Turning Up The Heat

Ethan and Micha chase nostalgia across four high-flying Latin restaurants

Story and Photography by Micha Haas & Ethan Smith

Appeared in Cityview Magazine, Vol. 42, Issue 1 (Jan/Feb 2026)

W

ant to hear the dark, sordid truth? I’ve never been a solo act in these dining guides.
I haven’t always had the chance to shout out my dining partners in the past, but I’ve been fortunate to have good friends to accompany me on many of my past culinary adventures. This year, though, we decided to do something a bit different. A meal is about more than just food, and for this dining guide, it’s about time we have
a proper conversation over our dinner. For our first dining guide of 2026, I’m hitting the restaurant circuit with Cityview’s vice president Ethan Smith in a clash of tastes for the ages, and we’re starting with our Latin neighbors.

Ethan is what some would call a food lover and through his adventures south of the border he has expanded his pallet in Latin cuisine—not only to immerse himself in the wonderful food but inform himself of the culture.  For myself, I only have my Texan mother, who raised me on the chips-and-salsa Tex-Mex you find in most taco joints around town. Those who frequent these guides might also know that I’ve been trying to eat green lately, so Ethan and I decided to take our differing tastes a step further and make this a carnivore-versus-herbivore challenge. What Latin places in town offer the best fare for folks of all dietary walks of life? Well, I hope you’re ready to find out.

Our first stop was lunch at Celestina Mexican Crafted off Ebenezer Road. The restaurant has a sleek, modern feel, and Ethan and I find ourselves a seat at the bar to chat with the manager, Patty Anderson. I’ve always thought it best to let the staff lend a hand in picking the best items on the menu, and today was no exception. Once Ethan and I see what’s coming our way, however, we quickly realize it’s time to loosen our belts: this culinary adventure will be no easy feat.

At the center of our meal is the Celestina Sampler,
a big shareable platter of multiple Celestina staples, but it spirals out from there. I try my stomach at a plate of veggie empanadas, with a rich cheesy corn-roast filling, while Ethan tackles a hearty pork quesadilla and the Bacalar Bowl, a versatile dish from Celestina’s brunch menu. Then, since clearly that was not enough to satisfy a pair of growing boys for lunch, we split a pair of street tacos and wheel of bite-size flautas (rolled tacos, for those unfamiliar). Ethan, fresh off an early visit to our Dining Out location, remarked that, “I think after two restaurants, I’ve had 15,000 calories. I was on a diet adventure. I am no longer on that diet adventure.”

I myself quite enjoyed those empanadas, and frankly those cheesy flautas were almost a dessert-like treat for me, though not so sweet that I couldn’t call it savory as well. Ultimately, though, I think I’m going to err on Ethan’s suggestion for my next visit: the Bacalar Bowl. “You’ve got beans, corn, and rice, and you can switch out the protein for anything you want,” he says, which includes, as Anderson notes, vegetarian options. “That’s absolutely a solid lunch right there.”

Our next stop is the only spot on our list where a suit starts to feel mandatory: a downtown dinner at Vida. Ethan and I find our seats as the sun sets and take in the upscale yet intimate atmosphere. Manager Jared Stanley, who greets us, describes the restaurant as “pan-Latin with a Japanese flair” – not a combination I would have thought of, but I suppose that’s why I’m not a restauranteur!

Ethan found himself with two of Vida’s most beloved entrees, the first of which was the Bistec A La Parrilla (a 12 oz. flank steak served with a variety of vegetables and corn tortillas). “The flank steak is cooked perfectly, which is impressive because it’s such a thin cut,” remarks Ethan, but the real winner for him was the short rib flatbread. “It’s certainly the prettiest,” he says. “And these sun-dried tomatoes will make somebody that hates tomatoes like tomatoes.”

My veggie options at Vida were a bit more limited, mostly restricted to the small plates, but never let it be said that I went hungry. The beans in the veggie quesadilla were cooked just right, so rich and full that I almost felt like I was eating meat, and the elotes-style corn ribs were a delight (once I learned the best way to eat them!). 

Our next stop was just a quick jaunt down the street to Chivo Taqueria on Gay Street. There we were served by the owner Ben Austin and manager Kadi Caldwell, who directed us to Austin’s favorite: the fajitas, a meal I’m sure we’re all familiar with. That being said, Austin was not wrong to suggest it; Ethan was immediately impressed by the ingredients.

“The steak is much higher quality than you will get anywhere else, especially for a fajita,” he says. “Thick cut, fits in the tortilla super well. And the sides are good and fresh.”

For me it was the “No Meat? Guacward!” – a trio of beer-battered avocado tacos. Here’s one of my dark veggie-eating secrets: I do not care for avocado. But I trusted the team’s recommendation, and I was pleasantly surprised to find I quite liked it! The beer-battering added a nice crunch to the avocado, and the aioli really brought the dish together so that even my skeptical self could not help but enjoy.

The final stop on our tour was SoKno Taco Cantina. More than any other, this was a return-to-form for the sort of places I remember from my childhood. We split a plate of Nasty Nachos (owner Howie Howington’s recommendation), and I was delighted to find that they were made with portabella mushrooms rather than meat, so well done that you wouldn’t even miss the meat – even Ethan was impressed!

From there, we each got our own tacos, and I once again found myself taken aback not only by SoKno’s inclusion of tofu tacos on the menu but by just how well they were fried up. With a splash of a smoky habanero salsa I gulped those tacos down and silently wished for more, while Ethan took on his more classic meaty tacos. And while this was perhaps the least elegant of our meals, I think both of us were already thinking of our next visit before we’d set the first meal down.

It was here Ethan said something to me that really stuck: “Do you remember a time when you were
a kid that you had something so good, and then you came back as an adult and had it again, and that first visit comes right back?” he remarks. “That’s what food is: you’re chasing nostalgia. Restaurants like these are keys to unlock your memories.”

In all my time I’ve spent tasting plates around Knoxville, I’d never managed to put it into words quite like that, but it’s true. Thinking back, this entire Latin adventure has been me chasing the Tex-Mex memories I used to have with my parents as a kid – my dad’s homemade cheese quesadillas and after-school Chili’s dinners. As good as the food was at all these spots we visited, it was the memories it evoked that really warmed my soul, and the new memories we created getting to speak to the staff and other patrons that call us back to these places again.

If you’d like to visit these places for yourself, I can wholeheartedly recommend any of these spots—
just remember to get a reservation for Vida!