Foxy’s Flats and Fare gives marina respite
Emily Kate Sage opened Foxy’s Flats and Fare last May to serve hungry locals and boaters at Fox Road Marina. Her menu includes burgers, wings, sandwiches and “poppers.”
Emily Kate Sage opened Foxy’s Flats and Fare May 28 behind the marina, offering burgers, wings, sandwiches and “we’re going to have pizza,” she said.
“The wings are marinated with a special sauce, and everything is homemade,” she added. That includes her pimiento cheese — with a little bit of a kick — and chicken salad.
Unique items on the menu include deep-fried poppers filled with pimiento cheese, bacon cheeseburger or bacon-jalapeño-cheese.
“When you open (the pimiento cheese) up, you get my ooey-gooey goodness,” she said.
For breakfast, she serves deep-fried bobbin poppers, which she described as sweet dough filled with sausage and cheese and covered in gravy.
Opening the restaurant has been “just amazing,” Sage said. “The group here is just phenomenal.
“There’re a lot of boaters out here who have nowhere (else) to go,” she added. “They would have to go out to Kingston Pike — that means leaving their boats and coming back — so now they have somewhere to go.”
While most of her customers are “boat traffic,” she also has customers who drive in.
“It’s working out amazing,” Sage said. “I’ve already got my locals who come by.
“I actually get a crowd about 10 p.m., when everyone is coming back over, so I get a big rush for food,” she added. “Ultimately, I’m hoping it will be a year-round restaurant.”
Sage said she decided to open a restaurant as “something to do. My daughter (Ashley Webb) passed away in November — she was killed — so I decided to do something that made my heart happy.
“(Bruce Bogartz, a chef and) a friend of mine knew (David Kiger, the marina owner) was looking for someone to open a restaurant in here, so I decided to jump in. I was excited.”
She found out about the opening the day of a sailing trip.
“I applied for my license, and David gave me a call and said this (space) was available,” Sage said. “So, I had two weeks to ponder the food, their names and menu.”
Sage comes from a background in the catering service, which she did with her mother, Alice Williams.
Now living on the lake in Wartburg, she grew up in the Karns community.
Foxy’s Flats and Fare is open from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday for beer and wine sales, and the kitchen is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday through Sunday.
Customers still can purchase beer and wine after 10 p.m. until the last customer leaves.
“We have live music from local bands every Saturday,” Sage said. “I’m trying to promote them, as well as my business.”
For more information, call 865-413-0700 or e-mail Emily@FoodCoTN.com.
