A popular Knoxville cocktail bar has been named one of the best in the country. Here’s what you need to know before you go.
Brother Wolf named one of USA TODAY’s best bars of 2025 – Video
Take a look inside Brother Wolf in Knoxville, Tennessee, named one of USA TODAYs best bars for 2025.
Aaron Thompson and Jessica “Rabbit” King opened Brother Wolf out of their appreciation for Italian cocktail culture.The two have taken several trips across the Atlantic to help inform their Knoxville bar.Brother Wolf’s goal is to elevate the city’s nightlife scene one espresso martini at a time.
Whispers of Rome and Milan are sprinkled throughout Brother Wolf, a downtown Knoxville aperitivo bar built on nearly two decades of inspiration gathered by owners Aaron Thompson and Jessica “Rabbit” King on their explorations of Italy.
“We really have a firsthand understanding and appreciation for Italian culture, Italian cocktail culture, Italian wines − not just what’s in the bottle, but the ground that grew the grapes,” King told Knox News.
Their efforts and attention to authentic detail has resulted in further national recognition for Brother Wolf four years after opening, with the bar earning a spot on USA TODAY’s 2025 Bars of the Year List highlighting the top 29 bars in the country, from classic dives to creative cocktail concepts.
Food writers across the country nominated bars that excited them − places they feel inclined to return to and that they recommend for family and friends.
What makes Brother Wolf in Knoxville, TN, stand out
Brother Wolf sits next to its sister restaurant, Osteria Stella, at 108 W. Jackson Ave. Thompson and King started the Italian restaurant in tandem with the cocktail bar in 2021, electing for a name they already picked once before.
The restaurant is named after their 4-year-old daughter, Stella. And while their infant son was nearly named Wolf after the cocktail bar, King said, they opted for the “much more sensible” name of Phoenix instead.
King and Thompson are Knoxville natives who found their footing in the city’s bar scene while operating Sapphire, the former Gay Street cocktail bar now home to Lilou Brasserie, which they also own.
But even before Sapphire, which closed in January 2021, the Brother Wolf creators had a passion for cocktail culture that took them across the Atlantic on several occasions.
King embarked on a solo trip to Italy in the early 2000s with one goal: to become a regular at a cocktail bar. She found a cafe in Rome’s Campo di Fiori that had five Euro cocktails and free Wi-Fi. King learned the names of the servers, memorized the menu and quickly became a familiar face.
It reached a point that servers began bringing her drinks as soon as she set down, before she could even order. Experiencing Italian cafes as more than a tourist helped her gain an appreciation for the country’s elevated nightlife.
Italian aperitivo bars serve lower proof cocktails with tasty, small snacks. King immediately loved the cocktail culture, but her love for the drinks took time to grow.
Italian aperitivo cocktails, like a Negroni, can be more bitter than what some people are used to.
“I could barely muscle it down. And I guess the secondary goal for me was to learn to love those drinks − to gain a full appreciation of that flavor profile. Which, to my American palate, that’s based on Coca-Cola and gummy bears,” King said. “I just had no appreciation.”
Italian cocktails are meant to be savored and shared with friends over hours of meaningful conversation, Thompson said.
‘Light and bright’ design brings Italian authenticity to Old City
On her first solo trip, King remembers watching as droves of young people pulled up on their scooters at the Italian cafe, greeting each other with warm embraces and kisses before sitting for hours. They drank slowly and smoked cigarettes while talking and snacking before getting back on their scooters and heading home for the night.
There’s something intangible about that experience − something that’s difficult to recreate in America, Thompson said. Brother Wolf is the couple’s best recreation of that experience, but it shouldn’t feel like an imitation.
“We want it to not feel like a bar that’s themed with Italian stuff, but more like a bar that would be in the middle of Italy,” King said.
Many of the signs and decorations hanging on Brother Wolf’s walls are pieces the couple brought home from Italy.
Thompson said they took the entire staff of managers from Brother Wolf and Osteria Stella to Italy in 2024 “so that they could all have that experience − to be passionate and be rewarded for all the hard work they’ve done.”
The “light and bright” designed described on Brother Wolf’s website features “alabaster and exposed brick walls and gold and brass accents throughout.”
“The furniture is made of soft, camel-toned leather and woven cane, with carrara marble table tops on cast iron bases,” the website says.
What to order at Brother Wolf in downtown Knoxville, TN
The Old City where Brother Wolf is located is a nightlife hotspot of for young adults, from University of Tennessee at Knoxville students to downtown professionals.
For the most part, Knoxville drinking culture is “pounding shots and chugging beers,” King said. While Brother Wolf plays into that culture on weekends, it’s all about spritzes, aperitivos and espresso martinis rather than ciders, whiskeys and ales.
“788!” a bartender shouted from behind the bar.
That’s the number of espresso martinis Brother Wolf served in one 11-hour shift on New Year’s Eve in 2024 (an average of 1.2 drinks per minute). The bartenders want to reach 1,000 per shift, Thompson said.
Here’s what you should order:
Aperol Spritz. It’s immediately recognizable. The bubbly, bright orange drink is the first step toward a true Italian aperitivo bar experience, serving as a gateway for some of the more bitter drinks on Brother Wolf’s menu.
Espresso Negroni. This drink gives customers a taste of two popular Brother Wolf cocktails: the classic negroni and the espresso martini. Easier to down than a negroni, the caffe borghetti elevates the drink and highlights the bar’s specialties.
Salumi e Formaggi. The food menu comes from the bar’s sister restaurant, Osteria Stella, which serves authentic Italian cuisine. This plate provides a sneak peek of the restaurant’s full menu and features imported meats, cheeses, seasonal preserves and gnocco fritto.
See the full menu.
Thompson and King have made their bar, named after the myth of Romulus and Remus, a go-to place for all kinds of people. It’s a destination for those looking to catch up with old friends over Negronis, grab a quick Aperol Spritz after work or order a few too many espresso martinis on a Friday night out.
Whatever drinking culture means to you, Thompson and King believe Brother Wolf is a leap forward toward an elevated Knoxville nightlife scene and − though it’s an ocean away − a step closer to Italy.
Coming soon: A few times each year, Brother Wolf transforms its cocktail lounge with themed pop-ups, including a Dolly Parton experience called “Jolene’s” highlighted by pink decorations and country-themed cocktails. Later this year, it will turn into “Brother Werewolf” to celebrate Halloween and “Miracle” for Christmas.
Details: 108 W. Jackson Ave., Knoxville, TN; 865-247-4729, brotherwolf.com
Joanna Hayes is the restaurant and retail reporter. Email: joanna.hayes@knoxnews.com.
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