If you’re like most college aged people- or really a normal person in general, food is probably one of your top priorities- along with sleep of course. Let’s be honest here- we only love our bed and food, I’m sorry.
Anyways, with food being one of the top prorities, especially when moving to a new city, it’s important to have an idea of what food places are worth trying when moving to Knoxville as a incoming freshman at UTK! Below I’ve listed some of the top food places (in random order) that have been discovered by my friends and I over this past year as a freshman at UTK:
The Egg & I
Being only 10 minutes away from campus, this brunch restaurant is a definite “go-to” towards the top of your list. Expect to spend about $12-$20 but it is definitely worth it for the quality breakfast you will receive there!! Below is a picture of the meals personally tried.
Cafe 4
This is a very classy feeling restaurant located in Market Square, which is basically downtown Knoxville, where there are many cute restarurants and shops to spend some money in! ?? While the only meal personally experienced at Cafe 4 was breakfast, their menu overall is “to die for”!!! Also, their coffee is definitely recommended by me- someone who lives, sleeps, breathes, and bleeds coffee. The cost for this meal was around $13. Here’s a picture below of the breakfast we tried.
Scrambled Jake’s
As you can probably tell by now, my roommate and I are HUGE breakfast people. It’s true that breakfast is the most important (and one of the most favored) meals of the day, especially if you ask me! Scrambled Jake’s is a brunch restaurant (yup, you guessed it). This is a restaurant my roommate and I resorted to when deciding that we have choosen to eat at The Egg & I several times
(We also like to try new things if you can’t tell. This is HIGHLY recommended for any student coming to UT because the options are endless so why not always try something new!) While this was a little on the more expensive side ($22 for my meal), it was definitely one of those meals that was eaten at 1pm and has continued to make my stomach happy until 8pm.
Nama Sushi Bar
When choosing a roommate in college, make sure you share similar interests that are important- such as whether or not you both like sushi! Being very blessed with a super awesome roommate who shares my love for sushi, Nama Sushi Bar was her place of choice when deciding where she wanted me to treat her to for her birthday! Nama is a sushi restaurant that you will hear recommended and liked AT LEAST 30 times when first coming to UT. Yes, it is a very good sushi place and yes, it is pricey but it’s definitely one of those restaurants you have to try so you can say you’ve tried it before. Taking my roommate out for her birthday here was about $50 give or take for the both of us. Here’s what we ordered below.
Duck Donuts
This is not a restaurant but rather, a Subway styled Donut Shop. Yes, that’s right, Duck Donuts is a “build your own donut” shop and it’s a HAVE TO type of place to try. Not only are their donuts made fresh right in front of your face, but you have the freedom to choose either their signature flavors and styles or to literally build your own donuts. Price wise, Duck Donuts is definitely an affordable (in dollars, not carbs) place to try! Donuts usually average about $1.20 a piece. Pictured is one (of the many times) a trip to Duck Donuts has been made this year.
Insomnia Cookies
As a college student, who is almost always stressed or up late working on stressful school work, having late night munchies is a given and is found to become extreme while in college.
This means that you would hope for good places to get snacks very late into the night that are also quick, convenient, and cheap. Well look no further because Insomnia Cookies is definitely a mandatory food establishment for college kids. Being a sweet treat shop that delivers until 3AM (no, that was not a typo, they really do deliver until 3AM), it is a very common method to resort to when needing to cure the late night munchies. Costing about $8 for a half a dozen, just look at these cookies and try saying no. It’s hard, trust me.
Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop
Trying Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop will turn you into a pie type of person even if you have been anti-pie since birth. Selling 4 inch mini pies for about $5 a piece, you can’t go wrong by stopping in here for a sweet treat. My go-to order at Buttermilk Sky Pie is the I-40 pie. Just go try it and you can thank me later.
While this doesn’t even scratch the surface of the food places that have been tried this past year, as well as the ENDLESS options of good food places in Knoxville, there are some VERY HIGH contenders of must try food places listed above. My hope is that you drool over this pictures enough to actually go try them! Happy Eating!!!
