Knoxville Food Guide: Where to Eat in Knoxville, Tennessee
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Visiting Eastern Tennessee and wondering where to eat in Knoxville? Here’s a great list of some of the best restaurants in the Knoxville area, along with some dishes I think you should order!
Knoxville surprisingly is a city with a diverse and popping culinary scene out in Eastern Tennessee! Located just under three hours east of Nashville, Knoxville certainly does not live in the shadow of its bigger sister when it comes to the food landscape. We found nearly every type of cuisine represented in this city, along with some restaurants that serve up some great Southern comfort food.
From gourmet sourdough pizza to savory tapas and biscuit sandwiches, Knoxville has a little something for everyone!
While there are so many more restaurants for me to try in the area, here are a list of restaurants (and dishes) I think you should try when visiting Knoxville, Tennessee.
🏨 My Favorite Knoxville Hotels
Need a good hotel base while staying in Knoxville? Here are some of my picks:
- Budget Friendly in Downtown: The Hyatt Place – walk to everything! Plus, it has an awesome rooftop bar perfect for happy hour and sunsets.
- Upscale Comfort: The Tennessean (free hotel shuttles within a 3-mile radius make it easy to get anywhere in town).
Where to Eat in Knoxville
These are all my favorite places to eat when visiting Knoxville, with most of them Downtown in walking distance to all the hotels!
J.C. Holdway
Website | 501 Union Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902
J.C. Holdway has the top spot on my list for best elevated dinner (and best overall dish) in Knoxville! The menu here is inspired by rural Appalachia and utilizes modern wood-fired techniques. Make sure you order one of their dishes from the Josper oven!
The star dish (in my opinion): the Roasted Joyce Farms Chicken. Chicken isn’t my typical go-to, but we had been traveling around the South for a bit and I was just really craving a lighter chicken and rice dish.
Enter this juicy creation from J.C. Holdway which blew me away! I dipped every moist bite of chicken into their rich sauce supreme paired with bites of a refreshing Carolina Gold Rice with spring green pistou. It was luxurious while also feeling healthy and nourishing.
Note that this is a bone-in chicken dish to be prepared for a longer cook time.
Also lovely is their slow-cooked farm egg swimming in chicken confit with gnocchi and hen of the woods mushrooms – another surprising dish packed with flavor and interesting textures.
Aside from my favorites, I highly recommend everything else we had here too. Their menu does change, but if you see these, you won’t be disappointed:
- Pimento cheese & pickle plate
- Smoked catfish dip
- Whole grilled Sunburst Trout
- Wagyu steak tartare on rye toast
As one of only two Michelin-recommended restaurants in Knoxville, it certainly earns its spot.
A Dopo Pizza
Website | 516 Williams St, Knoxville, TN 37917
If you’re a pizza lover, A Dopo should be high on your list. Open for dinner nightly, A Dopo will make all of your pizza dreams come true!
Pop into their cozy spot in Downtown Knoxville for some seriously epic wood-fired Neapolitan-style sourdough pizza, small batch gelato, fresh salads, and a glass of wine. The sourdough crust is absolutely delicious and rivals even some of the best pizza we’ve had in Italy.
I recommend the Calabrese pizza (the spicy salami and Castelvetrano olives are such a good combo!), Insalata de Ruchetta, and the pistachio gelato.
Kaizen
Website | 127 S Central St, Knoxville, TN 37902
Kaizen is a Pan-Asian restaurant located in the Old City neighborhood of Knoxville. Their restaurant is modeled after the humble izakaya, which is a Japanese-style bar/pub that typically serves up communal small plates (kind of like tapas).
At Kaizen, they serve more than just Japanese-style dishes and incorporate influences from other Asian cuisines such as Thai and Szechuan. It’s a great casual spot with a chill patio and satisfying food.
Our favorite dish was the pork belly fried rice, but we also enjoyed the Dan Dan Noodles, steamed buns (the hot miso mustard was our fav), and pork egg rolls. Be sure to order up a Japanese beer on draught to wash down your meal!
Myrtle’s Bakehouse
Instagram | Kern’s Food Hall + Market Square Farmers Market
Myrtle’s Bakehouse is home to my favorite chocolate chip cookie of all time! For starters, it’s huge and it took me a couple of days to eat it (not even kidding there). It’s also filled with big chocolate chunks and topped with a sprinkle of sea salt, which helps to balance out the sweet. Pure bliss.
You need to seek out these cookies when in Knoxville! You can now find them at the Kern’s Food Hall or on Saturdays at the Market Square Farmers Market.
Potchke
Website | 318 N Gay St #103, Knoxville, TN 37917
Second of the two Knoxville Michelin-recommend restaurants is a Jewish-American deli called Potchke, located behind the Marble City Food Hall. With hearty sandwiches stacked high, sweet babkas, and an insanely flavorful matzoh ball soup, Potchke is undoubtedly my favorite place for lunch in Knoxville!
Must-try sandos at Potchke:
- If you like fish, get The Bat Mitzvah Showstopper on challah with smoked trout salad, cheddar cheese, shaved red onion, mixed greens, cucumber and tomato. You’ll probably need to eat this in two sittings it’s so big!
- For something meaty, the Pastrami Reuben is the best Reuben sandwich we have had to date! The chunky, thick-cut salty pastrami was killer stacked high on extra soft marble rye with Potchke dressing, sweet peppadew peppers, sauerkraut and melted Swiss cheese. I am drooling just thinking about this one.
I also highly recommend the matzoh ball soup which shocked me at how flavorful it was – both the soup and the giant matzoh ball itself. We got the Fuss It Up style, which adds chili crisp, bell pepper sauce, and extra herbs. I don’t think I can have it any other way!
A few other notes:
- The cinnamon babka was pretty good – it kind of reminded me of a cinnamon roll. I’m looking forward to trying the chocolate babka next.
- Egg cream: for the sake of trying new and authentic things, we have tried their egg cream. This drink was born in Brooklyn and is not actually made with eggs; rather, it consists of milk, seltzer water, and chocolate syrup. It wasn’t my favorite, but it’s definitely something interesting to try once.
Vida
Website | 531 S Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902
Vida was an awesome find for us on a night where we were looking for small bites. Located in The Holston Building right in the beating heart of Downtown Knoxville, you’ll find Vida – a Pan-Latin restaurant serving up the most delicious tapas in a beautiful setting (seriously a perfect spot for date night!).
Everything we ate was truly delicious, but we loved the Barbacoa Empanadas, Stuffed Piquillo Peppers, and a special Rock Shrimp dish. They also make a mean Caipirinha and their house bubbly was one of my favorite glasses of bubbles I’ve ever had.
Pro Tip: Google Maps took us to the opposite side of the building from where the restaurant entry was. Enter the restaurant on the park side of the building, which is to the right.
Stock & Barrel
Website | 35 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902
Stock & Barrel, located at Market Square, is the perfect spot if you want to satisfy a burger craving. They also have an outdoor patio at the entry of the restaurant, which is perfect for people watching at Market Square when the weather is nice!
We devoured the Black and Blue burger, along with their delicious Southern-inspired appetizers of white cheddar pimento cheese dip (with pita chips) and fried green tomatoes (which come with balsamic vinegar and goat cheese). I highly recommend all three dishes!
Not Watson’s
Website | 15 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902
We loved visiting Not Watson’s in Market Square for their Tuesday beer special! $3 beers all day – can’t beat that! We had the most entertaining bartender (Marcus) who regaled us with tales of his travels and local Knoxville knowledge.
While we sat at the bar and threw back more beers than I care to count, we also shared some small plates including the pan-seared scallops and fried green tomatoes, both of which were excellent.
Not Watson’s also has an extensive menu full of entrees, sandwiches, and burgers. We will definitely be back for more!
other things to do in Knoxville:
Matt Robb’s Biscuits
800 Market St, Knoxville, TN 37902
If you’re a biscuit lover, you need to pay a visit to Matt Robb’s in Downtown Knoxville. Matt Robb’s is purely a biscuit shop and they are only open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.
Matt regularly sells out very early so be sure to get there as early as you can if there is something specific that you want!
We’ve tried both the plain biscuit and cheddar and herb, stuffed with sausage, cheddar cheese, and chipotle cream cheese. Do NOT sleep on the chipotle cream cheese if it is available. That stuff is addicting!
Grab a hot biscuit sandwich and take it with you to go while you are exploring Downtown Knoxville. Matt is also a super friendly guy and if you need suggestions on what to do in the area, or in neighboring cities like Nashville, be sure to ask him for some advice.
Schulz Bräu Brewing Co.
Website | 126 Bernard Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917
If you like a good beer garden, Schulz Brau is a great spot to hang out whether indoors or out in the garden. They’ve also got a great selection of bourbons and whiskeys, or you can get a big stein of German beer.
Because this is a German beer garden, I highly recommend their sausages. We’ve gotten their very generous (read: extra large) sausage sampler that comes with six different whole sausages. It also comes with Bavarian cheese dip, pickles, mustard, and a soft pretzel. It’s so filling – you will need to share this with friends!
Balter Beerworks
Website | 100 Broadway SW, Knoxville, TN 37902
Not only is Balter Beerworks a brewery, they also have a great food menu – including brunch on Saturdays & Sundays! We’ve only had their brunch, but they also serve up a hearty pub menu for lunch and dinner, including fried green tomatoes, sliders, nachos, tacos, and burgers galore.
For brunch, we had their Shrimp and Grits, which were so tasty, along with their biscuits and gravy breakfast that will stick to your ribs. For brunch, they also have $1 and $2 mimosa specials if you aren’t up for beer!
Boyd’s Jig and Reel
Website | 101 S Central St, Knoxville, TN 37902
Boyd’s is a lively Scottish pub in Knoxville’s Old City with hearty food and live Celtic music nightly. They also have a selection of over 1,000 whiskeys, including Scotch, Bourbon, and Irish!
I personally came here for one thing – the steak and ale pie. Having had Guinness Stew in Ireland, I was craving this Scottish counterpart as soon as I saw it on the menu. It lived up to my expectations with its rich stew and tender steak meat – 10/10, especially with a side of neeps and tatties (although I would ask for double neeps next time).
They also have other British Isles staples like Scotch eggs and fish and chips, both of which were my husband’s picks.
And to finish, you gotta get the sticky toffee pudding (one of my all-time favorite desserts).
Hopefully this Knoxville Food Guide helps to guide you on where to eat in Knoxville! What other spots in Knoxville should we add to our next adventure to the city?
Knoxville Restaurant Wish List
And because we most certainly will be back, here’s a list of restaurants on our wish list for when we visit the city again:
- Good Golly Tamale for a break from Southern food
- Southern Grit when I’m ready to dig back into some hearty Southern food
- Yassin’s Falafel House for tasty Mediterranean street food
- Chivo Taqueria for bomb looking tacos!
- KoPita for authentic Mediterranean
- The Brass Pearl for oysters and seafood
- Cruze Farm for some of the best ice cream in town
