The Kennedy — Restaurant in Knoxville

I have eaten at the Kennedy once, and have unsuccessfully tried to eat/make reservations there two times after that. The only time I was actually able to eat there was while accompanying my partner's family, who, for the record, are Caucasian. Even then, we ran into issues with the staff, but aside from that, I thought it was a fine enough place to try again in the future with my own family, and thought the bad experience was a one time thing.

Since then, my family and I have tried to eat at this restaurant for special occasions twice, and both times (with different staff) we have experienced what I unfortunately MUST call racial discrimination.

For the record, I am a Filipino-American born and raised in East Tennessee; my mother is an immigrant, and my father is a first-generation American. We are a successful and proud example of the American Dream, and yet, both times my parents have tried to get a table at this restaurant, we have been turned away for seemingly no good reason. The hosts were dismissive and vague, claiming that they had no available tables despite the restaurant being largely empty, and the times we came being between lunch and dinner (around 3-4 PM). I understand that empty tables may be reserved and that we as guests have no way of knowing that, but I find it extremely hard to believe that both times, the entire restaurant was booked out as extremely un-busy times of day. My father and the host had a back and forth, my father giving alternative times for us to eat, and the host could give us no other details than "we don't have any tables for you." We politely asked about the empty tables, and they either dismissed this question or claimed there were reservations (Again, this is at 3 pm, and even if we ate for a longer than usual time, we would easily be out before 6 pm which is usually when dinner rush occurs.) My family faced attitude and disrespect from the moment we entered the door. I don't like blaming everything on racism or making accusations, but I truly felt like we were being treated like 2nd class citizens. I have faced racism my entire life, some of it obvious, and some of it passive-aggressive, and I know how it feels. And THIS felt like racism. It wasn't just being turned away (TWICE), it was the way we were spoken to and the lack of attention and consideration we were given. For a place like the Kennedy, which prides itself on the dining experience, I can't help but feel like this was intentional and immensely disrespectful. On top of that, the way that my partner's family was treated compared to how my family was treated makes me feel even more solidified in my feelings about this place.

I don't know if it's just an unfortunate case of the Kennedy hiring racist employees (which is STILL an issue of course) but the fact that it's happened to my family twice, and that there are MULTIPLE reviews with similar experiences, makes me feel like the Kennedy intentionally discriminates and/or trains their staff to discriminate. In the year 2025, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and would like to think on a daily basis I don't face outright discrimination. This is one of those moments that reminds me just how cruel and racist people can be, and they can have a successful business at the same time.

Look at the reviews, other people of color have faced these issues and left low reviews, while other reviews praise the restaurant for the quality of the food AND the service. Obviously I don't know the race of the people leaving these good reviews, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that a lot of them are written by non-people of color. The differences are night and day. So many people are saying good things about the restaurant, and yet I have only experienced disrespect, attitude, and inconsideration of the highest degree.

If the Kennedy would like to respond and apologize to my family, I implore them to. Otherwise, I will continue to spread the word and urge others (both POC and non-POC)...

To be honest, not sure how I feel about this place, which is why I'm giving it only 4 stars. The place was mobbed when we went, but luckily we didn't have too long of a wait. For a newer restaurant I was surprised to be sat at a table that you had to be careful touching because of its wobble. We started with the Devil on Horseback app. The dates themselves packed a lot of flavor, the calabrian chili sauce was basically tomato sauce, got not heat at all from the chili's. Also found the app to be wayyyyy over priced for the five tiny bite size pieces. Also found it odd that there were 5 pieces for a table regardless of 2 or 4 people, just strange in my humble opinion. Most of the waitstaff there were pretty rude. Our waitress seemed semi-freindly when she would bother to stop by, but just passing a waiter/waitress as your walking to or from the restroom made you feel like you were in their way and they made you wait for them. I'm sorry, but aren't the customers the ones paying your wages??? I shouldn't have to stand by for several waitresses to walk by, especially since it's not like they were carrying food for a table or something. And not one of them showed any politeness, no smirk, smile or head nod...nothing. guess I'm not important enough. Anyway, our food finally arrived and I ordered the Italian sandwich, which had a nice blend of flavors, but way too much bread, which was also very touch to bite into. The brussel sprouts I ordered were way over sauced and were almost soggy. I brought half of my sandwich and the brussel sprouts home and when went to eat them the following day the bread from the sandwich was soaking wet from the sauce. The waitress never offered a separate container for my sprouts. We had to ask several times for containers for the sauces my husbands order came with. My husband ordered the French dip, which is probably the biggest saying grace of our night. The meat was very tender and there was a lot of it. The bread was soft and perfect for the sandwich and held up well when dipped. Truly felt it was very much worth the price. So we decided to order a chocolate Truffle cake to go. :( Have to say I was disappointed. To begin, it was crammed into a round container slightly too small for it. Found the cake to be very drunk and crumbly. Was hoping the chocolate ganache in the center would help balance the dryness of the cake and it did not. Found the ganache also lacking in flavor. Overall, not as impressed as I was hoping to be here. Also not saying I won't give it one more try in hopes that we went and everyone working there just had a bad night on our 1st visit...one can...

Service and drinks are really good here! I'm also sure other food is probably good, but we weren't super impressed by our dishes. Things that were very good: the charcuterie board (especially a sharp cheddar they had on it) as well as the fries with the truffle aioli. The onion rings are also a great side item, and they're served with a butter dip that's pretty good with them.

The entrés (from best to worst): The dip: solid, but you may need to ask for additional au jus as they only gave a small ramekin for the entire sandwich. Being brutally honest, I don't know that the difference in meat quality was much different than that of a McAlister's. I think any dip is going to be a people-pleaser, so it's basically the safest option on any menu.

The wagyu burger: I didn't try this one, but my friend commented that for being cooked medium, it was very juicy and uncomfortable to eat. To my understanding, everything else about it was fine. Bring some wet wipes to be safe.

The salad: overdressed, and the breading on the chicken was "an odd choice"; my friend got this so I didn't try it, but it looked to be the same breading as on the onion rings. She also commented that the chicken was dry.

The half chicken: I could never recommend this dish in good conscience. It definitely delivers on the advertised crispiness, but at the cost of the breast reminding me of eating sawdust; the crispiness is not achieved from breading, but instead from it being (over)cooked until the skin gets crisp. I don't like that at its price point, I could have gotten two, maybe three full rotisserie chickens that would have been jucier and better seasoned. I've gotten half chickens at other restaurants across Knoxville (and Chattanooga, even), and this is by far the worst I've had. As for the brussels sprouts, they are on trend in that they are incredibly sweet and kind of soggy; I had maybe five before I had to stop eating them.

I will say that aside from the half chicken, this place seems overall affordable for the quality of food that you're getting. It has a really awesome ambience and the service is great. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anybody visiting knoxville, but I would talk with your server to make sure you're getting what they recommend bexause they'll have a more full-picture view...