Wayback machine - Mall restaurant chain with "flame" flickering light bulbs.

[FUJIMO]

11 minutes ago, TGO David said:

Back in the 70's my parents used to take me to a place like that but I have no idea if it was a franchise.  The name of it was The King's Table and it had everything you're describing.

 

Edit, I found some photos of other locations online.  Apparently it was a chain and they were named "King's Table Smorgasbord"

It's like someone watched Monty Python and said "let's make that into a buffet"

[TGO David]

11 hours ago, FUJIMO said:

It's like someone watched Monty Python and said "let's make that into a buffet"

 

I was going to run with a Holy Grail GIF here but then I remembered The Meaning of Life was actually perfect for this. 

[Gunner2k]

We had Western Sizzlin restaurants in the mid 80s that had those inside but it was a stand alone building, not at a mall.

 

[Gunner2k]

It was a dimly lit steakhouse and each table had those flickering lights on the wall at each booth.   They had charbroiled steaks and burgers and such.  It may still be around, not sure it's anything like it used to be.

[10-Ring]

To me you just described the Ruby Tuesday's in Hickory Hollow Mall in Nashville circa 1987.

[phiferran]

I remember a place similar to that at Hickory Hollow named “The Brass Lantern” or Brass something or other. It wasn’t attached to the mall but it was close. 

[Luckyforward]

The Fifth Quarter in Nashville had that look, but not attached to a mall.  One of the first to have a massive salad bar:

 

[Grayfox54]

Why'd y'all have to bring this back up? Now ya got me wondering. 

There was a place like what is described in Wolfchase mall when it first opened years ago. It was an upscale place as I remember. Kinda expensive for the likes of me. But I distinctly remember it being kinda dark, rustic decor and those flickering bulbs. DAMMIT! I can't remember the name. 

[Luckyforward]

The Peddler?

[Links2k]

I can visualize everything you’ve described, but I can’t begin to think of a name. 

[Grayfox54]

I do remember one thing about the place. My wife and I went in there once just to try it out. We sat down, looked at the menu, made note of the prices, got up and left.  

That's probably why they ain't around anymore and nobody can remember the place.  

[Jeb48]

We had a place up North called the Steak Stockade that fit your description. It was on one end of a strip mall. I don't think it was part of a chain. We knew the couple that ran it. It was expensive enough and we were poor/cheap enough we didn't go often but we were sad that it closed.

[monkeylizard]

Thanks, everyone. Apparently it was a common aesthetic choice in the late 70s/early 80s for several different places. I was likely in North Carolina at the time and it could have just been a local joint.

I do remember one called Rikki Tikki Tavern . They had a taxidermy mongoose and cobra in a display case out front. As a kid, that was AWESOME!!!!!!  I never got to go in because they sold beer, and respectable families in the South simple didn't frequent such establishments . . .  or so I was told.

[NoBanStan]

Spinnakers was a thing around here for a bit. not sure i can remember candles or not though

[BigK]

On 4/29/2023 at 6:55 AM, phiferran said:

I remember a place similar to that at Hickory Hollow named “The Brass Lantern” or Brass something or other. It wasn’t attached to the mall but it was close. 

Man, that's exactly the place I was trying to think of too. I would have bet money that's the one he was thinking of.

[Luckyforward]

14 hours ago, BigK said:

Man, that's exactly the place I was trying to think of too. I would have bet money that's the one he was thinking of.

I think you are right; the Brass Lantern fits the description perfectly.

[BigK]

2 hours ago, Luckyforward said:

I think you are right; the Brass Lantern fits the description perfectly.

By the time my wife and I could afford to eat at swanky places like this that we'd heard of for years, most were closed down.