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Knoxville's Specialties of the House

While Knoxville may lack an official cuisine, these local original dishes taste like our hometown.

Full gallery »Knoxville Eats: Oysters Bayou Bay

  • Out on the bayou: The Cantillos and Bayou Bay's signature appetizer
  • MAIN INGREDIENTS: oysters on the half shell, crabmeat stuffing, provolone cheese, bacon bits FUN FACT: The three-cheese Lucy Burger on the Bayou Bay menu is named after co-owner Andy Cantillo's sister, while all the children's menu items are named after the owner's daughter, Marley, who is 8

The appetizer is a souped-up version of Cajun baked oysters that chef Andy Cantillo concocted.


Full gallery »Knoxville Eats: The Kepner Melt

  • Melt with you: Marisa Ireland shows off the Kepner Melt (or the closest we can come to it until the inventor returns.)
  • MAIN INGREDIENTS: baked tofu, pesto, pineapple, walnuts, Monterey Jack cheese, spinach, onion, tomato ESTABLISHED: late, late '90s FUN FACT: Originator Brian Sherry also created the Roger Roger sandwich at Tomato Head. 'To answer similar questions about that sandwich, which I think is underrated, I was wearing an aeroplane flyer's cap (with earflaps) as my kitchen headpiece at the time,' he says.

Nashville food blogger Jennifer Justus described it thusly: "It's like Jackson Pollock or Kandinsky. Naysayers call it ugly, jarring, or just a big mess. But it's brilliant!"


Full gallery »Knoxville Eats: Soy Joy Sushi Roll

  • A joy to behold: Sushi chef Moon Yang and his under the counter Soy Joy Rolls
  • MAIN INGREDIENTS: nori, sushi rice, spiced tuna, albacore tataki, cucumber, 'a lot' of sauces Established: 2005
  • FUN FACT: Before coming to Nama, one of sushi chef Moon Yang's jobs was working as a sous chef at the Black Bear Jamboree

Soy Joys have gained a reputation by word of mouth among Nama diners, and they're ordered by customers who know to ask for the "special menu."


Full gallery »Knoxville Eats: Duck Club Sandwich

  • Smoke 'em if you got 'em: Chef Bruce Bogartz and THE Duck Club Sandwich
  • ESTABLISHED: 2000
  • MAIN INGREDIENTS: cured and smoked duck breast, bacon, tomato jam, and cheddar
  • FUN FACT: Inventor/chef Bruce Bogartz got the first-ever perfect five-star rating from former Metro Pulse restaurant reviewer Bonnie Appetit for his restaurant Southbound, open just one year from 1995-96

The sandwich, an invention of chef Bruce Bogartz, is making its latest appearance at RouXbarb.


Full gallery »Knoxville Eats: The Pigburger

  • Pigburger up! Dixson's cook Wayne McCallie dishes out a pigburger.
  • MAIN INGREDIENTS: White bread, ground pork, possibly cloves
  • ESTABLISHED: Some time in the mid-20th century
  • FUN FACT: Pigburger originator Brother Jack's was also known as 'Nasty Jack's'

Hearsay suggests it's a Knoxville original, and if you Google it, you get mostly references to the Knoxville product. A nice juicy, round patty -- made of well-seasoned pork.



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