A Foodie’s Guide to Restaurants in Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee

Last week, I wrote about Nashville – a city that I still love but that’s changed immeasurably in the last decade. And while Nashville is Tennessee’s official capital, Knoxville is the state’s eastern metropolis – albeit with a much smaller population. I’d been to Knoxville a couple of times before (Mr Foodie’s parents moved to East Tennessee in 2019 so it’s been our home base in the US for a few years now) but this spring was the first time I felt like I actually got the city. It has a compact Downtown neighbourhood, with an atmospheric Old City that’s tiny but distinctive, and some interesting suburbs that I need to spend a lot more time exploring. It’s also home to the iconic golden globe, built when Knoxville hosted the World’s Fair in 1982 – scale the tower for a bird’s eye view of the city. But more to the point, it feels a lot more local and a lot less busy than Nashville.

Directly south of Downtown Knoxville is the Tennessee River, which winds southwest towards Maryville, Loudon and Vonore – the area where my in-laws live, and where many of the restaurant recommendations in the second part of this post are to be found. Go southeast from Knoxville instead, and you reach Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg – home to Dollywood and all the trappings of tourism in its gaudy glory. Alternatively, head north towards Norris Lake – a beautiful area for camping in nature (but unfortunately I didn’t visit any restaurants while I was there!). So if you find yourself in Knoxville, don’t head straight to Nashville or Memphis. Take your time: explore Knoxville itself before driving out into the rolling, blue-green, tree-covered Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Here’s where to eat along the way… ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).