5 days ago
Cumberland Foodhall won't just be for students: These new meals are coming to the Strip
Knoxville residents, not just students, soon will have a new dining option on Cumberland Avenue through a partnership between the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Core Spaces, the student apartment developer opening two of four Hub Knoxville buildings for the fall semester.
But the new Cumberland Foodhall concept, which will feature counter service and food lockers from multiple vendors, won't be ready until the spring 2026 semester.
Through university food vendor Aramark Educational Services, UT is leasing the space inside Hub Knoxville at 1925 Cumberland Ave. for Vol Dining.
The food hall will serve lunch and dinner, with space for 350 people to sit. While vendors will accept credit and debit cards, students can also pay using Dining Dollars, their VolCard or the Flex Plan.
Core Spaces will build out the space as a food hall for $586,480. UT will pay more than $2.85 million during a five-year lease period, followed by the option to extend the lease another five years.
The food hall will have one counter-service restaurant called Zen Sushi & Wok, which will offer sushi, ramen, dumplings and boba tea. The concept is unrelated to a restaurant with a similar name that operated on the 1900 block of Cumberland Avenue before Hub Knoxville construction began.
The Cumberland Foodhall also will have lockers where people can pick up food from two other vendors: Athenian Grill and Big Orange Grill.
Athenian Grill will serve Mediterranean food, including bowls, wraps and gyros. Big Orange Grill − the second location for this UT concept and the third restaurant partnership with UT's Northeast Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center − will serve UT farm-raised beef burgers, chicken tenders and Philly cheesesteaks.
The lockers join a growing list of ways for students to pick up food, as UT has added delivery robots on campus and upgraded dining options with more vendors to complement traditional dining halls.
The new food hall is another step in UT's mission to widen the campus footprint while investing in off-campus spaces.
The university has identified a 1.5-mile radius in which UT can have the biggest "influence" south of the river at Cherokee Farm Research Park and north to Mechanicsville, where the UT Institute of Public Service operates. The radius expands east and west to the South Waterfront and Sequoyah Hills neighborhood, respectively.
UT uses this radius to identify key areas where it would like to invest. This includes the Strip − where UT already owns and operates buildings housing a Chick-fil-A and the Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs − as well as Cherokee Mills, which UT intends to buy.
Keenan Thomas reports for the Knox News business growth and development team. You can reach him by email at
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: University of Tennessee opening Cumberland Foodhall dining on the Strip
