Note: K&W is not connected with the old B&W Cafeteria chain in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 nor to the S&W Cafeteria

S&W Cafeteria

S&W Cafeteria was a Charlotte, North Carolina-based chain of cafeteria style restaurants. The chain specialized in low-cost, southern style cookery. Branch locations were located in the Southeastern United States from Washington, D.C...

 chain headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

.

K&W Cafeteria is a Southern USA chain of cafeteria-style restaurants. K&W serves traditional Southern favorites including fried chicken, turnip greens, fried okra

Okra

Okra is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origins...

, and homemade dessert

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

s.

Grady T. Allred, Sr., a founder of K&W Cafeterias, entered the restaurant business as an employee of a small restaurant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...

, known as the Carolinian Coffee Shop. Sometime later, three brothers with the last name "Wilson" and a brother-in-law, "Mr. Knight," bought the Coffee Shop. Hence, the initials K&W were adopted and K&W Restaurant was established.

Allred later acquired a one-third interest in the K&W Restaurant, and it was moved to Winston-Salem. After operating the restaurant with his partners for a few years, Allred purchased their interests and became the sole owner of K&W Restaurant around the year 1940.

The K&W Restaurant continued to flourish at the Winston-Salem Cherry Street location until fire damage forced it to close for several months. After repairs and restoration were completed, it reopened as a restaurant/cafeteria combination. The cafeteria concept of the operation became so popular and successful that Allred decided to convert the unit entirely to cafeteria style food service.

K&W occupied its original location in Winston-Salem until an urban renewal

Urban renewal

Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...

 project forced a move to 720 Coliseum Drive in Winston-Salem.

On January 18th, 1988, the K&W located at 380 Knollwood Street in Winston-Salem exploded due to a natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 leak. The restaurant was destroyed and the attached Sheraton

Sheraton

Sheraton may refer to:*Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, a hotel chain*Sheraton, County Durham, a village in County Durham, in England*Sheraton Centre, a mall complex located in the parish of Christ Church, Barbados....

 hotel was severely damaged. The blast occurred while the restaurant was closed. Of the four persons in the lobby/cafeteria building at the time of the explosion, three sustained minor injuries. A fourth person sustained a fractured ankle. Both the restaurant and the hotel were damaged beyond repair and were subsequently demolished.

While other cafeteria chains went bankrupt during the 1980s and 1990s, K&W continued to prosper. From the original restaurant establishment, which seated 110 people, K&W has expanded to 35 cafeterias and over 2500 employees throughout North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, and formerly Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

.

Grady Allred, Sr. died in 1983. The chain continues to be operated by his family.

Amy Sedaris

Amy Sedaris

Amy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris...

, the sister of author David Sedaris

David Sedaris

David Sedaris is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist, writer, comedian, bestselling author, and radio contributor....

, worked at a K&W cafeteria at Cameron Village

Cameron Village

Cameron Village was the first planned community to be developed in Raleigh, North Carolina. Development was started in 1947 when J.W. York and R.A Bryan bought 158 acres of undeveloped land two miles west of downtown Raleigh, near the North Carolina State University campus. The "village" was to...

 in Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

during her high school years.