Thistle & Brier Restaurant — Restaurant in Knoxville

Follow-up review: They just lost a star in service. The restaurant just replied to my review. They said, "That is an interesting review regarding the particular circumstances".

What in the world is that kind of reply!? They don't address the food issues. They don't acknowledge the fact that the cake was stale, that the brisket was days old, that the green beans were served cold or the shepherd's pie was super greasy!

I don't need a smart aleck comment. I would appreciate some sort of explanation or at least an acknowledgment of what was wrong and how they're going to fix it in the future. Terrible customer service from the managers!

I'm sorry but that restaurant's not going to make it. Again, it's a shame because it's a really good idea, The local sundries and the floral business and the music stage. I hope they can figure it out. I really do. I would love to go back and actually enjoy the food there.

Not fine dining, as advertised! I would not have chosen to go there, my friend chose it. This restaurant is not fine dining! It is reheated, rehashed leftovers made by people that don't care. There is no love in this kitchen.

Kudos to Mya. She's a great server and it's not her fault. The food there sucks. She does her best.

Initial review: The food was terrible. We came for a birthday lunch. I ordered the shepherd's pie, it was full of grease. My friend ordered the brisket. It was days old. Her green beans were ice cold too.

The server asked if we needed anything. We asked if they could please prepare green beans fresh so that they were hot. In the meantime, we just realized how gross the dishes were & we just said let's try something else.

Our server Mya went above & beyond, an excellent server! She was knowledgeable about the menu. She was polite & friendly. She was happy to help when we asked for something different. So the next thing we got was 2 appetizers to share. The truffle fries were good but the steak crostini was terrible...way too much balsamic vinaigrette.

Then they gave us cake at the end for our birthdays which was a nice gesture. The cakes were way past shelf life though.

We left filled up on french fries & complimentary hot tea. They also provided delicious rolls & delicious garlic butter upon request.

There are a lot of sundries you can buy to take home like jams & jellies, olives & pickled things. There's also a florist that is in-house so the atmosphere is very pretty. It's too bad the food is so bad. I hope they can figure it out. It's a shame to see so much money go into an endeavor and it not work out.

My friend is the one who chose the restaurant. Once she chose, I looked up the reviews online & sure enough everything they said was true. It was mostly complaints about food being cold & taking too long to be served. We were there at lunch, there were only six customers.

I'm attaching a video of the exterior. It shows the parking lot & the entrance of the florist which again are in the same building. There's not a lot of parking in the front but they do have additional parking in the back....

My lady's review: Birthday dinner / date night to Thistle & Brier Restaurant - Knoxville, TN for the man. We were excited for this dinner since we both travel to UK frequently and were interested to see the “fusion” with southern food. Made the reservations for this evening for 6:30.

When we walked in we were quickly seated and attended to. We ordered a couple of draft beers and the charcuterie appetizer. The tap lines obviously need cleaned because the Hefeweizen tasted like a sour, and the Guinness was definitely off. Then the server returns to tell us that the needed ingredients for the charcuterie are not in the kitchen. We were semi-prepared for this due to the reviews of frequent inventory problems. So, we ordered the steak crostini’s instead. I asked if any other items on the menu were “out” and was assured that this was the only one due to “UT came earlier this week and emptied our supply, no other menu options are out”.

About 10-15 minutes later we put in our entree orders, filet for me, lamb chops for the man. 5 minutes later, still appetizer-less we were informed that unfortunately the filet was also missing from the kitchen. I made a decision then to go with the NY Strip. Maybe 5 minutes later the apparent front of house manager came to tell us that the NY Strip was also “out”. I asked for the menu to attempt to make a 4th request. At this point, the birthday boy intervened and said “no, three strikes and we’re out”. Mind you, we still have not received our steak crostini appetizer. We paid for our beers and left.

The server, and front of house manager were very apologetic and that was appreciated. However, I truly wanted this to be a different experience from the multiple google reviews and yelp reviews, and really wanted this to be a successful dinner. Like many others, we left without eating. The dining room itself was fantastic and the staff were very accommodating. If this place is going to work the back of the house staff and front of the house staff need to get on the same page. Additionally, Fresh Market and Whole Foods are literally blocks away, how can you truly run out of ingredients?

Side note, the google reviews where the “owner” replies are quite entertaining. Probably should’ve read them prior to making the reservations I and spending the time to pay someone else to...

My husband made reservations for us here on a Saturday night and we had a lovely experience. Here are my thoughts:

Restaurants that offer reservations are always desirable, in my opinion, so, points for that! (Who doesn't love the ability to secure a table for a desired time and not stress over having a wait time!? 🙌)

Our waiter (I SO wish I could remember his name, he was great!) was attentive and knowledgeable on the menu. He informed us that they unfortunately didn't have their liquor license yet and weren't able to serve us alcoholic beverages (besides beer) but that there was a liquor store right around the corner and we were welcome to run grab a bottle to enjoy during our meal. A little unconventional, but we took advantage of this and actually were quite satisfied with this option because, as you know, alcohol typically adds significant cost to a bill, whereas purchasing our own bottle and supplying it ourselves was much more cost efficient way to enjoy a drink during our meal. It turned out to be an ideal situation.

I ordered the salmon steak, goat cheese mash potatoes and parmesean carrots. Brian ordered the pork chop, mash potatoes and the creamed corn.

Both of our meals were amazing. I ordered my salmon "between medium and well" and it was a little on the "well" side, but that was probably my fault. I should have trusted it at "medium" like most restaurants recommend salmon be prepared at. Next time, I definitely will!

The goat cheese mash potatoes were, hands down, one of the best mashed potato dishes either of us have ever had. We'd come back for those, if nothing else! Lol The corn was delish, the pork chop was cooked correctly and had GREAT flavor but the carrot dish wasn't one I'd order again. The carrots were a tad undercooked and underwhelming. But those potatoes. Lol

Overall, it's a wonderful spot for a delicious meal in a great location and I truly do hope it continues to grow and prosper. Be patient with them, as they are clearly ironing out some particulars, but definitely don't sleep on the opportunity to experience this lovely gem of an "Irish...