Crù Bistro & Wine Bar

Husband and I ate here on a Monday night. It was good, but probably not what I would call great. The hummus was fantastic, and I had a cucumber gin martini that was good too.
For our entrees, I had the wild mushroom and pesto pasta and my husband had a burger. The pasta was excellent, and one of the few vegetarian options on the menu. Husband wasn’t blown away by his burger but the fries were really good (tried some, as any good wife should!).
I know it was a Monday but the emptiness of the place kind of threw me off. We would probably come back the next time we are in the Knoxville area!

We went to the restaurant downtown. The service is great. Very relaxed atmosphere. We had a light lunch with just salads & soup. Salads are great. No problem with special requests like dressing on the side or without cheese… nice portion. The shrimp & crab bisque is excellent.
I look forward to sampling some more items next time.

Cru is always a great option for downtown dining. Everything here really is good, and they also do brunch on Sundays. You can’t beat ½ wine on Sunday and Tuesdays either (4 – 10)! I love their wedge salad and the crab bisque! The pizzas and pastas are always delicious as well. Cru is consistently good and a great place to go when Market Square is crazy packed. The menu is huge and the drinks are great!

Excellent food Excellent service. Especially love their brunch, although every visit has been a delight.

My wife and I were attending a reception at the Emporium art gallery just down the street and wanted to grab something to eat quickly before it began. We happened upon Cru Bistro, looked over the menu and decided to dine there. It was our first time at a Cru Bistro. We both ordered the grilled chicken pesto sandwich with fries and it was delicious and just the right amount of food to eat without feeling stuffed. Our waitress was extremely nice and did a great job. We were glad there was a nice restaurant handy in that vicinity as it saved us from walking further up Gay Street or to Market Square, and we able to eat and attend our event on time.

Seriously a delightful experience, I had an Americana burger, but was looking for brunch, so I got an egg on it! This burger was worth the $ 13 it cost me. The burger was perfectly done how I wanted with a line of pink, but to much pink in the center, and the egg was also done nicely over medium. I got attached to the fries a little to early in the meal and utterly ruined eating about half the burger, but brought it home and it was great.
I’ve also been here for brunch a while ago, and had brunch with some friends. Everyone was satisfied and delighted with the food! The prices were much more reasonable than the décor and menu suggests (it sings $$$, but only costs $$) and really rival a chain in terms of price.
I would most certainly recommend it as a great way to show off modern Knoxville, and would bring anyone here from out of town to upscale our city.

One our favourites that never disappoints. Wife and I capped off 2015 with an early New Year’s eve dinner. Started with small plate Scallops which were seared perfectly with a scrumptious sauce! We both ordered the petite filets which arrived a nicely cooked medium rare and topped with blue cheese crumbles. Wife’s string beans were just right. My gouda polenta was incredible… better than ice cream. We split a mousse for desert which was a delightful finish for the evening! No tips for the chef (a very good thing)!!!

We really liked our visit here. Caesar salads all around. The shrimp and grits got rave reviews. The pizza was good. My salmon cakes were super tasty, much richer than expected but… yes! They were served over a finely diced Yukon gold potato hash was a perfect accompaniment. The room is not special but you don’t eat the room. Having recently spent two weeks around Asheville, found the food better in Knoxville, or picked better spots overall.

Something for everyone!
I decided this would be the perfect place for our son’s 21^st birthday party after searching Knoxville restaurant menus. He loves steak — check. His girlfriend is a vegetarian — check. My husband loves hot chicken — check. There was a large variety on the menu for his friend that was joining us. Let’s not forget about me though — the awesome wine selection!
I made reservations and our table was set and ready when we arrived. We were seated at a large table in the bar area. This was perfect for a festive birthday occasion. Our service was good, just not super fast which was fine because we weren’t in any hurry. Our server was very helpful with our questions and menu and drink selections.
Everyone said their food was great. Our son’s steak was cooked perfectly. His girlfriend loved the margherita pizza. My husband had the hot chicken. He said it had good flavor but could have been hotter. This means normal people can eat it as he normally eats fire in my opinion. I ordered the shrimp and polenta grits with a crab cake. The polenta part was very different from corn grits. It was unique and everything tasted great.
My favorite part was the wine flights. You can get a wine flight for $ 16 made up of any four wines you choose that are served by the glass. This gave me a chance to try several and introduce my 21 year old to different wines. It was a great night.

It was very odd to walk into the doors of Cru Bistro this past weekend. Mainly because I had been through its doors about 50 other times when the location was used for the original location of Nama. It was nice to see if updated, and ironically, we sat in the same «window» seat that we always sat in.
The deco has been changed to update the bistro feel. Gone are the soy sauce bottles, the asian influences and older floors. It appears the floors have been redone in a darker shade, or maybe they were always that shade and we just never noticed because Nama was so dark when we went into it.
On Saturdays and Sundays Cru offers a limited Brunch Menu. My friend insisted on going there because he had been before and liked their omelettes. My friend Jakob got the omelette with capicola, sausage and bacon. The omelette looked great. I ordered the French Toast Breakfast Sandwich. Each entrée comes with a side of gouda cheese grits.
The main concern I have with this place is portions. My friend’s omelet was delicious, as was my sandwich, with its delicious red pepper jam.
The side of the grits was a joke. It was a small ice cream scoop sized portion. It was embarrassing. I think with an omelet a side of bacon or sausage or TOAST would be a great idea. It shouldnt’ cost 4.00 for a side of bacon, I am sorry.
My break on the sandwich was supposed to be french toast, but it was «sweetened and soft» and made my sandwich fall apart. The coffee was on point, and strong and black and made my day in the cold weather much more palatable.
Our server was EXCELLENT. He was friendly, and courteous and kept our coffee mugs full.
Cru, you gotta serve bigger portions!

What can I add other than Cru is just fabulous. Great atmosphere on either side but pick the bar side if it’s a small intimate dinner. The menu is top notch and their drink selection is equally as impressive. The thing with Cru is that it doesn’t just look that good on paper, it IS that good in reality. We are so crazy about Cru that quite often when we have a dinner with friends in Knoxville we tend to end up finishing off the night ‘with a nightcap or two at Cru.’ It is in close proximity to I40 as well which just makes it incredibly handy for us all to head home afterward. A real gem of a place, don’t miss out.

I knew I would like this restaurant! The menu options were extensive, which is totally my type of restaurant. I ordered right away:
Grilled buttermilk cornbread — what a nice twist to cornbread! This is perfect for cornbread lovers. There’s a decent layer of melted cheese on this moist cornbread and a thin strip of something on top. I told the «not so hungry» dude to try it and he finished it in a matter of seconds. So far for not being hungry huh?
Stuffed mushrooms — I think it was stuffed with quinoa and the sauce was thai chili. I’ve had better stuffed mushrooms, probably because it had cheese on it, but this wasn’t too bad. It was just bland.
Wild mushroom and pesto pasta — the texture of pasta was okay. I loved the amount of mushrooms and the strong pesto flavor of this dish.
Wild mushroom hand tossed pizza — it took a few more bites than usual to say I liked it. It was basically a cheesy mushroom bread, which isn’t a bad thing. I guess I was expecting it to have a sauce base.
Crème brûlée infused with orange and vanilla — you can definitely taste the infused orange and vanilla!
It was hard to say which dish was my favorite. They were all pretty equally good and I couldn’t stop eating them all at the same time; bite after bite of each dish.

Great wine and wonderful appetizers! I would absolutely give it five stars had the price been a bit more reasonable, and they made the mistake of telling their customer «no» instead of trying to accommodate or negotiate. Their «sliders» appetizer comes as two burgers, but I was in a party of 3 and we ordered several appetizers and simply wanted a third slider instead of two orders of sliders. This is a pretty simple request in my opinion, but they refused and simply said no (the waitress was great and did go ask the kitchen, but she was told that they can’t split an order)!

Oh… Cru. The brunch that holds my heart. My most favorite brunch in Knoxville. Who can’t get behind 3 $ mimosas (with REAL pours and fresh squeezed OJ) or bloody marys? I have eaten brunch here so many times I know the menu by heart. I LOVE that they do brunch both Saturday and Sunday mornings! Brunch isn’t just for Sunday, yall!!!
Favorites:
The French toast sandwich is the bomb-​diggity and my normal goto. For extra calories (and extra awesomeness) get it with a side of their delicious gravy to pour on top. Shrimp and grits (best in town). GIGANTIC shrimp (oxymoron, anyone?) that are perfectly cooked and the grits are pure cheesy heaven. Also, any of the Benedicts are delicious and my roommate swears by the chicken and waffles. Aside from brunch, Cru has a seriously amazing 5.99 burger deal (with fries) on Wednesdays that can’t be beat. Their dinner menu has delicious offerings in both entrees and small plates as well, but the value is just not quite as good. The only reason for my 4 stars instead of five is that they are lacking a little in their lunch menu. I think it is pricey for the offerings. But do yourself a favor and treat yourself to brunch!

Yum!!! So glad they had Gluten Free options. ^.^
They specially prepared the Artichoke Dip so we could eat it. Thank You!!!
Salad to Die for!!!
We will be back.

The food and the service were excellent. Usually at this type of yuppie, pretentious restaurant i complain about the small portions. Not in this case. The pork loin wrapped in bacon in a bourbon sauce, four nice sized slices, moist, flavourful, delicious… The sides were mashed potatoes (homemade) asparagus (fresh, cooked to perfection). It would have been nice if they gave you some nice crispy French bread with the meal but this is the kind of restaurant where everything is extra, bread, salad, etc… Honestly one of the best meals I’ve eaten out in Knoxville. And the price of $ 19.00 pretty decent considering this was a very very good meal. This restaurant can get busy on a Friday, Saturday night so be prepared to wait. We got their late after 830pm and still waited 15 – 20 minutes for a table.

Long-​time fan of Cru and I like this location. I recommend you sit on the bar side. The ambiance is way-​different from side to side.
First — they always have great happy hour specials, and some nights feature great food specials as well. $ 6 burger and fries, flat bread specials, etc. The menu is pretty expansive but they do pretty much everything well. It isn’t out of control and you can order pretty much anything confidently. The salads are really good and the menu also features a few Shuck-​esque items like fish tacos. The pork tenderloin is good as well. There are some really good options for appetizers and small plates if you want to share or get a good variety. I will also note that they have a good brunch on both Saturdays and Sundays, if I am not mistaken. Overall, I think the quality of the food is quite good for the pretty affordable prices. The service can be extremely hit-​or-​miss, but the last several times I’ve had very sweet and attentive servers. Bone appetit!

Hmmm. This place is pretty darn good. Hadn’t been here in a minute and now I wonder why I stayed away for so long. I have always been a huge grits snob. Never liked them. But their grits blew me away. My plate was clean and I wanted more. And service was impeccable at 10:50 PM. Did I say that this amazing food is available late at night? Definitely without a doubt eat here!

Was in Knoxville for the Rossini Fest and stayed downtown and my sister suggested Cru. It was great. Portions were quite large. But the service was little slow.

Decided to catch a late lunch at Crú Bistro. It was a rough start; walked in and couldn’t find any staff to seat us. After a few minutes, a friendly face popped up from around the corner and helped us find a seat. The staff was friendly and the environment was nice, but nothing to rave about. Great selection of wine and ended up going with a flight. Followed it up with a cheese plate filled with a Maytag, Aged Cheddar, Chèvre/​Sheep, and Whole Grain Mustard Cows Milk with a plum jam, walnuts, grapes, and crostini. All delicious!!! I finished up with some classic chicken and waffles which were good as well. Overall fantastic experience and look forward to coming back.

I’ve been here a few times and it’s really good, but not very memorable for some reason. It’s one of those restaurants I put in the «safe» category. I’ve yet to ever have anything bad here.
The menu is huge! This actually turned me off of the restaurant initially. It was just too much for any restaurant to do well, especially a small downtown restaurant. But, like I said, everything I’ve had is delicious!
The huge menu is probably a plus for a lot of people. There’s always something to please anybody!

There is a happy hour special every day of the week. $ 3 house wines M-​F, $ 2 drafts and $ 5 pizza on Tues., and $ 5.99 burger and fries on Wed. Specialty items every weekend, and I have yet to find a brunch as good as this place anywhere in Knoxville.