Sunspot Restaurant

Sunspot has always been a great place to go to, I especially enjoy their variety of craft beer and delicious brunch options. For dinner, its always rattlesnake pasta, its just so DAMN GOOD. The chips and salsa is always on point as well. The beer is delicious, and a great alternative to Market Square. I tend to forget about Sunspot, as it on the strip, but It is delicious.
Mondays are $ 4 cocktails with eddy Vodka
Tuesday are 2 $ pints
Wednesdays are ½ all wine bottles till 10pm
Thursdays are ½ drafts after 9pm

Loved our meal there tonight. I had the short ribs, but I changed potatoes out for brussels. Amazing! Great quality of meat. My kids had the fat Elvis and loved it! Husband had a fried green tomato sandwich and loved it too. Only bad thing I have to say was waitress brought my soup with my dinner, so I had to take home. Wish we lived closer!

A solid dinner place around the downtown/​UT campus area. They offer vegan and vegetarian options. They serve tacos, sandwiches, and regular entrees. Sunspot can be described as a southern, Tex Mex fusion eatery. Everything I’ve had here is good and you can’t go wrong with anything.

Our family visited Sunspot this evening prior to a perdormance at the Clarence Brown Theatre and everything was excellent. I had the Jalapeño Omelet off the specials menu. It had just the right amount of heat and fresh jalapeños! My wife had the French Toast special and it was super scrumptious (I tried some). It came with bacon and homestyle potatoes. Another family member eats gluten free and we appreciate that Sunspot has GF options and a separate prep area. Two others ordered medium-​rare hamburgers and they were cooked perfectly, with a cool, red center.
Service was prompt /​friendly and the refills on drinks were plentiful. We will be back to Sunspot again!

Love this place! Never disappoints me! The fried green tomatoes are the best in town. And the rattlesnake pasta is amazing! Also had a house salad with the lime vinaigrette DELICIOUS
Definitely will be coming back again on next visit to Knoxville

I really liked it here. They have a great rooftop for dining. Their brussel sprouts are unparalleled. They were amazing!

I went to meet some folks and only had beer on the upstairs patio. The beer menu was diverse, but no descriptions of what the beers were. What is up with that?! I need to know style of beer; the ABV and IBUs would be nice, and where they are located would be for fun. Three stars for $ 2 pints on Tuesday.

Simply lovely, I usually go with friends for wine night or randomly for a beer on the roof/​patio. Always fun to have some drinks and laugh sharing good times with friends.
They are dog friendly which has allowed me to bring my dog Gizmo. The waiters are awesome and do bring water for the dogs.
The food is not bad at all, delicious burgers and sweet potatoe fries. The tacos are good too, really big and filling.

The service and the atmosphere were pretty good during my visit here, but the food was questionable.
I had the BLT with fried green tomatoes and I was pretty pleased but my boyfriend order the fried bologna sandwich and he wasn’t too thrilled about the skinny sliver of Bologna they served him.
Half of me thinks it’s his fault because who the hell goes to a restaurant and orders a bologna sandwich anyway? But more relevant to this review, what the hell kind of restaurant serves a bologna sandwich at their restaurant to begin with? Hmph?
Anyway, pretty good spot. I’ll be back!

This is a great spot. The food is always good. They always have tons of beers on tap. The happy hour is always awesome. The ambiance inside is terrific too. I have zero complaints.
If you haven’t been, it’s owned by the same people that own Aubreys, so it’s a lot of that Americana style of food.

I loved their salsa in college. Always an interesting off-​beat place. I look forward to visiting when I go back to visit UT!

Cute place on inside & friendly service too. Be sure to try the delicious SMOKED BEET SALAD-​noble springs goat cheese, candied pecans, lime vinaigrette, shredded carrots, shaved red onions. We also had the Spinach Quesadilla, very good!

Tacos. Hmmm. The tacos here are outstanding.
Everything on the menu is pretty darn good too. And the brunch menu changes often. Tons of beer on tap for those who appreciate the hops. Wonderful specials on most night of the week. Their roof top patio is likely my most favorite patio in Knoxville. Hidden and much quieter than the patio downstairs, which is perfect for people watching. The staff has always been friendly and very helpful.
Sunspot is a Knoxville classic and a must visit. Can’t ever go wrong making the choice to eat here!

Bleh. Too much grease in the pork sandwich and the rattlesnake pasta. The pasta was spicy and nice but the grease was overwhelming. They have some great vegetarian options and amazing staff but I’ll have to get something much lighter next time.

Sunspot has long been one of my favorite haunts in Knoxville. Their slogan «Where Tie Dyes and Neck Ties Unite» sums up the vibe of this place well! The quality of the food is really good, but the people are chill and accommodating. We’ve been coming to Sunspot for years, but at long last, the world gets to hear my voice!
In most restaurants, you go for the burger because nothing else on the menu grabs you. While the burger is one of the best in town, there’s so much more to this place than the burger. Don’t get me wrong, the burger is a good size, good quality meat, and it’s covered in ooey gooey cheesey goodness and toped and tailed with a delicious bun. It’s cosmic goodness that is tough to stray from with each visit. But speaking of cosmic, their Solar Flare (Vegetarian Black Bean) Burger is heavenly as well. And not just in a «good for a veggie burger» kind of way. It’s actually a great tasting burger in its own right, and I wouldn’t hesitate to order it at any point.
Going to SunSpot just for burgers though, is doing yourself a disservice, because the food is some of my favorite in town. The menu runs the gamut from run of the mill to eccentric. Consider the BBQ Pork burrito or seriously interesting tacos for instance. A BBQ pork burrito is scrumptious, sure, but add all the fixin’s to it and it is a home run for sure! The whole menu is pretty special, and you really can’t go wrong no matter where you end up.
So in summation, great food, cool people, fun atmosphere. What’s not to like? GO TO SUNSPOT OFTEN!!!

Finally after 5mths we made it to Sunspot! We were all going to grab a table since there was 7 of us, but we took over the bar upstairs and we were lucky enough to get the radtastic Stephanie! She took great care of us and was super patient with all of our loud laughter and banter.
1^st floor is great for large seating with a huge bar. Love that you can look into the kitchen and see them work away and cook all the delish foodies.
2^nd floor that has stairs or an elevator. Has a nice little bar that can seat 12 comfortably. It has a nice huge patio deck seating area. I would like to go and enjoy that during a brunch day. Next on the list of things to do!
Food time.
Appz: Brussel Sprouts were super dank. I could of ate them all day long. Hummus so super yummy and packed with flavor. Chips and the crack salsa is a must!
I was full so went kinda lite. Taco Time!
1 pork belly with corn tortilla and the Salmon with a corn tortilla.
I found them to be good, maybe a little dry for my liking. I like juicy tacos! I wouldn’t kick them out of bed, but I probably won’t invite them back for seconds ;)
Dime piece got Polenta with beans and mushrooms and I think I ate most of his plate off! It was amazing and I want it now thinking about it!
Get a chance check out Sunpot! Worth the wait! Staff is amazing!

I was absolutely shocked that I haven’t reviewed Sunspot before. I remember going here as a kid and go a solid two dozen times a year, but somehow haven’t put it on Unilocal?I’m surprised too.
Sunspot is awesome. It’s changed a bit over the years. The new location changed the vibe of the place, but the food is still great. The menu isn’t huge, but I’ve never had anything bad. If you’re a pasta person, get the rattlesnake pasta; it’s spicy, but fantastic. The tacos are flavorful and really complex. The burgers are good, the salads are great, blah-​blah, it’s all good.
There’s a ton of vegetarian and vegan options, which is one reason this place is so popular.
The best thing on the menu by far is the BLGT, which is a BLT with fried green tomatoes, bacon, cheese, aioli, and well everything good. I get it basically every time, so freaking good. If you’re unsure, get this. As for sides, the zucchini is the best, but the sweet potato waffle fries are pretty darn good too.
They’ll bring chips and salsa out, but be sure to ask for them. The green salsa is awesome; I could eat it with a spoon and almost always use up the salsa long before the chips.
They have a great beer selection too. Lots of local drafts and craft beers from all over.
Wednesday is half-​off bottles of wine. It gets busy, but come in early and enjoy a bottle with friends. The patio is great and it’s well worth it.
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They also have brunch! The normal food is amazing, but to be honest, the brunch may be better.
The usual options are all really good, but they also rotate specials. We went in last weekend and got apricot pancakes and fried green tomato benedict.
The pancakes were really good, but my meal was even better. Instead of english muffins, the base is a giant fried green tomato, topped with spinach, the beautifully poached egg, then a jalapeño hollandaise. By far the best take on eggs benedict I have ever had.
The bacon is also amazing and worth adding to anything.

Sunspot is a great little local place. People always think of it for wine night (half-​price bottles of wine), so if crowds bother you, don’t come on Wednesdays.
I think the menu here is pretty good. I love the fact that they serve salmon in interesting ways. I love the blackened salmon club, the chipotle salmon taco, and the delicious salad with grilled salmon on top.
I love Sunspot for lunch or dinner, and although I have never been here for brunch, I hear wonderful things.
Do yourself a favor and eat here! Yummy!

For me, when the question of ‘Where to eat’ comes up, I think I have some sort of mental block against the restaurants on the strip. I think it’s just because traffic on the strip can make me feel like I’m back living in Atlanta and ain’t nobody got time for that! All of that being said, I never forget about Sunspot. Although, parking can be a little precarious, it’s so worth it for me.
I lost my heart to Sunspot before they were in their current location. And while their old, dingy digs added a character that somehow worked for them, their new location transformed them into an older, more sophisticated version of themselves that makes them feel like they’ve grown into their «Where tie-​dyes and neckties unite» mentality. During the summer time, their rooftop seating is hard to beat, whether you’re enjoying a meal or just meeting friends for a beer or two or three (Who can stop at just one when they rotate in so many great local beers).
The menu always makes me feel like I’m taking a multiple choice test and all of the answers are correct. Seriously, I have never gotten a meal from Sunspot that I didn’t enjoy. Their salads are creative and large enough to not make you feel like you’re missing out while you watch your table mate devour his burger. They have one of the best veggie burgers in town and their Gluten-​Free and Vegetarian menus are actual menus rather than just manipulations of a few items on their regular menu. I am a sucker for their tacos (Do yourself a favor and try the meatloaf taco) and don’t usually make it past them on the menu, but when I do it’s usually some heavenly creation that screams my name from their daily specials. Prices are on par for what you get, in my opinion. Huge portions and locally sourced ingredients are worth a few more pennies in my book.
Do yourself a favor and order the chips and green salsa before your meal. They are free, but they only bring them upon request. Silly restaurant used to bring them out to every table. Read: Broke college students used to make a meal of these. Seriously, I can’t blame them. I could eat this salsa with a spoon. Don’t judge me!

Hats off for keeping the menu current. The ala carte taco selection is creative. albeit a little overpriced IMHO… especially for a college town.
I’m sure the new location is making the health inspectors happier than the original place did, and the spaciousness and minimalist feel of the place make it an interesting place to eat and drink. The patio on Cumberland is a nice additional also.
But it lacks the funk of the original. My advice would be to find a way to bring some of that vibe back.
I will still go to the ‘Spot…would like to see a little more edginess.