Our blog is all about finding great cocktails where and when
we travel. But we also like great drinks closer to home! So this entry is all about our favorite
places in Knoxville, at least for
now. We spend a lot of time on the north side of downtown, so that’s where
we’ll start. These are places that, unless we have plans elsewhere, you can
usually find us on any given weekend.
Don’t worry, we’ll cover some other areas in future posts!
Let’s start with our favorite spot. Ever wonder what it’s like to go “Where everybody knows your name?” Welcome to Cheers Knoxville, aka the Corner Lounge! This is for sure our favorite watering hole in Knoxville for lots of reasons. It’s the oldest bar in town. Con Hunley got his start here. Cormac McCarthy tossed back a few here. They are a classic bar with great drinks (Scott is hooked on Sheena’s Manhattan and Christy is a sucker for Nat’s Bucket of Mos), great food, live music, and a great bunch of regular patrons. Check them out before they get too popular – they did get a 3.75 on a recent foodie review – pinkies up!
10 years ago, you didn’t walk around on Magnolia Avenue just
north of Depot at night. But Public
House was there and they’re still going strong. They have a great selection
of wine, beer and cocktails – yes, they have yet another of Scott’s favorite
Manhattans in town. The bartenders are excellent (shoutout to Franklin and
Javier), and the vibe is laid back. They also have a great patio area.
One of the newest of our favorite spots is in an unlikely
place – a food hall. Frank and
George’s Bar is part of the Marble City
Market food hall. The bartenders are veterans from other spots in town and
have come up with some great cocktails – the Old Fashioned and Manhattan in
particular are very tasty.
Just down the street from the food hall on Depot you’ll find
the appropriately named Central
Depot (located on the corner of said streets.) Literally, one of the
coolest bars on the corner. The menu includes cocktails mainly made with local
products and local beers on tap. It’s a friendly vibe where you can just hang out.
Once upon a time, we spent a lot of time at Sapphire on Gay
Street. As we wait to see if they reopen, it makes sense that we would love the
next business from owners Aaron Thompson and Jessica King. Brother Wolf is an Italian aperitif bar
with a great selection of cocktails and small bites. They’ve done a great job
with the space in the Old City!
Runner Up: For one of the best cocktail selections in town
(including a fantastic Old Fashioned) Kefi
is a great option. They have cocktail samplers so you can try three different
selections at a time! Opa! (Yes, they have a Greek-inspired menu.)
Like we said in the beginning, there are lots of other
places we enjoy just downtown – Tern Club,
Double S Wine Bar, Bistro at the Bijou, Bernadette’s, 5:30 Lounge to name a few. And some we haven’t tried yet like the Tennessean and Lonesome Dove. Stay tuned for
more about our local favorites! We may even list our favorite Old Fashioned and
Manhattan spots.
You may notice that we didn’t cover any of the growing
number of breweries. That’s in another post here.
Think we missed something - Let us know!
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