Joe's Place fed thousands

By DAN WHITTLE

Joe's Place is closed, but the legend lives.

Joe and Joyce Parker may have rolled over in their Gilley Hill Cemetery graves upon recently hearing Woodbury's iconic restaurant doors are closed, maybe forever this time.

The legend of Joe Parker's family-run diner began back around 1976 when it opened with five pool tables and a limited sandwich menu on Woodbury Square in the block near where Jennings Jewelry is presently located.

"Dad had five pool tables in that first location," confirmed youngest daughter Denise Parker Johnson. "I was maybe 10 years old, too young to work in that first location."

Middle Tennessee Mule Skinner Danny Fraley recalls one of the pool tables: "I was through Woodbury one early morning on mule business. You could hear a pin drop that morning, which was unusual for Joe's Place. A friend quietly shared there was a heavy-betting pool game going on back on pool table 2. Since it was a high-stakes pool game, everyone stayed real quiet as the drama built."

The second location for Joe's Place was 114 West Main Street, where "The Scoreboard" eatery operates today across the street from the historic Cannon Courier newspaper.

"At the second location (around 1983), Dad whittled it down to three pool tables," Denise counted. "And that's the location where Joe's Place became amous for our expanded meat-and-three menu items. We're talking fried taters, white beans, cornbread, fresh 'maters ... and that's when Dad's restaurant business really took off. Some loyal customers would come off Short Mountain only on pork chop days."

And Joe had another idea that proved beneficial to him and the working community ...

"That second location was where Dad hit on the idea of opening around 3 a.m. weekdays, to catch folks driving from Woodbury and McMinnville to Murfreesboro and Nashville for jobs," accounted daughter Cheryl Parker Miller, who matured into doing most of Joe's Place cooking duties.

As head cook at Medley's Diner in Centertown (located between Woodbury and McMinnville), Cheryl is the only daughter still in the restaurant business: "I love to cook, although as I get older, I don't like it as much as I did when I was younger."

"Back then, we still had factories in Woodbury and Middle Tennessee, so Joe figured out that working folks who had good-paying jobs in Murfreesboro and Nashville, needed a place to get breakfast to-go orders," noted Ovie Hollis who became a legend in her own right while working for Joe Parker. "So, Joe began getting to the restaurant around midnight or 1 o'clock, and then I'd arrive around 2 a.m., to put the biscuits in the oven. That way, by 3 a.m., we had sausage and biscuits ready for take-out orders."

Joe Parker moved the eatery to the present and last location on the west side of the Square around 1993.

The lady's biscuits were so tasty and light, they floated out the door by the dozens.

How many biscuits per day?

"Customer Floyd Alexander figured it up one day that I cooked 600 biscuits. Since we could bake 60 to 65 biscuits per 5-pound bag of flour. The 600-biscuit record was never broken."

What was it like to work alongside Joe Parker?

"Joe told folks I was like a 'mother' to him ... he was very understanding and patient to work around," Ovie credited. "More than once, I saw Joe quietly feed someone who didn't have the money to pay for their breakfast. That's the kind of man he was."

But, Ms. Ovie was more than a mere "biscuit baker."

"Miss Ovie was equally famous for her desserts," Denise confirmed.

"Ovie Hollis' desserts were to kill for," confirmed Joann Parker Sadler, oldest of three Parker daughters.

"We could not keep up with the number of pies that flew out the door," added middle daughter Cheryl Parker Miller.

"And if someone needed a shirt, Dad would take his off his back," added youngest daughter, Denise.

Joe's Place was famous for cheeseburgers too ...

"I took an out-of-town guest to have lunch at Joe's Place," confirmed Cannon Courier Publisher Ron Fryar. "After my guest devoured his cheeseburger slathered with mustard and layered with onions, waitress Robin asked if he wanted dessert. My guest answered: 'I'll have another cheeseburger, that'll be my dessert.'"

It's the truth that Joe's Salads became famous at the Liar's Table, otherwise known as Table 20.

"The first afternoon Dad said he wanted a salad, and to use anything in the kitchen that was left over from lunch in it," Denise recalled. "When Cheryl (sister) got the salad loaded up and prepared back in the kitchen, we took it to Dad ... and everyone seated at Table 20, ended up ordering a salad that day, just like Joe had. Joe's Salad originated at the Liar's Table, and that's the gospel truth."

Within the week, "Joe's Salad" was permanently on the menu.

Some customers were legends before arriving at Joe's Place: "Country music super star Allen Jackson came by for a cheeseburger one day I was off duty from cooking in the kitchen. Sisters Joann and Denise bragged forever about serving the famous Mr. Allen Jackson."

How famous was the singer?

"We marked the chair, with the words 'Allen Jackson sat in this chair,'" Cheryl shared.

Other favorite customers?

"You're not getting me in that trap," Denise replied with caution. "Everyone, when you're in business, is a favorite. They all became 'family' to our family."

Denise's feistiness is legendary, as evidenced one morning when one of her customers kidded about her height: "Sir, my legs run from my a.. to the floor, just like yours do."

Customer resumed consuming his biscuits and gravy without muttering a comeback to Denise.

"Are you still impish?" Denise was asked by a reporter.

Sister Cheryl answered for Denise: "As baby sister, Denise has always been feisty."

"I wasn't always that way, but the customers made me be mischievous," Denise defended.

It's safe to print, Cannon County folks miss the Parkers as much as they do Ms. Ovie's biscuits and desserts.