. But he loves Gus’s, too, so that’s some solace.
Not much, but some.
Great piece.
Sam and Andy’s/The Roman Room will always have a special place in my fondest memories. One of the things I am thankful for is that I got to share my love for the Vol Burger and a S&A’s pastrami and smoked cheddar with my son on game days before it closed.
Great story. As the great Bob Hope used to say, Thanks For The Memories!
I think I must haven’t eaten there every Sunday night my freshman year.It was without a doubt the best place to eat on Cumberland.
I never have and never will eat at any McAlister’s because of how I felt the day I saw it sitting where Sam & Andy’s should be.
Great piece. I started on the Hill in ‘93 and so witnessed the demise as well. For some reason I don’t remember it becoming McAlister’s at all. Must’ve blocked it out. I do remember the first time I went in Sam & Andy’s as a young ‘un…before that day I never knew “dark” bread was an option in my life. RIP.
I’ll take a roast beef and smoked cheddar on dark, mustard and mayo please! I agree with other posters – S&A West and Good Times have good sandwiches but the atmosphere is not the same. But any time I stop at one of these when in K-town I do get the satisfaction of remembering the original. Thanks for the article.
True story about George: Like the rest of you I would eat there regularly (and if you didn’t order food he would assume you were broke and offer to feed you for free) and I would order my drink but would not use the straw he put on the table. Soon he stopped putting the straw on the table when I would go in. After I graduated I went back after more than a year and went to the Roman Room with some people. We all ordered and he gave everyone a straw except for me. Now that is knowing your customer. We need more George’s in the world…and more Vol Burgers too.
I came to Knoxville in June of ‘77. My brother took me to the Roman Room the first day I got in town, and I knew I found a home away from home. George was great, a guy with a greek/southern accent. I never heard anything like it before.
I started hanging around the Sam & Andy’s part more after I got a job working construction on the Art & Architecture building on the UT campus. We would come from the job and pile in there and eat, and drink (mostly drink) way too much. Now that I think back, it seemed like one long wild party. I remember there was a waitress named Faye that worked there that all of us hound dogs were gunning for. Only one was successful, that I know of. I wonder whatever happened to her?
Eventually work on the Art building was winding down and everyone went there separate ways. That happens in small town construction. You become a nomad. You go where the work is. I stopped in late the night before I was to leave the next morning, to go back up north. I figured one day I’d be back.
When I eventually did make it back to Knoxville, Sam & Andy’s/Roman Room were just a memory. A fond one.
I hit Koxville in 1975. You’d have thought I wrote this piece myself. I have yet to spend a dime in a MacAlister’s whorehouse. I curse their name. Oxford? Figures.
I believe the big guy with the hair parted in the middle was named Roscoe. He laid the mayo and the steam to those sandwiches.
One day in Nashville several years ago I was poking around a restaurant supply house and came up on a gleaming new Lincoln Fresh-O-Matic steamer. I asked the man how much it cost and he named his price ($600 then, they go for $1000 or so now — wow). Then the guy asked me if I went to school in Knoxville. He told me the only people on earth who can even identify one of those things are old Vols.
George always kind of intimidated me, and I didn’t think he paid me a bit of attention. But years later when they were operating that little joint where Moe’s is now (anyone remember Ollie’s Trolley?), I’ll be damned if he didn’t remember me and was sweet as a favorite uncle to my little kids.
I swear a solemn oath that if I hit the powerball I will buy MacAlister’s gay-ass raspberry tea parlor, dynamite it, and put Sam & Andy’s back exactly like God intended. History demands it.
Dear Lord, “Ollie’s Trolley” — there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.
Thanks for “Roscoe’s” name — I’ll update the story here soon…
Ollie’s Trolley. I remember that. Is the Tap Room still around?
The Tap Room has bitten the dust. It went down in the last year or so.
I remember Condredge Holloway’s autograph on the ceiling: “If you can’t long dick ‘em, trick f–k ‘em.”
Condredge Holloway? Was that the country singing that lived in Knoxville? If it’s him, I remember listening to him in a honky-tonk on Central ave. He never made it big, but he was good. He went out with a hot looking hair stylist that worked at the place two doors down from the Tap Room.
Man, did I drink a lot of beer there with the UT rugby team.
Same guy who owned the Tap Room back then, also owned Dan & Gracie’s.
wow im a grandson of little george and grew up lookin out that big window lookin out on the strip and watchin the crew work all those game days and could not wait till i was old enough to jump in and help man that must have been more then 25 years ago i dont know what happen to campus no sam&andys no vic&bills what do the kids have left??
I’m a relative of the original owners. I’ll never forget the food, the atmosphere or them, but good memories live on.
Good memories, indeed…
Great article. We had a buddy that always got turkey-
swiss onwhite w/mayo…2 pickles. (1974) To this day
we refer to it as a gary irvin special. I was partial
to the corned beef/Moz on dark mustard/mayo. I went into the Broadway branch a few years back on my way
through Knoxpatch and there was Victor back in the back washing dishes. I still have a brick from the original
building in my work shop. What a great place!!! thanks!!
I’d hit the deli at least once a week, stumbling back to Clement Hall on my way home from the Blood Bank. “Reuben on dark, with horseradish, extra pickle and extra steam, please.” That and a quart of Busch would sustain me until my next leaching.
Now I’ve got money, but no Sam & Andy’s, at least not the real deal. Ahh to be a broke college kid again….(sighs)
I know the atmosphere can never be recovered, but I will never understand how such a delicacy has failed to migrate beyond the Knox County limits.
Great article. I was at UT in the late 60’s and like many the Roman Room was my second home – 3rd bar seat from the end (Mr Ralph Lawson(rip) always occupied the first seat). The fish bowls of draft were 30 cents.
Mr Sam passed away during my tenure, but Uncle Andy, still dapper with his handlebar mustache, remained cashing $5 checks from his seat behind the counter in the Tennessean side. I remember the day that the Deli opened, it was a Tuesday because of the Greek belief that opening a business on a Monday would bring bad luck.
George was one of the hardest working guys that I have ever seen. He worked 80 to 90 hours a week. His story is something special – the real American dream. George was unable to immigrate from Greece at the time he wished due to the quota system. So he immigrated to Canada where he became a Canadian citizen. Since there was no quota for Canadians, he was then able to come to the US. To complete the American story, his son became an MD.
I am not sure if his brother, Johnny, immigrated with George or came later. Their cousin George (Little George) is at the East Knoxville location. I remember when he ran the Tennessean mobile grill which was often set up outside of New Melrose Hall, now Hess Hall.
So I would like to lift a fish bowl to Sam, Andy, George, Johnny, little George, Ruby, Vic, Bill, George Sam and all fellow customers of The Tennessean, The Roman Room and The Deli!!
I should have said that Little George is at the West Knoxville location. At my age it is hard to remember right from left or east from west.
Cool site!! All of us old regulars are still looking for a place even remotely as good as the Double R Bar. The picture of George Tony is great. I was surprised to see my reflection behind him in the mirror but unfortunately I can’t tell who I was talking to. The only thing I asked for as a souvenir on the last night was the red Bud tap handle in the pic in front of George and I’m proud to say I still have it.
Hey Jeff! Nice memories. I really miss George. Really neat to see you in the mirror behind George. Right where I could always find you after class!
Thanks for turning me onto this site.
–Larry
That’s my place at the window end of the bar. I spent a lot of time there.
Nice to see that a few of you guys do remember the way it was. As for the picture in the mirror, well, now you can tell everyone that you are immortalized on the web…
I lived in the Roman Room, George Tony was like my dad, I ran a tab and paid monthly. I knew most of the Captain family, there is not a day that goes by that I dont think about that place and all my friends that went there. It is so cool that someone created this site. I shot a video on the last day it was open.A few of those people have died since that time. If I can i will try to post some pics from that sad day
I ran a tab with George, and Victor. George was always good about letting you ride for a month.
BARNEY post the pictures. I went there from ‘77 to ‘80 I might know you, if you where there at the time. I was there everyday.
Sam & Andy’s was an institution. Unfortunately I only got to experience it first hand as a kid. Looking back on it now, and hearing stories from my parents from their college years, only makes me lament its departure from the Strip even more. Your piece is right on, it frustrates me that places with the character like the Roman Room are forced to make way for places like McAllister’s, Wendy’s, Bar Knox, etc…Sucks…give me a place where everybody knows your name.
Man it brought back a lot of memories reading these comments. Thought I would share mine. First hit the Roman Room back in the summer of ‘74 for my freshman orientation.
During my freshmen year, I was on the cafeteria meal plan but on the weekends, I had to eat somewhere else. Every Saturday night, I would head to Sam & Andy’s Deli. One time I would get the ham and cheedar on white with mustard and mayo. The next time I would order roast beef and swiss on dark with mustard and mayo.
They would wrap it up in aluminum foil and I would trudge back up that steep hill to Hess Hall. Get to my room, open the foil up, walk all the way to the other end of the hall to the Coke machine, walk back to my room and the sandwich was still too hot to eat. What memories.
You wouldn’t believe the number of people I have turned on to putting mustard and mayo on a sandwich because of S & A.
Can’t remember the guy’s name that ran the cash register by the side entrance door. He would always throw your loose change onto the counter top instead of handing it to you. Someone told me that years before someone had grabbed his hand and stabbed it so that was why he threw your change. Don’t know if that was true but it sure made a good story.
The first time I went in a bar and sat down to order a beer was in the Roman Room. I was 16 and my older sister was a regular there with her boyfriend and George loved her so he had no problem serving me a beer or two. I sure was impressed with myself though as I watched all the older college kids in there.
My Dad took me to Sam and Andy’s as a kid many times and I continued to go there all through college. Andy Captain was a true gentleman and would never let a kid go hungry if he didn’t have any money. I saw him many times feed college students that were broke and I promise you that they ALWAYS came back to pay him even if years later. People like him are truly priceless.