03/11/2026
On March 9th, 2026, the Johnson Family of Restaurants lost the man who started it all: Bruce Marrington Johnson. Bruce, or “Big Daddy” as many knew him, was a kind, generous and fiercely loyal man.
Bruce was born and lived the first 45 years of his life in Miami, FLorida.He moved to Sevier County in 1987 after an earlier vacation to the area made him fall in love with the mountains. He quickly realized it was the perfect place to pursue his lifelong dream of opening a BBQ restaurant. And, in 1991, he did just that, opening Bennett’s Pit BBQ on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge. And with the help of his first employee (and very best friend), Dan Powers, he opened a Bennett’s in Gatlinburg and two Alamo Steakhouses over the next ten years. In 2001 he also convinced his only child, Kelly, and fiance Jonathan Wimmer, to move to town and help run and grow the family business. Over the next fifteen years they added eight more restaurants to the group, including rebuilding the Alamo Steakhouse when it burned down in the 2016 Gatlinburg fire.
However, the twelve restaurants are not his true legacy, because, as he liked to say, “without the people, it’s just twelve empty buildings.” Bruce loved his employees like family. Because of this, on Tuesday, March 17th, all of our stores will be closed for the day for Bruce’s memorial service, so we can all be together, to remember and honor Bruce’s long life and many accomplishments.
