BELLEVUE, Tenn. - The popular television show Larry's Country Diner will move from a production set, to a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Bellevue.
The country variety show has been in production since 2009, and has been recorded inside a television production studio. Audience members were able to purchase food on the studio set, but it was not a real restaurant.
"No it's not, it's a television set. You know. It's make believe, guys," said Larry Black.
Black purchased 3.3 acres of land on Highway 70 South, near Interstate 40, in Bellevue. He will build a 6,000 square foot diner on the property.
The project will have a full-service diner that is open everyday of the week. The restaurant will also have television production capabilities.
"We can hang a light grid, we can have cameras, and we can do the show, we'll shoot the show there," Black explained.
Larry's Country Diner has 1.5 million viewers each month. There has been a two year wait to get tickets to a show recording. The show is produced during a two-day period, four times a year, and draws a crowd from across the country.
"People from Washington, from Oregon, from Long Island, from Wisconsin, they come in, they come just for the TV show," said Black.
The popularity of the show has built a fan base for the new diner, but Black said it will take more than the show's success to make the restaurant a success.
"First and foremost, it has to be a diner. It has to be a good diner, it's not going to live on the occasional visitor from Oregon," Black explained.
The diner will sit on a piece of property that has sat empty for several years, and was impacted by the May 2010 flood in Bellevue.
"For the opportunity to have this turned around, in such a transformative, positive way, it couldn't be any better," said Metro Council member Sheri Weiner.
The diner will be built during a time when Bellevue is making a comeback. Work has started on One Bellevue Place, which will replace the abandoned Bellevue Center.
"This is going to be some place people want to live, and it's going to help all our home values, in addition to the bordering properties, bordering businesses that face it, actually," Weiner said.
Larry's County Diner could help tourism in the City of Nashville as it will become a destination spot for visitors.
"I think it's gold mine for the bus tour market, and Bellevue will reap those benefits. Not just here, and the ancillary businesses will benefit as well," said Butch Spyridon, President of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Spyridon said the addition of Larry's County Diner to Nashville's tourist attractions will give the nation another sample of what makes Music City unique.
"It's really what Nashville's about, what you see on TV is real. And that authenticity, and continuing to bring it to life, is key to our success," according to Spyridon.
Construction on Larry's Country Diner is expected to start in the fall, and should be completed in April, or May, of 2016. In addition to having a full-service diner, the project will have a gift shop, and entertainment venue.
