hot rods 50's diner

great lunch. restaurant has 50's decor. cute, yet the food was great. burgersgreatand the chicken pot pie soup was excellent. service was polite and prompt. will repeat with family again

hot rods is by far the best restaurant in the area. they put their own unique spin on classic dishes like their thanksgiving dinner sandwich, to a hamburger with peanut butter. they have agreatstaff who you will be. hard pressed to find their equal, anywhere. the atmosphere is what you would expect for a 50s diner. there is jukebox up front, and lots ofgreatmemorabilia on the walls. they havegreatsalads and desserts. the portion sizes are huge, and don't be surprised if the owner, ashley, greets you at the door. i personally drive 1 1/2 hours to eat there. yes, its that good.

great food. if you wantgreatfood and a fun place to eat it at then go to hot rods 50's diner. always love the hamburgers there.

redemption never tasted so sweet. my first trip to hot rods deliveredgreatfood but the service was horrible. the only drink was the one krissy brought to our table and we never got a refill. i try to take the busy-ness of the establishment into consideration with slow food and even slower service but they weren't really that busy! not to mention her personality was that of a snooty person of whom acting as if she were doing us a favor waiting on us! let me tell you krissy provided poor service without a smile.
my mom wanted to go to hot rods today for lunch and even though i was hesitant, she was so excited, i agreed. as we were seated i remember thinking about our first trip and dreading the whole experience but boy was i wrong! we were greeted by sarai (with an i) and she was fantastic. she made us feel as if we were at home, took excellent care of us, our food was as ordered, and treated us as queens. she made sure our drinks never went below half full and checked on us frequently but not stalkingly. i loved it and we will totally be back only if she is there. so - if you want crap service, go see krissy. if you want excellent service, with a smile, and happy you decided to come by...see sarai (with an i). she'll serve you right up!

awesome atmosphere.greatfood. good prices and portions. have been twice on my trips to tennessee. i’ve had the elvis burger and the cowboy western burger. both very good and flavorful. foodfather approved!!!

#1 on my list of favorites. service has always beengreatand have never...never... been disappointed with the food. this is my family's favorite!greatvalue too.

sad you have to be so uncomfortable to get a good burger. hot rods has an excellent menu andgreatfood. however, one must be willing to be crammed in a small uncomfortable booth and get rushed to leave in order to enjoy one of many terrific items on the large menu. the indoor dining area is quite small. the perimeter of the dining room is lined with 1950s style booths to match the restaurant theme. sadly, most of the booths are about 3 feet long and very narrow. a party of four feels crammed into a sardine type experience to the extent that no one is able to fully utilize their arms and the plates hardly fit on the table. there is a long row of tables situated in the center of the floor, although the restaurant is often crowded and the hostess doesn't hesitate to cram diners into the sardine cans on the wall. my party of four had to laugh at the comical spectacle we made trying to sit at the tiny booth we were packed into. we ended up opting to ask for boxes to take cold food back to work since the hostess refused to reseat us at tables that came available or offer us seating at one of the many tables that were available in the heated, enclosed patio area. love the food but will order take out in the future to avoid the sardine experience.

lydia r

like a lot!. i drive from west knoxville to maryville to eat at hot rods 50's diner. the only other restaurant i do that for is foothills milling company. i've been eating at hot rod's since it opened. it's owned by a guy named ray who does most of the cooking and must work 80 hours a week. the food is what i come for but the experience is a big plus. the look, the decor and memorabilia are all entertaining and make the meal more enjoyable. they have over 50 ways they can do your burger but the most impressive burger to me is the chicken burger where they grind their own chicken to make the patty. with the seasoning they add, i think i like the taste better than a beef burger. my friend steve loves their salmon burger. they dogreat"buffalo" meals with their spicy buffalo sauce on chicken & burgers. i try to have their beef liver and grilled onions with bacon every month. it's hard to find that done correctly. the menu has something for everyone. it's got fish, italian, cajun and more to go with the classic diner classics you would expect in a diner. i usually find that when menus have too many items that the quality suffers but that doesn't seem to happen there. it's worth the drive and agreatplace for a family or a date.

what a burger joint(meant with all the honor that comes with). man what agreatplace!
not only are there tons of different styles of burger topings but they also let you get most with a black bean or tofu style burger or a perfectly seasoned in house hand made beef patty, which my wife said is as good as it gets.
there are almost as many choices for sides and potatos. fries,chips,tots, rings...
they have a 4 patty challenge and scores of photos on the wall representing the folks who've completed the task in 30 minutes or less.
nice 50's theme and lots of cool little novelties from that era.
friendly staff andgreatservice.
also a wall full of 'add it yourself' condiments.
my favorite 'burger joint' in the state!!!

hot rods 50’s diner. i found this place on the internet and knew we would be going through knoxville so we drove a few miles off the main road to eat at hot rods. it was agreatdecision. i previously signed up for the e-mails on hot rods and joined their e-club. for that i got a free appertizer. had the shrimp which were excellant. for the entree i ordered the pork sliders which came out as two pork chops on buns. they were delicious. my spouse ordered two cheeseburger sliders whcih were excellant. the prices were unbelivable as they were very low. less than $5 for the sliders.service was excellant even though our waiter was working a large table next to us.this is a fun place to visit and eat in. plenty of parking on the lot. a sports car marks the location which is downtown.

best burgers ever.greatburgersgreatprices.. loved it..

great greasy spoon, diner fare!. we stumbled upon hot rods about two years ago and love it! the restaurant is clean, the staff is sweet and helpful, and the food is yummy!greatmilkshakes! burgers to drool over if you're a burger lover!greatkids selection--ours love the hot dog. the regular fries are of the shoestring variety and pretty average; but the ribbon fries and sweet potato fries are both awesome! the thanksgiving day sandwich is just what it sounds like and it's delish!!! we often take our family--visiting from out of town--and they enjoy it, too! fyi--this is no place for a total vegetarian (staff is forthcoming about the yuck factor of their "veggie" options) or for anyone counting calories; but it is a great, occasional treat that our family really enjoys!

good stuff. had the best grilled hot dog at hot rod's. nice atmosphere,greatfood, many options. some of the waitresses have short attention spans, but the food makes up for it.

food wasgreatbog servings and heather the server was the best.

sooooo very good!!. i am continually amazed at how good the food is at hot rods. i love the breakfast buffet, best grits, oatmeal and biscuits & gravy i've ever had! i love having the chili with spaghetti, the burgers are delicious! there are so many menu items i never get bored. i'm just starting to enjoy the italian corner. hot rods is a wonderful dining experience.


-----27 feb, 2011-----

i keep coming back!. i visited alcoa again and had to got to hot rods. just love the breakfast, the grits, oatmeal and biscuits and gravy are delicious. the small burgers and chili make me hungry just thinking about them. restaurant is kept very clean and staff and owner are very friendly. just agreatplace to eat!


-----19 sep, 2010-----

very enjoyable dining experience.greatplace to eat! i've eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner here and each meal has been wonderful. very friendly staff, everyone sincerely wants to please customers. restaurant is very clean. owners have done agreatjob in making a fun place to eat with a menu that offers enough choices not to bored eating there.