Slawger’s American Restaurant

As anyone who follows my blog knows, we like eating out.  I maintain a list of restaurants that we have; 1) never been to or; 2) we haven’t eaten at in a long time.  We also keep our eyes open for new dining opportunities as they appear in this area of East Tennessee.  Sometimes we learn about restaurants from word of mouth, sometimes via the internet and from time to time, we just drive by a place that we’ve never tried.

Slawger’s American Restaurant falls into the latter category.  We noticed it as we ran errands along Kingston Pike in Knoxville.  The owners picked a challenging location for this restaurant.  There is a lot of traffic which is good, but there are a great many restaurants within a 4 – 5 block radius of this location.

As per their website, Slawger’s is a locally owned business.  They state that their food is made from scratch, “no GMOs, MSGs, hormones, antibiotics, high fructose corn syrup, or steroids”.  Their menu was developed so they could bring something different to the area.  In addition to the traditional favorites, it features gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, homemade side dishes, the “best” cheeseburgers and a number of ‘unique’ hot dog combinations.

Don’t pay much attention to the fact that the dining room is almost empty.  It was a Thursday at about 4 PM when we arrived and I took this photo. 

As for the décor, the owners went with the current overly popular ‘industrial look’ featuring polished concrete floors, open duct work, metal chairs offset by tables with wood tops, a pop of color in the booths, TV’s along the walls and the bar with corrugated metal along the front.

The first true positive sign for me was the fact that they have Tabasco on every table!

We both started out by ordering an adult beverage.  It was “Thirsty Thursday” so my 16 oz. Bells Two Hearted Ale was $1.00 off the normal price of $6.00.  Laurie didn’t feel like a beer so she ordered a vodka and tonic with 2 (not 1!) lime slices.  The other problem was the tonic was flat… 

The waitress took it off our bill and Laurie drank my beer as it was a bit ‘hoppy’ and she prefers a hoppy beer.  Then I ordered a 16 oz. Blue Moon Belgian White. ($4.00 as it was Thirsty Thursday)

What to order for an appetizer?  Would it be the “Fried Fun Guys”, the “Fortress”, “Jala Papas” or the “Chi-Falo Dip”? 

In the end, we chose the “Booze Dip”…4 pretzel logs with Dijon Aioli and Beer Cheese Spread. ($4.00) Those big soft pretzel sticks were very good and the beer cheese spread was seriously above average.  Laurie loved it! We also like the Dijon Aioli dipping option…

Laurie’s entrée came with 2 sides.  She chose a side Caesar salad and the “Impasta Salad”.  The side Caesar was tossed with a good Caesar dressing and Laurie’s only negative was that “It had too many olives”.  I never thought that I would hear her complaining about too many olives!

As for the Impasta Salad, this nice pasta salad was topped with Feta cheese and a creamy Italian dressing.  She took the pasta salad home for lunch the following day…

Her entrée was simply called “Fish and Chips” on the menu.  With the 2 sides, it was $14.00.  The fish was fried grouper and it was very nice.  Fortunately for me, she couldn’t eat it all so I ‘had’ to take some home for a future lunch!

I think that Slawger’s missed a ‘naming opportunity’ here… Instead of fish and chips, how about ‘sea my taters’?  After all, other items on the chicken and fish portion of the restaurant’s extensive menu include such monikers as “Chick Norris”, “Mrs. Jack” and “6-Lindsay Lohen”!

I ordered a sandwich for my entrée so I only got one side with my meal.  But what a side it was!  This was my White Chicken Chili topped with Jalapenos.  Yum!  It tasted great and the ‘heat level’ was perfect for me… The next time we dine at Slawger’s, I’m ordering a bowl of it!

For my sandwich, I ordered another item with a boring name… This was my Rueben. ($11.00) The marbled rye bread was toasted and the sandwich consisted of corned beef, baby Swiss cheese and sauerkraut.  Instead of the usual 1000 Island dressing, I opted for Dijon mustard.  They didn’t skimp on the corned beef that’s for sure!  My only mistake was not asking for the Dijon mustard on the side.  There was a bit too much of it on the sandwich but it was still an above average Rueben. 

Slawger’s has a big menu with several sections for diners to pick their meals from.  In addition to Appetizers, there are “What’sa Dillas/Wraps”, Tacos, Grilled “Chizzas”, Specialty “Chizzas”, Chicken/Fish, Burgers/Two Patties, Gourmet Grilled Cheese, CI Sliders/Three Sliders, Hot Dogs (100% Beef) with Two Hotdogs and Specials/Steaks.

We will return to explore the menu further!  Slawger’s American Restaurant is open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.  They are located at 9507 Kingston Pike in Knoxville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-288-4088.  Website: http://www.slawgers.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave