The Last Hurrah! – Family Visit (VIII)

This is the last post in my series related to Laurie’s sister Bonnie and Bonnie’s husband Bill’s week-long visit from St. Louis Missouri.  And of course, once again it ‘had to’ involve food and dining out, while still maintaining a relatively safe personal environment or bubble around us during this pandemic…

So it was time for another drive...

We’d driven by the Iron Works Grille on the River a few times, mainly because it’s on the road to Bald River Falls and the Cherohala Scenic Highway across the Smoky Mountains to North Carolina.  The restaurant always looked popular and it is nicely situated right on the Tellico River…

For some reason, we didn’t take any indoor photos of the restaurant.  We did note that although we were able to socially distance ourselves away from other diners, most of the other patrons in the restaurant were not even trying to space themselves out and none of the restaurant’s staff were wearing facemasks. (And the ‘spread’ continues)

Onto the food…

The first appetizer we ordered was a large order of the “Almost Famous” Bacon-Wrapped Fried “Wickles” Pickles. ($6.50 large/$3.50 small) I was expecting a larger piece of pickle but everyone thought that this appetizer was a definite winner!

Our second appetizer was the Fried Green Tomatoes with Sriracha Sauce. ($6.00) As you can tell, the tomatoes were half eaten before I remembered to take a photo.  With fried green tomatoes, the key is the breading.  This version of the southern classic was excellent!

As usual, (but not alway best), I broke away from the crowd favorite.  I ordered a burger.  This was my “Sherman’s Favorite”, a burger with pepper jack cheese, fresh jalapenos, crispy jalapenos and sriracha aioli with bacon. ($12.75) The burger was overcooked, not medium rare as requested, and I was surprised that despite the ingredients, there was little ‘heat’ in the creation.  The French fries were better than average.

Bill ordered a side Caesar with his Meat and 3 entrée.  I wished that I’d ordered one too as it looked good…

Bill, Bonnie and Laurie all ordered the daily special…Fried Catfish with 1, 2 or 3 sides. ($10.99 with 3 sides, $9.99 with 2 sides and $8.99 with just 1 side) Bonnie just had 1 side, the Squash Casserole.  Laurie had 2 sides, the Green Beans and the Squash Casserole.  Bill had 2 sides in addition to his Caesar salad, the Squash Casserole and the Fried Okra. 

Everyone raved about the Squash Casserole!  Laurie couldn’t eat all of her Fried Catfish so I sampled a piece of it and I agreed with everyone else…it was excellent!  

We also forgot to take a photo of our luscious dessert...Banana Pudding. ($4.00) It was the best!

After dinner we went outside to check out the lower level where outside dining is possible.  Our goal was to check out the views along from the Iron Works Grille’s vantage point!  It’s a great setting!

Here’s a little history about the name of this restaurant.  During the Civil War, the Tellico Iron Works produced cannonballs and bullets for the Confederate army.  In late December of 1863, the Union Army’s General Sherman had the iron works destroyed.  Prior to the war, the Tellico Iron Company produced a quality product…considered to be among the finest available.  It was owned by a Unionist but it was seized by the Confederacy early in the war. 

Today, only a few stones remain of the coke furnace.  The location is marked as a historical site along Tennessee’s Civil War Trails.  To learn more about these historical trails (road trips), you can go to https://www.civilwartrails.org/docs/Tenn_PDF-mapguide.pdf.

Since this was our last adventure together before Bonnie and Bill headed home the next morning, we thought it was appropriate to take this group selfie!

Despite the general positive quality of the Iron Works Grill’s food offerings, we won’t be returning anytime soon… The lack of social distancing for customers when busy plus the failure of management to have their staff wear face masks is a combination that promotes the spread of Covid-19.

If you don’t care about your health or the further spread of the coronavirus, the Iron Works Grille is located at 1641 Cherohala Skyway in Tellico Plains Tennessee.  Phone: 423-253-2373.  Website: https://ironworkstellico.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave