Unique Knoxville restaurants to check out this spring

The weather has been extra heavenly here on Rocky Top recently. The groundhog may have been lying to us. An extra six weeks of winter? Yeah, right.

The warmth spring brings tends to inspire the desire to step out of the house and go for food and drinks with friends. If you and your friends are the type to spend a good chunk of time trying to pick a spot, look no further — this is the place for you. To narrow down your search, here’s a list of the best Knoxville restaurants to check out this spring.

Central Filling Station

The first worthy spot on the list is Knoxville’s most unique outdoor dining experience Central Filling Station. The filling station is a rustic outdoor venue filled with a variety of food trucks, heaps of available seating, interactive activities like cornhole and a Before-I-Die wall and events including live music and trivia. It’s like multiple restaurants wrapped into one. This interesting spot is located close to campus at 900 N. Central Street.

This is perfect if you and your friends have different tastes or food cravings as there is something for every taste bud. To-go food and drinks are available if you don’t have time to hang around. Some of their food truck vendors include Just Say Queso, Knox Dough, Penne For Your Thoughts, BUNNZ, CJ’s Tacos and many more. It is a pet-friendly area which is a huge bonus for animal lovers. ment says, “Corners, in their very essence, are places of intersection, where streets going in opposite directions cross paths and overlap. Corner 16 is that place of overlap for friends to intersect their busy lives and spend time enjoying good company and good food.”

Sounds like it aligns with busy college students looking for a place to wind down with good friends and good eats.

Lakeside Tavern

Coming in third on the list is Lakeside Tavern, which offers waterfront dining overlooking Fort Loudon Lake. Although it is somewhat far from UT, it is worth it for the views and yummy food.

If you want to start Wine Wednesday early, Lakeside Tavern offers half-priced wine every Monday. They offer a variety of appetizers, salads and entrees. Menu highlights include their stone oven pizzas, fresh seafood and handhelds such as burgers and sandwiches.

“founded by two brothers who grew up living the surf and punk-rock life of the 1980s in Daytona Beach, Florida.”

Their creative style influenced their unique selection of hotdogs, sandwiches and nachos. Sauce options are never ending and made-fromscratch. Curious Dog offers a large selection of creatively crafted, funky hotdog builds. Hotdog options are themed after various cultures. The following are examples of culture-filled, tasty dogs: The “Better Than A Chicago,” the “N.Y.C,” the “Tennessee Tailgater,” the “Knoxville,” the “Daytona” and the “Hawaiian.”

There are bicycles hanging on the wall and refrigerators filled with all the canned beers you could imagine. There are over 200 options of packaged beer, and they also have a few draft options.

Scrambled Jake’s

Corner 16

This restaurant, located in Northshore, is known for its large turf-covered outdoor patio with fire pits, cornhole, giant tic-tac-toe, soccer balls and footballs. Nothing beats patio seating on a nice spring day. Corner 16’s mission state-

Delicious desserts worth mentioning are the creme brulee cheesecake, Kahlua fudge brownie and two layer key lime pie. Due to its romantic ambience, this spot is screaming date night — to watch the sunset over the water of course.

Curious Dog

Another must-try is Curious Dog, located on the first floor of the historic JFG building.

According to their website, the restaurant was

Last, but certainly not least, is Scrambled Jake’s Breakfast Company. This breakfast establishment provides the perfect selection of greasy eats after a long night out and quiet patio seating to soak up some sun.

The restaurant came to life during the summer of 2017. Their menu includes all the signature breakfast dishes you can think of ranging from the summershine benny, sin-o-man roll, naan breakfast pizza and a breakfast burrito. Happy eating!