Tennessee (Knoxville)
Trip Summary
Fair warning, this post is going to be very long, not just because Knoxville has so many amazing things to do, but…I live here! So you know I can give you the best tips on where to go, where to eat/drink, and where to see the best sights! I will also update this post regularly as new spots are opening up all the time, and I am happy to share all things I love about my city!
Knoxville is a beautiful spot that is close to the Smoky Mountains and has all kinds of cool restaurants, breweries, parks, and things to do. So whether you are just passing through or making this your prime vacation destination, Knoxville is a city not to miss!
While there are SO many places to visit, I’ll just give you the highlights for the sake of brevity (and only share the good spots). So this post will look a little different than my others in that I list favorites and then some runners-up–so the favorites are all going to have A+ ratings while the runners-up are more likely in the A/A- range. Also, if you are ever in town, let me know! I’d love to help you tailor your visit so that you have the best time!
Most Unique Place to Stay: Ancient Lore Village
Granted, since Knoxville is my hometown, I haven’t stayed in many of the hotels in the area, but if you were visiting, and you wanted a totally different place to stay, what is more unique than a Hobbit village straight out of a fantasy novel? That is where the Ancient Lore Village comes in! I remember seeing the place being built as it was on the way to a lot of my hikes, and when I saw that it had finally opened, I told my husband that we had to see it!
The grounds are lovely and include hiking trails, activities like archery and axe throwing, a beautiful dining area (where even non-guests can enjoy brunch!), as well as the accommodations which are just as unique inside as they are outside. So fun!
Visiting on a Sunday morning, we got a day pass which included brunch, archery, and axe throwing, so my husband and I had a lovely time. The brunch was delicious and is served buffet style. They had all sorts of offerings such as bacon, potatoes, bread pudding, pastries, and sausage. The staff is also very friendly, and since it was raining, they offered to drive patrons from the brunch area to the archery and axe throwing stations.
Both activities were a lot of fun, and after a safety briefing, you could enjoy the activities for quite a while (depending on how crowded it is). Both stations have heat lamps so you can enjoy the activities in cold weather even, and this adds to the coziness of the experience.
The only drawback is that this place is a bit expensive–especially the lodging–but you are paying for the uniqueness of the place, and that comes with a premium. Even so, it’s a fun place to see and experience!
Best Hangout: Market Square
This is THE place to hang out downtown as it is the center of activity at all times of the year. Market Square is downtown and is surrounded by restaurants, shops, and breweries. This area also boasts a stage that hosts musical events on the weekends, a Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays (May-November), the Dogwood Arts Festival, and even an ice skating rink in the winter!
Strong Alley is also nearby (between Market Square and Gay Street) and hosts all kinds of beautiful street art that is constantly being updated, so be sure to take a stroll down the alley (during the day) for some good Instagram opportunities!
However, the restaurants near Market Square are what make the place! Game days, while hectic, are especially fun because every bar and restaurant is playing the University of Tennessee game, and there’s nothing like being surrounded by fans rooting on their team!
Runner-up: Schulz Brau Brewery is an excellent place near downtown. This place offers a wide range of beers, German food, and has a delightful outdoor seating area with games like Jenga, corn hole, and board games that entertain guests for hours. Both these places are dog-friendly, too!
Best Nature Spot: Fort Dickerson Quarry
Knoxville has several quarries which are lake areas surrounded by rocks, and they are all beautiful. Fort Dickerson is by far the biggest quarry in the area, and it is a gorgeous spot to swim, relax, and take in the breathtaking views. It has several overlooks at the top (though stay behind the fences for your own safety–some have died jumping off the cliffs), but if you follow the trail, you can wade in and venture out into the water. The spot is not commercialized and is very much do-as-you-wish (no lifeguard), so bring your own floats, drinks/snacks, and so on to prepare for an epic day on the water!
I will say that the spot is also more for the college crowd and older as many drink and smoke various substances while there, so it’s not the best place for kids, but if you want to bring your young family, go in the early morning, and you will have the entire place to yourselves! It is truly a sight to see, and a day spent on the water surrounded by these massive rocky cliffs is just mesmerizing!
Runners-up: Meads Quarry is almost tied with Fort Dickerson for me. It’s a lot more commercialized (and safer in the late afternoons/evenings) as it has kayaks and paddle boats for rent, drinks and snacks for sale, and a dock, but it is much smaller than Fort Dickerson so the grandeur is not quite the same. However, it is a wonderfully family-friendly place that is part of the Ijams Nature Center (that hosts a ton of trails and offers a rope climbing course at Navitat!). If you like the outdoors, be sure to check out the Tharp Trace Trail especially–it surrounds the quarry and is a great place to get some beautiful views of the water. Another runner-up is Seven Islands State Birding Park on the east side of the city. It is is a beautifully quiet spot with nature trails, wildlife, and flowers as far as you can see. If you go in the mornings, you will see enormous herds of deer as well (my husband and I spotted over 50 one morning!). If you are looking for more challenging trails, be sure to check out House Mountain (very close) and Norris Lake (great hiking, but wonderful camping/boating opportunities, too!) as well as Devil’s Racetrack in Caryville or one of famous Smoky Mountain trails in Gatlinburg (farther away but very worth the drive!).
Best Activity: Tennessee Theatre
Knoxville is very lucky in terms of constantly getting good entertainment coming through town, and at any given point, there is always something going on at the Tennessee Theatre.
My husband and I have been fortunate enough to catch several shows and concerts there, including the Black Jacket Symphony’s rendition of Pink Floyd’s The Wall as well as Miss Saigon, The Book of Mormon, Mean Girls, and Rent, so you can see that there is a big range of shows here. The facility is gorgeous with an impressive and versatile stage, comfortable seats, and excellent staff, so if you have a chance to catch a show here, definitely consider it!
Runners-up: If watching movies is more your type of thing, then don’t miss the Regal Cinebarre Theatre in the West Town Mall. This theatre is different than any other in Knoxville because it has reclining seats and meal/drink service. Since the renovation, this is the only place where my husband and I will watch movies now, and the food and drinks are quite good! Their personal pizzas and mudslides are menu favorites, so give those a try! Of course, if you are wanting to do something more active, try axe throwing! Craft Axe Throwing is an excellent place that opened up in Knoxville recently and is a cool place to throw some axes, drink some brews, and enjoy friends’ company in a fun atmosphere! A perfect date night spot for sure!
Best Brewery: Abridged Beer Company
Abridged is an excellent place near the Bearden neighborhood of the city and has an impressive selection of beers, lovely staff, spacious seating (though, limited parking), and they serve some of the best burgers in town!
They have indoor and outdoor seating, and their servers are sweet and very helpful. They are always ready with recommendations and quick to get your order, so I highly recommend! It is rare that you get great brews and excellent food in one place, so make sure that this place is on your to-visit list!
Runners-up: Orange Hat Brewing Company is a front-runner. It is farther away as it is near Farragut, but it has tons of seating and drafts that will just knock your socks off–they are so good! I stopped by after a hike to get a growler of the hefeweizen for my husband to try, and he was so impressed that he said it was the best hefeweizen he had ever had…and that is saying a lot! Xul Beer Company is also very popular as well as Hexagon Brewing Company, Crafty Bastard Brewery (especially if you like sours and IPAs), Alliance Brewing Company, as well as Last Days of Autumn Brewing. Barrelhouse by Gypsy Circus is the place to go if you like ciders. Also, while Pour Taproom is not necessarily a brewery, it is a bar that deserves a mention, because it has over 68 self-serve taps where you can taste as many brews, ciders, and meads as you want before deciding which ones you want to pour full glasses of later. You have a wristband that you scan before each tap so it keeps track on which ones you tried (and how many ounces you poured). It is a very cool place with lots of seating, and a great place to hang out while downtown.
Best Brunch: Knoxville Farmacy
Hands down, the best place you will ever eat breakfast is the Farmacy. I had always heard of this restaurant as being simply amazing, but it was at the southwest end of town and quite a distance from my house, so when they opened a new location in the Bearden location (much closer!), I knew my husband and I had to try it out! And oh, my gracious! Their food is extremely fresh (their milk is pure, whole milk fresh out of the cow–my husband lovingly sipped on it for the whole meal, and he is a milk connoisseur, so you know it was good!).
Their food is absolutely divine, and they serve all-day brunch on the weekends and more traditional offerings during the week. The staff was also friendly and knowledgeable about the menu and took great care that you got a delicious meal every time! Highly recommend.
Runners-up: Olibea is always dependable for an amazing breakfast and the French Market Creperie downtown is a lovely spot to enjoy a sweet or savory crepe of your choice. Olibea caters more to the vegetarian crowd (and offers an impressive array of vegetarian options you likely won’t find at other breakfast places), and everything from their pastries to their entrees are divine. At the creperie, prices are a tad higher, but the food is always fresh and tastes delicious. The decor inside is beautiful and is definitely an Instagram spot if you need one while visiting the city!
Best Steakhouse: Connors Steak and Seafood
Without a doubt, Connors Steak and Seafood has the best steak you will ever eat in your life. My husband and I like to celebrate big days with a nice meal out, and we have tried every single steakhouse in town, but none hold a candle to Connors. From its impeccable service to its mouthwatering food to its nice atmosphere, Connors is the place to go! They serve all kinds of steaks as well as seafood and other dishes, so there is something for everyone.
The side dishes are also plentiful and are all delicious. Surprisingly, it is also one of the more affordable places to have a nice steak in town (while not cheap, it doesn’t completely empty your bank account like Flemings which is in the same area!). I actually missed this place the most during the COVID-19 pandemic when my husband and I were avoiding indoor dining and worked very hard to make a good steak at home, but oh, nothing comes close to the gloriousness you will find here! Highly recommend!
Runners-up: The Chop House is the place we used to frequent before we found Connors, and it was always good. Firebirds Wood Fired Grill also just opened here in Knoxville, and they have good food (the egg roll appetizer is to DIE for)! Though, both places (ALL steak places, really) absolutely pale in comparison to the absolute superiority of Connors. Can you tell I am a Connor’s fan?
Best Mexican Place: Chivo’s Taqueria
Chivo’s Taqueria is a higher-end Mexican place near downtown, but every meal my husband and I have had there has been divine. Their tacos are wonderfully inventive, their burritos are excellent, their quesadillas are tasty, their chips and salsa are always fresh, and their margaritas…so good!
The margaritas are delicious and made with high-quality ingredients that you can taste in every sip. There service is always lovely as well, and while a bit on the pricy side, this is a great place to enjoy a fantastic meal!
Runners-up: The two runners-up are so close to winning the top spot–they are both quite delicious! One is La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant which is on the northwest side of Knoxville where we used to live. They always have excellent food, good service, reasonable prices, and have specials every like cheap margarita specials on Thursdays! The other place is actually in the West Town Mall–Loco Burro Tex Mex Kitchen and Tequila Bar. They are one of the newer restaurants in town and have excellent food and a huge assortment of drinks (including a guava margarita that is quite good!). They also have a rooftop area and a bucking burro that you can ride if you are feeling bit loco.
Best Ice Cream Spot: Cruze Farm
I don’t usually include ice cream places in my reviews, but Cruze Farm deserves a mention! They have several locations–and all of them are OMG delicious! They offer all sorts of treats from ice cream to shakes, churns, floats, sundaes, and affogatos.
They are always changing up their menu, too, to incorporate seasonal favorites, so you will get something amazing any time you go! The ice cream is deliciously creamy and is a lovely treat on a warm day!
Runners-up: The Phoenix Pharmacy and Fountain, also downtown, is a cool time capsule where you can go in and order an assortment of treats while admiring the decorations and trinkets from years past. It’s a Knoxville classic, so take a stroll inside if you are downtown and enjoy what they have to offer! Knox Dough, on the west side of town, is also a favorite–serving various ice creams (even rolled ice cream!) as well as edible cookie dough, so be sure to pay them a visit, too!
Best Pizza: The Tomato Head
Choosing a favorite pizza place is hard, because there are so many good places in Knoxville! However, Tomato Head is a trusty place for a dependable meal that you know will be hot, fresh, and delicious! They are located in Market Square downtown, and they offer all sorts of pizzas, calzones, and appetizers for you to enjoy to your heart’s content.
Runners-up: There are a lot of them, so get ready! If you like sourdough pizza, A Dopo is going to be your best bet, and they have excellent pizzas with all sorts of toppings. Some toppings (like honey) perplexed me when I first saw their menu, but believe me, all of their ingredients just sing when put together. They know what they are doing! Their crust is also super chewy! Two other places I’ll recommend are farther north–one is in Oak Ridge and it is called Big Ed’s Pizza. Their pizzas are massive, their toppings heavy and plentiful, and their restaurant clean and welcoming. Another pizza place on the way up to Oak Ridge is Bella Roma Pizza. It is a small restaurant in an unassuming little area off the side of the road, but what a gem it is! The man who runs the place is the sweetest and will make whatever pizza you want fresh for the buffet (the buffet also offers salad and various pastas). Their pizzas are always good, too, whether you are staying for the buffet or ordering for carryout, so don’t miss this magical place!
Best Asian Cuisine: Sticky Rice Cafe
This one came as a surprise to me! I had never had Laotian food food before, but when I asked around for “not to miss restaurants in Knoxville,” the overwhelming recommendation was Sticky Rice Cafe. So naturally, I had to investigate! And holy goodness! Everything from their boba tea (in multiple flavors ranging from mango to taro to coconut) to their pho to their mango sticky rice is an absolute dream.
The food is fresh and always comes out quickly, and the staff is wonderful (and are so excited to share their favorites from the menu–when I mentioned I had never tried boba tea before, the waitress’s eyes lit up and she couldn’t wait to tell me about her favorite flavors)! A trusted favorite on the food menu is the phorrito and comes with a small bowl of pho and a flour tortilla filled with all kinds of tasty ingredients–it is a guaranteed win when you go, so don’t miss it!
Runners-up: Luckily, Knoxville is just brimming with Asian cuisine, so you will find all sorts of food from Philippine delicacies to Thai dishes. If you are looking for more Americanized Asian food, a great place is off Chapman Highway called Szechuan Garden Chinese Restaurant. This is a treasure of Knoxville, offers a huge assortment of dishes, and even has a drive-through. The staff is lovely, the prices reasonable, and the food always hot and fresh–highly recommend! And one last place I’ll recommend if you like sushi–Nama! It is the most famous place for sushi in Knoxville, and they offer big, impressive rolls. However, the sushi is expensive here, so while the food is delicious, you want to make sure you have a full wallet when you go!
Best Burger: Ale Rae’s Grill
Ale Rae’s Grill actually started as a food truck, and we first discovered it at the Central Filling Station before that place closed! Imagine our delight when we saw that they were opening a permanent establishment in town! The new location is off Broadway and even offers music and an extended menu, but when you go be sure to get the Bacon Butter Bourbon Burger. It sounds like a mouthful, but trust me on this–you will be momentarily transported to heaven when you take a bite! Their ingredients are very unique (their menu describes it as an “angus beef patty grilled in herb butter with smoked cheddar, brown sugar bacon, fig bourbon onions, honey balsamic tomato, smoked cheddar spread, caramel onion spread, top bun drizzled with our maple bourbon aju sauce), but believe me, the combination WORKS. Same for their Over-The-Edge Fries–best fries you will find anywhere (their hot honey chicken fingers and pierogies are menu favorites as well)!
Runners-up: Two places are front-runners here–Stock and Barrel and Abridged Beer Company. Stock and Barrel is a classic favorite in Knoxville and is in Market Square. They offer an assortment of burgers, duck fat fries (delicious!), and various milkshakes as well as a phenomenal bourbon list. The restaurant is a smaller one, so there is always a wait, but they have a good system worked out where they will notify you when a table is ready. Also, I already mentioned Abridged earlier, but they really do have excellent burgers in addition to good drinks! Their selection is plentiful and always cooked to perfection. I had heard that the burgers were excellent, so when my husband and I went, we weren’t all that hungry, but ordered a burger anyway to share–and my husband still talks about it! It was that good!
Favorite Experiences
Having lived in the area since 2009, I have a lot of favorite experiences in Knoxville. It is a wonderful city that too often gets overlooked in favor of the bigger ones in Tennessee like Nashville or Memphis–but Knoxville is a great place to vacation, too, as it has all kinds of city offerings while also being close to the Smoky Mountains. There’s a lot of eateries that I haven’t listed above that don’t have runners-up because they are in a category all their own, so I’ll list them here instead. If you are looking for a good seafood place, Chesapeake’s Seafood House is fantastic. For an amazing cheesesteak, go to either Copper Cellar downtown or Twin Peaks (try it Texas-style for a fun kick!). For great appetizers, go to Carolina Ale House (for their cheese curds!) or Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux (for their hushpuppies!). If you need a unique place to play arcade games and drink a high gravity beer, go to Suttree’s High Gravity Tavern. Finally, if you want Middle-Eastern food, stop by Yassin’s Falafel House (the owner is actually a celebrity in Knoxville as he and his family are wonderful supporters of the city and are always offering food to those who need it).
McKay Books is also a must-visit place. It is an amazing used bookstore where you can easily spend hours browsing all the books, movies, music, and electronics! As you can see, there is no shortage of great places in Knoxville!
Of course, if you are using Knoxville as a base city and want to take some day trips, the Obed Wild and Scenic River is close by as well as the majestic Smoky Mountains. Norris Lake is a beautiful spot for camping, boating, and hiking, too. Chattanooga, Nashville, and Asheville are all within a reasonable driving distance, too, so can you see why I love living here? It really has the best of everything!
What I Wish I Knew
With so much awesomeness in Knoxville, I just wish I found some of these spots earlier! I didn’t discover some of these places until years after I had moved to the area, so take my suggestions, and you know you will have experienced the best of the best! New places are constantly opening up as Knoxville is a rapidly-expanding city, so you know I will be updating this post regularly as I find new favorites! Of course, if you think I missed anything, let me know! I am always on the lookout for new ways to enjoy Knoxville!
I also post reels and TikToks regularly of all the places I’ve reviewed on here, so if you want to see some videos of what to expect, check out my social media here:
TikTok: @touristyteacher
Instagram: @touristyteacher
Facebook: @touristyteacher
Happy travels!
