Grub Scout

I happened to be running around out Farragut way the other day and noticed a Mexican-food restaurant that hadn’t previously crept onto my radar. Since my short list has been uncomfortably short lately, The Grub Spouse and I decided to ...

There’s a restaurant space in Maryville that most recently was home to a Roaming Gnome, although that underwhelming pub went bye-bye a few months back. Now, there’s a new eating-drinking establishment in place that, in my opinion, looks much more ...

It seems that new fast-casual Mexican-food chains have been about as ubiquitous in Knoxville lately as pre-meal chips and salsa are in the sit-down establishments.

Every now and then The Grub Spouse and I are open to trying out restaurants located in area accommodations. The latest such venture took us to Burchfield’s, inside the Double Tree Hotel in Oak Ridge.

My official 500th restaurant turned out to be — for no particular reason other than it just happened to fall next on my list — Holston’s Kitchen in Sevierville. Open for just a few weeks, the eatery sits on Dolly ...

I’m doing something a little different this week. Instead of my usual restaurant review, my overlords at Knoxville.com have allowed me a moment of reflective self-indulgence, in which I am marking a milestone in my tenure as The Grub Scout. ...

Some of the early online reviews I read about Doodles BBQ Bistro weren’t very kind. I read multiple accounts of slow or even neglectful service, but these were written right when the new Hardin Valley eatery opened about a month ...

Multiple readers have recently sent me e-mails urging me to try out Elvira’s Cafe in Wears Valley. It’s been open for just a few months now, but based on my pre-visit research online, the new eatery seems to have already ...

The Grub Spouse was not able to accompany me on my recent drop-in at The Happy Badger Cafe on Clinton Highway. But the elder Grub Sprout was free last Friday, so he and I made it a parent-child lunch outing ...

Just in the past six months, three Indian-food restaurants I had not tried yet made their way onto my radar, and being the fan that I am, I made a point of checking them all out. The most recent, India ...

Recently, The Grub Spouse and I tried out a Blount County establishment called Shiloh Brew & Chew. Recently, we dropped in on another new restaurant with a mastication-friendly name, Macadoo’s Chat and Chew. It’s in the former Vernon’s spot, just ...

The poor hot dog. While countless chains are devoted to fast-food staples like burgers, pizza and chicken, the lowly frankfurter is typically relegated to the bottom of the restaurant menu. An also-ran. An afterthought. Outside of sports stadiums, the hot ...

Every now and then my list of restaurant prospects gets pretty short. So the other night, I went to Urbanspoon’s Knoxville page and just started scanning the lists of popular eateries in hopes of finding one I had managed to ...

I've completely given up on getting The Grub Spouse to appreciate Indian cuisine. On the other hand, it's one of my absolute favorites, so when I spotted the new Dawat Indian Restaurant on Kingston Pike (where Owens Turkey Restaurant used ...

Joe's Crab Shack has been open in Sevierville for almost a year, but I waited this long to try it out, because I try to avoid traveling to Sevier County in peak season. And while I'm sure waiting for a ...

Normally, I don't do repeat visits to a restaurant unless said restaurant has undergone a major overhaul in menu and/or concept. However, such was the case with iCafe, formerly Le Parigo, that little postage stamp of an eatery on Clinch ...

Now that the renovation of the 100 block of Gay Street is well advanced, we're starting to see more restaurants pop up there (and even fade away already). The most recent arrival is Knox Mason, which is where Harry's Delicatessen ...

I had read some good online buzz about The Mafia House, so The Grub Spouse and I decided to take advantage of the slow season in the Smokies to head to Pigeon Forge and check it out.

A reader's e-mail brought my attention to a new place in Maryville called Shiloh Brew & Chew, a family restaurant that specializes in steaks and also offers sudsy beverages for the over-21 crowd. The Grub Spouse and I headed that ...

Has it been a year already? Wow … 51 more restaurants and 51 more breath mints under my belt (in more ways than one). So once again, it's time to look back and give some retroactive love to some of ...

I have to admit that my short list of restaurants to try is getting pretty short. Fortunately, it had been a few months since I'd been to an Asian-food eatery, so Jai Dee Thai & Japanese Cuisine coming up in ...

The Grub Spouse and I heard good reports from multiple sources about a new restaurant in Townsend, so we headed for the peaceful side of the Smokies to check out Firefly Cafe. It's set back off the main road in ...

While out doing some holiday shopping, The Grub Spouse noticed a new restaurant doing business in the former Rolf Lanz Ski Shop facility on Ray Mears Boulevard. Eager to explore a new eatery, we put Bucket Head Tavern on our ...

The Grub Spouse and I agree on most international cuisines, but unfortunately, we couldn't be more opposite when it comes to Indian food. It's one of my absolute favorites, while The Spouse tolerates it at best. So you can guess ...

Despite my four and a half years of high school and college Spanish, I didn't recognize/remember the word "flojo." But based on my translation research and the word's context, I'm interpreting the name of the new La Casa Del Burro ...

My short list of restaurant prospects had been running a little too short for my comfort, so it was well timed that someone snail-mailed The Grub Scout a menu flyer for E.B.'s Eats & Treats and suggested that I give ...

When the Asheville-based Tupelo Honey Cafe announced it was coming to Knoxville, the news generated a lot of buzz. I counted myself and The Grub Spouse among those looking forward to its arrival on Market Square, in the old Market ...

For those who enjoy a little wordplay with dinner, it's no accident that the initials for Shrimp, Oysters and Beer are SOB. In fact, one of the new Farragut seafood eatery's appetizer samplers bears that moniker. But the fact remains ...

After going back to the Mexican-food well last week, The Grub Spouse and I decided to re-visit another long-ignored international cuisine this week by stopping in at Koko Japanese Grill for dinner. The restaurant is just off North Peters Road, ...

Every now and then, I find myself craving Mexican food, and fortunately, Knoxville offers plenty of ways to scratch that particular culinary itch. This time, The Grub Spouse and I decided to try Mexico Lindo on North Cedar Bluff Road.

This was a unique situation for The Grub Spouse and me; we found ourselves visiting hotel restaurants in back-to-back weeks. We'd been wanting to try out the new Windows on the Park eatery at the downtown Holiday Inn, and as ...

Hotel restaurants are a unique animal in the dining kingdom. They often don't get as much attention as other eateries because they cater to a captive audience. And in the case of Cooper's, which operates out of the Hilton at ...

I'm a sucker for those half-off coupons, especially when food is involved and especially when I spot one for a restaurant I've never been to (which is rare). In this case, my sense of thrift and a hankering for some ...

I loves me some pizza, as the kids like to say on the Facebook. So I was all about checking out the new Gavino's Pizzeria in Bearden. The Grub Spouse and I pulled in on a recent weeknight with our ...

Reading online reviews before visiting a restaurant can be a double-edged sword. They can be informative, but sometimes, they can plant prejudicial thoughts. Several of the early posts I found on Cazzy's Corner Grill at Northshore Town Center suggested that ...

My ears always prick up a little whenever I hear of a new Mediterranean-food restaurant coming to town. Such was the case with Zoës Kitchen, an Alabama-based chain of fast-casual eateries that recently opened its first Knoxville location on Bearden ...

I hadn't heard so much buzz about a new restaurant in Knoxville for quite some time. So after giving the bees a couple of weeks to settle down, The Grub Spouse and I headed out to Chuy's, the Austin-based restaurant ...

As summer has begun its annual slipping-away process, I have felt the urge to cling to it a little more tightly by trying to squeeze in another barbecue feast or two before the season is gone.

I've been familiar with The Shrimp Dock for several years but had just never gotten around to checking out the food-service component of this small chain of local fresh-seafood markets. My procrastination came to an end when I decided to ...

I try not to read online feedback about a restaurant before I experience it for myself. I prefer to go in with a clear mind that's free of influence. Unfortunately, in the process of looking for a Lil' Vinnie's menu, ...

Hey, look, everybody — another fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurant! I know we've already got Salsarita's, Moe's, Blue Coast Burrito, Z Mex Grille and Chipotle Grill (and no telling how many others I've let roll out of my brain), but we've got ...

The Market House at Jackson Square in Oak Ridge is one of the newest area restaurants to trade on the popular farm-to-table concept. Their seasonal menus are built around fresh local produce and cuts of meat, and they offer their ...

The Grub Spouse and I first noticed Lil' Cuban Cafe on our way through Townsend about a month ago and vowed we'd head back to try it soon. We fulfilled that promise on a recent weeknight.

The Grub Scout and Grub Spouse accompany friends to Mi Pueblo, a taqueria-within-a-tienda, for an authentic Mexican meal.

It's not often that I get up into the northeast regions of the Knoxville metro area, so once Kitts Cafe wound up on my radar, I made it a priority to focus some attention on an often-ignored corner of the ...

The Grub Spouse and I hadn't done a sub shop in a while, and we saw that Jay's Subs in Farragut was doing one of those social coupon thingies, so I saw it as a chance to get some work ...

On one hand, I despise driving in Sevier County during tourism season. On the other hand, I loves me some cheesecake, so in this case, my high-calorie cravings won the inner war of wills. Even better, The Grub Spouse and ...

I had been looking forward to checking out Habaneros Mexican Restaurant, which opened for business on Asheville Highway about two months ago. I had heard good reports, both online and directly from customers who had dined there. So The Grub ...

I don't even recall how I first heard about The Hilltop Vineyard, which sits, appropriately enough, near the peak of Bearden Hill, next door to Calhoun's. It hasn't gotten a whole lot of press, and it's easy to miss if ...

My Blount County sources keep feeding me tips, so I keep heading to Maryville and Alcoa to feed my face. Our most recent sojourn was to Gracie's in Maryville. It's one of those mom-and-pop, home-cookin'-type places that the locals seem ...