Really late this week!! Sorry. The weather has greatly impacted my ability to try things. I was able to venture out Friday and meet my parents for South Coast Pizza. South Coast has long been one of my favorite spots in Knoxville. It is in South Knox which is probably my favorite area.
South Coast is very much a no frills pizza place. You order at the counter and they hand you the pizza in the to go box out of the kitchen. They have picnic tables and a few booths inside and a patio outside overlooking Sevier Ave. My favorite thing I had this week was the meat pizza. It is a fairly thin crust with pepperoni, bacon, sausage and ham. A lot of pizza places use the same weird Italian sausage that is kinda gross, they do not at south coast. Everything is delicious. I got to enjoy this with my parents while the snow started to fall in Knoxville. It made for a great Friday evening.
I did not have it this time, but I have to mention their Cuban Pizza. It is a Cuban sandwich in pizza form. The base is yellow mustard and bbq sauce. It is topped with mozz, pulled pork, ham, pickles and swiss cheese. It is one of my favorite pizzas ever. The sweetness of the bbq mixed with the tang of the mustard makes for an incredible base. It is also one of the only ways that I will eat dill pickles. 10/10 you have to try it if you come to Knoxville. Grab a beer, order a pie and enjoy the patio.
I forgot to take a picture of the pie, but I remembered as I was eating leftovers on Saturday. So here it is! Shout out air fryer. Love you all!
Frontier Airlines did their best to keep us from getting to Las Vegas, but we made it at 3 am…pretty there that’s like 5pm to the youngins partying in Vegas. We went straight to bed though. Incredible meals would be had over the next few days.
Eataly was in the hotel next door to us. If you haven’t been to an Eataly, its large food hall/market all Italian centered. There’s pasta and pizza stations, pastry counters, multiple bars, sandwich stands, a breakfast counter, crepe and coffee stand, and also a market with food and wine. We went every morning for coffee and breakfast. The coffee was good, nothing spectacular. The Nutella and banana crepe was dang delicious though. I had a couple of those. They also had a breakfast panini. It was good, but very messy. And ya boy does not like stuff on his hands so I was one and done with those. We also got cocktails and wine at various times. Both were excellent. The bartenders were incredible. We also saw a British couple arguing which may have been the highlight of my trip. The dude yelled to his partner to tell the entirety of Eataly and Park MGM that he was a loser…and Terry obliged. I stared, Kelsi hid in embarrassment of me staring.
Esther’s Kitchen is an Italian restaurant in the Arts District. We were told about it by some locals. We went in February of 2024 and it was divine. I had the chicken parm sandwich and Kelsi had some lemon pasta. My dad had a meatball sandwich, don’t remember what my mom had, sorry Candace. They also do dipping sauces for their bread. These were the best thing we had this go round. I got spaghetti and meatballs and Kelsi got a different lemon pasta. Both were fine, nothing spectacular. They had also moved to a bigger space which just didn’t feel the same.
Quick shoutout to my Vietnamese Iced Coffee in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. I get it atleast once everytime I go. I love it!!!
Also shoutout to Zaytinya by Jose Andres. We did apps here and they were good. Im not the biggest humus fan, but I gorged myself on theirs. It was unreal. I also had a margarita that had “salt air” rather than salt on the rim. It was basically this really lite salt foam on top. It was a very cool drink.
The final two I will write about were the best two. Herbs and Rye and Best Friend.
Herbs and Rye is a bit off of the beaten path. I believe I have written about it before. They do half price steaks during happy hour…which is the majority of time they are open. We got a filet with Bearnaise and holy mackerel it was great. Their steaks are cooked perfectly but the sauces you get with them just elevate them to a different stratosphere. We have done the Béarnaise and the Creamy Horseradish and both were spectacular. The creaminess just pairs perfectly with the savoriness of the steak. We also got the Angolotti. I had never heard of such, but it was a stuffed past with short rib and red wine jus. It was the best past I have ever eaten. That isn’t hyperbole either. The cocktails are also a highlight but I was so full from steak and pasta that I only had one.
Now, the Grand Finale. Best Friend., which is Roy Choi’s restaurant in Park MGM. First of all, it’s the coolest looking restaurant. You walk into what looks like a bodega. They take you through this red plastic curtain to this big room that’s like the streets of LA have been made into a restaurant. There is west coast hip hop playing with pictures of SOCAL around the room. We ate at the bar. First of all, I had a Henny and Coke slushy that was so good I went back the next day for another. For apps, we got Lumpia (these were ok, still not 100% sure what I ate) and fries with ramen dust and sambal mayo. If I could only have fries from one place the rest of my life, it would be these. For our meals, I got Kogi Short Rib Tacos. They were really good. The star along with the fries was the Spicy Pork BBQ. BBQ and fries are 1000% the way to go here. The pork wasn’t too spicy but was so succulent. They also give you a crap ton. The bartenders also just had that Southern Cali cool vibe. It was great. I will be going every time I go back to Vegas. Reservations are probably the best bet, but we were able to wait in line to get a seat at the bar. Just be there when they open.
City number two is the city I lived in for 6 years, and one I visited last month. I was able to hit up a few of my favorites, but I will help you plan your perfect day of food and drinks in Athens.
Athens has an incredible food and coffee scene so this one may be a bit tougher. I miss quite a few of my coffee shops, so there may be a few or’s thrown in there. I saw that Athens Bagel recently opened back, so I am starting there. I am going sausage, egg and cheese on Jalapeno cheddar. Man do I miss that bagel. The shop was closed for the last year or two I lived in Athens. You can take a short drive or a decent walk over to 1000 Faces. You cannot go wrong with any coffee there. For lunch I am going to grab a burger. In my opinion you have three options here, Clocked which is a small diner spot downtown (get the feta burger), Grindhouse (any burger is great but you have to get the blue cheese fries), or maybe my favorite in Baddies Burgers. They only have a few options but they do all of them well. Get you some pudding as well. For my afternoon coffee, I have two options as well. If you are just wanting a drip, head over to Choco Coffee on Baxter. Grab a bag of beans on the way out, you will not regret it. If you are feeling a latte (specifically a spiced chai), Jittery Joes. You can go to any, but the best atmosphere by far is the Five Points location. If it’s nice out, enjoy the patio. There is approximately 4 billion bars in Athens, but for a nice cocktail, I am going to The Place. Their upstairs bar is really neat and they make fantastic drinks. You could also swing by South Kitchen. Super cool atmosphere and they make great drinks as well. If you’re wanting to try several beers for cheap, go to Terrapin. It is $15ish for 6 pours (they are GENEROUS) and you get a glass. On our trip we had originally planned for Cali and Titos on the Eastside. I would highly recommend going there. Their sandwiches and drinks are just as good as the atmosphere, which is top notch. Understandably, it was quite a long wait, so we called an audible and went to Taste of India. I love Indian food and this one doesn’t miss. I am not sure the name of it, but the cauliflower appetizer will blow your mind. And you can never go wrong with Chicken Tikka Masala. For a post dinner drink, it is hard to beat Bar Bruno. It is a cozy little spot with a fantastic offering of Italian wine and cocktails. It also has another atmosphere that is top notch. Writing this made me realize how well Athens bars and restaurants do atmosphere. For a fairly small place, there are some incredible and unique bars and restaurants. Just beware of the “fans” that will bark at you…GO VOLS!!!
PS. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I still don’t feel comfortable being that person taking pictures of their food.
chow with chaz 