Shoney's - Rutledge Pike

It's virtually impossible to find chicken livers in Knoxville.
I heard that Shoneys occasionally had them on their hot bar, so I started calling all the Shoneys in the area and had no luck...
until I called Shoneys on Rutledge.
They had them, so I jumped in the car and headed to the East Side. It was on a Friday and when I arrived I was greeted and sat by Miss Willie.
I went to check out the Hot bar and not only did they have chicken livers, they had chicken wings and GUMBO!!! (Amongst many other choices).
It seemed as if I had discovered the first and only "Soul Food Shoneys"!!! I started with the salad bar.
It was well stocked and everything was very fresh.
It was now time for the long awaited chicken livers.
I got a healthy portion of Chicken livers, some wings, a bowl of gumbo and hush puppies...yes, they even had hush puppies!!! Everything was cooked to perfection.
The shrimp in the gumbo was a bit overcooked and the "soup" part could have been a bit thicker, but it was very flavourful.
The livers were thick and perfectly cooked.
The wings were delicious and a good size.
I had a small slice of cake and some pudding for dessert and it was the perfect ending to a phenomenal meal. My server, Miss Willie, was one of the sweetest servers I have ever had the pleasure of speaking with.
She was prompt, attentive and engaged me with pleasant and informative conversation.
I was also introduced to the manager, Rachel, and told that it was because of her that the bar was so diverse. I will be making this a regular eating location.
Everything about it was fantastic experience. I HIGHLY recommend this Shoneys location.

Owner response

Food was absolutely terrible! Management did not seem to care one bit.
Our server, i believe his name was Michael, was wonderful.
He kept our drinks filled and was very attentive.
We didn’t say anything while we were there cause honestly we didn’t feel it would help.
If it is like this often then it wont be long before you are shut down.
Take some pride in what you do please for the sake of us that actually like to eat out.

Owner response

Tues June 4, 2024 I should have read my review because I would have NEVER have come here! But my husband wanted to come here since they had all day breakfast. The only food that was good were the fried potatoes and biscuits.
The rest tasted too weird.
I could not even eat the brownies (as you can see from the photo I only ate half of one and couldn't finish it).
The last time we came here they were so good I ate 3. I am left with feeling nauseous and have upset stomach.
I hope later I don't have to go throw up as I hate throwing up. The waitress was ok, no problem with her.
I wish the owner would read this but since they already answered the first time.
And get this, I had left a 1 star and told them how bad it was and they thanked me and said they were glad I enjoyed it.
Like what? Can they read or is it an automated answering machine? I am never coming here again! Fri Oct 13, 2023 Because we had to wait an hour for the tow truck we went into Shoneys.
I had a Food bar and my husband had 1 bowl of soup.
When he went to pay they charged him a Soup bar.
$12.99 for 1 bowl of soup! What a bunch of funking thieves! On the nice sife, our waiter Erik was a darling.
He was so nice and attentive.
The food I had was good.
There were not a lot of people tonight. Like I said, my husband only had 1 soup but they told him there was no a la carte here.
So they charged him for the whole buffet.
$12.99 for 1 bowl of soup? That's highway robbery! Answer from owner Response from the owner an hour ago Oct 19, 2023 Suzanne, we are glad to hear you received good service.
We try to do well every day and we very carefully price our menu and Fresh Food Bar with value in mind for our guests.
We're very sorry you don't see the value in our pricing.
We will take your comments into consideration when we update our menus the next time.
We look forward to serving you again. 11 months ago: Unfortunately, the next day I had a long bout of diarrhea. The coleslaw was off, it was too thick and tasted bad.
I couldn't finish it.
The potato salad and the macaroni salad was not fresh. The waitress was attentive for the first 15-20 minutes but then she disappeared, no where to be found. I came here last Sunday.
The food was terrific! It was fresh and very good.
Even the waitress was attentive.

Owner response