King Tut Grill, beloved South Knoxville restaurant, quietly closes doors

King Tut Grill served customers for the last time on Dec. 31. There was little fanfare.

The exterior is unchanged, and inside, while the quirky knickknacks still crowd the shelves, decades of memories are frozen in time at this iconic South Knoxville restaurant.

“It took me by surprise as well; they had been talking about closing it for quite some time,” said Christina Girgis Kesecker, who was 5 years old when her parents opened King Tut Grill in 1993. “COVID hit everybody differently. We were kind of on that decline, so the lack of traffic exacerbated things.

“I told my Mom that something needs to be publicly said, so people are aware,” she said. “I handle the Facebook page and still receive customers’ messages — asking for just one last Egyptian sampler or one last Greek salad.”

When Seham and Mo Girgis opened King Tut Grill, there were few Middle Eastern restaurant options. King Tut Grill has faced many challenges, first after a two-year Henley Bridge closure, then later when they were faced with KUB’s costly grease interceptor requirement.

“Around 2019, I think that's when people assumed that was it, that King Tut’s would be closing. It was overlooked,” said Girgis Kesecker. “Especially once the word of mouth spread, business took a decline.”

There was an uptick in customers picking up food during the height of the pandemic.

“Everyone has migrated to Door Dash and UberEats, and my parents are old school Egyptians,” said Girgis Kesecker. “It is a matter of convenience at this point. I think that took a toll. We used to have such a big crowd.

“Yes, people loved the food and atmosphere, but when you went to King Tut’s it was for the experience,” said Girgis Kesecker. “Yes, the Greek salad or hummus was awesome, but you are not getting Mo, my Dad, the lights, playing chess or any of his weird quirks that make it memorable.”

This side (of the river) is booming and restaurants have bloomed overnight, but Vestal is so different, according to Girgis Kesecker. “If they had something in Vestal to keep things going that would have brought more traffic,” she said. “There is nothing around you but a bunch of places that have closed down. What is the driving force to go there?

“Back in the day there weren’t a lot of options,” said Girgis Kesecker. “Now you have this insurgence of different Middle Eastern places, even the Chipotle-style places. There is still nothing like King Tut Grill.”

Girgis Kesecker said her mother ran the restaurant in the mornings and afternoons and was the sole cook, while her dad would take care of the entertainment in the evenings.

Mo Girgis came up with the restaurant’s fun gimmicks in the 1990s. “If you wore a King Tut shirt you would get a basbousa, an Egyptian honey cake,” she said.

On Saturday nights, Seham Girgis would be in the back cooking and trying to get the food out while Mo Girgis switched on the disco lights and passed out instruments in the dining room. “It was B.Y.O.B., so they went wild; my Dad loves to be the life of the party,” said Girgis Kesecker.

She fondly remembers a crazy night where they had so many parties, that people were lined up out the door waiting to come in. “It was so hectic I had to have a friend come and help me,” she said. “It is so teeny tiny and busy, but all of the parties started interacting.

"It is not something you see in a typical restaurant or a Middle Eastern restaurant. You have restaurants that are gimmicky. With my parents it was so natural and organic, and that was part of the appeal.”

Girgis Kesecker said her parents are holding onto the nostalgia. “It was not an easy decision to close. I believe that if we could go back to 2018 as far as business and traffic we would still be open today,” she said. “My Mom is just not ready to retire, she needs something to do.”

As her parents are near retirement age, Girgis Kesecker said they hope to find the right buyer not just for the building but for the concept of King Tut Grill and her mother’s recipes. “It would be great to have someone shadow her as she prepares her meals,” she said. “That is something that is being explored.”

The Girgis family would hate to see the building demolished. “It needs work, but they would want somebody who would pump it with love and give it the TLC it needs,” said Girgis Kesecker. “When you have a business everybody knows how difficult it can be to be self-employed — you are the last to get paid — and when you abruptly close without thinking what the future will look like.”

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: King Tut Grill South Knoxville closes after decades