Located across the street from the café’s original location, the Red’s Café Mural (129 Bruce St.) was painted by Ben Harrison and Seth Bishop of Smoky Mountain Mural Co. and depicts a young Dolly Parton enjoying her first burger at Red’s Café. Completed in the fall of 2020, the vibrant mural’s perspective is from inside the diner, looking out the front window. Bishop says the design, “plays with the 1950s styling, has geometric shapes, straight lines, an oval curve. I wanted to keep some exposed brick and have the design sort of drift without a clear edge. It’s sometimes tricky but an interesting puzzle to solve.”

The artists also recall the artist application process. Bishop says, “The application criteria specifically said not to include Dolly Parton. Seth and I submitted five to seven different designs. Then they got back to us and said, ‘We like your style, but can you do one with Dolly Parton in it?’ They’d decided that they wanted a mural of her that would have special meaning to locals, not be run-of-mill, with a special retro feeling. They mentioned Red’s Café and we submitted a couple different design ideas until nailing down the one they wanted.”

Paul “Red” Clevenger, so called for his bright red hair, was originally from nearby Newport, TN but moved closer to Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a young man to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps. By 27, he had saved enough to buy the Rainbow Inn on Chapman Highway, a lively mix of restaurant and dance hall just north of Sevierville. It was there, not long after recruiting Lois Huskey and several of her friends to lead square dances at the Rainbow Inn, that his life took a turn toward family. The two married later that same year, and Red soon traded the dance business for steadier work at Alcoa before being drafted into World War II. Wounded at the Battle of the Bulge and awarded the Purple Heart, he returned home to a growing family and, after a brief try at working in Newport, put down roots in Sevierville for good. In 1946, on a small, leased lot on Bruce Street, he built what would become a legendary local restaurant: Red’s Café.

The café quickly became more than a place to eat—it was a gathering spot full of smoke, laughter, jukebox music, and Red’s unmistakable personality. He hollered orders instead of writing them down, slipped extra burgers to hungry kids, welcomed stray dogs as if they were regulars, and wasn’t above locking the door when the place got too crowded. Burgers were hand ground and cooked in cast iron over a wood stove while sodas chilled in ice boxes.

Lois and their seven children helped keep the place running, alongside loyal employees. By the mid-1960s, Red’s Café had moved to its second and final location on Court Ave. and featured a more limited menu: cheeseburgers, hamburgers, bacon and egg sandwiches, and egg sandwiches.

Red’s quirks—closing without warning, playing pranks, or delighting in giving his employees a good-natured scare by tossing an empty bread box into the café’s big vent fan —only added to the charm, and people would line up when the doors reopened. Red’s restaurant run ended in the early 1970s, but his legacy lingered: he’d served generations, including Dolly Parton’s own family, and inspired the spirit behind Red’s Diner at Dollywood and Red’s Soda Fountain in downtown Sevierville —both lasting nods to a man who fed a town and made it feel like home.

“Red” Clevenger was a vibrant part of downtown’s character. In fact, his restaurant left such an impression on folks that today, nearly fifty years after its closing, you can visit two restaurants inspired by Red’s Café.

The first is located across the street from the last Red’s Café location. Red’s Soda Fountain & Ice Cream (114 Court Ave.) is an old-fashioned, 1950’s-themed soda fountain and ice cream parlor. Grab a delicious lunch – like their famous all-beef steamed hot dogs or Hello Dolly turkey sandwich. Then order up scoops of premium ice cream, sodas, and hand-mixed soda pop phosphates whipped up by soda jerks.

The second, and older of the two tributes, is Red’s Drive-In, located in the Jukebox Junction section of Dollywood. The entire area is a love note to 1950s Sevierville, with a reimagined Pines Theater, Watson Motor Co. (which was the original business before the building later became the Pines Theater – and the location of Dolly’s first paying gig), Easy Way 5 & 10 Cent Stores, and more. At Dollywood, Red’s Drive-In shines as a great place to grab a burger, milkshake, and, yes, even fries.