Free Reign Bakery - Powell

Great to have a gluten free, vegan bakery in Knoxville. I 'd have never expected such a thing around here. After being Celiac for over 20 years, I have lots of experience with gluten free baked goods, and compared to most these were really good. Initially started as a 3 star rating but decided to round the 3.5 up to a 4. I 'm spoiled by having had some of the best of the best gluten free, vegan treats in my travels so I always compare new places to what I know is possible. As I continue to explore the menu, I 'll be sure to update my review. The employee was super friendly and helpful with all my questions and helped us make our choices. We got several items, some for now and some for later . I 'd say it 's about 50/50 on the items I 'd reorder. I love that they only use cane sugar, coconut sugar and maple syrup in their goodies and yacón syrup for their keto items. None of those weird flavored sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit or chemical-type sweetners like erythritol or xylitol. I ordered a green tea latte which could use some work in the preparation, but I appreciate that it was an option beyond coffee and regular tea based drinks. The reason I struggled between 3 and 4 stars is that I base higher ratings on if I would drive here weekly from Sevierville, since it 's a bit of a hike. I 'd come here if in the area, or if I had a certain craving or to pick up something I 'll likely order in advance in the future. But, to just pop in for a pastry is less likely.

We tried biscuits, cupcakes, cookies, and bread this last weekend, when a friend of mine with Celiac Disease came to town. All of it was so yummy! 10/10 recommend!

Wonderful staff! Wonderful food, and priced just right. Great for people with gluten allergies, celiac or even just a sensitive stomach. The coffees, smoothies etc are awesome

Made the mistake of believing HappyCow.com, which we depend on as Vegans. The write up says, Bakery cafe offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu where items are around 80% vegan including the salads, soups, pancakes, waffles, biscuits gravy, breakfast sandwiches. This is all false news! The place had 3 vegan small bite plates, buffalo cauliflower, onion rings and fried green apples. They also had chicken and fries. And the food was awful....so greasy that we could not use enough napkins to draw it off. DO NOT GO TO THE 224 BROOKVIEW CENTRE LOCATION!!!

I want to start with how badly I wanted to enjoy Free Reign. It 's close to my house and it would be perfect. Except for a few things.Upon arrival, I immediately saw a large Dunkin Donuts cup full of coffee on the counter and no one but the one barista in the store. That 's a big sign that your employees don 't enjoy the coffee or maybe they don 't know what coffee is supposed to be. Either way, that started my doubts, but I was still going to try something.I went with someone else and they got a large latte and a pumpkin coffee cake while I got a large latte and a French toast cake. All of this was around $22 and when we received our lattes they were 12oz, lukewarm, and watery. Maybe their larges are 12oz but most places larges are at least 16oz if not 20oz or 24oz. I 've worked with coffee before and the barista clearly didn 't know much and she was the only one there. Aside from that, when the person I was with asked about how they make their pastries and baked goods, the barista shrugged and said, I don 't even know how they make them. It 's a mystery to me. It 's okay that she didn 't know, but she definitely doesn 't have to tell us that she doesn 't know about the product she 's serving. It 's unprofessional.Back to the food.The taste was fine for the French toast cake but it was dry like it was a day or two old, and the pumpkin coffee cake was sub par and bland.If you are gluten free or soy free or dairy free it might be worth the pricey desserts, but I just can 't justify paying that much for subpar food, drinks, and customer service. I 'd rather make my own.Or you 're better off going to K Brew or Mahalo for something decent. Even they have one or two gluten free, dairy free, or vegan options.