Restaurateur Has Planned New Knoxville Barbecue Venue

The owner of the former Archer’s BBQ chain will debut a new concept on North Central Street by late 2026.

Updated on Oct. 13, 2026 in Openings & Closings

Restaurateur Has Planned New Knoxville Barbecue Venue

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Founder William Bagley has announced plans to launch a new barbecue restaurant, Scruffy Pig, in the former Hops and Holler building in Knoxville. The venue aims to open by the end of 2026, offering a mix of indoor and outdoor dining space.

Why it matters

The project represents a renewed operational effort for Bagley, who looks to apply lessons from his previous experience managing a six-location restaurant chain to this new venture. This move revitalizes a property that has been vacant since 2022.

The new site will accommodate 40 guests indoors and 100 in an outdoor beer garden. This project follows the operator's prior experience managing a network of six Archer's BBQ locations.

The players

William Bagley

A local restaurateur known for founding the former six-location Archer's BBQ chain.

Daniel Schuh

An event space owner and property landlord who is partnering on the Scruffy Pig project.

The details

The Scruffy Pig will occupy the North Central Street facility formerly used by Hops and Holler. Bagley is partnering with local event space owner and landlord Daniel Schuh to bring the project to fruition. The menu will focus on traditional barbecue staples, including sandwiches, brisket, and ribs.

2011: William Bagley opened the original Archer's BBQ.
2022: Hops and Holler closed its doors.
2023: William Bagley opened and closed Fire and Smoke.
October 13, 2026: The Scruffy Pig website launched revealing the menu.
End of 2026: Target timeframe for opening the restaurant.

Market Landscape

The project breathes new life into a North Central Street site that has sat vacant since the closure of Hops and Holler in 2022. It follows a pattern of local restaurateurs rotating concepts through established infrastructure to test market demand.

Operators looking at similar real estate redevelopments should account for the site's high outdoor-to-indoor ratio, which significantly impacts seasonal revenue capacity. Consider how re-utilizing existing hospitality infrastructure can lower initial capital expenditure versus building out a new site.

The takeaway

The pivot back to barbecue highlights the importance of leveraging previous brand equity in a competitive local market. Monitor the progress of this site through 2026 to see if the operator successfully translates past scale into a more sustainable single-site model.