New to Knoxville, Any Advice?

[Floormat]

Hi Google Local Guide Family!

I am a recent addition to Knoxville, TN, and have been loving getting to know this city. Having just moved out here from Santa Barbara, CA, it is definitely a change of pace! I have been asking everyone I meet what are the special attractions in Knoxville. People at my IT company I work for, in West Knoxville, have all lived here for 10+ years...!  Any suggestions on places to eat, visit? I would love to find a good Mexican restaurant. 

Trying to look like Les Stroud ; ) My favorite Canadian.

I have one suggestion for people that I have loved so far, *SOUTH KNOXVILLE* is the bomb. If anything, Knoxville seems like it is developing a ton and you can find new interesting bars, restaurants, and coffee houses. Sevier Ave is a hotbed for that right now. I expect this area to blow up over the next few yeas. You MUST check it out! Alliance Brew Co, HoneyBee Coffee, Uncle Lem's Mercantile, and others!

Hope to hear from you! Thanks for any suggestions on places you love to visit and frequent

[AnuradhaP]

@Floormat Welcome to Local Guides Connect. Why don't you introduce yourself at "Introduce Yourself - May 2017 ". We would love to know about you

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[GMulholland]

I am not familiar with the west side as much there are several good Mexican Restaurants on the East side of town. Our family's favorite 2 are El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant at 3502 Maynardville Hwy, Maynardville, TN 37807 and El Matate http://www.elmetatemexican.com/home.html

If you want something downtown I highly recommend Chivo Taquera. 

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@Floormat wrote:

Hi Google Local Guide Family!

I am a recent addition to Knoxville, TN, and have been loving getting to know this city. Having just moved out here from Santa Barbara, CA, it is definitely a change of pace! I have been asking everyone I meet what are the special attractions in Knoxville. People at my IT company I work for, in West Knoxville, have all lived here for 10+ years...!  Any suggestions on places to eat, visit? I would love to find a good Mexican restaurant. 

Trying to look like Les Stroud ; ) My favorite Canadian.

I have one suggestion for people that I have loved so far, *SOUTH KNOXVILLE* is the bomb. If anything, Knoxville seems like it is developing a ton and you can find new interesting bars, restaurants, and coffee houses. Sevier Ave is a hotbed for that right now. I expect this area to blow up over the next few yeas. You MUST check it out! Alliance Brew Co, HoneyBee Coffee, Uncle Lem's Mercantile, and others!

Hope to hear from you! Thanks for any suggestions on places you love to visit and frequent

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[Alamo]

Hey! Sorry that I'm a few months late on the welcome! By now you may have your wits about you with the area, but here are some connections for you just in case... 

For your local Mexican restaurant, hit Soccer Taco. There are a few locations in Knoxville including the one in Market Square (downtown), one in the Farragut area (the western reaches of what's casually considered Knoxville), and my favorite location on Bearden Hill near Papermill Rd... It just seems better at Bearden Hill for some reason. Most Mexican restaurants have more in common than not, but Soccer Taco is consistently top notch with the food and drinks. Among the other similar options in the area, different West Knox mentions worth giving are Chuy's at Ceder Bluff/Kingston Pike for their 4-7p weekday free nacho bar/happy hour and also Abuelo's in Turkey Creek if you're looking for a "fancier" albeit more Americanized experience. 

Some other personal west Knox favorites that immediately come to mind are M&M BBQ and Big Kahuna Wings. M&M is a hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint that you'll see and think 1 of 2 things... 1) "Uhh, are you sure this is the right place??" or 2) "Oh wow... Hole-in-the-wall BBQ places rock! This is going to be good!" Big Kahuna Wings are just really good wings.

Other things that you may find useful...
Best of Knox (the Knoxville News Sentinel also publishes a set, but I can't locate them)
You strike me as possibly a runner. Several local beer gardens/taprooms/etc support "active beer culture".My favorite is the Bearden Beer Market runs on Mondays. It's not unusual to have a crowd of ~100 mostly young adults show up. The Crafty B, Central Flats and Taps, and a trail running group at the Urban Wilderness/Ijams also meet weekly for group runs.

If you like trivia, check out trivia nights with knox trivia guys. They have options pretty much every night of the week, and the crowd at most of the bars is generally 20-30 somethings out with friends.

Last thing of note, a little over a year ago, two friends of mine started New2Knox with the sole purpose of helping young adults (20s-30s) find community and get plugged in to Knoxville. That mostly happens by getting together for events and hanging out at places similar to and including the "must check out" ones that you mentioned. They're incredibly nice people, and they're of the "seem to know someone everywhere you go" type. I would highly recommend sending them a message on facebook!

Welcome to Knoxville!

PS. This was my first post... I'd love to get some kudos! 🙂

[mjjohnstonjr]

As far as great Mexican food, try Senor Taco on N Broadway in North Knoxville.  Probably not as solid as it once was, but still a solid choice.  And if you are in the North Knoxville area, you should hit what may be the best pizza in town at Pizzeria Nora.  2400 N. Central is that address, it is not a fancy place by any means but the pizza is the best in town.

Welcome to Knoxville!