Abuelo’s in Turkey Creek

Time for dinner after running errands… Where to go where we haven’t been or at least haven’t been recently?

After some discussion, we decided on Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurant in the Turkey Creek Shopping Area.  Turkey Creek is partially in Farragut and partially in Knoxville Tennessee.  It had been several years since we’d dined at Abuelo’s…

As you can see from the furnishings, the courtyard and the ambiance, Abuelo’s is “upscale” in appearance as compared to most typical local Mexican restaurants.  Of course, the question then becomes, does the food match the upscale décor? 

To start, our waiter brought us a margarita and a beer along with a choice of 3 different salsas for our tortilla chips.  The presentation was upscale…note the metal basket for the chips and the multi-bowl salsa container.  The chips were nice but quite thin.  The salsa choices were OK but I prefer the more traditional version.  Laurie thought that her margarita was very good…

We looked over our choices of appetizers and/or small bites/tapas, and we went with the Jalapeño Cheese Fritters. ($5.29) We like jalapenos and we like cheese so how could we miss with these!   Well…they were plentiful and good but not great.  They were filling but somehow they just didn’t trip the switch for our taste buds.

For her entrée, Laurie ordered the Quesadilla Al Horno with Chicken. ($12.39) Again, it was OK but it didn’t resemble the quesadillas that she is used to and prefers…

FYI…Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurant in Turkey Creek is part of a restaurant chain that has about 40 locations in 13 states.  These states include: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

I decided to order something a bit different from the norm in a Mexican Restaurant.  This was the Pork Tenderloin Abrigada. ($16.29) There were 3 bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin medallions that were smoked and grilled.  This entrée is served with a choice of 2 enchiladas and 2 sides.  For my enchiladas I choose the seasoned ground beef and the shredded beef.

The 2 sides were OK.  The 2 enchiladas were very good…meaty with a nice sauce.  My upfront concern was the trio of smoked and grilled pork tenderloins.  Many restaurants tend to overcook pork and it ends up dry and chewy.  In this case, the bacon wrap and the chef worked well together and the tenderloins were juicy and very flavorful indeed!

Service was about average although our waiter seemed to be a little inefficient or scattered in his approach to serving his tables.  All in all, it was a decent meal with my meal overshadowing Laurie’s.  In the end however, I think that we still prefer a couple of our local Mexican restaurants…

Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurant in Knoxville’s Turkey Creek area is located at 11299 Parkside Drive in the Pinnacle shopping area, along with Sullivan’s Steak House, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Ulta Cosmetics and Bonefish Grill.  Phone: 865-966-0075.  Website: http://www.abuelos.com.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by to see what was for dinner!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave