Cook Out in
Knoxville, TN.

How many Cook Out locations are in Knoxville, TN?

Knoxville, Tennessee has 4 Cook Out restaurants: on Cumberland Avenue, Kingston Pike, Cedar Bluff Road and Parkside Drive. Most open at 10:30 AM and close at 3 AM, or 4 AM on Friday and Saturday, but Cumberland Avenue runs later and Parkside Drive closes earlier.

All 4 Knoxville stores

Cook Out’s official store locator lists four restaurants in Knoxville, Tennessee, in its October 2026 count. Tennessee has 40 Cook Out locations in 28 cities and towns, and Knoxville has the second-most of any city in the state, behind Memphis with 5 and ahead of Nashville with 3. The four Knoxville addresses are listed below.

One of the four stores has its own listed phone number. For the other three, the number to call is Cook Out’s general line, 1-866-547-0011. Hours are the store’s own listing as checked in November 2026. Knoxville is unusual in having three different closing patterns across four stores, and the table shows which store follows which.

Day-by-day hours in Knoxville

Two Knoxville stores follow the standard pattern: open 10:30 AM, close 3 AM Sunday to Thursday and 4 AM Friday and Saturday. The Cumberland Avenue store closes an hour later, at 4 AM and 5 AM, and the Parkside Drive store closes earlier, at 1 AM and 3 AM. Every store opens at 10:30 AM. Closing times run past midnight into the next morning, so read them as the night that starts on the day shown.

That spread matters after midnight. At 2 AM on a Tuesday, Parkside Drive has already closed, Kingston Pike and Cedar Bluff are still serving, and Cumberland Avenue has two more hours to go. At 4:30 AM on a Saturday, only Cumberland Avenue is left. Holiday hours can be shorter; see the 2026 holiday hours page for the chain-wide picture.

The Parkside Drive hours conflict, explained

If you look up the Parkside Drive store, you will find two different answers. Yellow Pages lists the standard Cook Out hours — 10:30 AM to 3 AM, or 4 AM on Friday and Saturday. Five other listings give a different, earlier closing: 10:30 AM to 1 AM Sunday to Thursday and 3 AM Friday and Saturday. This page uses the earlier hours, because five sources against one is not a close call — and one of the five, Restaurantji, was updated on November 11, 2026.

Why would Yellow Pages show the standard hours? Most likely because it carries the chain’s generic pattern for this store rather than the store’s own listing. The other listings — Restaurantji, Birdeye, Sirved, Roadtrippers and the menu listing — all agree with each other, down to the hour. When five independent listings agree and one disagrees, the five win. If you are heading to Parkside Drive after 1 AM on a weeknight, go to Cedar Bluff or Kingston Pike instead.

Two more addresses to cross off. Older pages list a Knoxville Cook Out at 3410 Kingston Pike and another at 5311 Clinton Highway, but neither address appears in the official locator’s current four-store Knoxville list. The Kingston Pike store is at 6920 Kingston Pike, in Bearden. If a listing shows a Knoxville Cook Out anywhere other than the four addresses on this page, treat it as outdated and check the map pin before you go.

Cook Out near the University of Tennessee

Knoxville is a college town, and the Cumberland Avenue store is built around that. It sits on the Strip, the stretch of Cumberland Avenue by the University of Tennessee campus in Fort Sanders, and it is the store students reach on foot. It has indoor seating and one drive-thru lane, and it is the only Knoxville store that stays open until 5 AM on Friday and Saturday — the latest closing Cook Out in the city.

The Kingston Pike store at 6920 is the Bearden store, on the west side of the city. It works differently: two drive-thru lanes and no seating, built for cars rather than for walk-ins. It is the store for the Bearden and Sequoyah Hills side of town, and for drivers on Kingston Pike itself.

On big Tennessee nights — home football games at Neyland Stadium, move-in weekend, the end of term — expect the drive-thru lines to run long well past midnight, especially at Cumberland Avenue. An earlier visit usually means a shorter wait, and weekday afternoons are the quietest time to go. Feeding a group? One car through the drive-thru with a written-down order beats individual trips, and Trays stack well for a group.

Which Knoxville store should you pick?

Pick by side of town, and by the clock. The campus side has the Cumberland Avenue store at 2135, which is also the latest closer in the city — 4 AM on weeknights, 5 AM on Friday and Saturday. If you are out after 4 AM, it is the only option.

The west side has two stores: Kingston Pike at 6920, in Bearden, and Cedar Bluff Road at 321, by the interstate. Both follow the standard pattern, closing at 3 AM on weeknights and 4 AM on Friday and Saturday. The far west has the Parkside Drive store at 11113, in Turkey Creek — but remember that it closes at 1 AM on weeknights, two hours earlier than the rest.

If you are passing through on I-40 or I-75, Cedar Bluff Road is the most convenient stop: it sits by the interstate on the west side of the city. If you are heading into the Smokies, it is the last Cook Out before the mountains — the nearest other store is in Powell, about 9 miles away.

Knoxville on the road

Knoxville sits where I-40 meets I-75, which makes it a natural stop for drivers crossing Tennessee — and the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains. The Cedar Bluff Road store serves the interstate side for I-40 and I-75 traffic, and the Kingston Pike store serves the Bearden corridor for drivers heading west out of the city.

For a through-driver, the pattern is the same as at any Cook Out: fuel, a Tray, a shake, back on the road. The late closing times exist for exactly that customer as much as for locals. If you are passing through after midnight, remember the spread: Parkside Drive closes at 1 AM on weeknights, Kingston Pike and Cedar Bluff at 3 AM, and Cumberland Avenue at 4 AM. Jackson is the next Cook Out city to the west on I-40, and the next stop east is across the state line.

What to order in Knoxville

The Knoxville menu is the full Cook Out lineup: char-grilled burgers, chopped pork barbecue, chicken sandwiches and strips, hot dogs, quesadillas, wraps, a long sides list and the 40-plus flavor shake menu. A Cook Out Tray costs about $7.99 here — one main, two sides and a drink bundled together.

First time? Order a Regular Tray with a Big Double Cook Out Style, hushpuppies and onion rings, and swap the drink for a shake. That is the order the chain is built around. For the full flavor list, see the milkshake guide. Confirm the final price on the board, because prices are set per restaurant.

The value story is the same in Knoxville as everywhere else: a full meal for about eight dollars, served until 3, 4 or 5 in the morning, depending on the store. That is why the drive-thru line at 1 AM is a Knoxville institution, not an exception — the city has been lining up at Cook Out since the chain spread across Tennessee.

Prices in Knoxville

A Regular Tray costs about $7.99 in Knoxville — one main, two sides and a drink bundled together. The Jr. Tray costs less and suits a lighter appetite, and the milkshakes run about $3.99 across the chain’s boards. Sides, hot dogs and wraps mostly sit in the two-to-three-dollar range, which is why the Tray is the deal: the bundle costs less than the same items ordered separately.

Prices are set per restaurant, so the board at the store you visit is the final word. Check the price before you order if the budget is tight, and remember that tax is added on top. See the 2026 price guide for the full board, with reported local examples from named restaurants.

Knoxville after midnight

After midnight, Knoxville still has Cook Out — but not everywhere. Three of the four stores are open until at least 3 AM, and Cumberland Avenue runs until 4 AM on weeknights and 5 AM on Friday and Saturday, which makes it the safest bet for a very late order. Parkside Drive is the one to avoid late: it closes at 1 AM Sunday to Thursday and 3 AM on Friday and Saturday.

The line at 1 AM on a Friday is often the longest of the night — Tennessee students, shift workers, and I-40 and I-75 drivers all arriving at once — and the kitchen is built for volume, so it moves faster than it looks. Have the order ready before the speaker: main, two sides, drink, in that order. If you are heading to Parkside Drive, check the clock first: after 1 AM on a weeknight, it is closed.

Tips for your Knoxville visit

Most Knoxville visits run through the drive-thru, and the line moves faster than it looks because the kitchen is built for volume. Have the order ready before the speaker: main, two sides, drink, in that order. Cards are widely accepted. If you are new to the brand entirely, start with the Tray guide — it explains the ordering system that confuses every first-timer exactly once. Compare calories on the nutrition page before you order.

Remember the two exceptions on this page. Parkside Drive closes two hours earlier than the other stores, so do not plan a 2 AM Parkside Drive run on a weeknight. And the Kingston Pike store is at 6920, not 3410 — the 3410 address and the 5311 Clinton Highway address come from older pages and do not appear in the locator’s current list. One more page lists a store on N. Broadway; that address does not appear in the locator either.

Holiday hours can be shorter than the normal pattern, so confirm before a late-night trip on Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s. When anything is unclear, call the store — the numbers on this page are the store listings, and the general line is 1-866-547-0011.