Dulcie's Cafe — Restaurant in Knoxville

Tried this place yesterday and was beyond disappointed. I love hole-in-the-wall restaurants, so I wanted to love this place. Unfortunately, there weren't many redeeming qualities.

First, the service was horrendous. It was 6:30 on a Friday night, 2.5 hours before close. My wife actually insisted on ordering the food to go because of how off the vibe was. It honestly felt like they were disappointed customers walked in. Considering they had no white rice prepared, I assume they had prepared to leave early due to the lack of customers.

Anyhow, we waited at the counter for about 5 minutes before anyone showed up. Prior to that, two employees walked by without acknowledging we were there.

For 6:30 on a Friday, the restaurant could not have been more dead. Out of 8 tables available, (the rest had lights off) only one other couple was there. Now, I'm not surprised by the lack of business.

As for the food, I had oxtail, rice and potatoes. No part of it was good.

All in all, I wanted to love this place. Unfortunately, I cannot think of a reason...

I would have posted pictures but we were starving when we walked up to their food truck only to find out they had just closed! The guy saw us and immediately said “no problem!” and opened back up for the three of us. We left soon after with the most delicious smelling bag of food and our mouths watering, eager to dive in.

We ordered the jerk chicken, salmon and oxtail. My first time trying oxtail and although it’s not for me, my daughters loved it and said it was well prepared. My salmon and the jerk chicken were perfect and all of the portions were HUGE. We tried the rice, garlic potatoes, Rasta pasta, and my personal favorite- cabbage. If you are someone who enjoys cooked cabbage this is a must try, but don’t sleep on the garlic potatoes!

Prices were average for food trucks but they really over delivered on quality and service. I will definitely be a...

We spent $40+ 2 meals and 2 extra sides. My wife was disappointed to find out that Fried plantain doesn't automatically come with you meal. It's a choice of one of your sides. For an extra side of plantain they quoted us $3 for 6 slices. The fried plantain weren't sweet or soft. They were hard and dry. My wife was a bit disappointed she wasn't sure if they were a day old or if the plantain they use just wasn't ripe enough.

The rice and peas was a bit dry. I'm sure if we got stew chicken the sauce would soft it up a bit. The potatoes salad was tasty! The Jerk Chicken was delicious however I was expecting legs for a small serving not cut up chicken pieces. The portions size for the small seemed a bit small. But it was filling! We also got the red snapper which was seasoned to perfection.

We would visit in the future to try...