With exceptional fine French-Belgian cuisine prepared by a talented kitchen staff, friendly servers, and an airy open dining area that begs for camaraderie, Northshore Brasserie will quickly become your favorite spot for an unsurpassed meal and an afternoon drink in the Knoxville area.

“A brasserie is a gathering place with lots of energy,” says co-owner, Stephanie Balest. “My brothers and I wanted it to have a big city feel, but be a neighborhood place.”

And the Balests have succeeded. When you walk into Northshore Brasserie, you feel like you’ve found that perfect best-kept Knoxville secret. Open a little over a year, Northshore Brasserie already has an established following of faithful patrons drawn to the atmosphere and food.

“We’re all about food and conversation,” says Stephanie, who patterned the restaurant after the European eateries she frequented while living abroad.

Long booths and close-knit tables make it the perfect place for socializing. The space is open, decorated with black and white conversation-piece photographs. White tablecloths and rattan back chairs give it the feel of relaxed, casual dining, inviting patrons to stretch across tables and talk with newfound friends.

“You’ll have two couples sharing a bottle of wine who didn’t know each other ten minutes before,” says Brian. “That’s exactly how we wanted it to be.”

With a menu of delectable French Belgian cuisine, as well as more standard fare, there is something for everyone. Hard-to-find specialties in this area like escargot, mussels, frog legs, rabbit, venison, lamb, and duck are a part of the Northshore Brasserie’s line-up. Northshore Brasserie also boasts one of the best hamburgers in Knoxville, ground in-house and served with truffled onions, mushrooms and pomme frites.

Executive Chef Shane Robertson heads up the Northshore Brasserie kitchen staff, ensuring every dish meets the high expectations he has come to expect after working in Charleston, a city known for its fine food. Robertson uses only fresh highest-quality ingredients and labors over the dishes with a sense of pride for the local family-owned restaurant and the culture it represents. The menu changes seasonally, so there are always new and exciting dishes to try. Lunch and dinner menus are available online at www.northshorebrasserie.com.

Aside from dining-in, Northshore Brasserie will gladly prepare any menu item for take-out. Recently, a special catering menu was created specifically for “working lunches” that can be delivered straight to the office. Or, if you prefer to leave the office, Northshore Brasserie is outfitted with wireless Internet, making it an ideal place for business meetings and working lunches.

Northshore Brasserie added a Sunday Brunch buffet in January of this year. “It’s got everything from eggs Benedict to oysters on the half shell to a chef making fresh crepes and omelets to order,” says Stephanie.

All the pastries are homemade, with popovers being a favorite among the regular brunch crowd. Northshore Brasserie also offers $3 glasses of champagne and a $3 Bloody Mary bar to their Sunday Brunch patrons.

In addition to their plates du jour, other weekly specials include half price bottles of wine all day on Tuesday and $1 oysters all day on Wednesday. Happy hour is everyday from 4 pm to 7 pm offering a dollar off all drinks and appetizers.

Also catering private parties and events, Northshore Brasserie has done everything from a private dinner for ten to a buffet for more than 1,000 guests to the Knoxville Museum of Art’s Artscapes event with a sit-down dinner serving 250.

“It’s great to see people entertaining in their own homes,” says Stephanie. “Our catering allows you to throw a wonderful party where we do all the work and the host can enjoy their guests. We custom design every catering menu based on the kitchen available for us to work out of. This ensures the food presentation and quality are as good as if you were in the restaurant.”


Northshore Brasserie is located at 9430 South Northshore Drive off of Pellissippi Parkway. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday - Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Call ahead for reservations at 865-539-5188.