Cotton Eyed Joe — Restaurant in Farragut

COTTON EYED JOE MANAGEMENT - do you have any idea why you don’t tout the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, or 2024 ACM’s nightclub of the year and are still touting “2018?” I’ve been country dancing since I was 23 years old, and I’m now 59. In those 36 years, I’ve danced great country bars in San Diego, Temecula, Santee, San Bernardino, LA, Las Vegas, and spent 20 years dancing at the great Grizzly Rose in Denver, so when we moved here to Knoxville 4-1/2 years ago, you can imagine how excited we were to get to finally dance in this iconic bar - you know - the one mentioned in so many country songs?

While we did move here during COVID, which brought its own pitfalls, over the last three years, we have watched this iconic bar drizzle into a line dance bar that caters to the 18-20 year olds who aren’t your revenue source! Don’t get me wrong, I love to line dance too, but you let your DJ cater only to the line dancers who have morphed all the line dances into their own shuffles (you can't even recognize the Tush Push!!), and you’ve shooed away anyone who loves to do anything more than line dancing.

Why does this have to be? Every bar I have danced at has learned the fine art of catering to everyone. Every bar I have danced at knows dance floor etiquette … that is, all bars except Cotton Eyed Joe. YOUR PROBLEM IS SADLY YOUR DJ!! My experience with him has been that he's basically unapproachable and almost rude, he doesn’t seem to care about all patrons and seems to only cater to the younger crowd, doesn’t care about dance floor etiquette (line dancers in the middle, two steppers around the outside so EVERYONE can dance), and his song choices when he does play an occasional two step, three step, or waltz (after 9 p.m.) are less than great. He plays any and all new songs even if they’re not country that involve a line dance, but when it comes time for that occasional two step, it’s back to the old slow 1960s and 1970s … SMH!

We have found the only time we can come in and kind of enjoy this bar is from 6-9 o’clock ☹. At least when he’s playing his pre-loaded songs for the West Coast Swing club that comes in once a month, you can still two step along with them and get an occasional new song, but at 9 o’clock, it’s time to leave because the line dancers have no idea that they should share the dance floor and the songs seem to all be called by the DJ.

Please bring this place back to life! Your revenue and your nightclub could easily be revived if you just made a few simple changes. Your food is great (and you should give your cook a raise so that he has a smile on his face). You could: Retire your DJ; he’s costing you money! Revamp those beautiful wooden floors so we can actually dance (slide and spin) on that floor like its meant to be danced on, and either enlarge that floor so that the line dancers/West Coast Swing dancers have a place to dance in the middle (The Stampede in Temecula had a brass “fence” in the middle for the line dancers/swing dancers) and the two-steppers could then dance around them, or you could re-design/incorporate the cement floor as a dance floor for the line dancers (where you put the stage when you have concerts). Since they seem to wear their tennis shoes and other rubber-soled shoes (that have ruined your wooden floor) and don’t need a wooden floor, it creates a perfect place for them to dance where everyone could once again enjoy the Cotton Eyed Joe no matter what their dance preference!

Even an old...

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE... I have been a long time customer of 22 years and will never return after last nights experience. At closing time, last call for drinks was made, I purchased 3 drinks for a couple of friends to have before we left. Immediately after the purchase I placed them on the table to drink after I returned from the restroom. On my way to the restroom a bouncer told me I had to leave because the bar just closed which they did just announce on the speakers after he stopped me. I told him last call was made 3 minutes ago and I had purchased the drinks that it wasn't fair and just wanted to use the restroom before I leave. At this time there was still a hundred people or more still there. He then grabbed me and spun me around and shoved me in the back. I put my hands in the air and walked towards the door as he continued to push me 3 more times in the back as I was walking. The bouncer didn't know I have a hernia I am having surgery on in 3 weeks but he could have injured me more by being recklessly over aggressive shoving me for no reason. After I exited the building I requested the owner Chuck to repay me for the drinks I purchased. He did meet me at the front door and pay me back for the lost drinks. I told him thanks for the money but the real reason I wanted to see him was to tell him that his bouncer had no right to assault me for no reason, that I simply was walking to the restroom. I said Chuck your bouncers can't pick on the customers because it is bad business. Chuck then turned around and started screaming at me and tried to run at me, then his own bouncer grabbed Chuck and took him inside. I am convinced that if the bouncer did not grab the owner Chuck he would have pushed me or hit me because of the anger he was displaying. Because of the owner Chuck's attitude and reckless behavior towards me and the bouncers behavior I will never go there again. Chuck you are very unprofessional as well as your Roadhouse wanna be bouncer. Chuck your bouncer could injure a customer with a medical condition very easily or any normal person. This is why I don't feel safe in your business for myself or others that's why I wrote this review. I'm in fear that your bouncer will push the wrong person some day and you might end up in a lawsuit because you were to arrogant to listen to a concerned customer...

I love this place. I've been coming here for years. The owner Chuck kinda sucks, but I never see him anymore so I don't care. Billy, the DJ, is A1, and does what he can to accomodate as many requests as possible. MacKenna and Eric on the bar make great, well-balanced drinks and are awesome to interact with. Jager and Walker over Security are fair to deal with and keep a safe environment to the best of their team's capabilities. My biggest problem in bar? ..... Bubba Jones......

Bubba is the line dance "instructor" on Thursdays and Sundays. If he isn't teaching the same beginner dances week after week, month after month, he's teaching his own dances, which are subpar, to say the least. I travel to other states to line dance at other bars, and if it weren't for the fact I gave up on this "instructor" and turned to youtube for all the popular and up-and-coming dances, I would never able to dance anywhere but the Joe. Line dancing is a community, and Bubba's weird obsession with his own dances or old, repetative, easy dances, prevents the masses who come here from learning the popular dances seen all over the various social media platforms. If you are a moderate to intermediate line dancer looking to learn new intermediate/advamced dances, do NOT come to the line dance lessons. In addition, when this "instructor" is absent on one of his numerous vacations, the replacements he brings in teach such antiquated dances that are not played anywhere (and I've danced in numerous states as far west as CA, and as south as FL). It would be in the best interest of the Cotton Eyed Joe to find a replacement instructor who wishes to bring in a more qualified instructor (or instructors) to push our line dance community here in Knoxville. This place has stagnated because of Bubba.

To those who do line dance and know these dances, PLEASE COME OUT!!! Just becuase Bubba won't teach them doesn't mean the songs aren't played here! Come out and make a request to the DJ! Come one, come all! You're all...