January 2014
| Business World Magazine | 179
facility. The owner’s wife and two daugh-
ters all play integral roles in design, mar-
keting and management.
In all, nearly 1,400 employees play a
part in the process.
“In a day and age of chains and cook-
ie-cutter restaurants, we try to stay away
from fads and from chasing what’s popu-
lar at the moment,” says Bart Fricks, the
organization’s chief operating officer.
“Good food has always been popular. It’s
not a matter of who has the latest gim-
mick. We base our operation on commu-
nity involvement, excellent service, how
clean we keep the restaurants.
“Those are the things that never go out
of style.”
FIRST STEPS
The tradition began in 1975 on the Cum-
berland Avenue strip in Knoxville, where
owner Michael Chase opened his first
Copper Cellar restaurant – a classic steak-
house – just a short jaunt from the sprawl-
ing University of Tennessee. Another
Copper Cellar followed soon after, before
Chase decided to change course and ex-
pand the brand with Chesapeake’s, which
offers an array of seafood.
It was a risky move to tweak a suc-
cessful recipe, but passion won out over
practicality.
“The first two restaurants were Copper
Cellars and they were very successful, but
(Chase) is from the Maryland area and he
likes to eat,” Fricks says. “He’s very pas-
sionate about food and he wanted to offer
a variety of options for his customers.”
More evidence of Chase’s entrepre-
neurial acumen came with his fourth res-
taurant, Calhoun’s, which entered an al-
ready crowded barbecue space in the area
and initially failed to distinguish itself as
a casual restaurant compared to the fine
