The Tomato Head pizza counter on Market Square since 1990, Mahasti Vafaie's longest-running downtown spot, sells pizza by the slice and happy-hour slices.
Tip: Happy hour Sunday to Thursday 16:00-18:00 is the cheapest slice run.
Address: 12 Market Square, Knoxville, TN 37902
Saturday food trucks at Market Square Farmers Market, the May-October rotating truck roster alongside vendor stalls, runs Saturday mornings on the plaza.
Try: Rotating food-truck plates
Tip: Three Bears Coffee Saturday trailer is a constant; other trucks rotate week to week per Nourish Knoxville schedule.
Petro's Chili and Chips on Market Square, the chili-on-chips concept born at the 1982 World's Fair Knoxville, runs the original Petro signature bowl downtown.
Try: The Petro: chili over Fritos
Tip: Order the original Petro; the Knoxville icon is essentially a chili-cheese Fritos bowl.
Curious Dog on West Jackson, the brothers Weidenhamer's hot-dog counter in the historic JFG building, runs 30+ specialty dog builds for the Old City crowd.
Try: Specialty hot dogs
Tip: Pair a dog with a bottle off the 200-deep craft beer wall; opens at 12:00 daily.
Saturday food trucks at Market Square Farmers Market, the May-October rotating truck roster alongside vendor stalls, runs Saturday mornings on the plaza.
Try: Rotating food-truck plates
Tip: Three Bears Coffee Saturday trailer is a constant; other trucks rotate week to week per Nourish Knoxville schedule.
Crafty Bastard at Emory Place hosts nightly rotating food trucks on the brewery patio, the Old City taproom's calling card alongside the rotating tap list.
Try: Rotating food-truck plates
Tip: Check the Crafty Bastard Instagram for the night's truck; the rotation runs nightly except when winter weather hits.
Cruze Farm Ice Cream on South Gay Street, the family dairy's downtown counter, slings cones of buttermilk and rotating East Tennessee dairy ice cream daily.
Try: Fresh-churned ice cream cones
Tip: Open late to 22:00; the late-night cone line moves faster than the daytime queue.
Yassin's Falafel House at Marble City Food Hall, Yassin Terou's downtown Knoxville counter, runs falafel sandwiches and shawarma plates for the lunch crowd.
Try: Falafel sandwich
Tip: Walk-up counter; cash and card both accepted.
Petro's Chili and Chips on Market Square, the chili-on-chips concept born at the 1982 World's Fair Knoxville, runs the original Petro signature bowl downtown.
Try: The Petro: chili over Fritos
Tip: Order the original Petro; the Knoxville icon is essentially a chili-cheese Fritos bowl.
