Over Memorial Day weekend ,we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and head downtown to Market Square for a delicious lunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe! Tupelo came to Knoxville last year, taking over the 1 Market Square space, replacing the original Market Square Kitchen.
The seating area is cozy with a country chic decor.
Up front there is a bar area with a few high top tables and television screens.
I love the use of re-purposed doors and windows as room dividers!
Near the front there is a display of items for sale. I highly recommend grabbing some of Tupelo's delicious tupelo honey. Drizzle it on biscuits, cornbread, or heck, just about anything. It's dee-licious.
In addition to honey, you can also pick up some baking mixes, fresh jams, dry rubs, bbq sauce, etc. If you want to try your hand at some of Tupleo's recipes at home, don't forget to also pick up a copy of Tupelo's own cookbook!
Near the hostess stand you can pick up more fun Tupelo merchandise like hats and t-shirts.
We've been to Tupelo twice before, both times for breakfast. The photos above are courtesy of my Instagram feed (follow me!) On the left is my favorite breakfast - Eggs Betty, a biscuit topped with poached eggs, fried city ham, lemon hollandaise sauce, and a side of goat cheese grits! On the right is a big ole bowl of the most delicious oatmeal ever, topped with dried cranberries, peaches, golden raisins, apples, blueberries, chopped pecans, toasted coconut, and brown sugar.
This time we visited during lunchtime, but the breakfast menu is available all day for those that know that breakfast food is a good choice ANY time of day.
The menu is fun and colorful. You can view all of the menus for the Knoxville location right here!
You start out by having one of Tupelo's signature biscuits plopped down right in front of you. They're big and fluffy and delicious with perfect tender insides. Want to know how I like to eat them? First, slice them in half, like so.
On one half, slather on some of the delicious fresh blueberry spread that will be brought to your table along with the biscuits. On the other half, you'll want to drizzle a generous amount of Tupelo Honey. The best of both worlds!!
My entree was the Sassy Garlic-Crusted chargrilled chicken. Whatever they rub onto this chicken is exploding with spicy garlicky goodness. That sauce on the side is peach molasses bourbon sauce, and it'll knock your socks off. The slight sweetness of the sauce is the perfect contrast to the spicy chicken! The greens are swiss chard with chopped asparagus.
My other side was a serving of goat cheese grits. I LOVE these things! There's just enough goat cheese to add a smooth texture and a little extra kick to the flavor, but not so much that it's overpowering. You don't even need to add any butter, just a little sprinkle of salt (like any proper Southerner) and you're good to go!
Matt was feeling like some classic Southern food and ordered Not Your Mama's Meatloaf, made with hormone-free grassfed beef mixed with a little bacon and topped with a delicious rosemary shallot gravy. Topped with a few stalks of fresh asparagus!
Matt's other side was Brown Butter Brussels Sprouts, and boy were they rich! The brown butter gave the sprouts a full-bodied nutty flavor.
If you have a Tupelo Honey Cafe nearby and haven't checked it out, I highly recommend giving it a try! You can find locations in Asheville, Knoxville, Greenville, Johnson City, and coming this fall - downtown Chattanooga!
This is not a sponsored post - we are in no way affiliated with Tupelo Honey Cafe - we just love 'em!
Laverne
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