The Golden Roast Melrose

Come for the coffee, leave because the wifi doesn't work. Seriously though, this is one of the oldest coffee shops in Knoxville. It is locally owned and serves a variety of coffee roasted at the shop's roastery (off site).

The coffee selections are generally good, not as acidic as the coffee at some of Knoxville's newer "brew" places, but watch out for some of the ... rather oddball flavor choices of their specialty coffees (I'm looking at you, coconut rum infused "Black Mountain" roast, and "Smoky Mountain Blend").

As for parking at the Melrose Ave location, it is limited, but there's often 2-hour meter parking nearby on Lake Avenue. Their second location, opening soon on Sutherland Avenue (in the basement of the old Marble City Methodist Church) has more plentiful parking.

The Melrose shop is a typical campus coffee shop bordering the University of Tennessee campus -- on any given day you can catch conversations about space exploration, international politics, and undergraduate fears of a pending exam. The baristas are friendly, but in the last two years their turn-over rates have been astounding (even for how transient coffee shop work can be). If you plan to get work done at Melrose on a laptop, be warned that their wifi network (despite three new routers in maybe a year or so) is wonky -- your Macbook will be fine, your recent iPhone or iPad will be too, but good luck with an older iPad or a Windows laptop. If your phone can serve as a personal wifi hotspot, bring it with you.

Sincerely -- a guy who has been a regular here since former owner Allan Zeigel and his wife opened the shop in the 1990s.

Nice atmosphere, very good coffee & tea selection! Horrible parking though, not the business's fault, it's in downtown, college area.

One of my favorite places to study! It's right on the edge of campus, but it doesn't feel overbearing. The baristas are always kind and the coffee is delicious.

This is my first time at this coffee shop, and I am fairly satisfied. Prices are a little cheaper than what I’ve seen at other coffee shops, and they have different daily roasts, which is great. There isn’t a huge variety of coffee, but they have the standards, and they also have a decent tea selection. The bar tops are a little high and it’s not as quiet as I would like it, personally, but that’s really nitpicking. Overall, it’s a good local coffee shop.

While at The Golden Roast Coffee shop the other day, Don (the owner) let me sample their new watermelon drink of the month. On a hot summer day, it was the perfect refresher. My taste buds were dancing, I was grinning after every sip. :) If you're near UT campus, I encourage you to stop by Golden Roast and try their watermelon drink of the month. It was ah-mazing!