Purple Cow

The food is amzing !We use a drive through. Also they have burger sandwiches hot dogs. I love the BLT and also the there homemade banana pudding! Randy loves the egg salad sandwiches. The food is so filling you don't need anything with it

I went to Purple Cow tonight to get a steak bomb! The girl crew was working tonight, and as always, when they are working, my food is superb! When the all-female crew and cook work, my food is always prepared correctly and exceeds any expectation I have. Well done, girls!

Toya was so friendly and super great with my kids! First time my kids have ever been and the first time I’ve been in 10 years. Such an amazing experience!!! One of my children can be very picky, and she was able to help him out quickly.

People nice, food good but if you go for the cheesecake I’ve had doughnuts bigger than the $7 slice but it is good

I drive through and grabbed the burger & fries combo they were advertising - the burger was juicy & fries piping hot and seasoned well. My unsweet tea was fresh and brewed to a good strength, not watered down. Wait staff was friendly & the building definitely can't be missed!

Twenty years ago this used to be the place for good and cheap food. I’m not sure what happened but the food is terrible and the employees are not friendly at all. I ordered a deluxe cheeseburger and fries today 10/11/25 and I had to wait on my food for a significant amount of time which was fine, but my fries were fresh and hot and my burger was ice cold. Not sure how that happened. My burger had a strange taste and smell to it, almost like some kind of plastic. I’ve been burping that gross taste for hours now. Considering the sky high prices and the terrible food quality, I don’t think I plan to return to Purple Cow.

i had placed a call in order, the woman at the order window, I believe that her name was Latonya was very rude while taking my order and kept trying to rush me off of the phone, when i got there to pick up my order, she had her back turned to the window talking to some gentleman, while i waited for her to turn around. once she realized that i was sitting there she opened the window and said what was the name, she was very rude and bossy. Overall, the food was wonderful, and the milkshakes were very tasty, but I would get a new face for the order window.

We sat in line. Both our orders were 35 dollars at a drive thru window. We had gotten a chicken bomb, steak bomb, both giants.Two orders of broccoli bites, bacon cheese fries, fried mushrooms, a milkshake, and a tea. 70 bux for all that. And they had someones meatball sub, mac n cheese bites, cheese fries,all someone elses order. And didn't have what we ordered. I handed it back to the lady and she probably served it anyways. This place has gone to crap. It used to be good! W good service. Not now

The food was great ! The man that took my order was really cool and patient as this was my first time . the only bad mark was the employee that took my money and gave me my food was very rude and didn't say much not even a thank you or a smile . she just shut the window . But otherwise I will come back

I haven't seen a fried bologna sandwich since I was little! I had that, the fried green tomatoes and soup beans. They were all delicious and reminded me of my grammas

Not very good, old grease taste with the fries, disappointing. Husband noticed taste too, we threw away our fries.

they have good food but you will wait forever in the line trying to get your food , don't recommend !

Ordered 2 sandwiches, one a whole cheesesteak and the other a 1/2 meatball plus fry's and a coleslaw. Price: $30.73. First, the bad: It took 37 minutes to get our food. Now if this was a regular restaurant maybe that might not be too bad. However, this is a fast food restaurant with drive through only access. No inside ordering or seating. Drive thru style is similar to Pals, drive in and order on one side then drive around the other to pay and pick up food. That is where the similarities end. As opposed to sudden this service this was glacial! There was only one vehicle in front of me when I pulled in to order and one sitting on the other side at the pickup window. Not really a rush crowd for around 1:00 in the afternoon. Oh yes, and that 37 minutes was from after I ordered until I got the food. Coleslaw was a joke. Was in one of those little plastic cups that are used for condiments or salsa. Tasted like that coleslaw in a bag you are supposed to mix with dressing but without the dressing. Dry, tasteless, totally undersized portion (although we couldn't eat it anyway). Next what could be better: meatball sandwich was just ok. Sorry we ordered it but we ate it... well, most of it anyway. Last the good: cheesesteak was pretty good. Nowhere as good as Charley's Steakery or Jersey Mike'sSubs. The fry's were good albeit smaller than McDonalds small. Summary: Don't waste your time or money.

Great tasting Hamburger and Fries. Order was freshly made and hot. Great service: friendly and fast.

I've always loved Purple Cow since the first time I've ever ate here. With all the crap this wonderful business has been thru they still treat their customers as important as ever !!! I was surprised to visit today and find out that they still allowed us to walk up and order thru the drivethru despite the COVID-19 mess and despite the previous issue they have had where some idiot done something stupid. Anyways on with the review !! We ordered about $53 dollars worth of food and everything was great (was a pretty big order) only issue was someone put a cheeseburger in the bag instead of a mushroom Swiss and the slice of cheesecake missed the bag (it happens)- HOWEVER, I'm guessing it was the manager met me in the parking lot and said "Uh oh that don't look good" and I explained it was a simple mistake on a big order totally understandable. The manager suggested faster service to go back to the ordering side of the restaurant and even walked around to make sure there wasn't a line and that I would be taken care of much faster and then even asked an employee who was in line getting him something before coming into work to move back so I could be taken care of even faster !!! As ALWAYS I'm very pleased with the service here at Purple Cow and the food as well but today with how I got taken care of by the manager on duty adds to the pleasure of doing business with Purple Cow !!! Not to mention this picture below is a chat between me and purple cow and how they responded to my request about walking up !!!

This was not a great experience. First, 2 hamburger steaks were $15 each!!! We spent $64 and we wish we hadn't. We had previously looked at the menu online that stated that the hamburger steaks were $8!!! This was not true!! The burger was so dry it was hard to swallow!! Secondly, I ordered a chocolate cheesecake and it was like absolutely drowning in hot fudge!! I mean I struggled to find the cheesecake under all the chocolate!! To claim you have Cheesecake Factory cheesecake is very false!! It said it was a chocolate cheesecake and that's what I expected, not drowning in chocolate!! You would think that the chocolate would be INCORPORATED in the cheesecake filling!!! I would not recommend this place to anyone!! I would much rather drive to The Dairy Cup in Church Hill for a good meal. I will not be eating there again.

I miss Purple Cow (I no longer live in the area). I loved their Chicken Bomb subs.

$42 for a burger chicken tenders and 2 grilled cheese. 30 minute wait and they forgot the grilled cheese and messed up burger they failed to make the plain bacon burger correctly again for the 3rd time and then tried to charge me .84 cents for a thing of bbq over 35 minutes in line food was trash and wrong and to think we drove out of our way for this place. Will not return if it was free

Absolutely loved Purple Cow - at this point I will NEVER return! Food was horrible. Prices way over inflated- for what was is meal now you can't get a small burger. Used to be burger was flavorful- now nothing. Fried bologna had the texture of a sponge - so bad I could not eat it and it did not come prepared the way I ordered. If you loved purple cow before- save your memory- do not return!

Latest visit had a French dip. The hunks of meat were huge. That's not a good thing when it's not tender enough to bite through. Each bite had a large chunk of beef being pulled out of the sandwich. Then the next bit would be just bread if I didn't rip the hunk in half with my fingers and try to shove it back in. It was not a pleasant eating experience. The beef itself was really bland and if the seasoning on the fries wasn't so strong it would have been a boring sandwich. With a fry taken with every bite though it wasn't bad. The au jus however was really good and would have put a decent sandwich into top tier mode. The strawberry banana shake was a bit odd. The flavor was artificial banana but I like that. Beware if you don't like fake banana flavor. The weird part was the tiny specs of banana in it. They were granular, about the size of grains of sand. They weren't bad, just odd. Perfect consistency on the shake though. You could suck the melty bits through a straw or use the straw as a spoon to scoop small mouthfuls. Bad shakes you can finish with a straw alone or need a spoon to get scoops. IMO. The low review is for a badly implemented sandwich and the over inflated prices. It's really crazy but the French dip small fries and small shake was 25 buck! It's drive through only but they are charging more for a meal than many sit down restaurants. The food is NOT good enough to justify those prices and I will not go back anymore. Beware, the pics of menus have old prices. The new price for the French dip is double.

Always closed for random reasons and employees don't know what's on the menu and get frustrated with you when you say you can see it on the menu and have ordered it before.

Their garbage Philly cheesesteak sub is to absolutely die for! It's literally the only thing I've ever ordered when eating there, although my granny used to love their BLT sandwiches. It's just SUPER expensive and not within my budget these days. Doesn't mean it isn't still good tho!

They got my food wrong and the employees: manager is so rude . Need the old manger back

Every time I come to Kingsport I have to stop at the Purple Cow, the steak bomb and fried pickles are always made to order, which are just so delicious. Wait time doesn't bother me as I drive from Elizabethton to eat here. Staff has always been super friendly! It would be nice if they had a Purple Cow in Elizabethton or Johnson City! You can't miss their restaurant because they have concrete cows outside of the building! I think it's well worth the drive!! Keep up the fantastic job and will be back!!

Love this place!! Try the fried green tomatoes. They have a huge selection made fresh by order.

Purple Cows. A hot dog squirting ketchup on its head. Why wouldn't you want to give this place a try? Lol. On our way to TN I took out my handy Yelp App and searched for a lunch spot. Came across Purple Cow. Thanks Yelp family! This place is drive through only. No seating or parking. Just grab your food and go. There is a McDs nearby along with a bunch of other food places. You can always park somewhere and eat in your car. We stood outside and used our car trunk as a table :P The drive through line was quite long when we arrived. That's gotta be a good sign right? It was! They offer burgers, sandwiches, shakes, and so much more. I'll post some pics of their menu. Pricing is great for the amount of food they give. It's a LOT and everything we tried was a hit. Service is very friendly. They do their best to be quick. It took me 2 mins just to figure out what I wanted. Their menu is incredibly extensive. They even have pictures of specials posted around the pick up window that aren't on their menu board. Skip the chains and head over here instead. You'll be glad you did. Come hungry or ready to share.

Great place!! Highly recommended!! Huge menu something for everyone. Everything made fresh!! Try the fried green tomatoes!!

If you can overlook the wait time, then you can enjoy one of the best places to eat at. Prices are a bit steep now, but that's like that everywhere you go. As stated before, at times the wait time can be a pain especially on the weekends, but don't let that be discouraging by not stopping there.

I went to Purple Cow again recently after a long time and it feels like the food quality has really gone down. None of it tastes as good as it did a few years back unfortunately. Still good food and kind service!

We love their steak bombs and fried Mac and cheese bites! Highly recommend! Only sandwich place I could eat while pregnant!

First time officially here as a Tennessee resident and we decided to try the Purple Cow. This spot seem like it would be great during the summer. The young lady at the window did not seem to know much about the menu when we asked a few questions about some of the items. So we ordered a cheeseburger combo with season fries, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the little one. The lady on the other side was much nicer! The food was delicious! That was the biggest peanut butter and jelly sandwich I have ever seen! We will definitely be back to explore the menu more.

The milkshakes at purple cow are to die for. Good good stuff I'm glad to see yall still open!

Very unique place in Kingsport, TN. I got the 25-piece wings with mild sauce. The concept of this joint is that it is strictly a drive-through joint. There is no wait staff to even comment on? Great place though!

Highly over rated food; especially for the prices. Mainly local followers. Service is OK. Not very friendly.

Service was great, staff was super friendly but the food was very bland. Had much higher expectations based on the reviews but wasn't impressed.

My guess is that you can't take the one star rating off so they at least get that. 5.00 for a crappy burger? Wilted lettuce, fries that tasted like they were cooked with fish. I will say that the drink was cold .

Mediocre. Nice people and fast service, but the food is just fine. It wasn't bad for the price, though.

Okay, first of all I wanna say that I USED to love this place and tell people about it when they came to visit from outside town, and the food is still pretty good. That being said, the service here has gone down hill fast. I'll give you a rundown of my last two visits (just one wouldn't be very fair, bad expiriences happen anywhere). First visit, I showed up, no one else was in the drive through, I waited at the first window for 10+ minutes before anyone even bothered to open the window to take my order. After that, I drove around to pick up my food, and the lady at the second window stepped out, walked to her vehicle and smoked a cigarette before returning and finally handing me my order. 20+ minutes with no line. Second most recent visit, I had a much larger order and called it in. We paid and got our food and pulled aside to heck the food. Sure enough, we were missing a burger, so we pulled back in line. After 5 minutes or so, someone opened the window and we handed her the receipt and explained that we were missing a burger. She said "no, it's there". "uh, no.. it's not" we said. She snatched the receipt out of my cousin's hand like we just committed a crime or something, and then we watched her turn around, notice that said burger was actually right in front of her face, and proceed to attend to other things for another 5 minutes before she handed us the burger, which was cold at this point and obviously been sitting. Probably not coming back. It's a shame, because I used to love this place. Hopefully they get rid of these trash employees and make the place decent again

I have been to purple cow several times and it seems lately every time I go the food quality quality gets less and less. I went yesterday July the 1st and I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and meatball sandwich and 2 orders of French fries when I got home I noticed that my meatball sandwich that I paid over $7 for was not there. If you are looking for a good burger place go to Pals

The first visit was very good. Every time after that (several visits) when I ordered Diet Coke with no ice I got served a bucket of crushed ice with about two sips of soda. Absolutely ridiculous. either they didn't listen or delibertarly gave me a bucket of ice because I ordered soda without ice.

Best food ever from steaks to burgers to anything you could think of! It's one of things I miss not living in Kingsport anymore. Yes you're going to wait awhile to get your food but it's being made to order.

The wait was long, but worth it. I've found that sometimes the longer the wait the better the food. And this was one of this times. We got two burgers: the He-Man Garbage burger and the Juicy Lucy. We split them so we had essentially one burger each. The burgers themselves are enormous. I was almost expecting the burgers to be greasy like some drive thru only restaurants are, but it wasn't. It was fresh, cooked nicely and it wasn't falling apart. Which was a plus considering how big they were. It was probably the best burger I've ever had that wasn't cooked at home. Hands down. We also got fries. Which were good. But not enough to rave about. We got the macaroni bites. Which I wouldn't recommend. They looked like little tiny pizza slices that had been dipped in batter and fried. I think I was expected them to be crunchy since they were fried. The Mac and cheese inside reminded me of, and tasted like, those Kraft singles you microwave. If you missed the grease, you'll find it here. And we got the cheddar rounds. Which are better than Pal's by a land slide. But a little heavy on the creole seasoning for me. Hey, my dad would've loved them. And we split a peanut butter malt. Really good. You can tell they use real peanut butter. I wish I could have tried more flavors. Overall, I loved it. I can't wait to go again. I already know I want to try the spaghetti. Or one of the subs. Or the steak which sounded awesome. The menu is huge! Be prepared to order. And don't forget to grab a menu so you know what to get next time.

The best fried green tomatoes I've had!! Very friendly service!! Great milkshakes and the burgers are delicious too!!

My wife is from Kingsport, so we stopped here to grab something quick. Mistake No. 1. Waited at least 30 minutes for a half-steak bomb, fried pickles, and milkshake. Food was mediocre on its own. When you factor in the wait, it's a major disappointment. Will not be back.

Food is good but things are left out often. Came back through once because we checked as pulling out and food was missing. We were legit accused of taking it out of the bag and lying. I just suggest you make sure you check and never expect to get delivery because no one answers the phone. Ever.

They have a great selection of sandwiches and shakes. I personally love the soup beans and cornbread as well!

Purple cow milkshakes are what keep bringing me back! There are so many options! This is more of a fast food type restaurant with more u inquest options than the typical fast food chain since its local. The prices are really good too! My main complaints are that multiple times I've been and somehow what I try to order is no longer on the menu. I think the online menus have not been updated. Also, I ordered a grilled cheese plain and ended up with a grilled cheese that had mayo on it so I was not able to eat it. I'll definitely be going back but maybe just for milkshakes and Fried pickles!

The staff is very friendly! The delicious flavor of steak bomb was evident just from the smell. The bread is AMAZING!!! The french dip sandwich is another of my favorites. They have lots of options for my small children while catering to more distinguished palates. Whenever we're are hungry our first thought is to go to the Purple Cow.

I always love purple cow! Their burgers are the best and you can't beat the price!! I'm not a fan of the seasoned fries, but they have regular you just have to remember to ask for them.

I read rave reviews on Yelp about this place. So, I had to eat here. In my opinion, the food is average (when McDonald's is ranked as below average). It does not compare in quality to the burger joints we have in Texas. I think this place is over hyped because it's in Kingsport. There isn't much in this town so the locals are thankful for whatever they get that's not a major chain. I have no desire to return to this restaurant. This means, I'd never say, "oh, I'm craving a burger from Purple Cow".

Ate twice here while I was in town. A burger that was very good. But certainly comparable to others in town; and a pastrami sandwich. Good but not great. I would not avoid this place. But I wouldn't pass other named places just to eat there.

i ate here and found a hair in my SUB and then the place caught on fire!? i freaked out and drove away worst place ever

I pray neither God nor a doctor say I have high blood pressure or diabetes, or need to be vegan because evenings like this would go away. I had to pull my car out of the line to study the comprehensive artery threatening menu, especially when the guy said he could do anything I wanted with anything on there. I settled on a double with no cheese or bacon because I wanted that on my baked potato (healthier than fries, right?). As an appetizer, a fried balogna sandwich and for dessert a purple cow shake. I am almost ashamed to admit this order. I should also be ashamed that I put the gorgeous Commerce salad from Fermented into the fridge for tomorrow. Why ruin a good thing? It is proof that I had lofty intentions.

Great customer service. Amazing people. Also the food is really amazing. take a little bit for the food to come but at least I know it is cook right then and there so it is fresh. Also the milkshake are amazing and so many to choose from you can also mix flavor. I love the coffee cheesecake.

Steak bombs, Pepper-jack bacon burgers, garbage fries, hamburger steak dinners, are just a few of the amazing foods you will find here. You may have to wait in the drive thru line for a bit, but it is well worth your wait for the great food and the price can't be beat. And a long line at the drive thru just means that the food is THAT good!! This is one place that you don't want to pass up.

We have visited here twice so far. Both times the burgers have been good. The shakes have been a nice thickness and any thing we added into them they were very generous with. The fries have the fry seasoning on them. It's not the seasoning batter. They do give you plenty in the order.

What a crazy drive-through restaurant! The menu will take you two hours to go through but it's so cool! They have everything from hamburgers to egg rolls to macaroni and cheese to a bologna sandwich! The food was great I had an egg salad sandwich and my husband had a hamburger. We even got one of the purple cow T-shirts! We were just passing through Kingsport but we thoroughly enjoyed our quick stop at the purple cow and we are glad to have a T-shirt to remember this funky, fun drive-through fast food place!