Grub Scout

There are a blue million Chinese-food restaurants around, which sometimes makes it difficult for me to single one out for a visit, but when I saw in an area write-up that China 1 in Sevierville was named one of the ...

When it comes to businesses in the Old City, I'm always happy to see things arriving rather than leaving. So I was more than pleased to hear about the opening of Boyd's Jig & Reel on the corner of Central ...

A Latina friend of mine recently recommended El Tocayo as an authentic Mexican-dining experience. I had actually spotted the taqueria — located in El Noa Noa market on Alcoa Highway — several times in my travels and had often been ...

The Grub Spouse and I picked the perfect time to visit the newly opened Nori Modern Noodle & Sushi in the heart of the Cumberland Avenue strip. The college kids weren't back from their semester break, which meant we didn't ...

I'm not sure how I managed to call myself an East Tennessean for 20 years before hearing about Little Joe's Pizza. I guess it's one of those best-kept secret things, but once word got around to me and The Grub ...

Once again, it's time to look back and offer a final nod of recognition to some of my favorite area dining spots. As always, these aren't my all-time faves or even Knoxville's best — just the ones I enjoyed the ...

The hybrid-service model seems to have really taken root in the restaurant biz. Eateries where you order at a counter and have your meal served to you by staff seem to be fairly common. The latest such name to follow ...

I have to admit that my recent outing at Hacienda Degollado in Oak Ridge was not my first visit to the Mexican-food eatery. On a friend's recommendation, I had stopped in for dinner a few months back with another friend ...

I've seen the Asian fusion concept stretched to its limits before, but the owners of the new Go Bananaz Cafe in Farragut may have performed a little one-upmanship with their debut menu featuring the cuisines of both Southeast Asia and ...

First things first. Why is this Oak Ridge eatery called The Other One? Two reasons: 1) It was named, in part, after a Grateful Dead song. 2) The proprietor had once also owned the Time Out Deli at the other ...

After the closing of T-Ho a few years ago, there was a dry spell when it came to finding a predominantly Vietnamese-food restaurant in Knoxville. Now it seems that several have sprung up in a relatively short period of time ...

Market Square needs another Mexican-food restaurant like Kim Kardashian needs more attention. Which is why the already-established LaCosta on Market Square recently underwent a major overhaul, shifting away from Latin cuisine and taking a new "farm to table" approach to ...

Thought I'd do something a little different this time around. This week, I actually paid an official visit to a mall food-court vendor. This isn't part of my usual protocol, but I had heard some good buzz — online and ...

The Grub Spouse and I figured that a recent home game for the Volunteers would virtually guarantee we could go out to eat that night and, depending on the venue, not have to contend with throngs of fellow diners. We ...

Next to a good slice of pizza, there's not much I enjoy more than a thick, juicy hamburger. So when I learned that Niceley's Tavern specializes in burgers — they tout the fact that they use locally grown Black Angus ...

This was one of the rare instances when I paid a repeat visit to an eatery. Years ago, I tagged some brief remarks about what was then called Professor Razzleberry's Ice Cream Lab onto the end of a review I ...

Until its arrival in Knoxville, I had not heard of the North Carolina-based Cook Out chain of restaurants. After noticing that we now have two locations in town — on the Cumberland Strip and in Bearden — I figured it ...

It had been many months since I'd sat down for a meal at a good ol' mom-and-pop Asian-food restaurant. I ended that dry spell recently when a friend and I met for lunch at Little Szechuan on Kingston Pike.

Although we had both been Middle Tennessee residents for a good stretch of time, I had long been unaware of the existence of the Nashville-based Whitt’s Barbecue. The Grub Spouse, however, had been a longtime fan and prompted me to ...

The Grub Scout goes to Ott's Bar-B-Q in Farragut to check out something of a local legacy.

From what I hear tell from my Blount County peeps, Subs & Such in Alcoa has quite a following. They've been slingin' sammies since 1983, and now that they've moved into new digs at Midland Plaza, they've got a lot ...

As a fan of Five Guys Burgers & Fries, I was intrigued to learn about Mooyah — a Texas-based chain that recently opened its first Tennessee franchise in Knoxville. Like the Guys, Mooyah takes a Keep-It-Simple-Stupid approach to burgers, offering ...

Summer is prime barbecue season, so when I heard that Bruce Bogartz was running a barbecue shack behind his RouXbarb location in Bearden, I thought it would make for a tasty weekday lunch outing for me and The Grub Spouse. ...

I normally might not have gone out of my way to sniff out any unique dining opportunities in quaint little Friendsville, but after receiving multiple proddings in that direction from previous patrons of the Whistle Stop Café, I decided to ...

There has definitely been a trend toward the fast-casual dining model in recent years, as evidenced by chains like Moe’s, Salsarita’s and Noodles & Company. Even in the Asian submarket, we’ve seen names like Ghengis Grill and Wok Hay spring ...

I realized it had been a while since The Grub Spouse and I had done any noshing up Oak Ridge way, so on the recommendation of some locals, we decided to do lunch at Buffalo Mountain Grille, which is on ...

I’d always wanted to visit the Tin Roof location on Cumberland Avenue, but I’m such a wimp when it comes to navigating and parking on the Strip (especially during the school year) that I kept putting it off. By the ...

Pero’s — originally owned and operated by the Peroula family — is back, this time in the Rocky Hill neighborhood, where Tom & Barry’s used to be.

I’m always encouraged to see more healthy-eating alternatives spring up on the local restaurant scene, and that’s the identity claimed by the new Cafe Pita on Cumberland Avenue. The owner, a former employee of the Pita Pit, offers customers a ...

Every now and then, I’ll dine in an Asian-food restaurant that has a few Vietnamese items on the menu, but I’m not aware of any in Knoxville that has recently focused exclusively on that particular category of cuisine. As such, ...

Noodles & Company, a Denver-based fast-casual restaurant chain, just opened its first Knoxville location at Turkey Creek, and The Grub Spouse, my mother-in-law and I stopped by recently to give it a once-over.

Bearden's new Aegean Mediterranean Grille puts an upscale-cuisine spin on the flavors of the Greek isles.

Blue Coast Burrito, which sits on the northwest corner of Market Square, is festively colored in a vibrant palette in an effort to capture the essence of the Blue Coast Beach area near Cabo San Lucas.

Last week, it was back to Blount County for The Grub Spouse and me, as we were compelled to investigate Marlin & Ray’s Seafood Bar & Gill (see how they make with the funny stuff?). What tugged at my curiosity ...

There are several items worth noting about The Night Owl Cafe, which set up shop in the Old City last year in the former Pasta Trio location. For starters, just about everything is homemade, including the sandwich breads, and the ...

Genghis Grill, which made its Knoxville debut just a few weeks ago in Turkey Creek, touts itself as a Mongolian stir-fry restaurant. Rather than being a subcategory of Asian cuisine, “Mongolian” refers to an exhibition style of cooking modeled after ...

Honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to the arrival of Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q a few months back. Between Nick & J’s and Sam & Andy’s and Marlin & Ray’s, Jim ‘N Nick’s sort of blended right in to Knoxville’s ...

Cosmo's Caffe is a bistro-style cafe that operates within Gourmet's Market in Bearden, serving breakfast and lunch, coffees, teas and bakery goods. All these years, I've been unaware of the existence of both the market and the cafe until recently, ...

There was quite a buzz about Red I Diner when it opened for business in Maryville a few months back. Our Blount County sources had good things to say about it, so The Grub Spouse and I got around to ...

Sometimes serendipity leads to good things. The Grub Spouse and I arrived at an intended restaurant destination last week, only to discover upon seeing it in person that it was drive-through only. That was a no-go. I had to think ...

When I first heard about an Ethiopian-food restaurant opening in Knoxville, I was excited. It had been quite a while since I could say I had tried a new ethnic cuisine for the first time. Gosh opened its doors earlier ...

You could almost make the argument that Chipotle Mexican Grill didn’t exactly re-invent the restaurant-concept wheel. After all, its Mexican fare is custom-made to order in an assembly-line process similar to what you might find at Salsarita’s, Moe’s or Z-Mex. ...

I really enjoy Indian food, and having long since reviewed the handful of Indian restaurants that have done business in Knoxville in the past eight years, I find myself with few opportunities to go back and swim in that spicy ...

I promise you one thing from the outset of this review. Despite the unapologetically canine motif of our latest dining destination, Double Dogs, I refuse to make any reference to this new Hardin Valley restaurant “going to the dogs.” I ...

I have to admit up-front that I like the small-plate dining concept. Locally, you’ve been more likely to see that put into practice at restaurants with more of a Spanish, tapas-influenced menu. But Cru Bistro & Wine Bar, which has ...

I’ve got a bunch of new restaurants on my list these days, but I have to admit that what ultimately steered me in the direction of Lescotti’s was my first Groupon experience. The site was offering $20 of Lescotti’s for ...

There are two Anaba locations — one on Northshore Drive in Knoxville and one in Maryville. My Murvul peeps had been bragging about the one in Blount County, so that’s the one The Grub Spouse and I chose to investigate. ...

I don’t normally feature Sevier County restaurants in back-to-back reviews, but that’s just how things worked out with my schedule recently. This time, I shifted my sights to Sevierville, home of The Tin Roof Cafe, which is on Apple Valley ...

For some of you, the end of a year means making resolutions. For me, it’s always a time to look back and give one more quick nod of recognition to some of my favorite area dining spots. And as always, ...

“‘Twas the week before Christmas, driving through Pigeon Forge, when The Grub Spouse and I stopped, ready to gorge.” Don’t worry; I’ll spare you the rest of my lame parody as I describe what did turn out to be a ...