Another generation of Briggs family cooking up favorites in Glade Spring

Take, for example, a tiny eatery on the outskirts of Glade Spring that’s been serving up good food and hospitality since at least the 1960s.

Operating under a variety of names during the past 50 years, the legendary yet humble restaurant has recently come under new ownership, managed by Eddie Briggs and his wife, Tisha Briggs.

Welcome to the newly named Sweet Ed’s Diner, a longtime establishment that holds a tender spot for Eddie, a Glade Spring native whose mother and father, Dot and Bob Briggs, ran B&D’s in the same building when he was a child.

What’s even more amazing is his mother, 75-year-old Dot Briggs has come full circle, helping out at the new diner in the same kitchen where she prepared hamburgers and hot dogs more than 40 years ago.

The diner was named after a nickname Eddie acquired from a friend who called him “Sweet Ed.”

“I never planned on calling it that, but it just stuck,” he said with a laugh.

Eddie remembers hearing about the death of Elvis when he was a child hanging out at his parent’s business. To honor his memory, he has placed pictures of Elvis on the walls in the diner. A Christmas tree at the diner was decorated with Elvis ornaments this year.

Most recently, the iconic business was best known as DJ’s Pizza, owned and operated at first by Jerry and Diane Coleman and later by Tim Fullen and Kristy Hoke.

The ovens at the diner on Monte Vista Drive are once again heating back up — this time run by the Briggs family, aiming to serve up old-fashioned, made-from-scratch classics.

Daughters Kayla Carrier and Olivia Briggs help out at the family diner along with several other employees from the region.

“This is a group effort,” said Eddie.

After only three months, the diner is doing “phenomenal business,” according to the new owner.

Some days, the diner which can seat as many as 30 people inside, is filled to capacity and customers are lined up waiting outside. Eddie estimated he’s served as many as 300 people in one day.

“It’s just exceeded all my expectations,” said the husband.

The new diner is attracting customers from neighboring communities in Abingdon, Bristol and Lebanon. They’ve even had people from Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas stop by for meals.

“One of my customers from Roanoke used to live in Glade Spring,” Eddie said.

Julie Sturgill and her husband, Randy Sturgill, of Chilhowie drive down to eat at the diner often.

“I love the daily specials. The lasagna and the chicken casserole are wonderful. And there’s always desserts,” Julie Sturgill said.

Rennie Kidd and Marsha Osborne, both of Glade Spring, eat at the diner two or three times a week.

“We love the food and the atmosphere. Everyone makes you feel welcome,” said Osborne.

Briggs and his wife didn’t plan on buying a restaurant. With three grown children, the couple had decided to spend their free time running a food truck business.

Eddie was working in construction and Tisha was managing a hair salon and serving as a cosmetology instructor at Smyth County Vocational School when the couple put in an offer on the timeless diner.

“Our offer was accepted and I called my wife and asked her what in the world we were going to do with it. She said, ‘we’re going to run a restaurant,’” he said.

“It has boomed since day one,” said Eddie Briggs, who used his construction skills to remodel the interior, creating a cozy and inviting place. A two-level pizza oven that came with the building is used to fix everything from cakes and meat loaf to breakfast biscuits.

“I had no clue how to run a restaurant,” he said after spending 17 years working for Verizon, after which he sold cars and insurance before finding his niche in the construction field.

A lot of advice from friends and restaurant owners set the family on a new journey in the restaurant business. Many of the recipes, some of which are family favorites, have come from his wife and mother.

Briggs described his new business as a “diner with a twist.”

“Have you ever had a deep fried hot dog,” he asked. “Oh, man, they are good.”

Sweet Ed’s Diner serves typical diner food, including hamburgers, hot dogs, onion rings and steak and cheese subs. For those customers who want something simple, there’s a triple decker club and the grilled sandwich.

But customers are raving about the daily specials.

“One day we may have an open-faced beef and gravy with mashed potatoes and corn with apple crisp for dessert,” said Eddie. “The next day we may serve a chicken casserole with macaroni salad and green beans, or maybe homemade lasagna or country fried steak.”

The diner opens at 7 a.m. offering a full breakfast menu fit for a king. The lunch crowd starts filing in at 11 a.m.

Pop’s Breakfast features two eggs any style, two slices of apple wood smoked bacon or sausage patties, two slices of white or wheat toast and a tomato slice. Other breakfast items include biscuits and gravy, buttermilk pancake, and hashbrown potatoes.

Appetizers are a big hit at the diner, too, with favorites like cheese fries or tots, fried dill pickles, mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers selling well.

“That’s something you ordinarily don’t see at a small diner,” Eddie said.

Hamburgers are a big deal at the diner, and three of which are named after and created by the couple’s children.

The Kayla Burger is seven ounces of seasoned Angus beef, topped with mac and cheese, bacon, an onion ring, nacho cheese, pickles, jalapenos and barbecue sauce.

“Everyone who orders it loves it,” said Eddie.

The Dyson Burger contains seven ounces of seasoned Angus beef topped with bacon, jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and a spicy barbecue sauce.

“Our son Dyson is more of a spicy guy,” he said.

The Livvy Burger is seven ounces of seasoned Angus beef topped with grilled onion and green peppers, American cheese and barbecue sauce.

“The first week we were open, a customer made a point to tell me our hamburgers were the best he had ever eaten. He comes to eat here three or four times a week,” Eddie said.

When Eddie isn’t flipping burgers in the kitchen, he visits with customers at their tables.

“That’s important because I want to know what I can improve on. I can’t fix a problem if I don’t know about it,” he said.

“I’ve met so many great people since we opened. It blows my mind that the diner has been this successful and it’s all because of this community and the great people who support it,” he said. “It’s a team effort.”