Knoxville restaurants and bars are racking up spots on national 'best of' lists
A visit to Knoxville has long been a no-brainer for Tennessee Volunteers fans, art lovers or visitors to the Smoky Mountains. But a new kind of traveler is increasingly seeking out the city: culinary tourists.
Knoxville continues to make headlines this year for its dining and bar scenes as national outlets push a once-overlooked "culinary gem" into the spotlight.
Many Knoxville restaurants and bars have found their way onto national rankings by the likes of Yelp and Reader's Digest this year. Others have been highlighted by publications like the New York Times and Esquire. As Knoxville makes a name for itself in the food and travel industry, customers and professionals alike have taken notice.
Here are some highlights:
Best date night restaurants in Knoxville
A Dopo Sourdough Pizza: 516 Williams St., adopopizza.com
"This might be the hardest place to eat at in Knoxville," wrote one local Yelp reviewer of A Dopo Sourdough Pizza in May. But the 5-star review was not suggesting any difficulty in eating the food served at the romantic spot, which opened in 2016 in the Old City neighborhood. Quite the opposite: A Dopo's Neapolitan-style pizzas are so popular that reservations are all but required. The restaurant landed at the No. 19 spot on Yelp's 2023 list of best pizza places in the U.S. and Canada, moving up from No. 38 the year before.
The centerpiece of the space, though it's tucked in the corner of the open kitchen, is the wood-fired oven featured in photos of the restaurant. The charred bubbles of the sourdough pizza crusts are a canvas for true Italian ingredients like Soppressata salami, Castelvetrano olives and Calabrian chilis, according to the restaurant's menu.
Vegan mozzarella and pepperoni also are available. And the pizza can be bookended by starters like mushroom puree with pickled vegetables and with gelato, which comes in rotating flavors like pistachio and cherry blossom. Reservations can be made online.
J.C. Holdway: 501 Union Ave., jcholdway.com
When it opened in the historic Daylight Building in 2016, this restaurant named for chef Joseph Lenn's great uncle brought national media attention to Knoxville as a homecoming story. A Knoxville native, Lenn became the first chef in Tennessee to win the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southeast when he worked at Blackberry Farm. He opened J. C. Holdway to bring fine cuisine with an international flavor to his hometown.
While it isn't quite as fancy as the resort in Walland where Lenn made his name, J. C. Holdway continues to draw national attention from outlets like Eater for its upscale regional food cooked over a wood fire with both local and international ingredients. Dishes like a pasta with parmesan, local Benton's bacon and a cornbread crumble led Forbes to praise the restaurant for its simultaneous "Southern influences" and "globe-trotting creations." Reservations and takeout orders can be made online.
Best casual eats in Knoxville
Aubrey's: Multiple locations, aubreysrestaurants.com
When Southern Living asked its readers to pick the best locally owned restaurants in each southern state, a Knoxville local shone through. Aubrey's, founded in West Knoxville in 1992 by University of Tennessee graduate Randy Burleson, now has 14 locations across East Tennessee. But the chain has always orbited its home in the Scruffy City.
Southern Living praised Aubrey's "come-hungry-come-casual vibe" and its "creative riffs on classics," like Panko crusted fish and chips and Hawaiian ribeye. The magazine also noted Aubrey's use of local and fresh ingredients. Burleson Brands operates several other local favorites, like Sunspot on Cumberland Avenue; Fieldhouse Social, a sports bar that claims to have the "largest TV in the Southland" (it is 23-feet), and seafood market chain The Shrimp Dock.
Potchke: 318 N. Gay St. #103, potchkedeli.com
Since it opened last year in the Regas Building just north of dwowntown, Potchke, a Jewish deli inspired by Ukrainian cuisine, has endeared itself to a loyal customer base. It also gained attention from the New York Times for the commitment of owners Laurence Faber (another Blackberry Farms alumnus) and Emily Williams to fundraising for Ukraine as the country descended into war following an invasion by Russia in February 2022.
What began as a pop-up soon grew into a local favorite with staying power. Potchke's menu includes traditional Jewish foods such as whitefish bialy and matzoh ball soup, as well as some international inspirations and vegetable-centric spins on deli classics, like the kosher bahn mi and the mushroom reuben. Online ordering is available on the Potchke website.
Big Ed's Pizza: 101 Broadway Ave, Oak Ridge, bigedspizzaoakridge.com
A trip to the best pizza in Tennessee might take only a matter of minutes for Knoxville residents. When Reader's Digest set out to find the best pizza in each U.S. state this year, their Tennessee journey did not take them to Memphis or Nashville, but rather to Oak Ridge, just outside of Knoxville, to Big Ed's Pizza. To land at this answer, Reader's Digest said it used reviews, sales and "local knowledge."
Big Ed's was opened in 1970 by "Big Ed" Neusel and his wife, Ginger. Its simple menu includes scratch-made dough, sauce and even sausage, a tradition that has continued after Big Ed's death in 1998. The restaurant also offers a range of locally brewed beers.
Best places to get a drink in Knoxville
Brother Wolf: 108 W. Jackson Ave., brotherwolf.com
An aperitivo is an Italian pre-dinner drink meant to prepare the appetite for a nice Italian meal, which is perhaps why Brother Wolf in Old City pairs with Osteria Stella, its award-winning sister establishment next door. Owned by Aaron Thompson and Jessica King, Brother Wolf was named one of the 25 best bars in the country by Esquire magazine last year.
Its special menu for Negroni week last September also garnered national press for it claim to be the largest in the world, with 41 variations on the Italian cocktail, composed mainly of gin, vermouth and bitters. (Fans of meme culture, fear not: the Negroni sbagliato with prosecco is a feature of the bar's regular menu.)
The bar maintains a local feeling despite its Italian menu. As Esquire noted of the bar's placement in Knoxville, "It’s not that big a city, and bitters are still a bit niche, so chances are you’ll run into someone you know."
Knox Brew Hub: 421 Union Ave., knoxbrewhub.com
Zack Roskop opened Knox Brew Hub in 2020 as the central terminal for his company Knox Brew Tours, which has offered tours of local breweries in a secondhand school bus since 2014. In the few years since the hub opened and began serving beers exclusively from Knox County and neighboring counties, it has already made a name for itself nationally. Garden & Gun magazine included it on a list of seven of the best southern beer bars earlier this year.
The hub is meant to be a community gathering place, especially for the folks who join the tours, a final stop where Roskop said they can sit a while and talk for longer. In addition to beer, the hub serves all-beef hot dogs and a variety of dips.
Abridged Beer Company: Multiple locations, abridgedbeer.com
In a March Madness-style local beer bracket this year, Knox News readers whittled 32 breweries in the region down to one victor: Abridged Beer Company. Founded in 2015 with a brewpub in Bearden, Abridged has since grown to four locations, each featuring a different part of the company's ethos. The Oak Room, an upscale barrel-aged beer bar in North Knoxville, highlight the company's selection of sour beers, while the so-called World Headquarters in Cedar Bluff operates a full kitchen restaurant.
Founder and co-owner Jesse Bowers has laid out the vision for Abridged alongside co-owner and head chef Joey Trott, who also oversees a company food truck. The Abridged Burger features bacon and brussels sprouts and is joined on the menu by a selection of appetizers and sandwiches that pair well with beer. More information and online ordering is available on the Abridged website.
Knoxville bakeries spotlighted by Food & Wine
Paysan Bread and Bagels: 804 Tyson St., paysanbread.com
In 2022, Food & Wine magazine published a piece titled, "If Everybody Could Stop Pretending Knoxville Doesn't Exist, That Would Be Great." In the article, David Landsel, a contributor of best-of lists, took a tour through Knoxville looking for culinary greatness despite his low expectations. He didn't have to look far. His trip took him to many restaurants and bakeries, including Paysan Bread and Bagels, where he warned readers to get bagels and baguettes quickly before they sell out.
Indeed, Paysan, which is adjacent to the coffee shop Remedy (also recommended by Landsel), often sells out of baked goods early in the day. They offer popular bagel sandwiches through online ordering, and a range of other baked goods in their storefront.
Wild Love Bakehouse: 1625 N. Central St., wildlovebakehouse.com
Wild Love Bakehouse had already been dubbed "the best bakery in America" by Afar magazine when it was included in Landsel's Food & Wine profile. And it's not difficult to see why customers and critics love the bakery. Owners Shaun and Meg Parrish opened Wild Love in North Knoxville in 2016 with a vision of using local and regional ingredients and taking their time with pastries and pies. Their perfected croissant recipe was enough to win over the Knoxville skeptic at Food & Wine.
"Sometimes, the only thing standing between ambivalence and true love is a good croissant," Landsel wrote.
The bakery offers indoor and outdoor seating and has become a favorite study spot for coffee and pastry lovers.
Daniel Dassow is a reporting intern focusing on trending and business news. Phone 423-637-0878. Email daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville restaurants and bars on national 'best of' lists
