One of the original vendors at Kern's Food Hall has broken his lease in a controversial exit that echoes the early experiences of vendors at Knoxville's first food hall, Marble City Market.

Amaryllis Taqueria, owned by Clean Smoke BBQ founder Joseph Root, was just one year into a five-year lease when he abandoned his stall, Kern's developer Alex Dominguez told Knox News.

Root told Knox News he had to go because traffic patterns around the South Knoxville food hall discourage people from coming and communication with food hall management has been awful.

Kern's has removed the taqueria from its website after Amaryllis workers cleared out the stall June 21, food hall manager Grant Belback told Knox News. Kern's says some of the equipment taken from the stall belonged to the food hall, but Root told Knox News only items belonging to his business were removed and that "we left (the stall) as clean as we could."

Belback said Kern's did not file a police report about missing equipment. "(Amaryllis) closed unexpectedly, and that spot is now vacant," Belback said. "We are sad to see them close."

Amaryllis owner reports slow days, low sales at Kern's Food Hall

Before Kern's opened in April 2024, its ownership shared with Knox News some of the ways the new food hall would be different than Marble City Market, including its more-social design featuring standalone concepts and a variety of seating all around the property. Marble City Market, minus its patio, is practically one large room.

Amaryllis Taqueria at Kern's Food Hall allowed customers to mix and match proteins in their street-style tacos. This order includes one al pastor, one chicken and one fajita steak taco, along with cilantro lime rice.

Nestled along the border between downtown and the Old City, Marble City Market, 333 W. Depot Ave., showed promise when it debuted in November 2021 with a wide range of food options served by independent vendors.

But within the first six months, the food hall lost its first vendor, Po' Richard's, whose owner cited dwindling foot traffic and a lack of promotion from food hall management.

Root said a similar situation is happening at Kern's, even as Dominguez told Knox News that May was the most successful month for business at Kern's so far.

"No one in there is making any money," Root told Knox News. "The cost of business is not worth being there. Kern's is not busy."

When Amaryllis was operating, Root said, the business might make only $300 a day. Even on "Taco Tuesday," he said, sales were only about $600.

"We left abruptly because we were not getting any communication," Root said. "We got ghosted."

Belback has a different perspective. "We have had no communication with (Amaryllis), but the situation is ongoing," he told Knox News.

New entrance for Kern's opening in August. Has parking been a turnoff?

While Marble City Market struggled with its location, opening north of the Old City, Kern's is on a stretch of Chapman Highway that's almost too popular − just south of the Henley Street Bridge, which has become even more vital for getting across the river since the Gay Street Bridge closed in June 2024.

Parking at Kern's has gone through a few changes since the food hall opened and is now free for customers. Root said charging people from the get-go seemed to be a turnoff, but even getting into the parking lot can be complicated if you're coming from the north across the Tennessee River.

Kern's has just one entrance before the intersection of Chapman Highway and Fort Avenue, where a stoplight and the former entrance for Burger Boys is being reconfigured to create a smoother entrance to the food hall. The improvements are expected to be finished sometime in August, according to Kern's.

Burger Boys, a Black-owned fast-food restaurant that operated as a one-man show, closed in May to make room for the new intersection. Owner Andre Bryant was locked into a lease until 2027 but agreed to let go of his claim on the property for the sake of the food hall.

The redesigned intersection means drivers won't have to turn left into Kern's across oncoming Chapman Highway traffic without the protection of a light.

Construction is ongoing, Belback said, and "having it done before football season will be phenomenal."

Kern's developer: Amaryllis situation is in a 'gray area'

Amaryllis, though an original Kern's vendor, was not in Root's original plans. Root was slated to expand his Clean Smoke BBQ food truck from Kingston Pike into Kern's but shifted to a new concept, he said, when his smoker did not meet city standards.

Between the early mix-up and Root's slump in sales, he said, "it got to the point where it didn't make sense to stay there."

Both parties are planning how to move forward.

"The situation borders on that edge," Dominguez said. "It's a gray area. I'm not sure what technically happens."