Service is a little slow when it gets busy, but it's just because it's so popular--nothing to do with the staff not putting in their all. The pool area is very cool. It DOES SMELL LIKE CIGARETTES, but if that doesn't bother you, great! The vibes are super good, and they have all kinds of drinks on tap. read more

Urban Bar & Corner Cafe - Bars Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

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Only had patio drinks here but BEST PRICE IN TOWN! Our waitress was incredible even had a cigarette for my mother in law. Best corner views of old city and again the price is RIGHT read more

Best smokey dive bar in Knoxville Tennessee great happy hour, and good fresh bar food. chimichanga is awesome

My favorite bar in Knoxville. Great prices and people. Pool, darts and pinball to play. I recommend ordering the Caribbean wings.

Love this place. I've gotten a few things off their menu and every time it's SO good. Chicken strips & fries are so crispy. love shooting pool here & they have $1 off drafts every so often. Smoking is allowed , great place. staff is always so nice. read more

Urban Bar & Corner Cafe - Blue Moon draft & chicken strips - Bars Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

Attentive service and great dive. Plenty of room to sit and chat too. It is smoke inside which is a benefit to me but not all.

This place is a stalwart of downtown. Reasonable prices and very solid bar food. URBAN BAR FOREVER!

The service was quick, and the food delicious. Even though their restaurant was about to close, they still processed our order. These must be the most patient people on the face of the earth. As for ambiance...well, that depends on your opinion of cigarette smoke. If you're on Team Smoke, this is definitely your kind of place. read more

For simple bar food is great, everything handmade from the burgers, the pico the sauteed chicken, unique Caribbean sauce. I appreciate the smoking enviroment, they have the most pool tables in the neighborhood. The staff is way friendly, especially the twin servers. The muisc is sometimes a totally drag but that's the gamble with a Jukebox Great, welcoming progressive thinking crowd. Certainly a noteably spot in downtown Knoxville read more

When visiting Knoxville, I almost always make a stop at Urban Bar. It isn't hot or trendy, but it's reliable, relaxed, welcoming and always open! The bar food is tasty, fried and inexpensive. Who doesn't want a quesadilla or cheese fries in the middle of the night? The jukebox is full of my favorite choices and there are pool tables, if that strikes your fancy. The same waitresses have worked there for years and are cheerful and attentive. They always make this tee-totaler fresh coffee and keep my cup filled. We often meet friends there because it's a rare place that still allows smoking inside and many of our friends are smokers. As a non-smoker, I can attest that the cloud gets thick and oppressive after midnight. Your clothes will reek of cigarettes when you leave, but you will leave with a smile on your face from the good time that you've had while stopping through. Finally, it should be noted that Urban is in one of the best parts of town - the Old City - which rivals only downtown for the coolness factor. You can barhop from to here. If you do, plan to make this one of your longer stops. Cheers! read more

2 stars because the Caribbean wings we ordered were outstanding! I was so turned off by the smell and atmosphere of this place. I am a non smoker but am fine being around people that smoke but there is absolutely no ventilation in here. There was also a gentleman sucking down a cigar that permeated the entire joint. No thank you. I could wait to leave because it was so difficult to breathe. However, like i stated earlier, their wings are beyond delicious. Ill be back bug will be sitting outside on the patio. read more

Urban Bar & Corner Cafe - Caribbean chicken wings - Bars Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

I was in town for a fight and was just enjoying a night out with my friends Andy, Ralph, Dick, and Coach (who is the youngest of the group). I also need to say I am in a wheel chair, and I have problems with my grip sometimes. Well I accidentally knocked over my beer at the table and it spilled on the shoes of the waitress. She gave me a glare and i apologized. Later in the evening after a few more beers I dropped a bit of the head from a fresh beer onto the floor, and the same waitress slipped a little. I tried to apologize again but she called over the bartender and I was berated for being a "weak-hand faggot" who needs to "roll out of their town." Defeated, I decided to leave. Unfortunately, the beer on the floor also made it hard to try and leave. Ralph jumped up to help push me out but the bartender said, "everyone sit right there, I'm calling the cops." It took me several minutes to try and work up the energy to move the chair to the door. I did it, but man was it hard. The bartender kept laughing at me every time I slipped on the way out. Short read: They made me wheel out of there without help from anyone else because I accidentally spilled my beer. read more

I'm from California but currently visiting family in Knoxville & my cousins ask me to come out for a fun night. This place was anything but fun. The food was HORRIBLE. The staff is INCREDIBLY RUDE. It seems they favor only their regulars or relatives. This is a PUBLIC business. One would think they would be more accommodating. Apparently they also don't know how to handle having customers who are having a good time. As I watched them ask people to LEAVE for being too loud at a BAR! This is something that makes no sense. The people they ask to leave were just HAPPY & having a GOOD time & extremely polite to all around them. Who goes to a bar & expects it to be a QUIET night out? How does a place like this stay in business? Also I'm not sure what the legal age for drinking is in Tennessee, but back home in California its 21! & bars get shut down & lose their liquor license for serving minors. This bar was serving a 20 year old alcohol. read more

Definitely not a fan Unless you love being drenched in cigarette smoke the moment you walk in. The food menu is also pretty generic but I never got to try it. The manager was very insulting cause I tried to use my state issued temporary drivers license as an ID. She essentially said it was fake and she was very rude about it. I walked away and would never go back there. They are dog friendly but dogs also get lung cancer. Definitely recommend taking your money elsewhere. read more

Holy SMOKE. Literally. If you aren't a smoker, don't come within a mile of this place. You can barely see your hand in front of your face for all the stale cigarette smoke! I was here with a group and didn't want to rain on anyone's parade, so I ordered a martini. Bad idea. When you're in this much smoke, everything TASTES like it. Now, I get that many of the bars in the Old City allow indoor smoking...this is a whole new level of it, though. Maybe the building has bad ventilation. Whatever the problem, if you find yourself here, I recommend the patio...even in freezing temperatures. read more

This place is filled with smoke. Carpets are crappy. The owner takes little interest in fixing things. It's an old building. I've seen roaches in the bathroom. Food is mediocre. I'm sure there are other places to spend a dime. Crown and goose or the jig and reel. Better atmosphere and so you have to step outside to smoke. At least you don't risk getting banned because the owner does not like you. And you will go home not needing several showers to get the stink out. The owner will ban anyone for no reason. So be warned that this guy is a jerk and has little respect for you the paying guest. read more

Great place. Great bar. Great food. Wonderful staff. That's all you need. Frequented this place for years and no matter what other bar I may try this is the most welcoming and enjoyable. read more

We were in search of a bar with a late night menu and were directed to Urban... I would have rather gone home hungry, and we almost did. After receiving our drinks in a pretty orderly fashion we sat through the longest time I have ever had to wait for food, dealt with a pretty inattentive server, and were eventually served some of the saltiest wings on the planet (indelibly so). Although mostly broken/crumb pieces, at least my curly fries tasted good... I just couldn't believe a starred item on their menu was so bad! Almost abandoned and no water refills in sight, we eventually closed our tabs - I will definitely look elsewhere for food next time I'm in Knoxville. read more

The responded to me by e-mail, but they didn't address my concerns. This is my original review: This has been my favorite bar every time I have lived in Knoxville. I've gone there with friends, my little sister and on occasion all by myself. I love the pool tables ... and the nachos. They used to have the most wonderful curly fries, but I moved away for a year and when I moved back, they don't have them anymore. I got those curly fries more times than I probably should have. :) parking is normally fine, even on busy nights I just park under the bridge that is down the street. It is very smoky inside, but they do have a nice patio area if you're sensitive to smoke. Unfortunately, the last time I went in to the bar they told me I was banned, and they refused to tell me why. I had to call today to find out. They accused me of asking customers for free drinks; I haven't ever asked for a drink. Ever. They said complaints were placed by some of their regulars, but they couldn't tell me who. I've never asked for anything in my entire life, let alone a drink. The manager refused to listen to me at all. I even told her they could check their cameras for when I paid cash and their credit card payment history. I've paid my tab when I've been there except when a good friend of several years bought me drinks because he's just a sweet person; I even bought food after, and then another time when a new friend I was hanging out with took my $12 tab and paid it with his; he refused to let me pay it. He even left the bartender a $5 tip. He also bought drinks for two of my friends that were sitting down the bar (I only know them from Urban so I guess I don't get to see those friends anymore) and two random people that came up to the bar and hung out with us. They refused to even try to verify that the accusations against me were untrue. She said that, "The decision has been made and there's nothing you can do about it, the owner doesn't change his mind." She did say that I could talk to the owner this week, but in the same sentence she said that it wouldn't change anything. She condescendingly told me that because I disagreed with what they were accusing me of, that they were correct in banning me. She basically made fun of me for being upset that they banned me. :( I thought it was a joke when they told me I was banned. I didn't do what I was accused of, and I am mortified of how I was treated. It's just appalling. I don't know who I upset, but if you aren't a regular, the manager at urban bar will treat you with little to no respect. I don't know where these accusations could have come from, and I seriously don't know anyone at Urban bar that I could have upset. :( I am highly disappointed. If they feel like rectifying this situation, they have my contact information, but after how I was treated, even if they apologized, they have lost my business. I am the kind of person that sees the good in every person ... ... that their owner allowed the management to treat me that way was simply disheartening. I recently moved back to Knoxville and Urban was one of the few places I had hung out at, and I had actually made a few friends there. So on top of being unjustly banned and made fun of, they took away the new friends I made that I didn't have contact info for. read more

The bartender was rude and called my husband a douche because he wanted a beer they didn't have and refused to serve him when he asked for s Guinness. If you want to be treated than less than human, this is the place for you. read more

This has been my go to bar since the untimely passing of our dear Sassy Ann. The best drink prices in the area and they serve up excellent bar staples, the best wings in town for sure. Doesn't get too crowded until late and the service is seriously top notch. It's worth noting that this is a smoking bar, so if you're sensitive to smoke I'd avoid spending too much time here. But definitely grab an order of tater-totchos to go! read more

hurricanes!! beef brisket! The dilly bar squad will return - very pleased with our experience. read more

Urban Bar & Corner Cafe - Bars Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

This bar has everything. Cheap but good and stiff drinks, amazing bar food, pool tables and darts, kind servers who take care of you well no matter how busy they are. And the food is served LATE, which I am very appreciative of what with my work schedule. Thanks, Urban Bar and Corner Cafe staff! read more

This is definitely a place with a specific kind of vibe. You get a lot of food service people and tons of "alternative" crowds. Usually has great music playing, and the bar grub in the best in the city, especially since the kitchen stays open until 2:00 a.m., making it the best go-to spot for when you're sobering up after a night of questionable decisions. Suggest you try the nachos with chicken. The portions and the amount of cheese makes this food item positively euphoric. There are lots of pool tables, and they usually have great art from local visual artists up on their walls. As for the bartenders, they're highly efficient and sassy. Don't be a drunk fool to them. They won't tolerate it. However, be civil and tip them well, and they will be the best staff you've ever been served by in the city. Don't piss off the doorman, either. He's here to keep the peace, and he absolutely will. Their patio is the best in the city, and it gives you a great view of the Old City and all its activities-- some of which can be pretty comical if you're out there when the clubs close down. Brace yourself for the train whistle. It isn't Urban's fault, but it'll interrupt your conversation every hour. read more

open everyday until 2AM or is it 3AM? Correct me if I'm wrong. Drinks are cheap. I ordered a red wine glass for $4. You get what you pay for in that sense. There is outside seating and if you're lucky, the train will pass by. Be prepared to cover your ears because the sound will travel right through your veins. Smoking outside is recommended and cigars are welcomed too. Go down the street and pick some up. On a delightful night, this is the place to top off. read more

Definitely our Go-To-EverybodyKnowsYourName-Kinda-Bar. Yes, you can smoke inside. Yes, it's an OLD bar, in the Old City. Hmm. Go figure. The ventilation could use some updating, but for those of us who smoke, it's nice not to worry about losing our table just to go outside. There is a patio, which offers amazing people-watching opportunities. On more than one occasion, we have made a drinking game out of whatever patterns we notice. The service is awesome and the drinks are cheap. I've never had bad food there! If you are a fan, you have to try their pita & tzatziki! It's amazing. Also, mixed drinks tend to have a heavy-pour. Not a bad thing for how little they charge. I disagree with the reviews below with the sound level - I find that, compared to every other bar I'm the Old City, it's relatively quiet. No, it's not a library, but you most definitely can carry on conversations. it's much better than Barley's in that regard. They do have pool, darts, and pinball, but get there early or else you'll be waiting. Its really an amazing neighborhood bar. Lots of "regulars" that do appreciate the casual and relaxed atmosphere. If you can get past the smoke, it's a nice place just to sit and chill with your friends. If not, move along and leave it for those of us that that love it. read more

Despite the company of friends, Urban is falling out of my favor. On busy nights, due to the cigarette smoke you could cut with a knife, my eyes water and burn, my clothes reek, and I can't seem to get a real breath. Even on the best nights, they won't open the patio doors. Not here, fresh spring breeze! I'm actually getting worried for my friends that work here. When it's not busy, the smoke is not nearly as bad. The patio (and it's accompanying breathable air) is the best spot in old city for people watching on Saturday night, when you can find a seat... And if they don't close the patio early... Which is normally when I leave. The food is also really great, and I always am tempted to eat. The appetizers are all good. The wings are also on par. So, love/hate relationship. I know plenty of people that go here and the bartenders, the food is good, the bathrooms are clean (but have broken latches on the doors), and there are plenty of games (pool/darts/jukebox) to go around. But I'm almost as bored with it as sitting in my own living room on a Saturday Night. Nothing changes, nothings new or even architecturally interesting about it. It REEKS, and subsequently, I reek. I'll say the same thing I say every time I go here to wrap this up: "I gotta stop going here..." read more

Super duper smoky inside, however that doesn't stop me from visiting every single time I'm in town. If the weather is nice, sitting on the patio is a no-brainer. Excellent people watching outside. My favorite bar staff downtown. Emily is an angel and always remembers my drink of choice! Pretty darn good bar food. The nachos, veg taco salad, and chimichanga with Caribbean sauce are all great. I miss the curly fries but the regular fries are good too. Love this bar. read more

Urban Bar & Corner Cafe - patio - Bars Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

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Listen to the reviews. BEST BAR FOOD IN TOWN. Try the pineapple upside down martini, it is awesome! (I am normally a beer/whiskey drinker). My 3 star review would be a 4 star if they still had curly fries on their menu. They do have (seasoned) waffle fries now, but there is something about the curly fries... Their nachos are amazing with extra queso and no tomatoes- their chips are made in-house and are good. I have also had the patty melt on several occasions (when they had curly fries), and it was very flavorful and good (only one time I had a burned burger- it was kinda gross, but since they are generally very consistent I chose to overlook this). Other menu items are good- chicken tenders, chimi (huge and delicious!). The twin waitresses are fun and great servers. Atmosphere is mixed- hipster, casual, business casual. Great bar! Very smoky! (They also have outside seating!) read more

Loved the Scooby Snacks cocktail, Garlic Parmesean wings...and the Caribbean wings were SO GOODDDD!!! Tater Tots and ranch were also great!!

Wonderful experience of dining, drinking, & people watching on the afternoon of Boomfest! We were looking to go to The Crown & Goose, but fortunately, it was closed. We walked up the block and found a very inviting patio with mature trees and lots of tables. The place has the look and feel of a local handout, but our server made us feel welcome, was attentive, and made sandwich recommendations which were delicious. The homemade chips left us wanting more. Lots of foot traffic made the people watching fun & a thoroughly enjoyable experience. read more

Imagine going to a place called Urban, yet all hip hop artists are filtered from jukebox... I know hipsters are into irony and all, but I didn't know I'd signed up to hear Macy's background music all night. Y'all ever heard of cultural appropriation? read more

The unprofessional staff was terribly rude and the drinks were sub-par. The place also smells so bad like you wouldn't believe!

Don't plan on receiving ANY service if you come here. Sat on the patio, had to ask a server for service and he said he'd be with me and then proceeded to wait on every table around us BUT our table!! The drinks definitely were not worth the wait. I ended up going to the bar for my own drink. read more

Clearly frozen food and not cooked well. Had to return food three times and the waitresses were neither helpful or friendly. There was a party there clearly having a fun time...loud but not to the level of bothersome but the staff were clearly bothered. Price of food and drink way out of sync with area and I'm pretty sure the liquor was watered down or just not poured well. Will not be returning. read more

Bad food, over priced drinks and absolutely abysmal service. I would not recommend comming

The waiter was rude, the managers didnt care. The food wasnt that good. The place is not worth your time.

During the week when all the other "bars" downtown are closing way too early you can always depend on Urban Bar. The beer and food are both good. The crowd can be kind of young but overall tame. Service has always been top notch. Also this is a smoking bar, which is rare downtown. Overall I recommend it especially if you are out downtown during the week after 10 PM. read more

Took the bartender a hour to get me a drink. When I finally got it, it tasted horrible. I decided to move on won't give it another shot.

Love this bar and restaurant! It has a low key, easy going vibe with excellent chicken wings (crispy)! Also, has a pool hall and you can smoke inside. Our server was so nice and happy, we had an excellent experience here, felt right at home. Oh and the music selection was great and not loud at all. read more