Rush Street Neighborhood Grill Celebrates 35 Years

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – It was in kind of a roundabout way that Mike Feliu came to Kingsport.He and his business partner, Mike Rose, were operating two pizza restaurants in the south suburbs of Chicago when Rose heard from his father, a real estate developer, about a nice little city that might be worth investing in. It was only 600 miles away."In the summer of 1979, my partner in the Chicago restaurants called me up one evening and told me to meet him for a beer, and he was going to tell me a really great place where we were going to go on a trip," Feliu recalls."He told me Kingsport, Tenn., and I thought he was out of his mind. So I got on an airplane a couple of days later, came to Kingsport, and immediately fell in love with the area. About a year later, we opened the Chicago Dough Company."The restaurant would evolve from there, adding a bar in 1983 and changing its name to Rush Street Neighborhood Grill in 1989."I did not live here initially," Feliu said. "In 1985, the year after I got married, I suggested to my wife, Theresa, that we should try living in Kingsport, Tenn., for a year, and the idea didn't go over well.""I thought it would be a fun thing to do for a year," he recalled. "After we lived here a year, Theresa said we could stay another year. And then she started to enjoy living here, and now we've been here for 30 years."In 1992, Feliu traded interests in restaurants, swapping his ownership stake in a Chicago restaurant for his partner's stake in Kingsport, making him the full owner in Rush Street Neighborhood Grill. By then, he'd decided to stay here permanently.His brother Jerry served as a manager from 1980 to 1990, when he left to attend the Culinary Institute of America. Jerry graduated first in his class and served as executive chef at a Colorado resort; he returned to Rush Street as the chef and general manager in 1997.With Jerry's expertise, the restaurant's menu has evolved and broadened over the years, though the pizza it opened with remains a staple. The "eclectic American" portion of the menu includes dishes like baked Italian wings, shrimp and grits, fish tacos, fresh sesame salmon, various unique flatbreads, and pork brisket grilled cheese.Lunch prices are typically $6-$10, and dinners range from $9-$20. A pizza, pasta and salad bar lunch buffet ($8.50) is available Sunday through Friday from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. The restaurant offers Saturday two-for-one burger specials (11 a.m. – 5 p.m.), and kids under 10 eat free on Sundays (some restrictions apply).A dozen nights a year, they fill the banquet hall for an $80-a-person dinner featuring five courses of food and wine pairings. On other nights, the room is available for special events.At 35 years old, Rush Street Neighborhood Grill is one of the oldest full-service restaurants in the Tri-Cities, Feliu said. There are customers who first came in as babies who now come in carrying their own babies – and he loves the atmosphere of what's become a community institution.Feliu's children – Katie, Michael, Jenny and Andy – have all worked in the restaurant at some point over the years. Even grandson Luke, age 2, enjoys making and eating pizza.Now grown, his kids live in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Knoxville. Theresa, his wife of 31 years, is a schoolteacher in Kingsport – and it's not unusual for someone she has taught to come in for a bite to eat."Two long-term managers, Jan Leblanc (35 years) and Genena Williamson (23 years) are an important part of the restaurant's long-term success," Feliu said. "So is Renee Cloyd, who has worked with me almost every day shift for the past 30 years."Rush Street Neighborhood Grill opens at 11 a.m. every day; it typically stays open until 10 p.m. on weekdays and past midnight on weekends, with live music on Friday and Saturday nights.More information can be found online on Facebook and at www.rushstreetgrill.com, by email at rushstreetgrill1980@gmail.com, or by calling the restaurant at 423-247-3184.