Super awsome place for breakfast and a superb staff that make you feel right at home

Despite the modest look of this place, it is one of the few places where you can get consistently good, regular old breakfast. I have frequented this place for nearly a decade and I can say that I have only had one time when they didnt cook my breakfast order to specifications. Always friendly staff, the coffee flows freely, and they have awesome hash browns. They used to only accept cash, but now have updated their system to take cards. Always consistent basic breakfast. Bravo.

So far this little gem is wonderful, the set your self didnt like much, but I guess if they know you, you all good. The flavor on the gravy i know it could be better ( from scratch maybe), now the French toast 🤔 not bad.so if Im close to the place yes I will come back. Enjoy 😉

Great place to eat. We go at least once a week usually more.. the staff has taken the time to get to know us. If u want a good home cooked meal this is the place2 go!!!

Great southern comfort breakfast. Havent tried the lunch yet, but definitely going to soon.

Really good biscuits and pancakes! Service was awesome as well. Super cheap too

First time here, will be coming back. Great food, old style diner eating.

Today, I ate lunch at Rankins and there was a gentleman walked in and stated that he was homeless. The waitress gave him biscuits and gravy. This was a true blessing to me because most places would run them out. Food was awesome like always. God Bless!

Great breakfast and the people there was real nice First time I had ate there I would like to know how long they stay open I would love to try their dinner 🍽

Good country comfort food! Reasonable priced! Great service, and timely meal if you have to get back to work!

The food was really good. Great omelet. Service was great! I love finding good breakfast places when we go out of town.

What a delicious place to eat! Great local place to set down and eat some country cooking! Dont be surprised if you know half of the restaurant while your there. We will be making this a regular lunch stop.

Food is always great and service with a smile!! Super reasonable. We love to support local small businesses.

Love the atmosphere. It was busy but people were getting in and out fast. The staff was very attentive.

Friendly staff, good diner food

BEST PLACE IN Knoxville TO EAT❗

Great home cooked meal. Great and friendly service.

Tony & Tiffany GrayTony & Tiffany Gray11 reviews·1 photoa week agoNEWToday, I ate lunch at Rankins and there was a gentleman walked in and stated that he was homeless. The waitress gave him biscuits and gravy. This was a true blessing to me because most places would run them out. Food was awesome like always. God Bless!Today 6/26/21, I went in and just placed an order for breakfast for about $14 when two young people came in asking for something to eat.A woman came from the back, perhaps the one in charge told them no and rushed them out.I went to the door and called them back in and told the waitress at the counter I would buy them breakfast.The woman that rushed them out said she didnt want them in there, but they could take it with them. I said fine, give them a menu, let them order, Ill pay for it, and they can go.A couple minutes later a waitress brought them a bag said there was a bisket and gravy in there for each and told them to leave.I said they didnt even order yet. The waitress said that she (the first woman) dont want them in there.I said fine, I guess she dont want me there either, and I left as well....She gave up a $40 plus breakfast order for whatever reason....I wont be going back, even though I have heard the food is awesome.

The food is great, everything we have tried is very tasty. The only complaint I have is its not wheelchair accessible.

I love rankins it has really good food and the service is awesome and we have family thats works there😁

Best breakfast restaurant in East Tennessee imo. Portions and prices are perfect

When you walk through the doors you feel like you’ve stepped back in time (in a nostalgic way). The servers act like siblings that sometimes squabble but it’s endearing. My favorites are the country ham, biscuits and gravy and country style steak. It’s a Friday morning favorite.

Super fast service and super good food. Especially for the price. It’s such a cute little place. And even though it doesn’t look fancy, the food won’t fail to impress.

I used to eat breakfast in Rankins about 30 years ago when I had a business in that area. I have not been there in years, I am so pleased that they are still putting out great Tennessee cooking. I have been wanting to take my wife there, so we went on a Saturday morning it was slammed of course any place that puts out great food at great prices is going to be busy. I spent my entire life in sales and retail customer service when you are that busy its hard to keep your thoughts together but the service was more than adequate. Because every waitress probably had five tables. It was a little wait for the food but it was well worth it! I had the western omelette it was cooked to perfection the home fries are absolutely to die for and the biscuits and gravy were great! Its like going back in time these are the kind of cafes we used to eat in when I was a kid traveling on the Old State highways with my mom and dad. This is absolutely a jewel in Knoxville and one of Knoxvilles oldest neighborhoods some people may feel its an unsavory neighborhood but I think its a nostalgic Americana true scruffy City by the river kind of place. If you have not been there you should do yourself a favor and travel over to Central and step back in time and get ready for an absolutely delightful but simple meal I cant wait to come back and see if they still put out that great red-eyed gravy yes I know my doctor would not want me to have it but do everything right and youre still going to die anyway haha keep up the good work Rankins!

Very great place to eat

The food awesome.

Rankin Restaurant has always been a great down home style place to eat. The service is the best. Donna, the owner, is very appreciative of her customers. I would recommend this place to anybody.Their prices arent bad either. Come on down and give them a try, you will go back again. Happy eating.

Great little place, very courteous and very efficient.

Breakfast the old fashioned way. Yum

Love the service and people. Went back the next day as well.

Eggs were cooked wrong, but quickly fixed. Food was okay. They did have french toast.

Its the diner you remember from way back when. Great food, VERY reasonable prices, and the staff treat everyone like family. Only went once, definitely plan on going back.

Omg, homemade biscuits, great grits and eggs! My bff said her French toast was the best shes ever had!

Great place for breakfast.Down home vibe!💯

Been my favorite for years. The biscuits cant be beat!

Great service, biscuits and gravy like your grandmother made, low prices!

The best breakfast bacon biscuit gravy I have ever eaten in my life my daddy was a shoulder sharp in that same field in over a hundred years ago

Very nice place friendly service great prices

The VERY Best Home Cooked food in ALL of Knoxville !! 8.75 for meal with 2 veggies dessert and beverage ...awesome Sweet Tea!! Limited open hours tho so check it before you head out to RankinThey close at 2 PM and closed on Sun and Mon

Best breakfast in Knoxville. Easy choice.

Very good food.. great prices... Very accommodating

My brother and I decided to have breakfast; his choice, and it was great! This restaurant has apparently been around since the 1950S, and is diner type home style cooking! We had an amazing breakfast! Sandwiches and lunch meals and specials are available! The nostalgia, food and service was just great! Highly recommend and we enjoyed our breakfast....I was told the red eye gravy and ham was great, my grandmother loved this county breakfast meal!

Ordered a burger and fries. The meat was no bigger than a sausage pattie and burnt. The fries were soaked in grease. Paid almost $8 for the meal. Never again.

Great Breakfast and amazing French Toast.

The service is always amazing, and so is the food!!

Awesome food always fresh nice people I could eat here every day they serve breakfast all day they close to early but that’s ok they need time for there families as well it’s one of the last mom pop places left but anyone wanting good fresh home cooked meals goHere

Great breakfast

Best breakfast in Knoxville. Great service too.

AMAZING staff and food!!!! Today was my first day there and I will go back!!!! The prices are great also

Great breakfast until closing at 2 pm. Good coffee. Great home cooking

Pretty good diner. Cornbread just OK. Dumplings fluffy, not strips. Just how I like them. A bit too salty for this salt lover. Really liked the seasoning in the green beans. This was my first visit. No one told me a drink came with the meat+2 when I ordered water. In their defense, it was printed on the menu. I did not expect it, so I didnt notice it. The reviews reflect its popularity. It was packed with folks waiting for seating. I would try it again.

Good food. Food like Mom used to make. Reasonably priced

Best food and service in knoxville,tn.

The food & service has always been excellent!! Highly recommend..

OMG! Discovered this place and fell in love with it and the workers...such good home cooking for such a small price..

On our subsequent days visiting Knoxville, we visited Honeybee two more times and brought friends! It was so good that we had tell others and return for extra visits! We were hiking in the Obed during the cold mornings, and the thermos we brought of Honeybee coffee saved us! Such smooth flavor and delicious.

Dont eat here unless you like burnt food, over cooked eggs, and wrong orders.

Very good And i. Hope i can get coming.

The ppl that worked there was great. Food not so muchThey did have good breakfast biscuits though

Comfortable, homey place for great food. Love the breakfast especially

Well made home cooked fare with a warm inviting staff in a cozy family setting.Ive eaten here a few times, and always enjoy the food and the company. Take advantage of this rarity before its gone.I rate it 5 stars because I love the nostalgia and the homey feel to the experience, but it is home style foods. Nothing fancy, just really good.

Food is always been great and also have had great service each visit

Amazing down home cooking

Best breakfast in knoxville

Tiny place but food was pretty good!

Best place in town for biscuits an gravy

This is my favorite restaurant. The food is freshly home cooked, the service is friendly, attentive and pleasant. I dont get by there often, but I sure wish I could. Everyone person in the door is immediately made to feel welcome, and you eat really well.

Rankin Restaurant has the best out of the oven made from scratch biscuits.Their biscuits are so warm and fluffy it doesnt need jam or gravy.My favorite hometown southern style biscuits and gravy platter breakfast restaurant

Great southern food!! Im afraid it was a tad too heavy on my familys and Is stomach.

Good southern cooking.

Best place for breakfast! The pancakes are so light and fluffy, pure perfection. Great staff in a authentic diner atmosphere.

Homey, no pretentiousness here. Food that the local truckers used to rave about. Now the trucking companies are mostly gone. Still good home cooking. Place was actually started under the influence of and help from the Regas brothers (same ones that gave Dave Thomas (founder of Wendys) his start.

Rankin as one of the best diners Ive ever been to. Great service, good food, awesome old Town feel. Biscuits on the drier side, but they seem to be that way on purpose.

This place is awesome. Very nostalgic of the old time diners. Service is fast and is how it is and these ladies arent putting up with your $#!+. If youre a cafe latte kind of person with an Id like to see the manager haircut go on in and get yourself a nice tall glass of shut up. If you want lunch with fast, efficient service, this place is for you. Food is great and I couldnt be happier with everything associated with Rankins.

Good food, clean, and friendly.!!

Great mom and pop restaurant. 2 full means as nd drinks under $18. We couldnt even eat it all they give you so much.

Just a nice little Country Restaurant with a Christian atmosphere good food prices arent bad either I havent eaten there in a while but theyve been there for a long time and the reason is its a nice little Country Restaurant

Best home cooked meals in Knoxville

Service was fantastic. Food was a little underwhelming from what I was expecting. Food was good...but not 4.7 good. The biscuits and gravy was very good, but the biscuits were a bit overdone. If theyd taken them out of the oven just a minute or two earlier, it would have been nice and moist. Instead they were hard and dry. Prices were very low, however. Place was packed. I may try this place again...just to see if our trip was a fluke.

First visit eating their chicken, dumplings, mashed potatoes, and pineapple upside down cake. Wonderful. Hope to try more.

Best place in Knoxville for breakfast. Lunch is super. Old establishment with charm. Employees have been with the owners for many years as well as long time customers. Highly recommend.

I ordered the bacon and cheese omelet, when it arrived it was apparent that Rankin s doesnt skimp on the bacon. Anyway I cut it I got a mouthful of tasty bacon. The ham is excellent, the biscuits second to none, and the staff super friendly. Highly recommended.

Best service in town and totally the BESTEST FOOD AROUND

Always a solid breakfast choice! Everytime the food is great and the staff friendly.I usually get some form of breakfast, but last time I opted for chicken tenders and they were superb.

The oldest restaurant in Knoxville. They have daily specials as well as salads and sandwiches. Great food. Taste homemade. The daily specials are a variety of entrees and vegetables. The meal includes am entree, two vegetables, bread and dessert. They have great ice tea and serve real lemons. The servers are polite and check on you quite often. I recommend this restaurant. They are closed on Monday and Sunday.

A cool mom and pop type hole in the wall restaurant with good southern foods.

Love how it feels like home.. 😍

This is my favorite place to eat in the world. The staff is friendly, the food tastes like my grandma cooked it herself and the atmosphere is inviting. The only negative part about this place is that it isnt open long enough. I would eat at this place for breakfast lunch and dinner. I have been eating there every time I am in Knoxville for the last eight years.

Great southern cooking

Home town Dinner. Good food.

Been eating at Rankin Restaurant since mid 1960s. Always loved It! Always good food. Good service. Still glad they basically have the same menu items. Sorry I cant eat the great homemade biscuits anymore.

This is the oldest restaurant in Knoxville for a reason. They have the best biscuits of any restaurant I have tried. In fact, most people couldnt make biscuits this good. Their plate lunches are quite good. Try the pan-fried okra! Youll never want the deep-fried version again. If you want good, Southern, home cooking, treat yourself to Rankin Restaurant, the best-kept secret in North Knoxville. Be sure to come early, because they run out fast and arent open for dinner!

Great food and service.

Pros: yummy French toast and home fries. awesome biscuits. just the basics but great prices. super quick and friendly service. cons: limited vegetarian options; only American cheese available; omelette was thin but tasty.

The steak and gravy was so good. Service was very prompt. Very affordable and filling lunch

The best home cooked food in Knoxville. Serving breakfast and lunch daily Tuesday through Saturday. With breakfast only on Saturday. Daily lunch specials all are wonderful with Wednesdays tenderloin and dressing being our favorite. Lunch price includes tea or coffee and a dessert .

Reasonable prices, friendly service and homey, cozy atmosphere.

Good place to eat for breakfast. Need to go early as a crowd develops through the morning hours. Is a little out of the way but worth the trip.

Awesome place. Great service, great food, strong coffee. The wife and I will be coming back every chance we get.

Breakfast at one of my favorite places. Great food, great people, reasonable prices. Close to downtown without being in the middle of it all, with plenty of parking.