The Omnivorous Fish

In case I forgot to mention it, I’m in Knoxville. It’s thrilling, but I still have to eat. I heard about this soul food place online called Chandler’s Deli, and I have to admit, when someone said it was in a former Taco Bell, I had to see it. I also saw another review (sorry, I didn’t save the links) that said something about not being afraid of the neighborhood and “go there anyway.” I figured if the food was good enough to get shot at, it would be worth a ride.

It was about 10 miles from the hotel, and I have to admit, it’s still weird to have to drive on the interstate every time you need to go anywhere. I realize this is a normal experience for many people, but in New York, we just don’t do it. Eventually, we found Chandler’s along the side of a dirty, nondescript road (with a pretty name: Magnolia) in a dirty, nondescript part of Knoxville. It was unmistakably a former Taco Bell, complete with drive-up window, except very subtly painted pastel pink. Inside the place was pretty much dirty. The kitchen was dirty, the dining room was dirty, it was just dirty. A big poster hung on the wall telling us the many names of Jesus. I hoped this was going to be one of those experiences like going to a Mexican place in Southern California that’s in a trailer and it turns out to have absolutely transcendent food. I hoped the friendly, sweaty people behind the steam table were going to serve us up some truly authentic from-scratch food I would remember to my death.

I was disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, the food wasn’t bad. It was a good representation of the kind of food that some people in the south care about. NK (my partner in crime on the road) had pulled pork (we both did; I initially was going to have chicken and dumplings, until I saw the dumplings) with sweet potatoes, resplendent with marshmallow topping, and macaroni and cheese, which, like much we ate was good, but not great. My sides were fried okra- which I believe to be prefab- and mixed greens, which were ok, but desperately needed the nearby cruet of vinegar to perk them up. The pork was ok, but had a higher-than-acceptable percentage of gristly bits, and it was more shredded than pulled. Think frizzy perm. The iced tea, however, was excellent, the second-best of the trip thus far. (The winner, so far, was an unmemorable but perfectly fine sandwich place close to the theater that I would go back to just for the tea.)

So, if you’re in the shadier side of Knoxville, Chandler’s is worth stopping by, but I wouldn’t wade into gunfire to go there.

Chandler’s Deli
3101 E Magnolia Ave
Knoxville, TN 37914
(865) 595-0212