Groupon Coupons – An Early Dinner

Every once in a while I purchase a “Groupon” coupon on-line.  The discount is usually about half and I really feel good when I use one!  No surprise, my Groupon purchases are generally food based, although I have bought an oil change discount from time to time.

I have a couple of restaurant “Groupons” that I rarely pass up when they become available.  Hot Rod 50s is one of those restaurants!  We’ve eaten here many times, sometimes with friends and family and sometimes it’s just the 2 of us. 

Early on this beautiful late fall day, we’d gone on a scenic drive over to the Cade’s Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (The ‘Cove’ is about an hour from our home) As the shadows lengthened, it was time for an early dinner!

The interior of Hot Rod 50s is pure 1950’s diner kitsch!  Every wall and every booth, be it a 2-seater or a 4-seater, is totally immersed in ‘new’ old advertising signs, funny ones, road signs, records, customer photos, musical instruments, auto parts, gas station memorabilia, etc.  There is plenty to look at while you’re waiting for your food!

I started out with a salad as my side…and skipped the photo because…well, it was OK but it was just a side salad.  We love the hamburgers at Hot Rod 50s, so I ordered the Jalapeno Burger. (Large 2/3 lb. version = $9.99)  This steak burger was perfectly cooked, medium rare, and it was topped with pepper jack cheese and Hot Rod 50s Jalapeno Bottle Caps.  It was excellent!

Hot Rod 50s has a burger menu that goes on and on…for 3 pages.  The overall menu is huge, totaling 8 pages.  One of my favorite non-burger items on the menu is The Hog. ($7.99) This Hot Rods signature sandwich involves a huge thick cut of breaded and pan fried pork tenderloin the size of my head!  It’s so big that I have a hard time finishing it…

Laurie went ‘off the grid’, ordering something that we’d never ordered before.  This is Hot Rod 50s Fried Fish Dinner. ($12.99) There was at least 10 oz. of fresh Tilapia filets that had been beer battered and fried.  The portion was huge!  Better yet, it was some of the best fried fish that either of us had enjoyed anywhere…

Lucky for me, Laurie gave me a bite to prove how good it was.  Even better, she couldn’t finish it all, so I had to take one whole filet home and have it for breakfast with a couple of easy-over eggs!

The ambience at Hot Rod 50s is fun, service is friendly and we’ve never had a bad meal!  Hot Rod 50s is located at 373 Hannum Street in Alcoa Tennessee…just a couple of blocks from downtown Maryville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-984-7171.  This restaurant’s Website can be found at: http://www.hotrods50sdiner.com/index.html. 

I didn’t have any place else planned where I could feature these photos… Around the time that we made our trip over to Cade’s Cove and Hot Rod 50s, I spent the better part of a nice sunny fall day fishing on Larry, (http://bigdudesramblings.blogspot.com/), and Bev’s dock in a secluded cove on Tellico Lake.  The fishing was just so-so, but given the beautiful weather and the fall setting, I was a happy camper!

Just click on any of these photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave