Nightlife: Spice Rack experience better than expected

Photo by Greg Wood/Special to Knoxville.com Rich Walls and Naomi Young enjoy a night at the Spice Rack.

When a friend invited me to Spice Rack for his birthday celebration, I had to set aside all preconceived notions I had of the place.

When it opened a year ago I immediately looked the place up, discovering the establishment is essentially a Mexican-themed version of Hooters. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy Hooters, but their food isn't top-notch and their atmosphere is (mostly) generic. Their specials make it a viable game day or weeknight option and their staff is an added bonus.

Despite the waitresses having skimpier outfits, Spice Rack doesn't hinge on a gimmick and offers plenty of reasons to visit.

The Hooters hot pants don't leave much to the imagination, but the Spice Rack uniform manages to be more revealing. At the same time it's presented in a classier fashion, with miniskirts, heels and a flashy top.

Spice Rack features romantic ambience throughout the main seating area. In the right side of the building is a cozy fireplace room, for those who desire the uncommon combination of at-home vibe with attractive young women bringing drinks.

My friend Richie celebrated his birthday in the "Rack Room," a private dining area toward the back of the building, separated by a black curtain. The room feels like a rich redneck's beach house, with wooden walls, plush couches and chairs, several TVs mounted, and a deer-antler chandelier hanging in the center of the room. Adjacent to the room is a beer pong table and pool table. (Our waitress offered to let us play beer pong, which we didn't accept, but I've always wanted to play at a bar and apparently that's a possibility in the Rack Room.)

I didn't know what to expect from Spice Rack, but what I found was well-presented elaborate meals and cheap domestic drafts in huge beer mugs. Our crowd was mixed, with UT law students, local musicians, teachers and talent agents.

Photo by Greg Wood/Special to Knoxville.com Mike Sweany, from left, Haseeb Qureshi and Chris Deck sampled the peppers at the Spice Rack.

Guys brought their girlfriends along, mostly since Richie gave us the best excuse ("Honey, it's my friend's birthday and he really wants to spend it at Spice Rack, so I think we should join"), but none of the females complained or said they felt uncomfortable.

In fact, everyone commented on how nice the place was and how it would be a great place to watch a game.

But we also discussed that Spice Rack didn't seem to be drawing much of a crowd, which our waitress Naomi also confirmed. It doesn't have the following Hooters does, and after our evening of celebration we couldn't understand why.

Since the restaurant appeals to men with their wait staff the logical conclusion is to compare it to Hooters, which has the stronghold on that type of restaurant. But Spice Rack's food ranks among established restaurants. Our group ordered everything from Taquitos to their Habenero Burger. Everything came garnished with spices but not overloaded. My friend Haseeb went on at length how the habenero that came with his burger was the hottest pepper he had ever had, which led to disbelief and a subsequent challenge as someone else at our table bit into it and immediately teared up. Haseeb enthusiastically offered his advice when it comes to spicy food, saying "always trust the darker guy."

We spent the evening chowing down and downing large beers (which were 2 for 1 that evening), watching a replay of an uninteresting pro-football game and loudly bantering about topics ranging from local music, HBO series, the LA Lakers and Midwestern chain restaurant Skyline Chili. Our waitress joined us on the couch for most of the evening.

Unfortunately, last call came too soon, at a seemingly arbitrary time in the 10 o'clock hour. But we accomplished all we needed to at Spice Rack.

Spice Rack might not be the best place for a family outing, but it still appeals to a wide variety of bar-goers.

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