Skoby’s began on Fort Henry Drive in Kingsport, Tenn., in 1946 as a curbside service restaurant and remained there until 1948. Owned and operated by Fred and Helen Barger, Pal’s parents, the restaurant derived its name from their nickname for one another. The restaurant moved to its location on Konnarock Road and in 1950, the curbside service concept evolved into a small seating restaurant. The limited menu changed to include steak dinners and other award-winning delicacies that gained notoriety throughout the South. The New Orleans façade exterior and unique décor inside the restaurant added to its legacy and allure.
“My parents loved each other greatly from childhood and called one another Skoby’s. This great restaurant was built upon their love and passion for people,” recalled Pal Barger. Our organization is proud to present Virginia Intermont with the keys to this great legacy and give back to the community,” concluded Barger. It was 1946 when Fred Barger Sr. opened Skoby's Restaurant at 1001 Konnarock Road in Kingsport, Tennessee. Over the next half-century, it would become a regional landmark, known as much for its unique décor as for its excellent cuisine. passed away in 1971, his son "Pal" took over the restaurant and its operations. “He had a vision and a trained eye for decorating the entire building with the best of the best in antiques, country store items, period lighting and stained glass,” said auctioneer Kimball M. Sterling. “The word ‘reproduction was not in his vocabulary, and he had pickers throughout the area looking for the finest to fill his restaurant’s private rooms, lobbies, and dining rooms.”
Nothing was spared in the search for unusual items. Antiques that suited the motif were purchased throughout the United States. Sterling observed that the country store section held one of the best antique advertising collections in the United States. In 2005, after many years of operation, Pal Barger donated Skoby’s to Virginia Intermont College with the idea that it might be repurposed as a culinary institute. That concept never eventuated, and now Kimball M. Sterling has been contracted to sell the contents, which include fine antiques, country store items, stained-glass lamps, a carousel horse and the unique decorative accessories from theme rooms (including Asian, trains, nautical, motion picture). Kitchen equipment, tables and chairs, architectural elements and office furniture also will be auctioned. “The building is much like it was the day it was closed,” said Sterling. The auction took place and shortly after the building was leveled but the legend remains of what is, no doubt, the greatest, most unique, upscale restaurant the South has ever produced.
