What is it?
Originally, I marked this on my map when moving to the area because I thought it might be a local coffee shop. However, upon closer inspection (and visitation), this is decidedly a boba tea place that happens to have coffee (and can make you delicious coffee boba tea drinks!).
I was very surprised to find out that the cafe also runs The Cave food truck park directly behind the shop. This is a concept that is becoming more popular in major cities (and is not even the only one in Knoxville!) where there is ample space for multiple food trucks to come show off what they have, particularly at cafes, breweries, and other spots that don’t have extensive kitchens of their own. This gives you all the tasty possibilities you could want!
Where is it?
This one is off the beaten path a little. Not that it is in the middle of nowhere – it is directly off of 169 (that is, Middlebrook Pike) toward West Knoxville. What I mean is, If you don’t travel north of Route 40 much, you may miss this stop altogether. But trust me, it is worth seeking out! It is in the north Cedar Bluff area, down the road from Nicholas Ball Park and Bruster’s Real Ice Cream.
When is it open?
Hey Bear Cafe is open Sunday through Thursday 11a – 9p, Friday and Saturday 11a – 9:30p. The food truck schedule changes of course; check their Instagram @heybearcafe to see the latest. You can also check them out on heybearcafe.com.
What you need to know about visiting:
Hey Bear is only open inside for ordering right now, not dine-in. However, you’ll want to go out back anyway – that’s where all the food is! Monday through Thursday, you may want to go get some food first, in fact, because you can get 10% off your drink order by showing Hey Bear your receipt.
Sure, the weather is getting nice and warm anyway, but on those chilly nights have no fear – they have fire pits out back and recently installed heaters in the covered patio. Complete with plastic walls, that patio is fit for just about any weather, so don’t worry too much about the forecast. And speaking of fire pits, one cute thing of note was that, on our last visit, Hey Bear was selling s’mores kits for you to be able to go out and roast your own!
In addition to daily food trucks and awesome boba, Hey Bear has a lot of events. They host a Zumba class every Saturday morning at 10 – $10 gets you the class and a medium drink, what’s not to like? They also have live music, typically on weekend nights. There’s a play area for the kiddos at the food truck park too.
Perhaps one of the biggest events just happened: they had their first Spring market (vendors market)! They have more markets scheduled for Spring 2021 on 3/28, 4/11, 4/25, 5/9, & 5/23. If you find that you love their space (for any event, not just farmer’s markets) you can also contact them to rent it out.
Last but certainly not least, big news for this little shop: they will be opening their second location inside the Kern’s Bakery mixed-use building coming to South Knox in Spring 2022! We can’t wait to see the entire Kern’s project open, and we’ll do our best to bring you more info as it is released.
Coffee and Beer Near Here
Staying in Cedar Bluff? Snag some coffee (and support a great cause) at The Empty Cup.
Would you look at that, it’s beer o’clock?! Head a few minutes west to Orange Hat Brewing Co.
Questions, Comments, or Concerns?
Email us at help@brewsandtodos.com