Garden & Gun
By Jennifer Justus
The beloved Old College Inn snack returns to the legendary quarterback’s new Knoxville bar [at Graduate Knoxville].
The menu at Saloon 16, a play on Manning’s nickname “the Sheriff” and the number on his UT jersey, provides a map to his college years—a time-travel portal down memory lanes. Along with cheese bings, the bar offers Rooster sliders, a nod to the fried chicken sandwiches blanketed in American cheese sold at the deli at the nearby Shell gas station.
Manning name-checks favorite establishments, from steakhouses to dive bars to sandwich shops like Gus’s, as well as professors and athletes. “We could be here all day and go down the menu,” he says, telling stories about its inspirations. “We’re just trying to bring up college memories and experiences. It was a great way to pay tribute to a lot of people who have had a big impact on me in my Tennessee journey.”
