Fernweh, An Ache for Distant Places

Nearly everyone in Knoxville knows the parameters of Inskip’s twin community, Fountain City, but ask them about Inskip and you will likely get a blank look.

Inskip is not a new neighbourhood by any means. It could be described as the back end of Fountain City, or the back end of the Oakwood/Lincoln Park neighbourhood before you get to I-275. It has even been grouped together with Norwood and Powell, but we have our own designated zip code.

Central Avenue connects the Old City to Happy Holler and to Inskip Road all within three miles, or if you take the interstate north from downtown to the Heiskell Avenue exit, Lonsdale will be to your left and Inskip/ Oakwood/ Lincoln Park will be to your right.

Both Inskip and Fountain City form a heart-shaped territory with its bottom point tucked into the intersection of I-75 and I-640.

I was in disbelief after an extensive Google search on Inskip returned hardly any hits aside from the Inskip Grill (which is not located in Inskip anymore), Inskip Pool/Park, and property listings. To my knowledge, I am the first to write about Inskip from a cultural/entertainment angle, so that’s kinda juicy.

I have lived in or within a couple miles of this area for more years than I care to count. It is always awkward writing about “home” but I might say I know this area and have scoured its current gems better than anyone reading.

Inskip was first settled by white folk in 1795 and remained nameless until the 1870s. Eventually it was named after Reverend John Inskip (1816-1884) who visited and preached sermons at “Inskip Station.”

The station became a town, built around a stop on the Knoxville & Ohio Railroad, which is believed to have been located where the Bookwalter Church on Central Avenue is today.

Inskip Station was wildly popular and heavily advertised as a restful picnic resort, and it was a hotspot for traveling preachers to host revivals and church camps for hobos and zealots alike.

Not much about Inskip origins is available on the general internet, but there is a Facebook group called You Know You’re From Inskip-Norwood When… with a lot of great contributions from locals. Thank you, if you are reading.

One member has shared nearly 600 scans from newspaper publications detailing all of early Inskip’s weddings, deaths, visitors, ice cream suppers, land developments, property and cattle for sale, stories of people getting drunk and ran over by train cars or blown up by dynamite, the saga of Shep the newspaper dog, and even the birth of a colt with no front legs that the town marveled at as a dime store attraction.

Inskip’s origins are very much like those of its twin community, Fountain City. The two share schools, parks, businesses, and attractions.

Both are full of adorable cottage homes and gardens, with many being built in the 1940s or earlier. Inskip is extremely apartment-dense, and the average house is smaller and more affordable than those in other parts of town.

Inskip has a reputation for having a high number of  people suffering mental illness, addictions, and houselessness out wandering the streets, and also a reputation for petty crimes. This neighbourhood has some grit and it is a bit run down in some areas, but there are frequent community events and planning sessions to improve it.

I love the diversity of my neighbourhood and the convenience of being at the center of several major interstates and highways, like spokes jutting out from a wheel in all directions.

I can be in the Old City in five minutes, or Market Square in ten. I can hop on an interstate or backroads and get to Ijams or Bearden or Parkridge within 10 minutes. I can take a different route to work every day for a week and still have options. 

LITTLE MEXICO
As convenient as the location is, what I love most about Inskip is the number of multi-cultural and polyethnic businesses that connect the dots of my neighbourhood, especially the restaurants.

Inskip is a low-key foodie neighbourhood, and is also known as Knoxville’s Little Mexico. You can find several Mexican, Salvadorian, Columbian, Honduran, and other Latin / Hispanic cuisines around Inskip Road, Central Avenue, Merchants Drive, and Clinton Highway.

El Ranchero Express is my go-to. It is located next to Valvoline in a former Sonic building so you can easily spot the layout. Stalls near the entrance side are for employees or for people who want to sit at tables between the two rows of stalls. Everyone else should order at the drive-through speaker around back, then they will direct you to a stall on the Exit side to wait.

They have a pretty extensive menu, but I can not get enough of the a la carte tacos on the bottom right corner. For $2.99 you can choose from asada, adobada, carnitas, chorizo, pollo, tripe, buche, or lengua. Each comes with onions and cilantro unless you say otherwise, and each order comes with hot tortillas chips and three fresh salsas.

I have also had their Pollo con Queso a few times, and it is divine.

Everything is made to order so it is not exactly “fast” food, but it is real food, and still provides the ease of a drive through with a hot+fresh end game.

Caza Brava is on the total opposite end of Inskip that crosses into Powell, but this is the place where dreams come true. When we came back from Tampa a few years ago after acquiring a Birria obsession, Caza Brava was the first place I know of that had put it on the menu.

If you have been living under a rock, you must try this slow-roasted beef (or goat, depending on where you go) folded into tortillas with cheese, onions, cilantro, and served with a piping hot spicy consomme.

Birria is often interchangeable with Quesatacos or Quesabirria, though Quesatacos sometimes come in more of a quesadilla form.

The staff was so sweet to make a low carb salad version during one of our visits.

Monterrey Mexican Restaurant has the best grilled chicken quesadillas. I have eaten their chicken fajitas before and it was excellent, but I go back for the quesadillas. I also think they have some of the best homemade salsa in the area.

El Chico is the OG of Mexican restaurants in Knoxville. I am shook to have just learned that El Chico is a franchise and the first location opened in Texas in 1940, but there is nothing corporate chain-ish about it. Despite being a chain, it is a staple of the neighbourhood and has been here longer than most of us.

Their burrito bowls are fire, and you can build your own from a rather large selection. Below is the carnitas bowl with cilantro, sour cream, cheddar, roasted corn, onions, and salsa.

Anafres is in the old Puleo’s Grill building, a relative newcomer in Inskip. You can find it right between El Chico and El Ranchero Express, and just across the street from Monterrey.

The Choripollo and shrimp fajitas were all perfect.

On Tuesdays, they have a special for $1.50 beef or chicken tacos in addition to Happy Hour deals.

Sabor Catracho Latino on Central Avenue (no website) dishes out Salvadoran and Honduran specialties. The Bistec Enebollado is super thinly sliced and crispy sautéed steak and onions served with refried red beans, a thick wedge of queso fresco, a lightly dressed salad, and fresh corn tortillas.

They also snuck a surprise Burrito Hondurena in my bag; a corn tortilla filled with beans, eggs, cheese, and sour cream with some type of fruit mixed in, either yucca or mango or both.

La Herradura has a couple indoor restaurants with seating, but they are most beloved for their food trucks parked at various gas stations all over town.

You can almost always count on seeing one  at the Exxon on Merchants Drive and at the Citgo on Broadway. The latter location is technically on the Fountain City side, just take Adair Drive a mile or two from Bruhin/Inskip Road to Broadway.

Their Birria and Quesatacos are INCREDIBLE! My mom is an organic chef and has one of the most critical palates of anyone I know, but she always wants to pull over and get tacos at the La Herradura truck.

This aggravates my dad who absolutely loathes the “street food” trend of eating greasy little foods from a truck while standing outside on the street.

I admit that I am also a food snob myself, but as you can see, I come by it honestly.

Delicias Columbianas is one of the few places in Knoxville where you can find Arepas rellena, though Pupusas are gaining local fame.

This Arepa has sauteed chicken and veggies, topped with onions and avocado slices. The pepper base they use is extremely unique, and I can not say I have had anything exactly like it before.

El Torito has a lot of different names; Azteca, Tienda Hispana, El Torito Tienda y Tacqueria, El Torito Market & Deli, Azteca Market & Deli. The name on the signs change periodically. Just call it whatever, no one cares.

El Torito is my first stop locally any time I need authentic Latin/Hispanic spices and dried peppers.

I love their burrito con chorizo, especially because I taste cinnamon in the filling. I am from the Midwest and eagerly embrace the Cincinnati style of chili, so cinnamon is always a pleasant surprise in savoury foods.

I do try to avoid sugar most of the time, but who can resist creamy, cinnamon-filled Horchata or a faintly sweet Tres Leches flan?

El Zocalo also has a great selection of spices, and a food truck outside that serves up burritos and tortas any way you like them.

Place your order outside at the food truck window, take your slip inside to pay, shop while you wait, and pick it up as you leave. I have the system on lock at this point.

Mi Pais is possibly the most casual and family-friendly restaurant in this list, with a gaming corner and a few TVs broadcasting Telemundo.

I enjoyed checking out local art and jamming to Telemundo tunes while waiting for my Bistec con ensalada.

The tienda side has all kinds of pantry goods and gifts, handmade art, accessories, and party supplies.

Five Cousins is located in what used to be my favourite Vietnamese / Pho restaurant, just next door to a place we  call “Cheeseburger Night;” an unremarkable, musty bar with cheeseburger combo specials on Tuesday evenings and a patio/dog run out back. I have not been in a while, and I really should look up the actual name of it. Later.

Anyways, Five Cousins. The full name of the restaurant is Five Cousins Pollo a la Brasa (grilled chicken) and that clues you in about their specialty. You can even get a whole chicken if you like.

My friends and I pigged out on a few different entrees when they first opened, and everything was delicious.

Believe it or not, there are even more Mexican and Latin restaurants in the area! La Estrella (no website) is another popular food truck in Inskip, but I have not seen it in a few months. Los Girasoles, La Palma de Oro, and Zalate Taqueria are all three on the distant end of Inskip moving into the Powell community, which I will write about in a Powell blog.

We are eagerly awaiting the opening of  Taqueria La Potosina in the old Inskip Grill building, although their sign says the business was established in 2019.

If you also share a love of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food, stop by the  Al Mustafa market on Saturday around 1 pm when they sell their fresh shawarma by the pound. You can also stock up on pantry staples, candies, frozen goods, falafel, and baklava.

Since Covid, they no longer offer space for dining in, but you can still get Shawarma each Saturday afternoon to go.

Inskip does not really have proper bars or pubs, mostly restaurants that simultaneously serve alcohol, but we do have Hexagon Brewing Company.

It is tucked behind an industrial complex in such a way that you would have to know about it beforehand to ever notice.

Hexagon hosts all sorts of subculture markets, game nights, painting events, art exhibits, and live bands.

Aside from delicious and unassuming restaurants, Inskip has some great parks. I often utilize them in hopes of burning off a bit of the calories from the Latin/Hispanic food my friends and I devour on a regular basis.

Inskip Park & Pool is packed during the summer, but I like to walk the small paved trail on quiet days. You can stay on the pavement or wander off into a small patch of woods.

It has one of the best community pools around, a playground, volleyball and tennis courts, a few picnic shelters, and disc golf lots.

Schumpert Park has the best dog park in Knoxville. It is a PetSafe park with three sections- one for tiny pups only, one for medium to large breeds, and another gigantic section with a huge pond that is open to everyone for playing and swimming.

Schumpert Park connects to the nearby Sterchi Hills Park via a greenway that runs through a residential neighbourhood situated parallel to the main road.

Victor Ashe Park & Dog Park is another great option, over in the Norwood side of Inskip.

Inskip is on the back side of Sharps Ridge Veteran Memorial Park though the entrance is over the ridge off Broadway. I have heard some sketchy stories about the place lately so beware.

In the area for a while? Follow me to Inskip’s other half, Fountain City, or to other neighbourhoods like Happy Holler, Old Sevier, and Marble City.

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