Knoxville's culinary scene continues to expand. This list is of those that recently opened or are slated to open. Mary Constantine/News Sentinel
A colleague of The Grub Spouse recently told us about one of his favorite new restaurants, LaFetta’s, a soul-food eatery that made its debut on Cherry Street about six weeks ago. Considering the colleague’s endorsement and the fact that soul-food places are few and far between in Knoxville, I thought it was definitely worth checking out.
The hostess showed us to a table on the main floor, where we pondered a menu packed with soul-food staples that are incorporated into both daily specials and regular menu listings. You should know before going in, however, that not everything listed on the menu is available on any given day. You’re best off checking the chalkboard outside the main entrance, where that day’s featured items are listed.
For example, chicken and waffle bites are among the appetizer selections on the menu, but they weren’t available that evening, so we went with the fried green tomatoes ($4.99). (I couldn’t get The Spouse to go along with me on the fried pork skins.)
The daily specials include meals like chicken and dressing, smothered pork chops, a ham hock plate, chicken livers, chicken and waffles, barbecue ribs and an ox tail dinner.
The Spouse decided to try one of that night’s two available specials, the Southern-fried fish dinner ($9.99). That comes with a choice of catfish, white fish or tilapia, and The Spouse went with catfish. According to the menu, that dinner comes with fries, slaw and hush puppies. But then the server offered a choice of two sides, and we initially thought that meant two sides in addition to the fries, slaw and pups. The Spouse picked mac and cheese and pinto beans.
Meanwhile, I was taking in the rest of the menu, which features the likes of fried chicken, fried chicken livers or gizzards, strawberry chicken salad, chicken or fish sandwiches, and the Soul Burger. I went the a la carte route and ordered a chicken breast piece ($3) and a leg ($1.25) plus mashed potatoes ($3) and black-eyed peas ($3). For the record, additional dinner and a la carte sides include collard greens, candied yams, green beans and corn.
The fried green tomatoes, lightly breaded, were pretty good, and I made use of several different tabletop sauces to enhance them. The Spouse’s catfish was the real winner of the evening, hot from the fryer and seasoned to perfection. However, only two sides were actually served with that meal – slaw and mac and cheese (no pinto beans or fries) – so evidently, diners do just receive two sides; however, we never did see any hush puppies, which I didn’t notice at the time. For the record, the pinkish slaw had a unique but unidentifiable flavor to it, and the mac was dryer than the “creamy” dish promised by the menu.
I had mixed feelings about my meal. The fried chicken was a solid effort, although one piece was noticeably warmer than the other. The black-eyed peas were decent, but the mashed potatoes were also on the dry side, as were the accompanying dinner rolls; I didn’t learn until later that gravy was available for the potatoes. We finished with a slice of pecan pie, which The Spouse in particular liked quite a bit. Other dessert possibilities are banana pudding and different flavors of cobbler.
Our server was very friendly and checked on us often, but she seemed inexperienced when it came to food-service protocol. For example, it would have been helpful if we’d had a clearer idea up front of exactly what was and was not available on the menu. And I had to request drink refills long after they were needed.
While I found the dishes at LaFetta’s hit or miss, I still think this new venture has a lot to offer that you won’t find in most local restaurants. And if you’ve been craving some soul-food favorites, I think you should give LaFetta’s a try.
LaFetta's
Food: 3.75 (out of five)
Service: 3.5
Atmosphere: 3.5
Overall: 3.5
Address: 703 N. Cherry St.
Phone: 865-394-6631
Hours: 12 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays
Seating: First come, first served
Department of Health score: 93
No alcohol service
Bottom line: Soul food and Southern classics are the stars of the show at this new East Knox eatery.