Knoxville has plenty of breakfast choices. This list begins with three orders I already love, then adds two restaurant signatures that deserve a place beside them.
Fountain City
First Watch — Fountain City
Two cage-free eggs any style, a Belgian waffle or multigrain pancake, plus a choice of bacon, ham, or sausage.
This is my dependable breakfast when I want a little bit of everything—eggs, something sweet, and a breakfast meat all on one plate.
South Knoxville
Eggspectation
Three Frenched double-cut baby lamb chops with house chimichurri, served with two eggs and Lyonnaise-style potatoes.
This is the order for a breakfast that feels like a full experience. The lamb makes it richer and more memorable than a standard brunch plate.
Northshore
Scrambled Jake’s Breakfast Co.
Three eggs scrambled with pecan-smoked bacon, sautéed onions, and tomato confit, topped with American cheese and baked over breakfast potato casserole.
This is comfort food from the first bite: savory eggs, bacon, cheese, and breakfast potatoes baked together instead of sitting separately on the plate.
Bearden
Gourmet’s Market & Cafe
Biscuits, sausage gravy, eggs, cheddar, and bacon layered together in one hearty breakfast bowl.
Gourmet’s is known for creative spins on breakfast classics, and the Rib Sticker puts its Southern comfort-food personality into one dish.
South Knoxville
Aretha Frankenstein’s
The restaurant’s famously thick, made-from-scratch pancakes—the signature dish behind its own branded pancake mix.
Aretha Frankenstein’s built its reputation around oversized, fluffy pancakes and a quirky brunch atmosphere that feels different from a standard breakfast chain.
Choose your morning
Five restaurants. Five different cravings.
Go classic at First Watch, make brunch feel like an occasion at Eggspectation, lean into comfort food at Scrambled Jake’s or Gourmet’s, or make pancakes the whole event at Aretha Frankenstein’s.
See my Sevier County breakfast guide →