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Where Vols fans can find fried gator, gator pizza and more during Gator Hater Week

robin gibson, knoxville news sentinel
·3 min read

Tennessee travels to Florida this weekend for a showdown in The Swamp. Which means this is Gator Hater Week here in Knoxville - so what better time to take a bite out of the Volunteers' rivals, the Florida Gators!

Even if UT and Florida football aren't quite the epic rivalry they were several decades ago, that doesn't lessen loyal Vols fans' appetite for supporting their team by devouring the competition in the week leading up the game.

Ahead of the Vols' Sept. 16 game at Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (7 p.m. ET on ESPN), real alligator meat can be found at several local businesses, whether you're ordering it off a menu or taking it home to cook up for yourself.

The Shrimp Dock

When the week of the UT-Florida game rolls around each year, The Shrimp Dock knows what's coming, and is ready for the once-a-year gator demand. "People go crazy over it this week," Rex Bellomy, Shrimp Dock manager, told Knox News. "It's just a given now."

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The seafood market is offering gator gumbo, fried gator, gator po'boys, smoked gator dip and smoked/grilled gator. If you're a do-it-yourself kind of cook, they have fresh gator meat as the on-sale "fish" of the week, and even 20 pounds of gator ribs.

All three Shrimp Dock locations - Bearden (5210 Kingston Pike), Farragut (11124 Kingston Pike) and Alcoa (321 S. Calderwood St.) - are selling some gator goods this week, but the majority of the supply is at the Bearden store, Bellomy said.

For any Vols fan who needs a little coaching in the kitchen to prep that gator meat for themselves, The Shrimp Dock has posted on Facebook its own playbook for marinating, grilling and frying alligator meat.

So what does gator taste like? Chicken, Bellomy confirmed.

Hard Knox Pizza

The pizzeria is offering its annual Gator Hater Pizza special through Sept. 14. The white sauce pizza is topped with smoked gouda, smoked alligator meat from The Shrimp Dock, red peppers, corn, oregano and a house-made Cajun aioli, according to a Hard Knox Facebook post.

Hard Knox Pizza has restaurants at 4437 Kingston Pike, 2300 N. Central St. and 10849 Hardin Valley Road.

Other places to feed your appetite for gator

Several other local restaurants have alligator listed online as a regular offering on the menus, for those who just like it or for fans for whom every week is Gator Hater Week.

  • Not Watson's Kitchen + Bar, 15 Market Square, has "tender fried alligator" as an option for its Po' Boys, and a Creole pasta entree that includes sauteed shrimp and alligator along with blackened chicken, roasted red peppers, carmelized onions and linguine with Cajun cream sauce.

  • Storming Crab, 8355 Kingston Pike, lists a fried gator meat basket on its menu.

  • Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux, 7621 Kingston Pike, has a hand-battered fried alligator starter with dijon horseradish, and buffalo gator tacos (fried alligator, buffalo sauce, lettuce, cheese, tomato, jalapeños and ranch dressing).

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs Florida 2023: Where to buy gator meat in Knoxville