Hunter’s Bakery and Café in Sweetwater Tennessee

It’s a fact that each year my wife celebrates her birthday from sometime in November until sometime in January of the following year… This is despite the fact that her big day is in early December! 

The result of this rolling birthday celebration is that we never know when the next birthday treat or present will suddenly appear.  However in this case she knew what she wanted!  Back in October she and her sister Bonnie had visited Natural Element Interiors at 1225 Murray’s Chapel Road in Sweetwater Tennessee and she’d found a nicely framed French antique horse print.  Today was the day that we’d determined that we go and buy it! 

I will admit that Natural Element Interiors is a quality shop with lots of decorator items and gifts…and I don’t like to shop!  To learn more about this tasteful decorator store, go to www.NaturalElementInteriors.com.  

In any case…exhausted as I was from shopping, I decided that we should stop for lunch before heading home.

 This is Hunter’s Bakery and Café in downtown Sweetwater Tennessee.  Downtown Sweetwater is occupied by a number of antique and gift shops that range in quality from very classy to ‘they have a lot of stuff’!  The center of town consists of many old buildings and Hunter’s is located on a corner in one of those classic structures.

Established in the 1850s, Sweetwater today is the largest town in Monroe County Tennessee with a population of about 6,000.  It is the home of the Craighead Caverns which contains the “Lost Sea”, the United States' largest underground lake.  See http://thelostsea.com/.

 

Hunter’s Bakery and Café has been in operation for several years now.  The dining room is long and narrow with an old tongue and groove wooden ceiling.   There are a couple of bakery display cases at the front of Hunter’s by the entrance and baked goods can be purchased to go as well as dessert items for diners…

It was lunch time.  Laurie ordered the Beef and Mushroom Philly Sandwich. ($7.99) This creation consists of hot beef tips, sautéed mushrooms, Swiss cheese, and pepperoncini peppers, all served on a hoagie bun.  She chose the potato chips over the steak fries or sweet potato fries.

The beef was tender and of good quality and quantity.  Since she never gets mushrooms at home, (my fault), she really enjoyed that change of pace.  She told me that she’d order this sandwich again without hesitation!

I decided to take a chance and I ordered the New York Strip Sandwich. ($8.99) As per the description from the menu, this was a hand-cut New York Strip steak chargrilled to perfection and served on a hoagie bun.  I asked for the lettuce and tomato with my sandwich and I chose the steak fries as my side.

I will admit that I had low expectations for an $8.99 New York strip sandwich.  What kind of a grizzled hunk of meat could a restaurant provide for such a reasonable/low price?  The answer was a pretty darn decent hunk of steak, grilled medium rare as ordered!  It was no puny, thin little piece of flavorless shoe leather… It was thick, tender and it was nicely seasoned.

Our experience at Hunter’s for lunch was positive indeed.  The only downside was that by 1:30 PM they’d run out of their 2 daily soups.  Our waiter was pleasant and helpful.  We will return!

Hunter’s Bakery and Café is open Monday – Thursday from 11 AM to 4 PM, on Friday until 8 PM and on Saturday until 5 PM.  The menu does include several entrée items for those who want a full dinner style meal.  Hunter’s Bakery and Café is located at 101 East Morris Street in Sweetwater Tennessee.  Phone: 423-351-1098.  Their website can be found at: http://www.hunterscafesweetwatertn.com/home.html.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave