Just Ripe

I still want to like it so much but it just disappoints. I’ve gone back in a few times since the re-​vamping or re-​branding or whatever, and again it fell flat. They were straight-​up OUT of juice according to the girl I spoke with the first time I went back in. I still don’t understand this if the juice is freshly made. They continue to have some cutesy regionally-​local items great for gift-​giving, and their lunch menu looks OK. Sometimes on Facebook I see pictures of food that looks pretty great, but there is no where online (that I’m aware of) to find their menu or daily specials. I would give lunch a try if I could see the offerings before walking down there to learn they’re out of something. Juice the juices! get a website or a menu! I’m rooting for you!

Breakfast burrito SO GOOD. Cute spot, yummy coffees and that damn amazing coffee milk!

No longer have real vegetarian food. It has changed ownership and no longer has vegetarian parties }8^(
Oh well.
So instead of the vegetarian option I got the Parmesan grit cake with bacon. That was spectacular; but my gluten free vegan husband is hungry.

Small grocery and café catering to the organic/​hipster crowd. I was in town for business and wanted something healthy. I figured they have a great salad. Unfortunately they had only one salad, 2 – 3 sandwiches, soups and some breakfast dishes. A limited menu but everything looked good. I got the veggie sandwich which was really shredded carrots, goat cheese, pecans, mustard and rye bread. I’m only giving three stars because it said sourdough bread and I dislike rye. Its a creative sandwich though. It’s expensive, but quality ingredients.

First, I’m just happy Just Ripe is still around. However, the biscuits need help. Prior to the ownership change, they were flaky, fluffy, and delicious, and now they are too dense, doughy, and more greasy. Previously, you walked in to find the containers and case full of delicious looking items, but now it’s limited and a little uninspiring. Plus, a few of the items I enjoyed getting there are no longer on the menu, which is disappointing. Hopefully, the baked goods improve to the level they used to be and that all the kinks get worked out eventually.

Just Ripe is a jewel in a city that is mostly devoid of crunchy health nut markets/​lunch spots. The offerings are limited, but all carefully crafted. Delicious soups to warm you up at lunch, tasty and simple sandwiches, made-​to-​order smoothies, and a couple of burritos if you’re feeling extra hungry. They make good on their promise to incorporate locally-​sourced produce (and they keep a beautiful calendar on the wall that lists the harvesting seasons of common vegetables). They also seem to make a concerted effort to reduce waist, offering smoothies in glass jars rather than plastic cups if customers are staying.
The food at Just Ripe won’t change your life but it hits the spot! I stayed in Knoxville for a week and couldn’t stop myself from getting a breakfast burrito every day! My two cents– if you’re choosing between the breakfast and the verde burritos, I’d say the breakfast burrito is the winner. I also sampled their chickpea salad sandwich — a nice simple satisfying lunch. The sunny monkey smoothie, made with sunflower seed butter, is absolutely the best.
Moreover, everyone at Just Ripe seems really nice. They’d often peel and cut an apple or pear for my daughter on request. This place has really become one of my favorite Knoxville eating establishments.
The only thing I’d like to see Just Ripe do is get some more hot sauce. The only hot sauce they have now is a very floral and spicy habanero. I just don’t like it, but my burrito needs a sauce! There’s always room to grow.

Vegan verde burrito — brown basmati rice, pinto beans, salsa verde, and ripe avocado rolled in a flour tortilla and grilled. I loved that it was grilled because I think that’s how this burrito stood out. I wish they put some vegetables in because it was quite bland. It’s perfect for someone that doesn’t want something too flavored. The avocado is dominant following the beans and rice. It’s sort of like a rice and beans dish in a wrap. It wasn’t spicy and I barely tasted the salsa.
Salsa with black tortilla chips — spicy! I like their salsa a lot. It was chunky and not watery. I also enjoyed the black tortilla versus the usual white corn. It’s appealing to the eye and makes you feel like it’s healthier because darker food tends to be healthier, ex — brown rice vs white rice.
They had a vegan oat chocolate chip cookie but I’m not a fan of oatmeal cookies so I didn’t try it.
Their portions are small for the price but that’s probably because this is targeted for the organic crowd.

Just Ripe is just better than any fastfood breakfast you’ll find, but the seating area is tiny with only about ten seats inside and another few outside. The food was great, all made with products from locally owned businesses throughout the region. You can even do a little shopping for produce while visiting!
I visited early on a Saturday morning in December, so it was too cold to enjoy one of the tables on the wide sidewalk outside. I stayed indoors, sitting at one of a few small tables for two (they also had one large table for about 6 – 8 in the center of the shop). They have a small menu to select from, but it’s all good food, cooked to order. Only took about five minutes to get my food, but they gave me my orange juice (in a Mason jar) immediately. The gentleman taking my order was really nice, answered loads of questions about the food, and even gave me a few tips for Market Square.
I ordered a Country Biscuit, which was loaded with eggs, bacon, and cheese on a buttermilk biscuit. It practically melted in my mouth. I’d never been so sad for a biscuit to end. The orange juice was also really good, freshly made from a local farm. It was quiet inside, until about a dozen people showed up to shop for produce in the fridges and shelves filling half the shop. It got a bit noisy, but you could still understand a conversation with anyone who came with you.
My meal came to about $ 10, so twice the price of McDonald’s, but ten times the taste. Service was fast and polite. There is enough space for you to be able to enjoy your meal on your own, but just. This is a place I’ll enjoy breakfast at least once every time I visit this city.
TIP: There is no parking on-​site, and very limited street parking. The best way to get here is to use a parking lot or garage, like the one at Clinch Avenue and Locust Street, then walk over.

Oh my goodness — the Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are my new favorite menu item. I’m not vegan, but these things are freaking delicious! Sweet, salty, full of oats with the perfect amount of chocolate chips and a hint of banana. The PERFECT dessert.

Visiting Knoxville and this is 2 blocks from our hotel, The Hilton. Awesome smoothies — and the breakfast biscuit was awesome with Homemade ketchup! Yum! I had a peach and buttermilk smoothie and rosemary and fig scone!
We will be back!

This place would be 5-​star if it wasn’t so overpriced. I guess you have to pay for the whole organic thing, if you knocked 5 bucks off our bill I would say it would be worth it.
Ordered the berry smoothie, the breakfast burrito, and the sunny monkey smoothie. Breakfast burrito was really tasty, just a little small for the pricing (everything was $ 7).
Sunny monkey smoothie was the BEST, it’s just different and the taste was really savory and sweet without being too filling.
Again, would recommend this place, but it does burn a hole in your pocket.

Fantastic smoothies and customer service! Needs to add this to their description so it comes up with smoothie search.

Very cool place good food good coffee good people. I got the breakfast burrito it was awesome. They do them in a press

Vegan-​friendly pre-​made and made-​to-​order food in downtown Knoxville? Yes please.
This place has some operational deficiencies, particularly concernig the flow of traffic inside, and sometimes the staff is slow, but the food keeps me coming back.

Go here if you want to spend $ 6 on a biscuit that takes a half hour to warm up and somehow still manages to be stale.

I’m just a tiny tad weary about my five star rating since I’ve only eaten here once. Maybe I caught them on a really good day but I have a feeling that this place is always good all the time.
You know how sometimes you get short of words when something is so good. This will be one of those times. My review will not do this place justice so you just have to go visit yourself.
A few things you should know. It is located a block from market square. Plan for parking accordingly. Limited seating available in the store. Organic and vegetarian friendly. A little on the pricey side. Absolutely worth all the inconveniences.

Yeah, I’m from California and as much as I’d like to believe that I don’t fit stereotypes, I’m pretty certain that if I met my southern twin, he’d quickly declare me to be a prissy bitch. Part of being a whiny liberal is having a strong opinion about how the world should be and Just Ripe fits that view. The grocery was located next door to my hotel in an area that is starting to look pretty nice. While there are definitely normal grocery wares (microbrews, organic milk products, various snacks), the highlight is the café menu.
— Dixie Biscuit. This was a nicely prepared biscuit filled with pimento cheese, a house-​made pepper jelly, and bacon. I liked the concept, but I felt the pepper jelly was actually too sweet. Pimento cheese is something that does not exist on the west coast so I was disappointed that I didn’t get to get a really good taste of it. Still, I liked it and I ate the whole thing although next time I would target a more savory item.
— The Pig and the Fig. This was a sandwich with apples, bacon, fig-​onion jam, arugula (the liberal’s green of choice!) and cheddar on grilled bread. I kind of wanted the apples to be crisper, but oh well. It was a pretty tasty sandwich.
These two items plus two sparkling waters came to about $ 18, which is definitely California pricing. However, this place is no west coast ass-​kisser as it definitely knows who it is and who it wants to be. On the surface, it may look like California (local, organic, sustainable), but when you taste it, it’s undoubtedly southern and I’m not going to lie — it’s a beautiful thing.

Finally ate the food, and it was great. I got the «Pig and Fig Sandwich,» and I loved every bite. It’s Benton’s bacon, fig onion, white cheddar, and thin cut apples. The bread was super fresh and the bacon just amazing. Go there and get it.

This spot makes me really excited to move to Knoxville, which I’m doing this summer. I’ve lived in major cities (NYC, DC, Chicago), and so I was nervous about moving to Knoxville and not being able to shop or eat the way we typically do: local, organic, in bulk, and vegetarian. I’m happy to say that Just Ripe seemed to be one of a few spots downtown that are able to provide all of these things!
We didn’t grocery shop, but they looked well stocked, and I was happy to see some bulk products, including spices, for sale. I can’t comment on the prices as I didn’t look carefully, but I’m willing to pay a bit more of course, for organic, quality food. Nice airy space with tables by large windows, and friendly staff.
We ate there twice: once for breakfast – solid coffee, a dixie biscuit w/​veg «sausage» for my husband and I had the sweet potato pecan scone, which was great. And then we also had lunch – I had the white bean and swiss chard soup, which was simple and delicious, and the kale side salad, because I was craving greens. Yum, yum, yum. Looking forward to returning and supporting this place, and I’m sure this spot will become a mainstay.

Having recently opened it’s doors in the Daylight Building, Just Ripe, a beautifully designed grocery, does not disappoint.
Although small, the attention paid to quality is unsurpassed in Knoxville. Sourcing their produce from the Market Square Farmer’s Market, Just Ripe, offers a seasonal selection of delicious prepared foods as well as great local finds like Roots & Branches granola bar.
Please do not miss this spot, you will regret it. I recommend trying the Ratatouille Melt or any of the in house Grab & Go foods.
If you see me there, I will be having my usual, Lemony Green Juice.