TENNESSEE
The 12 Best Restaurants in Knoxville, From Handmade Dumplings to Down-Home Southern Fare
By Rebecca Thompson | Aug. 4, 2025
A Dopo Sourdough Pizza
AUTHOR BIO: Rebecca Thompson has held many jobs over the years, from daily newspaper writer to middle-school math teacher. As a restaurant critic, she’s searched her home state of Texas for the best brisket and tacos and will gladly debate the merits of combining the two.
I’ll admit right off that I fell hard for Knoxville.
After one weekend of smoked chicken, sourdough pies, and a soft egg yolk slipping into Appalachian broth, I started searching “restaurants near me in Knoxville” like a local plotting out dinner on a Tuesday. Turns out this city has been building a quietly remarkable food scene—one that sidesteps trends and instead doubles down on chefs who cook with instinct and a little grit.
The best restaurants in Knoxville today aren’t trying to impress New York or Nashville. They’re making trout taste like it just flopped out of the Little River, baking crusts that actually deserve the word blistered, and turning meat-and-threes into chef-driven pilgrimages. There’s comfort food here, yes—but there’s also ambition, fermentation, house-made XO sauce, and bartenders who know what to do with a bottle of Cynar.
If you’ve come here searching for the best restaurants in Knoxville—or just typing “restaurants near me” from somewhere off Gay Street—you’re in the right place. These are the spots that’ll make you want to stay a little longer.
A Dopo Sourdough Pizza
Best for: That perfect blistered sourdough crust you’ll compare all other pizzas to from now on.
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If you haven't experienced the glory that is sourdough pizza, A Dopo will convert you faster than a tent revival. This small, unpretentious spot offers wood-fired pizzas with crusts that have been given the same love and attention a grandmother gives to her biscuits. It’s Knoxville’s answer to the nationwide pizza obsession, only better, because it’s here.
Bistro by the Tracks
Best for: Polished Southern classics in a room where everyone still says “yes ma’am.”
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Want a little sophistication with your Southern hospitality? Bistro by the Tracks is as close as you’ll get to white tablecloth dining without anyone actually using the term "white tablecloth." Chef John Bryant’s food is polished but approachable, featuring seasonal dishes with a focus on locally sourced ingredients. If you leave hungry, that’s on you, not them.
Emilia
Best for: Handmade pasta that somehow makes Market Square feel like Emilia-Romagna.
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Pasta lovers rejoice. Emilia is your cozy corner of Italian goodness in Market Square. Chef Matt Gallaher, known for his time cooking for politicians and rock stars (not hyperbole), serves up handmade pasta that makes you wonder why you’ve ever settled for boxed noodles. Try the pappardelle and let your carb dreams take flight.
Flats & Taps
Best for: Flatbreads, beer, and letting the game play in the background of your low-stakes hang.
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Flats & Taps is unapologetically laid-back in the best way. Their stone-baked flats come loaded with toppings like bacon, blue cheese, and caramelized onions, and they somehow manage to make paninis exciting. But the real star here is the beer list—an endless parade of taps that will have you saying, “Just one more,” several times.
J.C. Holdway
Best for: Celebrating something—or pretending you are—over wood-fired Appalachian elegance.
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Chef Joseph Lenn’s J.C. Holdway has single-handedly raised Knoxville’s culinary game to new heights. This James Beard Award-winning chef offers a constantly changing menu with ingredients that look like they were foraged by woodland sprites in a forest full of artisanal farmers. Whether you're there for the wood-fired quail or something you can't pronounce, J.C. Holdway strikes the balance between refined and relaxed, which Knoxville desperately needed.
Kabuki Restaurant Downtown
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At two locations in Knoxville, Kabuki does Japanese food without pretension or fuss. The sashimi is fresh, and the rolls are beautifully presented without being fussy. It’s the kind of spot you go to for dinner and leave thinking you should really eat sushi more often.
Lonesome Dove
Best for: Game meats and date nights where you order something you’ve never pronounced out loud before.
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If you like your fine dining served with a side of cowboy swagger, Lonesome Dove is your place. Chef Tim Love brings wild game into the spotlight, with elk sliders and rabbit-rattlesnake sausage to challenge your definition of "dinner." It’s like stepping into a saloon, only you’re paying fine dining prices, and nobody’s going to punch you for looking at them the wrong way.
Not Watson’s Kitchen + Bar
Best for: Casual dinners with picky friends who’ll all find something they like—whether it’s a burger or a bourbon.
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Market Square is a Knoxville institution, and Not Watson’s is the place you’ll stop for lunch and accidentally stay through dinner. Their burger is good enough to make you forget every other burger you’ve ever loved. For something lighter, the house salad is shockingly satisfying, and by "lighter," I mean it’s loaded with cheese and candied pecans, so don’t worry.
Otsu
Best for: Handmade dumplings and smoky skewers in a post-show haze of cocktails and conversation.
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At Otsu, expect handmade dumplings and smoky bites from a Japanese Konro grill in an industrial-chic space next to The Mill & Mine. The menu, from chef Jesse Newmister and Aiden Algier, jumps from lamb momo to yuzu-glazed salmon skewers, all matched by an easygoing cocktail list and a patio that fills up fast. It’s the kind of place you wander into after a show and leave wondering how Knoxville got so good at this.
Savelli’s Italian Restaurant
Best for: Cozy red-sauce dinners that feel like a first date from 1996.
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On Sutherland Avenue, Savelli’s sits quietly, doing its thing, which just so happens to be making some of the best Italian food in town. It’s the kind of place where the pasta feels homemade because it is, and the marinara sauce tastes like someone actually cared about the tomatoes. Their lasagna is gooey in the best way, and the garlic knots—pillowy and drenched in butter—are impossible to share. You’re not leaving here without carbs in your heart and on your shirt.
Southern Grit
Best for: Shrimp and grits that taste like they were made by someone’s grandma—with a chef’s precision.
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If Southern food were a personality, Southern Grit would be the cool aunt who knows how to make perfect shrimp and grits and insists you call her by her first name. Nestled in the historic Old City, this place takes Lowcountry classics and makes them feel both modern and familiar. The fried green tomatoes are crispy without being oily, the shrimp platter feels like it was pulled straight out of the water, and the meatloaf might make you think about calling your grandma to apologize for liking this one better.
