Knoxville eats: Litton's

Knoxville, TN: It's commonly said to have more restaurants per capita than any other major city in the nation. The home of the ol' alma mater was not exactly a place of culinary awakening for this small-town girl, however. When I was 18, I was already familiar with most everything the Sysco truck had to offer.

I don't mean to make myself sound free and easy, but so it was. Knoxville is a haven for chain restaurants. It's easy to eat at the same places every week, especially for a college student with a meal plan and no sense of adventure beyond the strip and Cool Springs-like West Knoxville.

It's only been since I've returned to Knoxville recently that I've discovered the full breadth of offerings. On the latest visit this past weekend, to see my highly intelligent, grad school-bound brother walk across the stage, I experienced authentic Thai food at Taste of Thai (great! must go!) and the delights of a locally-owned restaurant and bakery, Litton's.

When you walk into Litton's, you don't immediately get a feel for the cavernous size of the place, which wraps around in an L-shape behind the grill and counter, which are crowded at the front of the house. Write your name on the numbered chalkboard, and listen for your name to be called -- if you miss it (and it can be sorta hard to hear), they'll just move on to the next person.

The thing to get here is the burger. Ground in-house (Litton's was originally a butcher, and still sells custom cuts of meat) and cooked to order, it sits atop a sweet, soft, eggy bun and comes with lettuce, tomato, and onion. Order the platter, and you'll get a mountain of fries (onion rings, thickly battered, are extra).

There are other things to eat, too, besides burgers. Get the burger. Save room for dessert, as we did, by cutting the burger in half and asking for a box. Then eat the rest of the burger, cold, at midnight while watching Battlestar Galactica on your friends' DVR and drinking Shiner Bock from their kegerator. Hey, this is Knoxville!

Oh yeah, dessert! They are known for their red velvet cake, but there were too many other tempting items in the case for me to waste calories on cake with red food coloring. I had the Baby Jane, a sort of strawberry shortcake with white chocolate rum mousse. Mmmm... I suffered from major dessert envy, though. My husband ordered the Day & Night Cheesecake (white chocolate w/dark chocolate swirl), and our friends' toddler was eating an iced sugar cookie bigger than his head with sprinkles.

Anyone used to Nashville prices will think this place a bargain.