Market Square: Can you spot what's missing? Hint: it's probably not what you think. (Photo: Steve Minor/Creative Commons License)

Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to notice the best things about a city. While we Knoxville natives were going about our daily business and taking our town for granted, a visitor to the recent Big Ears music festival was marveling over Market Square.

Nico Muhly , the New York City-based composer who has collaborated with the likes of Bjork and Philip Glass was mainly impressed with what he noticed that Knoxville's Market Square doesn't have: chain restaurants.

Via his personal blog, Muhly raved:

I am amazed with Knoxville! They have had urban renewal, but their main center square only has one chain restaurant, and an innocuous Subway at that! I wonder if there had been a decree about the kinds of restaurants that would stay in Market Square — there were a few decent cafés, a few gestures towards sushi and tapas, and basically anything anybody who wanted a bougie evening could possibly want."

It's interesting that Muhly suspects a local law might be keeping out the chains, much in the same way that Washington, DC law prevents buildings taller than the capitol. Locals know that Knoxville has no such decree banning chains from Market Square.

So, how did we get lucky enough to have such a diverse, locally-owned selection of restaurants downtown? One component could be luck, but it's worth noting that some of Market Square's tenants were willing to buy into the area before it was a hipster hangout.

Tomato Head led the way, starting business as The Flying Tomato, long before Market Square had such things as an adjacent parking garage, summer concerts, and a weekend farmers' market. Perhaps big chains are still  afraid of an area that relies heavily on foot traffic.

As for the Subway, while it is a chain fast food joint, it's been in the Market Square location for about as long as some downtown workers can remember, so in a way, it's part of the history too, and plenty of retail workers counted on it for their daily lunch when Watson's department store was still in business.

Thanks, Mr. Muhly, for pointing out one more reason for us to love Market Square.

Selected Local Restaurants on Market Square

Cafe 4 Modern versions of classic comfort food.

Tomato Head Fresh pizzas, salads and sandwiches for the vegetarian and carnivore.

La Costa Fusion Latino and Southern cuisine and an extensive wine list.

Oodles Uncorked Italian-American food and wine in a casual atmosphere.

Trio Breakfast, lunch and dinner in a cozy café.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like:

Knoxville's Best Non-Chain Coffee Shops

Knoxville's Best Italian Restaurants

The 5 Best Vegetarian Sandwiches in Knoxville

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