Nixon's Deli's Bearden shop at 5716 Kingston Pike is closing next month, ending a run of nearly 35 years at that Kingston Pike storefront. The restaurant will keep serving hot hoagies and steamed sandwiches until 5 p.m. on Sept. 10, after which the doors will shut for good. Nixon's Deli says the property recently changed hands, and the company plans to search for a new local spot where it can reopen.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Nixon's Deli said the decision to close the Bearden location wasn't made by the restaurant itself. The paper reports that when it contacted the Knox County Register of Deeds office on Aug. 4, the office said it had no record of a sale for the property.
A Sale With No Paper Trail
That leaves a gap between what Nixon's Deli has told customers and what county records show, and the discrepancy remains unresolved. The restaurant hasn't named a new owner or explained who now holds the lease on the Kingston Pike building.
In a Facebook post responding to customers who suggested alternative Bearden spots, Nixon's Deli said monthly rents in the corridor now run from $10,000 to $14,000. That price range, the company indicated, is a steep barrier as it hunts for a new storefront to replace the one it's losing.
Knoxville's Restaurant Closures Keep Piling Up
The Bearden shutdown adds to a run of Knoxville restaurant closures this summer. Hoodline reported that Wings Etc. closed after staffing troubles in August, and that Denton's Kingston Pike location went dark in July.
Market Square's Myrtle's also ended its six-year run in July, while the Kingston Pike corridor lost its Hooters location in June. Old City's Melting Pot, a 31-year fixture, closed and began seeking a buyer in May.
Nearly Fifty Years of Steamed Sandwiches
Nixon's Deli has been part of Knoxville's dining scene since the early 1970s, arriving not long after steamed sandwiches themselves took hold in the city in the 1960s. Matt Brooks and his father took over the company in 2003. Nixon Deli Franchises, the family-owned company that runs all of the chain's locations, oversees daily meat-and-cheese slicing at each shop, according to Nixon's Deli. Beyond Bearden, the chain operates stores at 230 N. Peters Road and 508 Merchant Drive.
Per the same account, Brooks has said that people unfamiliar with the region have roughly a 50 percent chance of disliking steamed sandwiches, describing the soft, steam-warmed rolls as an East Tennessee tradition for as long as he can remember. Some of the sandwiches, he's added, turn out soft enough to eat with a spoon.
A Regional Delicacy Goes National
The steamed-sandwich tradition has picked up national attention in recent years. ESPN's 'Countdown to GameDay' sent commentator Jess Sims to sample the regional specialty during a broadcast in Knoxville in September 2025, according to ESPN. Nixon's Deli itself ranked fifth among Knoxville's top delis in a review of Yelp diner data compiled in July 2025 by Stacker. The craft requires specialized equipment - Knoxville-based KaTom Restaurant Supply stocks more than 20 commercial sandwich steamers priced between $600 and $1,600, per The Bitter Southerner.
The Menu That Built a Following
Nixon's Deli built its following on hot hoagies like the 12-inch 'Super' sandwich and hot pastrami piled with melted Swiss cheese and spicy brown mustard on a steamed roll, according to SinglePlatform. The sandwiches also come in 4-inch, 6-inch and 8-inch sizes for smaller appetites. For customers who can't make it to Bearden before the doors close, the chain has leaned on its delivery partnership through Nixon's Deli's online ordering system, which charges $6.99 for Toast Delivery Services orders within six miles and an extra $1.75 for deliveries up to eight miles, plus a 5 percent online service fee.
A Past Fire and a Labor Penalty
The Bearden closure isn't the first hurdle in Nixon's Deli's history. In June 2012, a two-alarm fire tore through the roof of the chain's Fountain City shop on North Broadway and threatened an adjacent strip mall before firefighters brought it under control, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported at the time, with co-owner Matt Brooks noting that the kitchen ran without fryers or stoves. A decade later, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development assessed a $2,000 civil penalty against the Bearden store in September 2022 for failing to properly verify three employees under the state's Lawful Employment Act, according to state records.
