Aubrey's — Restaurant in Knoxville

Though it wasn't my first time eating here, it was my first time in about five years. I don't recall much about my first visit, but this one was just plain bizarre. We walked in the front door and it was as if we had donned an Invisibility Cloak.

There was a young woman nearby who seemed like she might have been the hostess, but she was almost hiding behind this big square revolving chalkboard thing while she was on the phone and did not look at or acknowledge us. At least three other female employees walked past us and again did not look at or acknowledge us. We had been standing there for what seemed like several minutes when, finally, a manager (or at least some dude wearing a tie who might have worked there or might have been another customer who took pity on us) walked us back to a table.

Perhaps even more bizarre than this was the fact that none of the employees we saw ever seemed to smile or look remotely happy. They all sort of moved about in a downcast way, including our waiter, who was quite robotic. If you had told me that a beloved restaurant mascot dog had just died, this would have made sense, because everyone seemed to be in mourning.

The food was okay, but a little overpriced.

Please do something to make your employees happier. Maybe they will actually greet customers...

Five star reviews are not common for me, but this place always satisfies on a huge level. I'm a chili aficionado, and a bowl of theirs is probably the best I've had outside my home. It is consistently excellent with lean beef and seasoned exquisitely. For ten bucks (pairs for 10 on the menu) you can have a huge bowl of chili (or soup) and pair it with a generous salad ( hold the potato sticks for me) great blue cheese dressing (buttermilk garlic is good too) or with half a turkey havarti sandwich..( plus many other choices to pair. Their fish & chips are awesome as well. Service is ALLWAYS terrific; kind, prompt and plentiful. Management has made a quick visit to assure all is well. They are conscientious and interested. Decor is very inviting with "perfect" lighting. I have visited the North shore Dr & Powell locations frequently and they never disappoint. Warm weather dining is available outdoors on a comfortable patio at these two locations, and service outdoors is also great, a compliment other restaurants simply don't deserve. They have something for everybody, plenty of parking plus a great beer wine and cocktail list. Try it,...

This restaurant is pretty good, especially by Knoxville standards, but this last visit was extremely disappointing. The order that the food was served was ridiculously confused and this mistake threw off the entire evening. We were comped for one of our entrees, which was appreciated, but would have preferred to have gotten better service and just paid for our dinners. Also, the sweet potato fries were so covered in sugar that they looked white. A piece of cake would have had less sugar. This should have been disclosed on the menu for those with dietary restrictions. The bread and butter were also sugary. The "smashed yukon golds" were not smashed, but mashed with extreme quantities of butter. I ordered a baked potato with sour cream and chives but it was served woth sour cream and even more butter. The sirloin was chewy, sinewy, and had an unpleasant charred flavor, as if cooked on a dirty grill. A very...