Prescription for Ice Cream

This week has been full of disappointments after criticism after rejection that only ice cream can fix. When you have one of those weeks in the Knoxville area, head downtown and in the heart of Gay Street is your ice cream savior, the Pharmacy. Full of old timey vibes, antiques, homemade sodas, other desserts, and a fully functioning medicine pharmacy in the back, the Pharmacy is like taking a trip back in time.

I arrived at this joint on my ice cream escapade because I had seen so many friends post about it on their social media, and conveniently without inviting me, but I digress. And while there are many places that I have visited for this blog that haven’t lived up to the hype, the ice cream here was not a let down. However the menu does need to be a little more clear on the menu when ordering a float, whether you’re receiving their homemade sodas or a brand soda. But seeing as that’s my only complaint (because yes, I can complain about any and everything), I find this spot to be another A+ on the bucket list to check off.

This post unfortunately does not come without a warning label. As many Knoxville residents know, the homeless population is very prevalent downtown. So avid readers, (AKA Mom and Carson) please take precautions when out on Gay Street at night. Use the buddy system, phone a friend, let someone else know your location. With news stories like the past few weeks, you never know, when your ice cream pity party could turn into a real life nightmare.

Chick(en)s & Waffles

Chicken & waffles is a classic combo, but one of the newest places in Knoxville has designed their whole restaurants around the meal. Myrtle’s Chicken and Beer has filled a spot in Downtown’s luxe area of Market Square.

Everything on the menu spans many variations of chicken sandwiches, wraps, salads and of course waffles. I honestly ordered a lot more at this restaurant than I have at any other because every item looked SO GOOD.

My dinner date and I started with a basket of cheddar bacon biscuits. They were all gone before our meal came out. While the biscuits might have tasted like a glorified Bisquick biscuit and not as cheesy as my date would have preferred, but still so so good.

Next up was my chicken and waffles meal that is the featured photo of this post. Now I was a person who growing up ordered chicken and waffles anytime I saw it on the menu because, I mean chicken tenders and waffles to a kid was a great invention. I find it a perfect merger of breakfast food with all other times of the day. However, these chicken and waffles were not the best I had ever had. The disappointment was all over my face as my dinner date could tell I was sad.

This does NOT mean that the meal was bad, but I just honestly was not impressed. My dinner date ordered something different than I, and munched on a hot chicken sandwich he believed would give Chick-fil-A a fierce competition. While that is obvious blasphemy, the bite I stole from the sandwich while he was very good, and dare I say better than the chicken and waffles!

The food item I will rave about is actually very surprising. Pimento cheese mac and cheese sounded good when I read it on the menu but my taste buds in no way could have imagined the fireworks about to be consumed. Honestly I plan to go back only to eat copious amounts of it.

If you’d like to try this new restaurant out, Myrtle’s Chicken and Beer can be found on Instagram as @myrtleschickenandbeer and on Facebook as Myrtle’s Chicken + Beer, both providing chicken photos galore.

Carnitas, Cantinas, & Celebrations

Celebrating with tacos and margaritas sounds like a great party, right? But it’s made even better when you are celebrating one of the best, local Mexican restaurants in Knoxville, SoKno Taco! This local hotspot threw a house party this past weekend celebrating their two-year anniversary.

The celebrations included house margaritas for $5, taco plate specials and a great atmosphere. And many people showed their appreciation for the restaurant as finding parking took well over 20 minutes, but this is a Knoxville wide epidemic no matter where you go.

SoKno Taco had a great staff that handled the crowd with ease. The wait was supposed to be an hour but actually ended up being about 45 minutes. And once we sat down our waiter was super helpful, as it was my first experience at the restaurant and he very much encouraged the specialty queso and chips.

After receiving the homemade, queso blanco, smoked gouda and meat queso, I knew I was in for a good meal. I ordered a burrito with carnitas with the offered rice and black bean sides. As a fair warning, the portions are on the heavy side as I left the restaurant fuller than I have in my entire life.

(Mom, and Dad, if you’re reading this, we will be making a trip here the next time you all are in town!!)

To keep up with SoKno Taco until their next event, like them on Facebook (SoKno Taco Cantina) and follow them on Instagram (@sokno_taco).