Say you’re down­town at lunchtime with a growl­ing stom­ach. You’ve tried out most of the restau­rants in Mar­ket Square, worn out Tomato Head (if that’s pos­si­ble), and Down­town Grill & Brew­ery just isn’t appeal­ing to your appetite. You want a unique din­ing expe­ri­ence, some­thing fun, some­thing special.

Head on over to the Knoxville Visitor’s Cen­ter located on the cor­ner of Gay Street and Sum­mit Hill Avenue for a treat. Knoxville’s own WDVX broad­casts The Blue Plate Spe­cial live from a small stage inside the Visitor’s Cen­ter every week­day from noon until 1 p.m. There’s a counter on the right hand side as you come in serv­ing sand­wiches, drinks and var­i­ous sides for your after­noon meal — a per­fect accom­pa­ni­ment to the sounds you’re sure to love.

Var­i­ous bands like Lani Nash, Slow Joe Crow and Knoxville’s own Christa­bel and the Jons per­form on stage for an audi­ence hun­gry for music as well as food. The bands serve up music rang­ing from coun­try swing music to ban­jos mixed with alter­na­tive rock sounds. It’s a vari­ety com­pa­ra­ble to the menu at Sunspot on the Strip; every­one will find a taste they enjoy.

A few more bands that have per­formed include Wild Ani­mal Party, Mic Har­ri­son and The Bow­mans.

Did I men­tion it’s com­pletely free? Well, unless you pur­chase food, but the con­cert is com­pletely free of charge.

Want to lis­ten but can’t make it in for a live per­for­mance? Just tune into any of these sta­tions at noon:

  • 89.9 FM, Clinton
  • 92.7 FM, Sevierville/Pigeon Forge
  • 102.9 FM, Knoxville
  • 105.9 FM, Knoxville

or lis­ten at work by tun­ing in via Inter­net at www.wdvx.com. You can also watch YouTube videos of the Blue Plate Spe­cial if you still want to see what it’s like or watch past per­for­mances here.

Yes, The Blue Plate Spe­cial serves up lunch a bit dif­fer­ently, but guar­an­teed to make life in Knoxville a bit more… special.

Creative Commons License Pho­tog­ra­phy by squid­pants