Stir Fry Cafe is a thai restaurant in Bearden, Knoxville.
Stir Fry Cafe at Gallery Shopping Center on Kingston Pike, the long-running Bearden Thai counter, runs pad thai and drunken noodles for West Knoxville since.
Signature dishes: Pad thai, Drunken noodles
Must order: Pad thai with chicken or drunken noodles at the heat level of your choice.
Tip: Closed Tuesdays; weekday lunch turns faster than the dinner crowd.
Address: 7240 Kingston Pike Suite 128, Knoxville, TN 37919
Nick and J's Cafe on Lovell Road in West Knoxville, the hometown diner across from the Pellissippi Parkway exit, runs all-day breakfast and burgers.
Signature: Breakfast platter, Hometown burger
Order: The breakfast platter with bacon and country ham, or the hometown burger at lunch.
Tip: Weekday breakfast runs 07:00-10:30, Saturday until 11:30; expect a line on Saturdays. Closed Sundays.
The Tomato Head Bearden on Kingston Pike at Gallery Shopping Center, Mahasti Vafaie's West Knoxville arm of the Market Square original, runs the same pizza.
Signature: Mahasti pizza, Veggie sandwich
Order: Same Mahasti pizza pesto build that runs at Market Square.
Tip: Bearden opens 10:00 on Saturdays for brunch; the Kingston Pike location is reliably easier than downtown on weekends.
Kaizen on South Central, chef Jesse Newmister's Asian-fusion room in the Old City since 2016, runs steamed buns, ramen and rotating chef plates a block.
Signature: Steamed buns, Chef's noodle bowl
Order: A round of steamed buns with the chef's noodle bowl of the week.
Tip: Friday and Saturday nights run busiest; Tuesday and Wednesday are easier for the chef's plates.
Curious Dog on West Jackson, the brothers Weidenhamer's hot-dog counter in the historic JFG building, runs over 30 specialty dog builds since 2009.
Signature: Specialty hot dogs, Craft beer bottle shop
Order: A specialty dog build with a bottle off the rotating craft-beer wall.
Tip: Bottle shop runs longer than the kitchen; aim for lunch or early dinner.
Petro's Chili and Chips on Market Square, the chili-on-chips concept born at the 1982 World's Fair Knoxville, runs the Petro signature bowl downtown.
Signature: Original Petro, Chili-cheese chips
Order: The original Petro with chili, cheese, sour cream, salsa and Fritos.
Tip: The 1982 World's Fair original; Petro's still runs across Knoxville malls but the Market Square counter is the symbolic one.
Nick and J's Cafe on Lovell Road in West Knoxville, the hometown diner across from the Pellissippi Parkway exit, runs all-day breakfast and burgers.
Signature: Breakfast platter, Hometown burger
Order: The breakfast platter with bacon and country ham, or the hometown burger at lunch.
Tip: Weekday breakfast runs 07:00-10:30, Saturday until 11:30; expect a line on Saturdays. Closed Sundays.
The Tomato Head on Market Square, Mahasti Vafaie's Persian-American pizza counter since 1990, is downtown Knoxville's longest-running independent restaurant.
Signature: Mahasti pizza, Veggie sandwich
Order: The Mahasti pizza with the sun-dried tomato pesto, or the veggie sandwich at lunch.
Tip: Weekend brunch runs 11:00-15:00; happy hour Sunday to Thursday from 16:00-18:00 for slices.
The Tomato Head Bearden on Kingston Pike at Gallery Shopping Center, Mahasti Vafaie's West Knoxville arm of the Market Square original, runs the same pizza.
Signature: Mahasti pizza, Veggie sandwich
Order: Same Mahasti pizza pesto build that runs at Market Square.
Tip: Bearden opens 10:00 on Saturdays for brunch; the Kingston Pike location is reliably easier than downtown on weekends.
