BIG ED'S PIZZA

101 Broadway Avenue, Oak Ridge

Founder "Big Ed" Neusel has been gone since 1998.

But like Harlan Sanders and Orville Redenbacher, his image lives on as an essential ingredient of a much-beloved restaurant and community institution. The Big Ed's T-shirt, featuring a caricature of the man himself, has long been an essential ingredient of the East Tennessee-centric wardrobe.

And the Neusel family carries on the Big Ed's tradition of serving fresh, hand-tossed pizzas in a friendly, no-frills atmosphere that keeps the local teen population gainfully employed.

Runners-up: Bleu Hound Grille (Oak Ridge), Golden Girls (Norris)