A popular fine-dining restaurant has been named one of the best in the country. Here’s what you need to know before you go.
J.C. Holdway named one of USA TODAY’s best restaurants of 2026
Take a look inside J.C. Holdway in Knoxville, Tennessee, named one of USA TODAYs best restaurants for 2026.
Joseph Lenn was always more interested in fishing than he was cooking. It took a few wake-up calls and career shifts to find his calling as Chef Joseph Lenn, whose J.C. Holdway restaurant has a new accolade to support his status as one of the city’s most prestigious culinary minds.
J.C. Holdway is one of 39 spots in the country to be named to USA TODAY’s 2026 Restaurant of the Year list, comprised by food journalists from across the country who pooled their expertise to make their selections.
The restaurant is coming off a massive year that included landing on the New York Times Top 50 Restaurants list and being featured in a new regional Michelin Guide to the South.
It’s hard to believe the man behind this success showed up to his first culinary class without ever having worked in a restaurant. Lenn is now being considered for a James Beard Award, thirteen years after becoming the first executive chef in Tennessee to receive the honor. Last time was regional, but he’s now being considered on a national scale.
Everything Lenn does is with intention, he told Knox News, from the red dahlias on the tables and the patterned wallpaper in the bathrooms to the seasonal ingredients used across the Appalachia-inspired menu and soft serve ice cream given to guests celebrating a birthday.
J.C. Holdway has been at the corner of Union Avenue and Walnut Street in downtown Knoxville since September 2016, and the history of the restaurant and its proprietor − including how the restaurant got its name − inspires Lenn to continue pursuing excellence every chance he gets.
“It’s been more rewarding than anything I could have ever imagined,” he said.
What makes J.C. Holdway stand out
Lenn was born and raised in Knoxville without really knowing what he wanted to be as an adult.
“All I thought about was fishing,” he said. “I literally read everything (about fishing) in the paper from the News Sentinel and the sports section.”
Lenn’s mom added up and wrote down the price of a boat, gear, tournament fees and other costs before sliding the paper over to her son. It was clear his dreams of becoming a professional fisherman were too expensive, he said, so Lenn began taking accounting classes at a local community college.
It wasn’t long, Lenn said, before he realized: “This is not it.”
He withdrew from school and began working at Butler and Bailey Market, the first step on his way to culinary prominence. The grocery store is where he learned hard work and manners, and it’s where he eventually picked up knife skills in the meat department.
Meat cutting was Lenn’s second class once he landed in culinary school at Johnson & Wales University. After handing Lenn a piece of beef tenderloin, the teacher watched him slice with the kind of precision not often seen from new students.
“‘Mr. Lenn, you are very good at that,'” he remembers the teacher saying. “‘Have you ever done that before?'”
Lenn would take home pork chops from Butler and Bailey to cook on his Weber Smokey Joe grill. He also remembers his grandfather grabbing a tomato from the garden, slicing it with a pocketknife and sprinkling salt on top. How could such simple foods taste so good?
“It was this epiphany of … start with good ingredients and good things are going to come out of that,” he said.
Lenn applied this fresh, farm-to-table approach at his home kitchen and brought it to J.C. Holdway − the same approach he took at Blackberry Farm, where in 2013 he became the first in Tennessee to earn a James Beard Award as executive chef.
Lenn’s restaurant was named for his uncle Joseph Charles Holdway, a “lifelong bachelor, who frequented local food establishments, returning only to those that offered exceptional experiences and service,” according to J.C. Holdway’s website.
“His loyalty to establishments offering a quality experience inspires us at J.C. Holdway to deliver the same exceptional experience to our guests,” the website says.
Each meal at J.C. Holdway is prepared with absolute attention to detail, Lenn said. This persistence goes back to his grandma, who grew up during the Great Depression but would make a cake three times until she got it right.
“Here’s somebody that literally had nothing that threw things away twice to get it right the third time. That just showed a level of care,” Lenn said. “We can do that, too.”
What to order at J.C. Holdway
Because J.C. Holdway uses ingredients that are in-season, the menu changes almost daily.
The Center of the Table menu is an elevated group dinner for parties between seven and 20 people, who are served seasonal flavors from a tailored menu of signature dishes and several courses to pass around and taste.
The Chef’s Tasting menu is a seasonal six-course meal prepared for the table.
The A La Carte menu changes daily but has featured entrees such as Spinach Creste di Gallo, Waygu beef tartare and apple barbecue grilled pork chops.
The restaurant also has a dedicated sommelier to help pair your meal with the perfect beverage, along with an extensive dessert menu featuring treats like blue cheese cheesecake (topped with pears and candied pecans) and a peanut butter tart with campfire ice cream.
Guests also can enjoy a post-dinner espresso or cocktail.
See the full menus.
Details: J.C. Holdway, 501 Union Ave., Knoxville, TN; 865-312-9050, jcholdway.com
Knox News reporter Joanna Hayes covers restaurants and retail for the business growth and development team. Email: [email protected]; Instagram @knoxeat65
Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
