Emilia — Restaurant in Knoxville

Mixed experience at Emilia tonight (Sunday 7/21)

First, our server Davy R was phenomenal! Super friendly, great recommendations, and took care of everything wonderfully!

Second, Our entrees and dessert were fantastic. We got the Carbonara and the Mafelde and both were delicious. Excellent flavors, perfectly seasoned, and extremely enjoyable. For dessert, we tried the Butterscotch Budino and the Pistachio Gelato. They were excellent as well - honestly some of the best pasta and dessert we’ve ever had!

Third, the focaccia, unfortunately, was so-so. The butter and olive oil were very good, but the bread itself seemed kind of stale actually. Surprising given how amazing the rest of our meal was.

Lastly, and the reason for 3 stars for this trip…we were originally brought to be seated at 2-top in the middle of the restaurant, nearby all of the foot traffic through the restaurant. Honestly, a pretty exposed feeling and not the “cozy”, comfortable atmosphere we were aiming for after a long day of traveling. Before being seated we asked if there was any way we could sit at one of the (8) empty tables along the wall (which included multiple empty 2 and 4 tops). The seater kindly asked the hostess who seemed to be bothered by the request at all and ultimately denied the request, claiming that all of the tables were reserved given that all reservations were full and we were nearing rush hour. Having made our reservations not long before our dinner time same-day, we knew that there were many reservation blocks available. For the entire hour we were at dinner (6:00-7:00pm), 8 tables along the wall remained empty and unused. Unfortunately, the hostess’ unwillingness to accommodate a simple and achievable request caused our dinner experience to be meaningfully diminished. We also noticed during our dinner that the people in the adjacent table also requested to be relocated (the tables are placed in an uncomfortable position in the restaurant) and were moved to a different table (we weren’t alone in not desiring to eat in this location). It seems the hostess just simply couldn’t be bothered to make a small change.

In summary, our server, entrees, and desserts were 10/10, top-notch. A couple of simple changes and willingness to assist would’ve made this one of our best dining experiences in a long time, but alas. Would recommend giving Emilia a try if you’re...

CONSUMER WARNING YOU MIGHT GET KICKED OUT IF THEIR SERVICE RUNS SLOW. This place has gone downhill quickly. We've taken many friends, relatives, & guests to eat there over the years, but this place is NOT what it used to be. It has had its ups & downs, just like Knox Mason, but the food & service is not what it used to be. My wife & I arrived 7 minutes late for our reservation of 5. The other 3 guests arrived 18 minutes late due to traffic from an accident on the interstate, which I relayed to a greeter hostess up front. We ordered our appetizers, which came out within 25 minutes. We were ready to order our entrees, but we ended up having to wait 20 minutes to put in our entrée orders. In that time of wait, I got up & went to the front to ask if our table was booked after our dinner because I wanted to check to see if we could stay & have wine with our out of town friends before our concert, which was 90 min later. Matt, the owner, replied that the table was booked after us & I replied that we would simply finish dinner & then leave to go to the concert. Our entées took just over 30 min to come to our table. We finished our dinner & 4 of us ordered desserts. As we waited for our desserts, the owner came to our & rudely informed us that it was "time to go". He said that people were waiting on the table & then he loudly exclaimed that we needed "to go NOW!". I said that we had been waiting on our dessert & that we had even asked our server to go ahead & close us out to save time. Just then, 3 runners brought our desserts to the table just as the owner loudly bellowed that we could get our desserts to go & that we needed to leave. It was obvious that the owner had NOT even bothered to confer with the server or the kitchen to ascertain how long things had taken for our table. Total cost of both checks put together (including gratuity for our very embarassed server) was $650. That was one expensive lesson for all 5 of us. WE WON'T BE BACK AFTER THE OWNER WAS SO INCREDIBLY RUDE &...

Update from August 2023:

It’s been a few months we came in and it’s gone down the hill so much… the place is turning into a joke. The food was mediocre to say the least, under seasoned, over cooked and just off balance. In addition, the sommelier basically told me that the wine that they served didn’t turn (and it did!!). When we told them we were not happy with the quality of food, etc. they got defensive and didn’t adjust our bill even a little bit. We’ll never go back there, the place is getting embarrassing.

Excellent :)

The food and service are so close to perfection, I was super happy! The appetizers: octopus and mozzarella, were very tasty and very different (mozzarella seasoned with parm ham and honey, and octopus on a bed of a slightly spicy purée). My polenta with meatballs was balanced and seasoned to perfection; I have zero criticism on this dish. The pasta was OK, but could use a touch of more salt and pepper, compared to the meatballs it was a little off. The side dishes: Brussel sprouts and beets were a bit under seasoned; I’d add more salt and really work on some crispness of the beets and their flavor (olives? blue cheese? vinegar? Anything to help the beets shine!). The desserts were very tasty too: tiramisu was fluffy and panna cotta very light although I didn’t care for the fruits and the “fried” coconut flakes (this dish is the purer the better!). We finished the evening with excellent espresso. Our waitress was discreet yet very attentive and kind; she advised well on wine and selection of dishes. AND they’re not that crazy expensive. We paid $170 for way too much food for two people LOL.

This is one of the few places in Knoxville I actually am excited to...