CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Harry Allen sat behind the counter at Ferrell’s Hamburgers in downtown Hopkinsville waiting for his favorite order- a hamburger, chili, and piece of pie.
He’s sat at the green-tiled counter many times in 60 plus years. In fact, one of his first jobs was flipping burgers at the small establishment when he was 16-years-old. He’s continued to show up almost daily for decades talking to anyone who sits beside him at the counter.
“I remember when the burgers were $.15 and you’d get a little Coke with your burger,” Allen said, as the lunchtime rush began on a historic day. “I really like the atmosphere here. I like the people, the staff, the owners. I like it all.”
A fire in July 2019 caused the historic downtown restaurant to be boarded up and closed for renovations.
On Feb. 13, 2020, the Hopkinsville Chamber of Commerce held an official ribbon-cutting commemorating the restaurant reopening. There was much pomp as a green ribbon was cut, and the grill was fired back up for a fundraiser for the local library.
But on Friday, Feb. 14, it was back to business as regular and it was apparent the infamous hand-rolled and pressed burgers, chili, pies and homemade breakfast was missed as the small diner filled with local patrons hankering for the local delicacy.
The phone rang non-stop as orders poured in. The smell of fresh onions, sizzling beef, and smoked bacon filled the air. Laughter rang out as customers joked with the staff and each other.
The green neon lights of the Ferrell’s Hamburgers restaurant glowed inside the iconic restaurant and some glanced at the big Ferrell’s clock as they waited. The clock read they’d been serving up since 1929.
The man who built the clock, Bencie Rasnake, also a regular, made sure the clock was in working condition for the first day of business. It was also his birthday and he celebrated with a hamburger and chili from Ferrell’s.
“This place takes you back. We didn’t have restaurants like this in the hills of Virginia where I grew up,” said Rasnake, a regular customer since 1973. “I know the owner. I know the families and I know the people. This is a place where we get together and talk. It’s a meeting place where everyone knows everyone. It’s just something about the name and the sign.”
Customers who knew each other by first names stopped and spoke before shouting their orders over the hustling commotion.
Marilyn, Linda, Terry, and Missy worked furiously in the small space, filling chili orders, smashing and grilling up burgers, taking payments, answering the phone all in a busy orchestrated array of motions that customers stood and watched.
One man said he’d driven from Bowling Green, Ky to Ferrell’s to get a sack of the cheesy, pressed burgers.
An order for 25 burgers came in and the ladies kept working.
It was standing room only. The overflow went to the small back area of the restaurant.
But everyone stood together waiting for a juicy, fresh Ferrell’s burger and if wanted, easily a little conversation.
Tedrick Green began coming to Ferrell’s in 1981 when he worked for the fire department. In 2005, he became a breakfast regular, so much that as he walked in the door one of the staff members called him by name and asked him if he wanted his regular breakfast.
“I love the hometown atmosphere. You can’t find that in too many places now,” Green said. “It’s easy to talk to people down there. I talk to and know all the workers. … Most of the people have lived in or around Hopkinsville for years. It’s not just about the food. It’s all the other stuff especially the people. … Each person contributes to making Ferrell’s popular. Whether it’s Harry picking at the waitress, or Marilyn telling somebody what’s on her mind,-the customer and workers interact and you can believe it will be fun to go to Ferrell’s.”