The Plaid Apron — Restaurant in Knoxville

Sunday brunch review:

Many many happy memories in this quality establishment with an emphasis on local ingredients and entrees which are a notch above what is typically found on the Knoxville food scene.

I haven’t been here in years due to my children having graduated from the preschool scene at the neighboring church around 10 years ago. But it used to be a post-drop-off haven for meetings with friends and a treasured place to connect over good food—real scones in Knoxville, glory!

Came back for brunch today as we’ve gotten into a restaurant rut on Sundays and were craving something different. I’m actually writing this review because the items I ordered and had the joy of eating today aren’t on the menu as seen, and this is my appeal (hi, Drew & Bonnie!👋🏼) for y’all to add these two things to the menu as entrees.

I think it’s a bit of a miss for all these lovely things not to be offered as some kind of plated Southern breakfast entree—eggs, bacon, grits, sourdough toast & jam. So instead of ordering all these things a la carte, put them together on a plate. And in the summer months, garnish with a slice of your gorgeous ripe heirloom tomato.

I ordered all these things a la carte because what I was really craving today was a breakfast sandwich. And I have to add that with the sourdough bread as a feature of the restaurant, not having a bkfst sandwich as an entree is also a miss.

See the pics for yourself. I would return regularly just to get this same meal. Even the runners delivering the plates had to remark at what a beautiful plate it made and wanted to order it for themselves.

You could even add a few fresh greens (tossed in your balsamic??), a slice of cheddar or smear of goat cheese to up the ante. Mmm.

Also a big shout-out to Sarah, our server. It’s evident she’s a hard worker and wanted our lunch to be the best it could be. I can be a bit particular as a customer—nothing was too much to ask of Sarah. She’s a credit to her generation.👏🏼👏🏼

Nice to meet you again,...

Update after dinner: To me it’s unfortunately a significant drop in stars (from 5 to 3). The old fashioned was amazing, the pineapple drink boring. The lamb appetizer was seasoned to perfection but it had way too much fat (more fat than meet, in fact). The watermelon appetizer was way underwhelming; quite uninteresting and under seasoned. My shrimp and grits were seasoned really well and I liked the quality of the shrimp but grits arrived lukewarm and that’s one of my least favorite things when eating out. My husband’s steak was over cooked and tasted as if it was seasoned with a ready made supermarket marinade and nothing else, not enough salt either; yet again, Knoxville proves that it can’t make steak properly. I also didn’t like how small the steak was compared to the amount of fries (which were very good!). I didn’t really like my dessert: too sweet, watery, and covered with whip cream (my least favorite things in a desert), the sage shortcake was more like a corn bread but quite good. Unfortunately, half of it was covered in whip cream which I deeply dislike. Espresso was OK, but should have been served together with the dessert. This is a casual place, nothing fancy and for what they’re $175 with tip is far too expensive. For this price I’m Austin for two people, you can get amazing food at Odd Duck ;) They didn’t count my dessert because I did say I didn’t like it, but it means we would have paid $200 for a dinner that wasn’t really worth it. Unlikely that we’ll be going back for quite some time.

Very good brunch! Salmon cooked to perfection, but the espresso (as much as I appreciate that they have it) could be a little cleaner; I like it European style: with a little saucer and a small glass of water in the side. Looking forward to returning for...

It pains me to write this review because I know this is a beloved local hangout. Today was the second time my wife and I had brunch here. The first time was a five star experience, and we were so looking forward to returning. Our meal started with a French press coffee that was room temperature. My wife told the the server to take it back and bring us HOT coffee. I ordered the sausage and goat cheese omelet, same as last time. The omelet presented to me was a veggie omelet. I sent that back, and by the time my order came back out, my wife and our friend had finished eating. Our friend ordered the eggs benedict. He asked me to taste it , and it wasn't even warm, it was refrigerator cold. I urged him to send it back, but he ate it anyway. Throughout this ordeal our server's attitude was totally indifferent. She commented that the manager had not yet arrived. My wife observed that the staff, mostly gen Z'ers, were more attentive to their cell phones than the customers. While the manager is away, the children play. Should we ever decide to return, which is uncertain, we are going to ask if a manager will be on the premises at our reserved time. The worst part of the experience was that we had enthusiastically recommended Plaid Apron to our friend, who accompanied us for the first time, and now we'll have to hear him giving us a dig anytime we suggest a place to eat!! PS: my wife ordered The Hash and she said...