I absolutely love their food and have since they were just a food truck. Their service is great too! My partner got a meatloaf one time and it came out barely broken up, and the owner came to our table with a new one without us even asking, saying "food tastes better when it looks good"
Barely broken up? I'm not sure what you mean. Do you want meatloaf served in the style of a sloppy joe or ground beef just loose meat?
I'm not attacking you, I'm just curious what you mean. Sometimes the food there is good and sometimes it is way way off. David is a nice guy and does his best with what he has.
EDIT: fixed the word sloppy
It was just cracked in a couple of places not completely fallen apart. Could've happened when it got plated or maybe it could've used more egg/breadcrumbs. Either way it was delicious, and so was the replacement haha
Ohh okay, I understand what you're saying now. Yeah, I agree, I worked there for a stint some amount of years ago. He's definitely all about presentation, but there is no consistency and a lack of responsibility and ownership, in my opinion.
My girlfriend and I have been there a few times for brunch and a few times for dinner and haven't had any negative experiences with food or service. There were a couple times where the music volume was cranked unbearably high (to the point where we had to ask our server to move us outside), and still doing exclusively QR code menus is a little annoying, but those have been our only complaints.
You’re making it worse, Sank Finatra! It’s like those dumb street names made of a combination of other names. Knoxville has “Ho-Co-Ta-Ke” Lane, I’m guessing it’s for Howard, Connie, Tater, and Kevin
I kind of feel like every dish on their menu has at least 1-2 extraneous ingredients that it doesn’t need. Some editing would be helpful. But overall, it’s decent.
Definitely trying too hard. Wayyy to overcomplicated, just the white rice alone has 18 ingredients. 50+ different sauces for a try hard wannabe fake fusion menu is insane.
Tbh this is one of the places we regularly go back to. I’ve always been happy with the food and the drinks. Sometimes table service is a little slow but that’s understandably been on super busy days.
Me and my husband used to call it Ale Rats 😂 we went one time and their were tons of little rats running around under the truck and in the turf grass area. True story, it was wild lol
I've enjoyed all of my visits and have known the family that owns and works there for a very long time. They are sweet people and it's been tasty. I would ask the owner about any food issues next time.
I think the heart is in the right place, but execution is sorely lacking. I won't get into too much detail, but I worked with David and tried to organize and get some more consistency in the kitchen and the food, help fix the menu and the way things are prepared in the kitchen. I was not listened to and paid an ambiguous amount of money by personal check. He and the daughters don't know how to run a restaurant, I was hired to fix the bleeding, and no one would listen to what I said even though that's why I was hired.
Best of luck to them, and I don't wish any malice, but the only reason that place is still open is literally because it's his house, he sleeps upstairs. He only hires people who live in halfway houses and have no clue how to cook beyond fast food because he can't afford to pay anyone who knows anything about food or cooking.
On occasion I’ve had some under-seasoned dishes but nothing a little salt couldn’t fix, however I haven’t tried a salad there. The service has always been pretty good.
My first visit was very underwhelming. I don't necessarily have the highest expectations from a food truck, but even with that in mind the experience was sub par. I don't remember the exact details, but I do remember it being bad enough that I wanted to write a 2-star Google review, and went through the trouble of trying to find them, but couldn't. My memory is that it was pretty poor food and very overpriced.
Yeah, drinks are good, but food is seriously meh. I was underwhelmed by every dish on the table the one time I went with my family and a friend. Everything was under seasoned and not anywhere close to an authentic representation of what I would expect from said dish. Especially the tacos. And it took a long time and the live music that night was awful. Nothing wrong with the people, they seem nice, but I don’t want to pay that price for food I’m not stoked about.
I've had good food and service here but the place very badly needs to cull their menu down to a more sane amount of selections. The bartender even told me last time that they have issues ever removing items from it. It doesn't help that they *only* provide QR menus and that it is just one long unending page.
The only local place I know with a worse menu is Curious Dog.
We have been a lot and I do like the food (or most of what I’ve had anyways) and it’s generally been good experiences. They recently changed up the menu though. We did have one particularly bad experience there during the pandemic, but eventually got over it and started going back. Basically we ordered an extra side that they didn’t give us on a to-go order and went back in to ask about it. The Owner and cook implied my husband was trying to get free food because he wasn’t satisfied with the serving portions and the Owner made audible comments about people always trying to get something extra. They gave him the side of veggies, but they were basically raw and it was just a very uncomfortable situation that put us off for a long time. I am glad we got over it and started going back though.
I have some good friends who love it so much they practically live there. My wife and I went for brunch and came back with a "meh" experience. We will give it another try. I wish them the best, however.
I’ve been once. The food was good although service was kinda slow. My only real gripe is they make you use your phone to view the menu. I’m with the boomers on this one and refuse to do that.
Otherwise, really good experience!
I had the Shrimp Walnut salad back on my birthday. It was sooooo good. I ate half of it bc we were in a rush and took the rest to eat later. I accidentally left it in my car over night and cried when I realized i ruined it
I went here with my husband to try it out a couple years ago. Upon entering the parking lot, with the way it’s leveled compared to Broadway at that time, it dented the rim to his car’s front tire. We couldn’t see the parking lot that well since there wasn’t a street light where we pulled in, so we wouldn’t have known to be more careful or not. Husband was upset about that, but we were still willing to try it out.
After collecting ourselves after denting said rim, we went inside (mind you this is our first experience) and there was a country music-style artist performing who literally brought it to the entire building’s attention that we were walking in. Stopped playing the music and everything and had the restaurant’s patrons clap for us getting there and walking through the front door. it didn’t feel welcoming, instead I was pretty embarrassed to be suddenly the center of attention for just trying to enter the building.
After letting the embarrassment pass eventually, of course, the only table left was near the sound system and the place was already loud anyway. Had our ears blasted by the same dude who mortally embarrassed us, and we had one beer and left promptly.
I’m LOLing typing this out, but I shit you not this happened, and it was real. we left feeling embarrassed and overstimulated hahaha.
The SECOND TIME we went was with some friends after the Vols beat Bama in football. Wanting to keep celebrating, we ordered some drinks and food and we sat inside only to have a drunk, old Alabama fan with a long, huge beard flip us off and cuss us out for just sitting down and wearing orange.
The music was, once again, super loud and after getting cussed at for existing and feeling overstimulated quickly, we opted to sit outside and enjoy our food and drinks, which were really great actually. Idk man I think the universe has other plans for me every time I walk into this place.
The food and drinks are good, but my experience with the atmosphere is overwhelming, at best. So I’ll pass. Or at least stick with to-go orders.
They should rename this Knoxville Crybabies.
I read some of the dumbass comments in here. it’s a bar. They have a unique menu, you’re not gonna like everything. Generally speaking, the majority of my visits have been good. I had a few that weren’t, that doesn’t make me want to never go there again. Shit happens get over yourself.
It is a mixed bag for sure. Food tastes good but small portions for the price. Service is slow but friendly. Great outdoor space for kids. Hope it lasts but it’s not my cup of tea
Two visits. Two very different experiences. First time we went they squeezed two of us in and our food came almost TOO quick (not really a problem, was nice not having to wait around).
Second time, six of us and even with a reservation booked in advance it probably took 15 minutes at our table to even order drinks. Food wasn’t on the table until after we’d been seated for an hour.
Both times the food and drinks were really good, just strange to have such vastly different experiences in terms of service time.
Decent food. Decent price. But something just seems… off. I would hardly call it a “gastropub” Just looked at the most recent one star review and I’m laughing my ass off about the “baby in a bar” moment.
Burgers were excellent. Meatloaf was trash. The fiesta mexi corn was inedible. Their "Cajun spidie" was a sloppy and nasty mess. So, mostly bad. The burgers I had were when it was a food truck. Nothing good has been ordered since they got the full restaurant.
Our waiter was the highest person I’ve ever seen. He forgot to put our order in. Our two year old was going nuts and we ultimately had to ask for our food to go because it took so long. I like their food. Some things are really, really good. But the service…
Every time I dealt with them for work and it's a god damn trip man. "Sorry, we're closed" said to the man with a dolly full of their stuff very obviously for them and going to places a customer wouldn't.
I absolutely love their food and have since they were just a food truck. Their service is great too! My partner got a meatloaf one time and it came out barely broken up, and the owner came to our table with a new one without us even asking, saying "food tastes better when it looks good"
Barely broken up? I'm not sure what you mean. Do you want meatloaf served in the style of a sloppy joe or ground beef just loose meat? I'm not attacking you, I'm just curious what you mean. Sometimes the food there is good and sometimes it is way way off. David is a nice guy and does his best with what he has. EDIT: fixed the word sloppy
It was just cracked in a couple of places not completely fallen apart. Could've happened when it got plated or maybe it could've used more egg/breadcrumbs. Either way it was delicious, and so was the replacement haha
Ohh okay, I understand what you're saying now. Yeah, I agree, I worked there for a stint some amount of years ago. He's definitely all about presentation, but there is no consistency and a lack of responsibility and ownership, in my opinion.
My girlfriend and I have been there a few times for brunch and a few times for dinner and haven't had any negative experiences with food or service. There were a couple times where the music volume was cranked unbearably high (to the point where we had to ask our server to move us outside), and still doing exclusively QR code menus is a little annoying, but those have been our only complaints.
I've been many times. Always had good food and good service. Big fan of their brunch.
The name kinda bugs me
It's named after the two daughters of the owner (at least I believe the father is the owner.)
It still bugs me
Especially because that's not how the daughters spell their names. Their names are Allie and Rachel.
You’re making it worse, Sank Finatra! It’s like those dumb street names made of a combination of other names. Knoxville has “Ho-Co-Ta-Ke” Lane, I’m guessing it’s for Howard, Connie, Tater, and Kevin
Always wondered about the story behind that name
Same I'm enjoying this knoxville lore drop.
Can confirm the lore 🧙♂️
Me too. I refuse to say any way other than "Ale Rays"
How else are you supposed to say it? I’m wracking my brain but now it all sounds alien
“Alley-Ray’s” is the way you pronounce it.
Nah, won’t be doing that.
Yes, it’s named that after the Owner’s 2 daughters
No, that’s how they want me to pronounce it. “I’m a loner Dottie, a rebel.”
I heard it pronounced this way once and thought they just misspoke. That’s wild. Won’t be doing that either
Hell Raise (with Knoxville accent)
Sound more cockney to me: bruv's gonna 'ell raise, innit
I kind of feel like every dish on their menu has at least 1-2 extraneous ingredients that it doesn’t need. Some editing would be helpful. But overall, it’s decent.
You just summed up my problem with Red Bud Kitchen.
I agree. I thought the food was alright but could've been dialed back a little bit. Almost like they're trying too hard.
Definitely trying too hard. Wayyy to overcomplicated, just the white rice alone has 18 ingredients. 50+ different sauces for a try hard wannabe fake fusion menu is insane.
I’ve only been once and absolutely loved it. My husband has been a few times for lunch with clients and hasn’t had a bad experience yet.
I guess the name belongs on r/tragedeigh
I’ve never had a bad time there.
Tbh this is one of the places we regularly go back to. I’ve always been happy with the food and the drinks. Sometimes table service is a little slow but that’s understandably been on super busy days.
I really enjoy it. Wish we could get more restaurants on Broadway.
Me and my husband used to call it Ale Rats 😂 we went one time and their were tons of little rats running around under the truck and in the turf grass area. True story, it was wild lol
Tons!!!!
I've enjoyed all of my visits and have known the family that owns and works there for a very long time. They are sweet people and it's been tasty. I would ask the owner about any food issues next time.
I liked them when they operated out of their food truck. I’ve not had an amazing wow experience since.
I think the heart is in the right place, but execution is sorely lacking. I won't get into too much detail, but I worked with David and tried to organize and get some more consistency in the kitchen and the food, help fix the menu and the way things are prepared in the kitchen. I was not listened to and paid an ambiguous amount of money by personal check. He and the daughters don't know how to run a restaurant, I was hired to fix the bleeding, and no one would listen to what I said even though that's why I was hired. Best of luck to them, and I don't wish any malice, but the only reason that place is still open is literally because it's his house, he sleeps upstairs. He only hires people who live in halfway houses and have no clue how to cook beyond fast food because he can't afford to pay anyone who knows anything about food or cooking.
On occasion I’ve had some under-seasoned dishes but nothing a little salt couldn’t fix, however I haven’t tried a salad there. The service has always been pretty good.
I like the vibe but the seating is crowded.
we love ale rae’s! we’ve had a couple longer waits due to them but understaffed but i’m patient.
We eat there almost weekly and it’s always been a great experience. Tasty food, great service.
> the waitress had an attitude when it was brought up Okay, I think you need to explain the context here more. How was it brought up?
One of my favorite places to go. Even my wife loves it.
The food truck was always disappointing. Always with the bad attitude. Food was always mediocre with a good sauce
My first visit was very underwhelming. I don't necessarily have the highest expectations from a food truck, but even with that in mind the experience was sub par. I don't remember the exact details, but I do remember it being bad enough that I wanted to write a 2-star Google review, and went through the trouble of trying to find them, but couldn't. My memory is that it was pretty poor food and very overpriced.
The food is meh. Except their pita bread is really good. Atmosphere and service 10/10. The drinks are good too
Yeah, drinks are good, but food is seriously meh. I was underwhelmed by every dish on the table the one time I went with my family and a friend. Everything was under seasoned and not anywhere close to an authentic representation of what I would expect from said dish. Especially the tacos. And it took a long time and the live music that night was awful. Nothing wrong with the people, they seem nice, but I don’t want to pay that price for food I’m not stoked about.
I've had good food and service here but the place very badly needs to cull their menu down to a more sane amount of selections. The bartender even told me last time that they have issues ever removing items from it. It doesn't help that they *only* provide QR menus and that it is just one long unending page. The only local place I know with a worse menu is Curious Dog.
We have been a lot and I do like the food (or most of what I’ve had anyways) and it’s generally been good experiences. They recently changed up the menu though. We did have one particularly bad experience there during the pandemic, but eventually got over it and started going back. Basically we ordered an extra side that they didn’t give us on a to-go order and went back in to ask about it. The Owner and cook implied my husband was trying to get free food because he wasn’t satisfied with the serving portions and the Owner made audible comments about people always trying to get something extra. They gave him the side of veggies, but they were basically raw and it was just a very uncomfortable situation that put us off for a long time. I am glad we got over it and started going back though.
I have some good friends who love it so much they practically live there. My wife and I went for brunch and came back with a "meh" experience. We will give it another try. I wish them the best, however.
I can’t stop laughing thinking about a really wet salad and what I would do.
I’ve been once. The food was good although service was kinda slow. My only real gripe is they make you use your phone to view the menu. I’m with the boomers on this one and refuse to do that. Otherwise, really good experience!
I like ale Rae’s, but I ALWAYS get sauce on the side because they go pretty ham with it. I’ll use like a quarter of what they give me typically!
I had the Shrimp Walnut salad back on my birthday. It was sooooo good. I ate half of it bc we were in a rush and took the rest to eat later. I accidentally left it in my car over night and cried when I realized i ruined it
I went here with my husband to try it out a couple years ago. Upon entering the parking lot, with the way it’s leveled compared to Broadway at that time, it dented the rim to his car’s front tire. We couldn’t see the parking lot that well since there wasn’t a street light where we pulled in, so we wouldn’t have known to be more careful or not. Husband was upset about that, but we were still willing to try it out. After collecting ourselves after denting said rim, we went inside (mind you this is our first experience) and there was a country music-style artist performing who literally brought it to the entire building’s attention that we were walking in. Stopped playing the music and everything and had the restaurant’s patrons clap for us getting there and walking through the front door. it didn’t feel welcoming, instead I was pretty embarrassed to be suddenly the center of attention for just trying to enter the building. After letting the embarrassment pass eventually, of course, the only table left was near the sound system and the place was already loud anyway. Had our ears blasted by the same dude who mortally embarrassed us, and we had one beer and left promptly. I’m LOLing typing this out, but I shit you not this happened, and it was real. we left feeling embarrassed and overstimulated hahaha. The SECOND TIME we went was with some friends after the Vols beat Bama in football. Wanting to keep celebrating, we ordered some drinks and food and we sat inside only to have a drunk, old Alabama fan with a long, huge beard flip us off and cuss us out for just sitting down and wearing orange. The music was, once again, super loud and after getting cussed at for existing and feeling overstimulated quickly, we opted to sit outside and enjoy our food and drinks, which were really great actually. Idk man I think the universe has other plans for me every time I walk into this place. The food and drinks are good, but my experience with the atmosphere is overwhelming, at best. So I’ll pass. Or at least stick with to-go orders.
I feel crazy I thought it was mid as fuck lol. same issue I have w a lot of food here, overly sweet
I had an issue with the girl at the door at a ticketed event a while back.
Do tell!
They should rename this Knoxville Crybabies. I read some of the dumbass comments in here. it’s a bar. They have a unique menu, you’re not gonna like everything. Generally speaking, the majority of my visits have been good. I had a few that weren’t, that doesn’t make me want to never go there again. Shit happens get over yourself.
It is a mixed bag for sure. Food tastes good but small portions for the price. Service is slow but friendly. Great outdoor space for kids. Hope it lasts but it’s not my cup of tea
Two visits. Two very different experiences. First time we went they squeezed two of us in and our food came almost TOO quick (not really a problem, was nice not having to wait around). Second time, six of us and even with a reservation booked in advance it probably took 15 minutes at our table to even order drinks. Food wasn’t on the table until after we’d been seated for an hour. Both times the food and drinks were really good, just strange to have such vastly different experiences in terms of service time.
I don't like the food there. Way too salty and just not good.
Decent food. Decent price. But something just seems… off. I would hardly call it a “gastropub” Just looked at the most recent one star review and I’m laughing my ass off about the “baby in a bar” moment.
Burgers were excellent. Meatloaf was trash. The fiesta mexi corn was inedible. Their "Cajun spidie" was a sloppy and nasty mess. So, mostly bad. The burgers I had were when it was a food truck. Nothing good has been ordered since they got the full restaurant.
Our waiter was the highest person I’ve ever seen. He forgot to put our order in. Our two year old was going nuts and we ultimately had to ask for our food to go because it took so long. I like their food. Some things are really, really good. But the service…
Every time I dealt with them for work and it's a god damn trip man. "Sorry, we're closed" said to the man with a dolly full of their stuff very obviously for them and going to places a customer wouldn't.
The floor where I was sitting looked like it was about to collapse and the maple burger I had was tasty enough, but an awful experience to eat.