T-Bone's Cafe, the longtime Chattanooga restaurant and Mocs football booster near Finley Stadium, has shut down.
Charlie Danner, who owned the business for almost 15 years, said Friday he closed the eatery after the 92-year-old building's kitchen area was cited by the city for a deteriorated floor and determined unsafe for employees.
"If you can't cook, you can't operate," he said about the business that was located at Chestnut and West Main streets.
Danner said he doesn't know what building owner Tommy Bowen plans to do with the red brick, 4,313-square-foot structure, which was built about 1925, according to the Hamilton County Assessor's Office.
Bowen did not return phone calls seeking comment on Friday.
The building sits amid several new housing, office and retail developments planned or already underway on Chestnut Street in the hot Southside part of downtown.
Chattanooga spokeswoman Marissa Bell said that, following the business owner's request for an interior inspection, the city found the floor supporting the kitchen area was deteriorated to the point of "imminent collapse."
"A letter stating the floor was deteriorated was issued to the property owner, and 30 days were given for hire of an engineer and contractor to begin the process of fixing the rotten floor system and support piers," she said in an email.
Bell said an additional week was granted beyond the 30 days. During the followup inspection, inspectors declared the kitchen area a dangerous structure and issued a correction notice stating not to use that part of the building until the floor could be fixed, she said. The kitchen was closed in mid-December.
Cassie Hubbard, who works at The Clothing Co. across Main Street, said she didn't eat at T-Bones that often but was sorry to hear it closed.
"I wonder what they will do in that spot?" she asked, adding that another restaurant available for lunch "is always good for the businesses here. Quick and easy. Nonsmoking."
T-Bones operated as a restaurant for at least 15 years prior to Danner's acquiring the business nearly that many years ago, according to news archives. Prior to T-Bones, the building held a lunch counter named Blaylock's.
The building sits in the center of a flurry of new Southside development with three new projects planned or underway on Chestnut Street near or within a few blocks of the building.
Close by in the 1400 block of Chestnut, Chattanooga businessman and developer Matt Hullander said last year he was planning to raise a 20,000-square-foot building holding new office and residential space. He said then he foresaw space for a couple of new restaurants occupying the structure's ground floor.
Nearly across the street on Chestnut, a Birmingham, Ala., developer has started work erecting a five-story, 220-unit apartment complex with a swimming pool and courtyard.
Also on Chestnut across from Finley Stadium, Chattanooga developer John Wise has begun work on construction of 179 apartments near his Southside Social bowling alley and entertainment complex. Plans call for a four-level apartment building on Chestnut Street across from Finley and a three-story structure nearby facing West 20th Street.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.