On a Thursday in mid-October, the staff at 107 E. Market Street were polishing glasses, setting up furniture and checking inventory before the opening of a restaurant called Blind Raven, according to the Kingsport Times News. Walk past and you can see floral wallpaper and shelves of vintage books through the front windows. The building is close to a century old. It used to house Market Street Social Club and Bears N Friends Toy Shoppe.
Two blocks east, at 245 E. Market Street, a sushi and boba shop called Boba Head Cafe held its soft opening the same month.
The two places serve very different food, but their hours line up. Once they're on regular hours, both plan to open at 11 a.m., and neither plans to stay open late. On this stretch of East Market, one block off Broad, the new businesses are built for lunch and early evening. Downtown Kingsport's holiday events run on that same schedule this year.
Two Openings, Same Hours
Blind Raven comes from Curiosity Shop Beverages, which also runs Gypsy Circus Cider Company here in Kingsport and Atomic City Brewing in Oak Ridge. The company's principal, Aaron Carson, told the Times News that lunch will be a focus. Blind Raven plans to open at 11 a.m. on the days it operates and close at 10 p.m., or 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. He also said it will not be "a late night bar."
Boba Head plans to keep shorter hours. Once it's fully open, co-owner and operator Daniel Baker expects to run 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, the Times News reported. During the soft opening, the shop is keeping limited hours while the staff finishes the space and gets its final permits. The grand opening is set for Nov. 14.
The food fits those hours. Blind Raven's menu includes croissants, paninis, dirty martini dip, hand-stuffed olives and desserts. Boba Head serves made-to-order sushi, poke bowls, boba tea and coffee. Baker told the paper he wanted "a place where one person can get a fresh sushi roll, someone else can enjoy a poke bowl, and another can stop in for a handcrafted boba tea or coffee."
What Each New Place Brings
Blind Raven, 107 E. Market St. Carson described the look as 1920s French and academic. Herbs for the cocktails and food are grown on site. The drinks list includes:
- Pre-Prohibition cocktails, from old fashioneds to Sazeracs, plus signature and personalized cocktails
- "Flight of the Raven" spirit flights
- French and Belgian beers
- Absinthe service, which comes to the table so each person can adjust it to their own taste
- More than 75 wines
"We've had a full-time crew here for over a year, because I think aesthetics matter," Carson told the Times News. As of the paper's Oct. 20 update, the team was aiming for a November opening, with the exact date still to be announced.
Boba Head Cafe, 245 E. Market St. The shop is in the former Dressy Owl/Sugar Willow Boutique & Beauty Bar space. It's veteran-owned and run by four brothers from West Virginia who moved to Kingsport to be closer to their parents. Baker went to culinary school in 1997 and trained as a sushi chef in Los Angeles in 2003. He wrote the first business plan for the shop in 2006.
The Shops Already on the Block
The new arrivals join businesses that were already on East Market. Walking east from Broad, here's what you'll pass:
- Gypsy Bean Leaves & Things, 115 E. Market St. is a café serving coffee and herbal tea, with a section of metaphysical and spiritual goods. The Downtown Kingsport Association lists it, and the Times News included it among 2025's new openings.
- The Crumbum, 118 E. Market St. is a bakery with coffee and baked goods, per Visit Kingsport.
- Breaking Tradition, 235 E. Market St. offers billiards, darts, food and a full bar, per Visit Kingsport. It's two doors down from Boba Head.
Around the corner, Tales & Taverns Bookstore at 117 Broad Street is the independent bookstore Tennessee Tourism highlighted in August. That gives you two coffee counters, a bakery, a bookstore, a café full of vintage books and a sushi bar within a short walk of each other. All of them are daytime stops.
December Adds Evening Plans in Small Steps
Both new owners have planned evening events for specific nights.
Starting in December, Carson plans "Wine Down Wednesdays" with four rotating wines to taste each week. He also mentioned mahjong Mondays, spin-your-own-record Thursdays, mobile book sales and live music on select nights. "Jazz and bossa nova is going to be our kind of hallmark," he said, with jazz or acoustic sets on Fridays and Saturdays.
Baker wants to host live music or trivia on Friday or Saturday nights and stay open past regular hours for those events. Once the soft-opening phase is over, he plans to fly in fresh fish for an omakase dinner, where the chef chooses the meal. He said omakase won't be on the opening-day menu.
The Holiday Dates That Match East Market's Hours
The confirmed downtown holiday events this year mostly overlap with the hours East Market's new businesses plan to keep.
| Date | Event | Where | Fit with East Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Boba Head Cafe grand opening | 245 E. Market St. | Grand opening day |
| Sun., Nov. 15, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Poppy Lou's Markets Holiday Social | Kingsport Farmers Market, 308 Clinchfield St. | Boba Head's Sunday hours are noon to 5 |
| Sat., Nov. 28, starting 10 a.m. | Small Business Saturday | Broad Street | Blind Raven and Boba Head both plan to open at 11 |
| Sat., Nov. 28, 7 a.m.–1 p.m. | Last Saturday of the farmers market season | 308 Clinchfield St. | Morning market, then lunch downtown |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 6 p.m. | Downtown Kingsport Christmas Parade | Downtown and historic Church Circle | Boba Head plans to close at 8 on Saturdays; Blind Raven at 11 |
Small Business Saturday is organized by the Downtown Kingsport Association and includes downtown shopping, photo spots and Pet Pictures with Santa. The Holiday Social, put on by Poppy Lou's Boutique, has vendors, food trucks and photos with Santa. The farmers market wraps up its Saturday season on Nov. 28.
Planning Parade Day
The Downtown Kingsport Christmas Parade starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. The DKA's registration page says the route goes through downtown and historic Church Circle. The street-by-street route for 2026 hasn't been posted yet, so check the DKA's announcements before choosing a curb. Here's one way to spend the day on East Market:
- Late morning. Get coffee and a pastry at The Crumbum or Gypsy Bean, then browse Tales & Taverns on Broad.
- Lunch at 11 or later. Try poke or a sushi roll at Boba Head, or a panini at Blind Raven, assuming it has opened by then as planned.
- Afternoon. Walk to Glen Bruce Park and Centennial Park. The DKA says both parks will have decorated Christmas trees this December, though it hasn't posted display dates.
- Before 6 p.m. Grab a boba tea to go before you find a spot along the route. Boba Head plans to stay open until 8 on Saturdays.
- After the parade. Have a glass of wine or an absinthe service at Blind Raven, which plans to stay open until 11 p.m. on Saturdays.
Boba Head is still in its first weeks, and Blind Raven had not announced an opening date as of the Times News report, so hours, menus and dates may change after publication. Check the business before you go.
Mary Glenn follows downtown Kingsport block by block, including what opens, what it brings and how it changes life on nearby streets. If you live near downtown and want to know what your home is worth as East Market Street grows, Mary Glenn Lively can help. Get your home's free valuation, or schedule a no-obligation consult.
