Cook-Out has popped up on The Strip seemingly overnight and taken the area by storm.
The Southeastern fast-food chain, with its slogan of “cooked outdoors style,” sprung up at the old Guthrie’s location just in time for the school year, and already people are buzzing about the sheer value of the place.
A visit to Cook-Out at 1 p.m., on the day before classes, bore witness to constant lines of at least 10 people waiting for the food. It took us two minutes of waiting to find a parking spot.
Despite the consistent wafts of customers coming in, the line moved quickly. Within seconds, we had placed an order. And after just about three minutes of waiting, we had our food.
To put a number on the timeliness of the service, our order number was 3156, and in about 30 minutes, Cook-Out was already on order number 3191.
There is no doubt what Cook-Out is known for among its patrons. A sign in the restaurant brazenly calls Cook-Out meals “the best combo in Knoxville.”
At a price of $4.39, restaurant-goers can pick an entree, two sides and a drink.
And the entree choices for the cheap combo are not as limiting as a glance of most establishments’ $1 menus. A customer can choose between a quarter-pound hamburger, a barbecue sandwich, a footlong hot dog, a big double burger, a chicken or beef quesadilla, a chicken sandwich, cajun chicken, spicy chicken, barbecue chicken or three pieces of chicken strips.
Also, unlike other restaurants, these entrees are fully customizable. When my dining companion ordered a foot-long hot dog, the waiter asked what toppings. She just said, everything, and a foot-long with chili, cole slaw, onions and mustard came out. Likewise, my personal choice of burger toppings — cheese, mustard and lettuce — was available for the big double burger.
The foot-long hot dog is about as good as one can get for the price. It’s messy and requires a fork, but the restaurant is generous with the delectable cole slaw.
Hot dog lovers can order a regular hot dog, a corn dog, a cheese dog or a mustard relish hot dog for 99 cents. Also available for a bit more are foot-longs, Mexi hot dogs or bacon cheddar hot dogs.
While not touching the greatness of the burgers at Gus’ Good Times Deli or Niceley’s Tavern, the big double burger was way better than most fast-food burgers. Perhaps the burger is not particularly noteworthy, but the price makes it stand out.
After choosing an entree, customers can either choose two sides or “double up” with another entree. Choices are hush puppies, cole slaw, onion rings, fries, chicken nuggets, chili, a corn dog, a chicken wrap, a chicken or beef quesadilla or a bacon wrap.
My dining companion chose the fries and hush puppies, so I went with cole slaw and a cup of chili.
My companion got the better end of the deal. The juicy steak fries were excellent, recalling the underrated greatness of Krystal fries. The problem was a side order of them was only a handful. Cook-Out is generous with everything else, but the restaurant could stand to be a bit more giving with its fries.
Likewise, the hush puppies were at least the quality of fast-food staples like Captain D’s, which has tender, delicious hush puppies.
The cole slaw, just like on the foot-long, is great, but the cup of chili would be enhanced by beans or something extra. It works as a topping but not as a side.
The beverage choices include a large drink, a “huge” tea, a bottle of water, a Coke or Cheerwine float or, for $1 more, a milkshake.
I went with the Oreo-flavored milkshake, and despite having a bit too much uncrushed Oreo left at the bottom, it rivals McDonald’s McFlurry.
Oreo is actually one of the more tame flavors of milkshake Cook-Out serves. It actually has about 50 different flavors in its repertoire, enough to make milkshake choices legitimately one-fourth of the menu inside. Other choices include Hershey’s chocolate, HiC punch, M&M, Reeses cup and strawberry cheesecake, among others.
Customers can also get a New York-style slice of cheesecake for just $1.99, cheaper than the vast majority of restaurants, which usually use desserts as a chance to drag $4 or $5 more out of patrons’ wallets.
Perhaps the only real negative of Cook-Out is its bland decor. UT football pictures line some of the walls of Cook-Out seemingly out of obligation, with a Coca-Cola clock and sign thrown in for an odd variety. Despite the outdoors motif that the building’s material and its slogans tout, the actual things hanging up on the walls have nothing to do with the outdoors.
Even still, who cares about what is on the walls at these prices? Previously, McDonald’s was just about the cheapest meal one could get on The Strip, but it’s uncanny how new challengers like Niceley’s and Cook-Out are giving the golden arches a run for their money.
