My wife and I wanted to celebrate New Years with a nice dinner. We made the right decision the 4 course dinner was excellent. Along with a excellent Napa cab from Bell wine cellars 2014. Best dinner that we've had since moving from Jackson Hole Wyoming to Tennessee. Staff was excellent and I would highly recommend this restaurant!

If you look at my reviews, you see I do not offer 5 stars very often. This rating is truly worthy. Each dish was outstandingly prepared. Their flavors hit you immediately. We had lobster hushpuppies, crabcakes and elk sliders for appetizers. The elk sliders were over the top. Each of us had a sample of the appetizers. For our main course we had an over size pork chop and lobster tail, elk loin steak, roasted garlic stuffed beef tenderloin and chili relleno. The only draw back were the desserts . We had chocolate cake and churros. They were average. Our server was great. She explained the menu and offered numerous options and choices. This is definitely worth another visit.

We mainly chose this spot for the menu items and craft cocktails. We were pleasantly surprised! Sad there were no beer fries as listed online, but our server Ashlynn was very knowledgeable on the menu items and had been with the restaurant for 5 years. She told us we would forget about them and we did. Appetizers seem in pics below: Elk sliders (BEST!) along with Hamachi tostadas, rattlesnake & rabbit sausage and lobster hush puppies. As for cocktails: The Willie and the Jalapeño Cucumber margarita were our faves. We also tried the 1888, Crystal Land and Beez On Thyme. SO much food. We made the mistake of getting too much. Corn, okra, cucumber and tomato salad was excellent and the chili was perfect. We were told 7/10 on the hot scale, but it was not that spicy. Let us not forget the fresh focaccia bread and jalapeño cornbread muffins. By the time the entrees came we were stuffed however, the beef tenderloin was cooked to perfection and could not be wasted. The rabbit enchiladas were very flavorful and the creamy jalapeño within it, gave it a good amount of heat. (Bothe entrees pictures below). With no room for dessert, we bought the kitchen shots (on the menu!) and called it a night. Very happy to have found this gem! Being an appetite and a good amount of cash.

For my very first visit to Knoxville I was highly encouraged to check out Lonesome Dove. I'm happy I did. I made reservations online the day before and I'd recommend getting yours early. I was deciding which day I wanted to go and the time when the available tables/times I wanted literally disappeared before my eyes. Fortunately I was flexible so I booked a late dinner. The restaurant is in a pretty hip area of town so parking was a little bit of a challenge for me. I found some free parking by the bridge but it took me a minute to find one of the last open spots. Food and service here are top notch. My server, Cody, was exceptional in his knowledge of the food, made wonderful recommendations and made sure I all my gastronomic needs were met. As for the food, Chef Tim Love masterfully blends old rustic American fare with modern cuisine to create exotic new flavors. I would highly recommend the elk loin with candied blueberries. Let your taste buds enjoy the sweet and savory flavors of this signature dish. I would say this is a can't miss restaurant if you are ever in the Knoxville area. The prices here are extremely reasonable for such fine dining that challenges your senses and taste. My multi course meal with a drink and dessert came to a little more than $80! I also ordered nearly enough for 2 ppl. So, take a detour on your next trip to downtown Knoxville and stop in for a foodie experience you won't want to miss.

My wife and I had made reservations for our Anniversary. The staff did an amazing job Accommodating us and helping to make it an amazing experience. They have a rotating menu with numerous options; we virtually sampled everything. The staff in the kitchen and on the floor is knowledgeable about the menu and allergy concerns. We had an amazing time and enjoyed it all. The food was prepared to an impeccable standard and perfection. 👌 Warm comfortable environment with Allergy friendly options such as Gluten Free Sensitivities. **The kitchen staff likes to have a drink every so often. 😄

For my very first visit to Knoxville I was highly encouraged to check out Lonesome Dove. I'm happy I did. I made reservations online the day before and I'd recommend getting yours early. I was deciding which day I wanted to go and the time when the available tables/times I wanted literally disappeared before my eyes. Fortunately I was flexible so I booked a late dinner. The restaurant is in a pretty hip area of town so parking was a little bit of a challenge for me. I found some free parking by the bridge but it took me a minute to find one of the last open spots. Food and service here are top notch. My server, Cody, was exceptional in his knowledge of the food, made wonderful recommendations and made sure I all my gastronomic needs were met. As for the food, Chef Tim Love masterfully blends old rustic American fare with modern cuisine to create exotic new flavors. I would highly recommend the elk loin with candied blueberries. Let your taste buds enjoy the sweet and savory flavors of this signature dish. I would say this is a can't miss restaurant if you are ever in the Knoxville area. The prices here are extremely reasonable for such fine dining that challenges your senses and taste. My multi course meal with a drink and dessert came to a little more than $80! So, take a detour on your next trip to downtown Knoxville and stop in for a foodie experience you won't want to miss.

Having eaten in nicer restaurants, the smaller portions a lot of people complain about were not a surprise. The selections were awesome. I grew up eating freshly hunted rabbit, but this was the first experience in a restaurant setting. The rattlesnake rabbit sausage was good, but could have been any meat by taste. The seasonings were awesomely done, but strong enough that the distinct flavor of the meats was covered up. The elk sliders were a different experience all together. Very delicious and distinct. The Texas Red chili was probably the best chili I've ever eaten. The food was fast and above the service. I did not get the impression that our server enjoyed her job, or was proud of the place. I didn't get that impression from any of the staff, but my interactions were limited to my server. My drink spent as much time empty as it took to be uncomfortable. For what we paid, I expected more.

Simply the best. Not just for Knoxville but almost anywhere with my world wide travels. The most interesting flavorful dishes. Don’t order based upon the name. Let your waitress explain them or just have her order for you. Every dish is a work of art- appearance, taste, portion,… everything.

Visiting from out of town to see Hamilton; if this is one of the best restaurants that Knoxville has to offer - I'm sorry - they have a long way to go. The Good: the ambiance and environment is wonderful. The upfront service was impeccable. If you have a chance to be seated on the second floor, overlooking the bar area, do that. The Elk Sliders - I could eat an entire plate of these. They were fantastic. The Texas Red (chili). Solid flavors, incredibly well balanced. I wish it would have been served at a hotter temperature (more on this later); but it was still delicious. The fried artichokes on the mac n cheese were easily one of the best things we tasted all night. The Bad: The server was not explicitly clear on what to expect regarding portions. She explained that most of them usually come in portions of 3 - but you can order 1 or 2 instead. Highly convenient if you're only a party of 2. What she failed to tell us is that these portions, for the most part, are bite size; akin to an amouse bouche. The Hamachi Tostada had to have been one of the smallest tostado chips I've ever seen in my life. It was barely bigger than the size of a quarter. Size aside - all I could taste from that was serrano pepper. The rest of the ingredients might as well not have been there. The Rabbit Rattlesnake sausage - I was curious to try this - I thought it would come as a link, or something of significance. Nope. It was barely big enough to really give me a taste of, well, anything. It may as well have been a pork meatball. I could probably fit half a dozen of them on my palm. For the main I had the Tenderloin. To say this was stuffed with roasted garlic is an overstatement. One clove of barely roasted garlic pushed into the center of 9 oz tenderloin with a cold center is putting it lightly. My date for the evening got the rainbow trout. Whoever thought it was a good idea to pair sweet potato and chorizo as a succotash - it wasn't. The flavors did not work together, let alone with the fish. The "crispy" brussels were some of the coldest, most wilted brussel sprouts i've ever been served. And who uses orzo pasta for a mac n cheese?!? It's like you tried to be inventive and clever with a dish that didn't need to be reinvented. Also... to call it a "loaded" mac n cheese is... well, ridiculous. Much less, the dish was soupy. Velveeta mac n cheese out of the box would have been better. And nearly everything was served extremely luke warm. All of this, with 2 glasses of wine, and 2 cocktails, for over $300. Incredibly disapdisapointing.

The food here is amazing. One of my favorite restaurants in Knoxville. It’s unique and exotic. The garlic tenderloin is amazing and I really like the buffalo ribeye. The best appetizers are the sliders and crab, but they’re all great. Make sure to get the Willie which is like a smoked old fashioned. I can only give this 4 stars though because I feel like the service has gone down a bit. Seems to be more turnover lately and management seems different. When spending this much money, I feel the experience needs to be perfect.

Update after the Thanksgiving 2022: from 4 to 2 stars. Honestly, it was a total disaster. Our waiter was arrogant and was talking too much; the waiting staff should be invisible when necessary and visible and interacting only when appropriate, not when it’s inappropriate. Their Thanksgiving menu was disappointing: half the menu was still way too spicy for me and basically the regular menu, nothing special. They had a turkey dish which was way overpriced ($40!!!) and served (here we go again!) lukewarm 🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m willing to bet that the green beans were from the can; they were completely flavorless. The rolls tasted dry; as if they were frozen and reheated. I’m shocked by the low quality of their Thanksgiving service for more than $150 for two people without desert and drinks. I’ll never go back again, it’s annoying to eat there. It’s a cool Texas-themed restaurant, but to me far too expensive for what it offers. The small appetizers (ceviche and elk fois gras sliders) were OK but ceviche could have had more pronounced seasoning and the sliders were lukewarm and too spicy for me. The salad was good, the corn bread served with it was excellent. Their drinks are generously strong and very tasty too. My beef tenderloin was OK, but I was expecting a more interesting flavor profile from their signature dish; it also arrived more medium rare than rare, I had to send it back and they didn’t really compensate us for that mistake with anything off our bill. Besides, many items on the menu are far too spicy than I can handle and they don’t mark it or talk about it, so for example I couldn’t eat the mushrooms. It’s too bad that this is how Texan food is represented, because not every dish in Texas is burning hot. My husband's elk was very tasty but also arrived lukewarm and it could have had a more interesting seasoning for $50. The best dish of the night was the desert (a version of coffee flavored creme brûlée); it was freshly made that day, it didn’t sit in the fridge and was just executed perfectly. Too bad they don’t have espresso (their NESPRESSO machine was broken), and their only port wine was underwhelming. For a restaurant that charges ca. $300 for dinner for two people in Knoxville should be making less mistakes and deliver a truly fine dining experience, which involves an espresso from a real espresso machine and some items taken off the bill when they make a mistake. Still, this is a second best restaurant I’ve been to in Knoxville so far, and perhaps after a while I’d like to return and try it again. Their waiting staff is very well trained.

Most incredible meal we have ever had! Had the trio, elk, bison, and chocolate torte with bourbon. Our anniversary meal and we felt it was worth every dollar. Our waiter was incredible (Ian). Thank you guys so much for this experience!

The tenderloin I had was cooked to temp perfectly. The hash was a bit excessive and merely deep fried shoestring potato, it was made to sound extraordinary. I get better hashbrowns in a mom and pop diner, to be honest. The cabbage was cooked nice. The sauce was actual homemade demi glacé. It had a great flavor, nice and gelatinous. I have to say though that menu says roasted garlic stuffed tenderloin, it contained no such ingredient. The 3 asparagus on the plate were prepped by an amateur the bottom 2 inches of fibrous stringy wood were left on, disgraceful. The crab cakes just had hot sauce plopped on top, it was not elegant and overkill. It really had no presentation. The oysters were lame, just oysters with cheese melted in top and served with fire hot chili’s. One of my oysters contained a lot of shell so I got to chew on rocks. Fortunately for them, my date wouldn’t allow me to complain, but it was a careless, lack of attention and care, with no pride taken in the work. It also lacked any attention to detail or presentation. It was overpriced wannabe gourmet food. I think it’s time the hire an actual chef to run the place. The waiter was great and a good salesman. Overall I was disappointed in the food quality.

Had a fantastic four course Thanksgiving dinner. The food was amazing, the service was excellent. I couldn't recommend Lonesome Dove more highly.

We had an amazing anniversary dinner tonight. Our waiter (I'm sorry I forgot his name, but we did inform the assistant manager how happy we were with him). So much food, all very good & out with in reasonable times. The mixed drinks were great as well. If you are looking to try something different, give it a chance.

Not sure why some of the reviews are so harsh on this place because we went here for the first time on Thanksgiving and it was absolutely perfect. I’m not kidding, nothing could have been better. The service was the best I’ve ever seen-they’ve got it together! The food was perfect. They had some Thanksgiving options like turkey (which was incredible) and their regular things. There are so many unique foods you can try here if you want to be adventurous and they are insanely yummy. The ambience is perfect. The charcuterie trio was my favorite-it comes with duck, wild boar, and elk meat😋

There's some definite excellent dishes. 3rd course portions are Huge! Elk sliders, Mac and cheese, and pork chop are all would reccomend. The Carmel apple pie cheese cake was amazing too

Well, prices are a little high. My bill was 54.26. for 3 crab cakes, and a coke. Our service was good. Lots of details forgotten. We were a big group, and that's the way it goes. Lots of room, and lots of people in there. Parking close by at Barley's. By the way. I like Barley's! Pizza!

Great food & Service! We had the Bison Ribeye, which was very good. The Brussels sprouts side were delicious. The churros for dessert were top notch. Everything was delicious!

Will was an exceptional server!!! His lovely lady also gave us an experience to remember. Superb meal quality! Met with some of the kitchen staff and felt very appreciated!! Highly recommend paying them a visit.

This restaurant is five stars for a reason! It starts from the moment you walk in to get seated. They take your coat, seat you and you get to know your waiter/waitress, who all seem to enjoy their job. The food is what you would expect from a five star restaurant ( and the price ). Highly recommended!!!

First time at Lonesome Dove, celebrating our anniversary, and would highly recommend. Staff was friendly and attentive. The food was delicious, courses were timed well and the recommendations from the staff were spot on. I had wanted the lamb chops which the no longer offer but the pork chops were perfect . Complimentary Champaign toast.. Course 1: Rabbit-Rattlesnake Sausage, Manchego Rosti, Crème Fraîche and crab cakes served in the crab shell.. Course 2: Bowl of Texas Red Main Course: Elk Loin, Swiss Chard, Hen of the Woods, Salsify, Candied Blueberries and Berkshire Pork Chops, Wild Boar Grits, Crispy Onion with a side of lonesome dove truffle Mac & cheese Desert: ANCHO CHILE CHOCOLATE CAKE Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Smoked Almond Brittle