Restaurants in Farragut

A huge statue of Buddha watches over the dining room at Surin of Thailand, although his peaceful gaze is subverted by complex curries, spicy stir-fried noodle dishes, and flavorful barbecue-chicken entrees a day in the making. Half chickens are marinated in Thai barbecue sauce overnight before being slowly roasted and grilled, then they’re plated with scoops of shrimp fried rice and reminders to chew each bite thoroughly, not matter who’s threatening to steal the flavorful dark meat.

Surin measures its dishes' spiciness on a three-pepper scale, where one is "spicy" and three is "Thai hot." Though most dishes fall between nonspicy and hot, a few earn their trio of peppers, including a medley of mussels, scallops, and shrimp with spicy basil sauce.

Another Buddha—actually, just a head—guards the sushi bar, where nigiri, sashimi, and creative maki rolls are born. Under the two Buddhas' protection, diners settle into leather seats or tuck into booths backed by ferns and foliage. Outside the stone-walled eatery, a patio seasons dishes with sunlight and refreshing breezes.

In the midst of ever-multiplying chain eateries, Gabriel's Pizza embraces its status as a mom-and-pop pizza joint. Though the restaurant boasts patio seating and exposed-brick walls, owners Charley and Allen Eisenmenger generally avoid frills and instead focus on perfecting a menu that brings together New York’s thin-crust pizzas and Chicago’s deep-dish pies. Their fresh dough never sees the inside of a freezer or kitchen igloo, and it takes on a whole new layer of taste when chefs coat it with the restaurant's signature sauce. They top specialty pies with USDA-certified meats and produce largely sourced from a Charleston vendor, gracing dough with accessories ranging from classic pepperoni to rich artichoke hearts. The chefs stretch crusts extra thin for piattos, or avoid pizza dough altogether and craft entrees such as baked spaghetti and ravioli.

Peruvian-born chef Pilar Albernas and her family opened Ají Peruvian Restaurant in 2011, naming the eatery after the Peruvian word for "pepper." True to their name, Ají imports many varieties of peppers to flavor its authentic cuisine. Maize tamales steamed in banana leaves, Peruvian rotisserie chicken, and Andean corn salad with fresh cheese and an herb dressing are among the kitchen's specialties. Many dishes can be made vegetarian or vegan, and at the end of meals, diners can sweeten palates with desserts such as picarones—Peruvian donuts made with Andean squash and sweet potato.

The bakers at Kitts Café fill their glass display case with house-made cakes, pies, and cobblers as cooks sizzle up platefuls of Kitts Café's homestyle diner fare. The kitchen staff fires up the griddle at 7 a.m. each morning, sizzling up fresh-cooked eggs and breakfast sandwiches before forging classic burgers and frito chili pie for lunch. To protect taste buds from fits of ennui, the café team whips up a rotating lineup of daily specials that changes each week.

A Knoxville business since 1993, Kitts Café keeps strong ties to the community with Kitts Market, a monthly event that transforms the restaurant into a trendy boutique with the work of local artists and crafters. The market's lineup of handmade gifts includes seasonal decor and enough children's clothing to dress an entire village in Loompaland.

Nori Modern Noodle & Sushi's culinary innovators have scoured the eateries of Japan, Vietnam, and France to compile a menu of fresh fusion fare. In a lounge atmosphere, the restaurant pours out sake cocktails to accompany seared noodle entrees with made-from-scratch pasta and sushi or rice-paper rolls, including offerings that adhere to vegetarian diets. An outdoor patio welcomes diners on warmer days, and late-night sushi specials tantalize taste buds until 2 a.m., an hour that's well past the bedtime of most pumpkin carriages.

Pork loin, ham, turkey breasts, and certified Angus beef slow cook over plumes of piquant smoke at Clint's BBQ & Country Cookin', where plates of country-fried steak and deep-fried okra crown blue gingham tablecloths. Clint himself takes to the eatery's stage on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights, where he and a small band croon and pluck guitars, banjos, mandolins, fiddles, and an upright bass beneath an antique Texaco marquee. Retro ephemera plaster the walls in the slope-roofed dining room, where old license plates hang beside photographs and metal placards painted with classic advertisements for Beech-Nut, Coca-Cola, and Acme teleporters.