The Truth About Litton's

There is a deli here in Knoxville called Litton's Market and Restaurant. People rave about this place and apparently it is legendary. On a radio show one morning I heard people calling in response to the question of "What makes you a real Knoxvillian?" and the answer "Eating at Litton's" was second-most-popular, after only "Going to a game."

Litton's is located near La Casa and this morning while on our way to go work there, we stopped there for lunch. We were underwhelmed -- and we won't be going back.

The burgers are what people say is great about this place and since there is a very limited menu, that was what we had. My burger was bland, small, dry, and came with strange-tasting cheese (something called "smoked cheddar" should not taste like unmelted Velveeta). The only thing good about it was the bun. My request for bacon on the burger was ignored by the waitress. The Wife and I wound up getting the exact same thing, and the exact same thing showed up on the bill (I was not billed for the absent bacon) but we were charged different prices nevertheless. Two cheeseburgers (neither of which were finished because they weren't all that good), a shared order of onion rings, a hot tea, and a diet coke cost us nearly twenty-five dollars.

I'd actually eaten there almost a year ago, while interviewing with a lawyer. He raved about the place and I was polite and said I liked it, too. The truth was that I thought it wasn't very good then, but was willing to allow that maybe I had gotten a bad burger for whatever reason, because everyone who ever mentioned the place spoke of it like a Shangri-La for cheeseburgers.

So I'm sorry, Knoxville, but someone has to tell you the truth. And the truth is, Litton's just isn't very good. Much better cheeseburgers exist, including within Knoxville.