I can see it and taste it now! And it makes me hungry!
A piece of homemade coconut pie with towering meringue. Did you know that overcooking your meringue causes those little sugary drops of moisture which shines on top of the pie? Just asking.
The menu of the former Sunrise Grill was infallible. For 19 years, it was Smithville’s most popular place for excellent food and service, excellent conversations, and excellent gatherings Many firsts materialized in the large beautiful building, located on Highway 70, downtown Smithville. It Includes, celebrating DCHS sports games, especially football and basketball; celebrating the works and awards of the DCHS Tiger Band; celebrating new “going steady” rings and couples; celebrating the members of the DCHS Honor Roll; and, among several others, celebrating the engagements and betrothed of various socio-economic couples; celebrating the Study Clubs; and, the Jaycees and Jaycee Women (now disbanded). There were hundreds more clubs and organizations who claimed the Sunrise Grill as their favorite meeting location with delectable menu choices.
The Sunrise Grill was inaugurated in January, 1953 (before I was born in 1954). The popular establishment was closed in 1972 (when I was graduated.) The memories of all who entered and exited throughout the years was steadfast. For many, especially those who were students at DCHS, it became an after-school gathering and meeting place. Lucy and I were there to visit with Marcia and Debra Smith, our neighbors, play with our Silly Putty and Barbie dolls and watch the older students milling about, wearing white tennis shoes, hot pants, and colored boots! Ask David Terrel!
On October 18, 1971, I spent part of my first date with my soon-to-be husband, Marlon Judkins, at the Sunrise Grill, listening to the Spinners and the Temptations on the “Juke Box” – 52-years-ago! Several years earlier, I had spotted him having dinner in the restaurant. I thought to myself while checking out his mesmerizing hairy chest – “I’m going to marry him someday.” And, I did. Four years later - a teenage girl with an older adult man!”
While listening to the “Juke Box,” stationed at the interior right of the entrance door, one might be enticed for a cup of coffee. Debra further explained that the restaurant used a special coffee pot for its many customers – a six-gallon contraption. Coffee was always available for the guests. Hunters, fishermen, and my dad, McAllen Foutch, were dark and early (4 a.m.) breakfast customers at the restaurant for many years until it closed in 1972. Regarding the restaurant’s demise, Debra recently said, “My Daddy had died in a car wreck in 1971. During the year following, Mama didn’t have anyone to help her run the restaurant. She was working about 100 hours a week when she began having heart palpitations. The late Dr. Jerry Edwin Puckett of Smithville told her she had to get out of this stressful situation. So, she closed the time-honored Sunrise Grill and later began working at Kingston-Timer industry, also in Smithville.”
On another statement, Debra further elaborated about the famous people who had eaten at the Sunrise Grill with most owning minute lake homes around Center Hill Lake. Today, huge expensive homes are being constructed and sold for millions of dollars. A few celebrities included: Johnny Cash (had a Four Season’s farm), Jerry Reed, and Porter Waggoner (no Dolly). Some locals (after Church services) were: Dr. Jerri Hale, Dr. J. K. (Kenneth) Twilla and his father, among hundreds more.
The always remembered menu items were prepared daily by Carrie Bell Stokes and her husband E. J. Stokes. Joining them was Bonnie League. All three contributed to the delectable items listed on the menu. Betty Bing Smith’s and Warren Smith’s oldest daughter, Debra Ann Smith Black (Lloyd), remembered the Grill’s most popular foods were the made-from-scratch pies followed by the freshly-ground hamburger steaks topped with green onions, mushrooms, and green peppers.
“Everything in the restaurant was made-from-scratch (not premade). There were no microwaves or crock-pots. “That’s what made the food taste so good,” Debra said. “There was nothing premade. The yeast rolls were made daily, as were the biscuits and gravy. One day, the late Tart Hendrickson told Debra, “Deb. I bet there’s not an 18-wheeler trailer that could hold all the pies that have been made at the Sunrise Grill!”
The restaurant’s daily hours were 4 a.m. until 7 p.m. Betty named it the “Sunrise Grill” in keeping with its opening hours. “The kitchen staff had to report to work at 3 a.m.,” continued Debra. “Most everyone in town ate there. There was no competition nor fast-food businesses. For several years, I worked as a car-hop and at many other as-needed jobs. Another tidbit is that the large back dining room at the restaurant seated around 200 persons.” It was used for any event catering to small or larger groups, especially DCHS football, basketball, and the marching band banquets.
The birth of the Sunrise Grill was in the proximality of 1952 when the Smiths were living in Detroit, Michigan. One particular day, Betty’s maternal uncle, former DeKalb County Sheriff W. H. (Dub) Bing said, “Why don’t you and Warren move to Tennessee and open a restaurant?” At first, Betty thought he was crazy. Yet, they followed his advice and moved back to Smithville, living with her mother, Mrs. William Hebert (Bill) Bing on South Third Street. It wasn’t long until the “dream” of a Sunrise Grill became “reality.”
Warren Smith was killed in an automobile accident in February, 1971; Betty Bing Smith died in December, 2022; and Marcia Smith Taylor died on November 20, 1994. For the duration, the Sunrise Grill was adjacent to Robinson’s Texaco (Kent’s). Both buildings were recently demolished. And with it fell a million wonderful life-long memories.
