Can We Please Get a Western Sizzlin’ Restaurant Back in Kentucky?

Do you remember Western Sizzlin' restaurant?  I sure do. When I was a kid, I loved that place. I grew up in Owensboro, KY and we had a location on the south end of Frederica Street close to the base of our bypass. I have a really fun memory of that particular location too. I remember going there to eat one night with my family before we went to see The Van-Dells play at the Executive Inn's Showroom Lounge.  Remember the Van Dells??

I thought we were living it up that night.  It was awesome. And, in retrospect, was there a more "Owensboro" experience in the late 70s or early 80s than a Western Sizzlin'/Van-Dells family night?

The Western Sizzlin' was my first introduction to a steak house.  Here in Owensboro, it randomly sat adjacent to a Sizzler restaurant, which I thought was a little peculiar. I mean, they were basically the same kind of restaurant, right?  Truth be told though, my loyalties were firmly with Western Sizzlin'.  I am sure I probably did, but I don't ever recall eating at Sizzler. I was definitely Team Western Sizzlin'.  I still am.

My friend Ricky Evans, who's also from Owensboro, actually worked at Western Sizzlin' here in town. He remembers those "old, sad-looking cows on the sign."

Anna Case (from Sacramento, KY) worked at the location in Madisonville. She remembers her favorite food there and taking advantage of her employee discount!

About fifteen years ago or so, I got really excited when I stumbled across one of Kentucky's last remaining Western Sizzlin' locations.  Kevin and I were visiting Cumberland Falls and we found a Western Sizzlin' in Corbin, Kentucky.  Sure, Corbin's the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken, but I was all about the Western Sizzlin'.  We popped in and had dinner and it was as delicious as I remembered.

Of course, the sad news is- all the locations in Kentucky have since closed.  I did, for the sake of reminiscing, find this on YouTube. It's a Western Sizzlin' commercial from the Danville location.

Well, I am making the case that we need Western Sizzlin' to come back to the Commonwealth. And it could because, brace yourself, Western Sizzlin' still exists! And there are multiple locations sprinkled throughout Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.

No, seriously!  I am not making it up.  And I have the location map from Western-Sizzlin.com to prove it!  Now, not all of those flags indicate actual Western Sizzlin' locations, but four of them do!

In case you're curious where the remaining locations are, I have compiled them for you.

1804 Decatur Pike in Athens, TN

1130 Highway 28 in Jasper, TN

501 Legion Drive in Dalton, GA

11961 South 226 Hwy in Spruce Pine, NC

Here's a relatively recent commercial for the chain. A few years back, the restaurant rolled out Flamekist! Sizzlin' Platters and celebrated with this tempting 30-seconds of TV!

Do you remember Western Sizzlin'?  Do you want it back in Kentucky as much as I do?