Restaurants in Oak Ridge

Slurp an 8-ounce cup of mushroom-brie soup ($2.69) or bite into a hearty honey-turkey wrap with colby jack, tomato, and mustard ($6.89). Green day's menu offers lettuce, veggies, and savory dressings spread out in a salad or rolled into a wrap. Fans of fiery flavors can try the buffalo chicken wrap tempered by cool gorgonzola ($6.89). Selections come sided with choice of veggie chips or broccoli crunch (florets flavored up by sunflower seeds and raisins). Energy seekers can rev up naturally with an antioxidant-rich guzzle of cool Via Blast ($4.89). Kids' options are also available.

At Juliana’s Orlando, head chef Carl Cherkaoui adds a dash of detail to his Italian cuisine with his thorough mind for sauces, spices, and herbs—a passion he developed while studying the culinary arts in Morocco, France, and Germany. His globally informed flavors grace house specialties such as the crabmeat-crusted grouper fillet and the pan-roasted pork loin in a balsamic glaze. And in the eatery’s main dining room, he and his waitstaff encourage diners to sip Italian and Californian wines amid the glow of a fireplace that someday hopes to be promoted to oven.

CRAVE's eight locations have gained a plethora of press and even an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator. Each sleek eatery also entices diners with a diverse menu of modern American lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch fare devised by Corporate Executive Chef Bill King and a sushi menu of traditional and creative rolls inspired by Executive Sushi Chef Tony Lam's upbringing in Hawaii. Each menu is then artfully executed using fresh and locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, as well as seafood flown in daily and handcrafted sauces made from authentic Asian recipes. Brick ovens give flatbreads a crisp exterior while the grill keeps steaks, chicken, and burgers juicy.

The aromas of South Asian spices lure passersby into Abhiruchi India Cuisine, where they typically pause for a moment to savor the décor and read the descriptions of more than 100 Indian specialties. Halal and vegetarian options are both well represented on the lengthy menu, which features spicy curries and tandoori-baked entrees based on chicken, seafood, and lamb or goat. When they aren’t scooping tikka masala into trays for the lunch buffet or pilfering Marco Polo’s travelogues for new recipes, the restaurant’s chefs accommodate partygoers with catering services.

Although Thai cuisine typically earns praise for its bold, spicy flavor combinations, the chefs at Red Bamboo Thai Restaurant aim to make their cuisine accessible to all palates, personalizing the level of spice from mild to Thai hot. Using red, green, and yellow curry pastes, the culinarians lend a piquant touch to the fragrant combinations of basil, coconut milk, and scratch-and-sniff bamboo shoots that make up the menu. They also wield sweet and spicy chili sauces to lend dichotomous flavors to entrees such as deep-fried red snapper or prawns.

Although each bite of food features complex combinations of herbs and spices, the dining room embraces a more subdued aesthetic. Earth-toned walls surround the booths and tables, remaining relatively unadorned except for a scattered collection of framed pictures and small tapestries.

Tabla's executive chef Sajan Prem forges an ever-changing menu from authentic, centuries-old recipes. Hungry twosomes can start off the eating proceedings with South Indian specialties, such as the medu vada—deep-fried lentil donuts served with sambhar and coconut chutney ($5). Carnivorous appetites train meat-seeking eyeteeth on the shola kebab, morsels of tender lamb marinated with fresh herbs and spices and charcoal grilled in a tandoori oven ($15), while carnivores with a vendetta against vegetables can tear into the vegetarian kashmiri dum aloo, potatoes stuffed with dry fruit and Indian cheese, and cooked in a saffron-based garlic butter sauce ($12). An order of Tabla naan, a fusion of Indian bread, Italian spices, and sesame seeds ($3), sops up spicy sauces. Quartets toast hearty meal conclusions with wine or cocktails from the full bar as they admire the elegantly fringed curtains from one of the plush booths or flying carpets.