Fresh Fish! New Smyrna Beach FL

Continuing along on our way to Miami, Laurie and I worked our way east to the coast from our overnight stay in Wildwood Florida.  It was about 1 pm and it was time for lunch.  New Smyrna Beach hadn’t been on our itinerary so I hadn’t done any research about where we might stop and grab a bite to eat…

Fortunately, my eagle eyed better half spotted a small local joint along the road that was very busy.  We liked the fact that it also looked like it had been around for awhile.

This is Ocean’s Seafoods in New Smyrna Beach Florida.  It sits almost unnoticed along a busy street and parking is somewhat limited.  The restaurant was quite busy for post 1 pm in the afternoon.  It has been in business for almost 32 years…

Here’s an interior photo of Ocean’s Seafoods.  The look is simple but nautical…and it’s a very casual place.  It’s definitely a place that’s popular with the locals.

Ocean’s Seafoods isn’t just a casual restaurant… They also sell fresh seafood.  This is their fresh fish display case.  It contained lump crab cakes, sea scallops, salmon, haddock, tilefish, red snapper, mahi-mahi, flounder, swordfish and grouper.  Another display case contained crab, shrimp, clams, lobster and oysters.

The restaurant will steam such items as shrimp, clams and lobster from their retail showcase for $1.00 per pound over the cost of the product.  Also, they will blacken, broil or fry any fresh fish, shrimp or scallops for an additional $2.00 per pound.

I ordered one of my seafood favorites…the Fried Fish Basket. ($7.29) The fish was fresh and hot, fried just right.  The French fries and cole slaw were good too.  I’m not into tartar sauce, so I went with horseradish based cocktail sauce for my fish.

Other fried seafood Baskets on the menu include: 12 Shrimp ($8.09) and; the Ipswitch Clam Basket ($7.49).  You can also buy steamed shrimp, snow crab, Dungeness crab, clams and oysters by the pound or dozen.  The boil can be done plain, with Old Bay or Cajun.  A pound of shrimp is $8.25, with clams and oysters costing $5.99 per dozen.  Snow and Dungeness crab are sold at Market Price.  All steamed items are served with drawn butter and cocktail sauce.

Laurie went with the sandwich featuring the Catch of the Day ($11.95). Her fresh flounder sandwich was very nice…fresh and fried perfectly.  She used the tartar sauce. 

Other sandwiches include fresh Grouper ($11.95); Mahi-Mahi ($8.95); Crab Cake ($6.75), and; fried oyster sandwich ($7.99).  There are also a couple of seafood salads.  These include the Homemade Shrimp Salad ($7.29); Shrimp Caesar ($7.99), and Mahi Caesar ($8.29) The Shrimp and Mahi-Mahi on the Caesar Salads can be either grilled or blackened.

Apparently, the local birdlife also appreciate Ocean’s Seafoods!  The roof of the restaurant was heavily populated by Snowy Egrets and Wood Storks.

There are several dinner plates on the menu.  These include 2 sides and they range from Fresh (2) Crab Cakes ($11.29), to Fresh Grouper Filet ($15.95) and on up to the Chef’s Featured Dinner Specials at Market Price.  I also read a couple of on-line reviews that touted Ocean Seafoods’ Authentic Key Lime Pie… ($2.25).  We were too full for any dessert…maybe next time!

At Ocean’s Seafoods, customers place their order at the counter and then pick up their food when their name is called.  The restaurant was clean and orderly.  Ocean’s Seafoods is located at 601 East Third Avenue (Beachside), in New Smyrna Beach Florida.  They are open 7 days a week with varying hours.  Phone: 386-423-5511. I could not locate a website for this business.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Miami Views and Good Friends

Another year…another trip!  Continuing on our Florida trip, we cruised on down south along US Highway A1A and US 1 all the way to Miami.  We're going to stay with Dawn Marie and explore southeast Florida…while at the same time ensuring that she actually took a little time off from her demanding career as a retail consultant…

This is a view from Dawn Marie’s balcony in downtown Miami.  This is part of Biscayne Bay, with the American Airlines Arena in the foreground. 

The arena is the home of the Miami Heat.  The arena was finished and opened for business in 2000 and it seats 20,000 fans.  Lots of other events are staged here as well… Disney on Ice, a WWE Raw Super Show, Coldplay and Madonna, as well as a number of top Latin performers are scheduled to appear here in 2012.  Certainly, Dawn has lots of entertainment available at her doorstep!  For more on the arena, go to http://www.aaarena.com/.

This view is east over Biscayne Bay to Miami Beach and South Beach.  As you can see, 4 large cruise liners are departing the harbor at the same time.  I was startled to learn that 1 out of every 7 cruises departs from Miami.  There are 8 cruise line passenger terminals and they handled 4,330,000 passengers in 2010!

The closest ship in the photo, facing away toward the Atlantic Ocean, (with the dark stripe), is the Eclipse.  She is one of the newest and most energy efficient vessels currently in service. (She entered service in 2010) The Eclipse is an amazing 1,033’ long, 121’ wide, has 17 decks and she can carry 2,852 passengers with a crew of 1,271.  The Eclipse is owned by Celebrity Cruises.  For more information just go to www.celebritycruises.com.

This ship, in the turning basin of Miami’s harbor, is the Carnival Valor.  She entered service in 2004 and she’s been updated twice since then, once in 2008 and then again in 2011.  The Valor weighs 110,000 tons, is 952’ long, measures 116’ across the beam and she has a draft of 27’.  With 13 decks, she can accommodate 2,974 passengers who are served by 1,180 crew members.  Her original cost was $500,000,000.  For more information, go to www.carnival.com.

The Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami was built on Dodge Island.  The island itself was formed by filling in between and around Dodge Island and 2 other islands.  As previously shown, the left side of the island serves most of the cruise ships.  However, the cargo/container ship portion to the right of the photo is the 11^th largest cargo/container port in the USA…with 7,420,000 tons of cargo moving through its facilities in 2010.  In 2011, the port was responsible for supporting 176,000 jobs. 

Tunnels will be completed, (under the passenger side of the port), by 2014 that will connect the port directly to the nearby Interstate Highway…avoiding congestion in the downtown area.  Other port upgrades, coinciding with improvements of the Panama Canal, will allow the port to handle the new classes of container ships…which range up to 1,300’ long. 

One of the first adventures that we undertook on this trip was a visit to Miami’s Coconut Grove section of town.  The event was the 49^th Annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival.  This is a very big event…with over 150,000 attendees over a 3-day period.  There were at least 360 internationally recognized artists from all over the world…the exhibits/booths/tents stretched along almost a mile of ocean front…3 or four deep in many places. 

In addition, there was a culinary pavilion, live music and a Global Food Village. (However, I must admit that the gyros we purchased were some of the worst we’ve ever had) Otherwise, this was a great event…only $10.00 to get in and beyond the art, some great people watching!  For additional information, go to www.cgaf.com.

We really liked the atmosphere and the overall ‘look’ of Coconut Grove.  It was much more like a small town…very laid back with a relaxed feel to it.  From what I’ve learned, because of the outdoor space and the comfortable atmosphere in this area, a large number of festivals are held here each year.   

Coconut Grove is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami.  Formerly, it was an independent city, but it was annexed by Miami in 1925.  A total of only 20,000 people live in the 5.6 square miles that comprise the ‘town’.  It’s loaded with lots of ethnic restaurants and outdoor cafes… 

One of our next stops was in Hollywood Florida, where Laurie, Dawn and myself met our friends Karen and Charlie for dinner, followed by dessert at their home.  Their friends and neighbors, Rick and Pat, stopped by as well.  Now that their Hollywood home has sold...Karen and Charlie are in the process of packing up and permanently moving to East Tennessee. Yippee!!!

(As usual Laurie isn’t in the photo because she’s the ‘official’ photographer.  From left to right…Karen, Charlie, Rick, Pat, Dawn Marie and myself)

I wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t post a photo of the dessert that Karen and Charlie served us.  This is a Pineapple/Coconut Cake from Gino’s Italian Market in Hollywood Florida.  It was excellent!  Gino’s has been in business for over 3 decades.  Check it out at www.ginosmarket.com.

…back to Dawn’s condo on Biscayne Boulevard.  This is a great place to live, with lots of services and facilities available to the residents.  This is a view of the pool/amenities floor, with the city lights in the background. 

This is a nighttime view of Biscayne Bay and the Port of Miami…with Miami Beach on the horizon…not too bad!

 The tents to the left were being put up for Cavalia, a Montreal Quebec based company that specializes in large scale equestrian and performing arts productions.  Unfortunately, we left town before the show opened.  This show is called ‘Odysseo’… Another group from the same company is opening a 3 week stop in St. Louis, MO in the near future.  The tent alone requires 20 semi-trailers to move it.  It is the largest touring ten in the world, seating a total of  2,290 patrons.  For more on Cavalia, go to www.cavalia.net. 

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Great Southern Dining – Wildwood Florida

Time for another road trip!  This time, (mid-February), we were off to Florida.  As usual I researched where we were going and I listed out the possible attractions and places that we might want to visit…as well as some restaurants we thought we’d like to check out.

Our first stop was in Wildwood Florida.  To avoid the hassle and congestion of the Orlando area, I chose Wildwood because of its location near the junction of I-75 and the Florida Turnpike.  It was a fortuitous decision!

Working from Midwest Living, Southern Living and various travel Magazines, plus Jane and Michael Stern’s Road Food books and website and Guy Fieri’s TV show, Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, I’ve developed a list of restaurants for us to try out around the country should the opportunity arise.  However, I didn’t have any leads listed near Wildwood…

When in doubt or need for the best places to eat, I check in with Trip Advisor at www.tripadvisor.com.  Trip Advisor led us to the restaurant pictured above, the Cotillion Southern Café!  The exterior certainly offers a warm and welcoming aura to the prospective diner…  The building was originally The Bank of Wildwood.  It was completed in 1905 and it operated as such until the mid-1960’s.  Both vaults are still intact…

The interior of the Cotillion Southern Café is furnished and decorated with a broad selection of antique collectables and furniture including non-matching tables and chairs.  The old wood floor is complimented by the high tin ceilings.  As per the owner and chef, Kathy Hall Vincent, she’d needed a place where she could use all of the old china, lace, silver and antiques she’d collected…

Our dinners came with a terrific side salad consisting of baby mixed greens, strawberries, Monterey jack cheese, sliced green onions and toasted pecans.  The salad dressing consisted of red wine vinegar, canola oil and a package of the chef’s own Cotillion House Dressing Mix.

Several appetizers are available on the menu.  These include such items as Fried Green Tomatoes, Hot Pimento Cheese, Dixie Caviar, Redneck Nachos, Soup, etc.  Prices for appetizers range from $3.99 to $9.99.

A nice serving of ‘Corn-federate’ cornbread also accompanied our meals.  For those, including ourselves, who like their cornbread a bit sweet, this was perfect!  The kernels of corn throughout the cornbread added flavor and texture to help ‘pop’ our taste buds. Oops!  I almost forgot... This little accompaniment was served with whipped cane butter!  Delicious!

The lunch menu includes 15 different sandwiches ranging in price from $7.99 to $14.99.  Choices include St. Augustine Crab Cake, the Fla. Cracker Angus Burger, Shrimp Salad Sandwich, Sunny Egg Salad, Pimento Cheese & Pecans, Southern Style Meatloaf and ‘The Elvis’.

Laurie and I usually order two different entrees just to try different items on the menu.  Not this time!  We both fixated on the Texas Country Fried Chicken and neither one of us would switch... ($14.99) This entrée is described as a hand cut, tenderized and breaded chicken breast, fried and served with the made-from-scratch Cream Gravy over their Fresh Smashed Potatoes. This was a great meal, with the right amount of food, prepared to perfection. 

Laurie generally doesn’t like collard greens… Not this time!  The greens were fantastic and the ‘liquor’ that remained was even better.  We 'sipped it' as enthusiastically as if it were a special treat!

The supper, (evening) menu lists no less than 19 entrees.  Prices range from $12.99 to $21.99.  Selections vary from ribs and pulled pork to Cracker Chopped Steak, Low Country Shrimp ‘N Grits, a Shore ‘Nuff Seafood Platter, Chicken ‘N Waffles to a Baked Mac ‘N Cheese dinner.  I know that the next time we stop by, Laurie will have to try the Last Chicken in Atlanta Pot Pie…one of her favorite dishes. 

We were quite content following the salad, corn bread, our entrees with the greens…and a glass of wine as well.  But, as you can see, we had this visual problem…or, as I like to call it, a visual challenge!

We surrendered to temptation…although we did limit ourselves by sharing a piece of this beautiful Almond Joy Cake. (Note: I’m generally not a big cake fan) However, this dark fudge southern cake with coconut filling, fudge frosting, ganache and Almond Joy topping was moist, rich and spectacular…!

We will return to the Cotillion Southern Café!  They recently started serving breakfast…probably our favorite meal…and if dinner was any indication, breakfast at the Cotillion will be a big winner.  Breakfast items include New Orleans French Toast, Southern Belle Waffles, a Crab Cake with eggs plus a fried green tomato and then there is always Big Daddy’s Breakfast…grilled meatloaf, eggs, cheese grits or potatoes and homemade biscuits. Breakfast prices range from $5.00 to $14.99.

The Cotillion Southern Café is located at 101 Main Street in Wildwood Florida.  Phone: 352-748-1223.  Website: www.cafecotillion.com.  Note: Not only did Laurie buy Miz Kathi’s Cotillion Southern Café Cookbook, but she’s already gone on-line and ordered Dixie Dust, Chicken Salad Seasoning and Cotillion House Salad Dressing.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by and sharing our meal with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Monterey Virginia (Highland County)

This is the last blog about our late summer/early fall 2011 road trip to upper New York State, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  Fittingly, our last stop on our return trip was in one of our favorite places, the town of Monterey in Highland County Virginia.

Monterey is the County Seat of Highland County.  Since Highland is the least populated county in Virginia, it seems appropriate that Monterey’s population stands at roughly 160 citizens.  From the late 1700’s until 1847, this place was known as Bell’s Place.  It was named after James Bell, owner of a log cabin located on Main Street. (The cabin still stands)

When the Virginia General Assembly created Highland county in 1847, 17 local justices changed the town’s name to Highland.  Then, only a year later, when General Zachary Taylor was elected President, the justices changed the name of the town to Monterey…as a tribute to Taylor’s victory at the Battle of Monterey in the Mexican-American War.

We stayed at the Arbogast Inn. (Laurie loves B&B’s!) This Colonial-Revival home was built in 1902 for Ed Arbogast, a livestock dealer, lumberman, political leader and sheriff.  The house was completely restored in 1995.  The current owners and innkeepers are Betty and David Cockerham…a mother and son team.

We stayed in the Charles Dickens room on the second floor in the front bedroom of the house.  The bed was comfortable with the room being quite large and nicely furnished.  The en-suite bath was equally well equipped. 

With no TV in the room, I actually read a book by the light of that old lamp by the chair!  It was very peaceful…with almost no traffic passing by our windows.

The Inn is full of antique furniture.  Many of the walls are paneled with Oak and Walnut.  The dining area is well equipped and Betty prepared a very nice breakfast for us in the morning.  We arrived late, but if we had been there earlier, afternoon treats and beverages were available. 

David Cockerham (co-owener of the Inn) also happens to be a very good photograper & he has quality photo cards of the Monterey Virginia area that you can buy right there at the Inn.  Laurie bought a bunch!

For more information regarding the Arbogast Inn, you can call the Innkeepers at 540-468-3278 or you can contact them via email at stay@arbogastinn.com.  The website, with photos of the rooms, is at www.Arbogastinn.com.

Dinner time was a bit of a challenge… It was a Sunday evening and both of the restaurants that we wanted to try, ‘The Highland Inn’ and ‘High’s Restaurant’, close early on Sundays.  So, in a town this small we were left with one option, the Mountain Hideaway Restaurant.  As you can see, it was busy…

Sorry for the dark photo… The interior of the restaurant was simple and straightforward but clean.  The customers were a decent mix of locals and tourists like ourselves.

Laurie ordered the trout with beets and cottage cheese.  Decent little rolls accompanied both of our meals.  She thought that the trout was pretty good and she loves beets.

As we travel across the country, I keep looking for good pork chops.  You know what I mean…juicy, well seasoned…not overcooked.  These chops had flavor but they were way overcooked and tough.  I needed some ketchup to bring them back to life.  The fries were OK and the cole slaw was very good. 

Since it was our last day on the road, instead of splitting a dessert, we each ordered something.  Laurie had this little sundae covered with butterscotch sauce.

I went with a slice of rubarb/strawberry pie ala mode.  The pie was just OK. 

We concluded that the Mountain Hideaway qualified as a safe place for travelers to ‘fuel up’.  The staff was friendly enough, pricing was reasonable but the food was just OK.  Mountain Hideaway Restaurant is located at 37 Potomac River Road in Monterey Virginia.  Phone: 540-468-1575.  I couldn’t find a website for this establishment…

One more time, I’d/we’d like to stress that we really like Highland County and Monterey Virginia.  We will return…the next time for a longer visit so we can explore the countryside more completely.

Here's what Monterey and Highland County looks like in the fall.  I captured this photo off the Internet.  Looks like a great time for us to visit the next time!  This is a view from one of the ridges looking down on Monterey.  The countryside is just spectacularly beautiful!

For local attractions, places to stay and restaurants in Monterey, just go to http://www.virginia.org/Cities/Monterey/.  A pamplet is available entitled "A Walk Around Monterey Virginia".  There are no less than 25 points of interest listed...including the 'Landmark House' that was built in 1790.

For additional information regarding activities and events, go to http://www.highlandcounty.org/.  There is a pamplet available entitled "Discover Highland County - Scenic Driving Tour".  Actually, the pamplet lists 7 different drives ranging from 20 minutes to 2.5 hours...and from 10 miles to 63 miles.  We can recommend the Blue Grass Valley Drive.  Only 6 more drives for us to do!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Highland County Virginia!

Returning home to Tennessee from our late Summer/early Fall 2011 road trip, we stopped and spent a night in one of our favorite…and one of the most beautiful counties in the USA.  Highland County is located in the western highlands of Virginia, right up against the West Virginia State line.

To say that this is a bucolic and laid back place would be an understatement.  With a total population of 2,321 living in an area totaling 416 square miles, there are only 5.6 residents per square mile.  This compares to our ‘rural’ county in east Tennessee with 171 residents per square mile…or even more dramatically to the population of the state of Wyoming, with 5.85 residents per square mile!

Settlement in this area of Virginia began around 1745.  Early settlers were Scotch & Irish highlanders, followed closely by German immigrants.  Because of its pristine scenic beauty and rustic rural charm, Highland County has been nicknamed “Little Switzerland”.  The economy here over the years has been based primarily on sheep, cattle and the lumber industry.  Wool is still a key commodity.

Of course, there is a downside to being a bit isolated.  The county’s population has been on the decline since it peaked at 5,647 in 1900.  There are several severely decimated small towns or villages scattered around the county.  The photo above was taken in the early evening in the village of Blue Grass.  The county’s population has declined by a little over 12% since Laurie and I first came through here.  This particular village was in much better condition during our last visit. 

In addition to the declining population, demographics tell another story… Comparing Highland County to Virginia as a whole, 24.9% of the county’s population is over 65 vs. 12.2% for the state.  Residents aged 5 or under totaled only 2.8% of the county’s total, (65 in total), vs. 6.4% for the state.

We did hear conversations about consolidating schools between counties and even the possibility of merging counties.  Highland County was formed in 1847 from portions of Bath and Pendleton Counties.

In spite of its economic and population woes, this is a beautiful place.  The county consists of a series of high narrow ridges complemented by relatively narrow river valleys.  The James and the Potomac River’s headwaters are both found in the county.  Elevations range from 4,546 feet above sea level down to 2,894 feet in the county seat of Monterey.

The climate in Highland County provides moderately cold winters and comfortable cool summers.  Summer temperatures average between 70 and 80 degrees with the average temperature coming in at 47.6 degrees over the whole year. 

'Just' another pretty valley in the least populated county in Virginia...

Staunton Virginia is located about 40 minutes east of Monterey, the County Seat for Highland County.  Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County Virginia have a combined population of roughly 118,000.  If a resident of Highland County wanted to go shopping, it's 2 lanes all the way to the 'big' city!

There are no Interstate Highways in Highland County.  The nearest Interstate is I-81, which is 45 miles away in Staunton Virginia.  The county is bisected by US Highway 250, which runs east and west, and US Highway 220, which runs north and south.  This view is looking east in the direction of Monterey along US 250.  The little hamlet shown in the photo was unnamed as far as we could tell. 

As we drove along the county’s roads, we saw lots of sheep and cattle, some horses, a bunch of deer and then we noticed that we weren’t the only ones watching the ‘critters’ along the road!

Some of the unincorporated communities in the county have interesting names…such as Doe Hill, Forks of Waters, Hardscrabble, Mustoe, and Possum Trot.  It would be interesting to dig up a little more history on the county, its towns and villages. 

A Civil War battle took place in Monterey County in May of 1862.  Stonewall Jackson’s army suffered a battlefield defeat but a tactical victory when Union forces failed to dislodge his forces in the Battle of McDowell.  Only 34 Union soldiers were killed compared to Jackson’s 116… This battle is sometimes referred to as the start of Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

Other points of interest include the Virginia Trout Company, the Highland Wildlife Management Area, the George Washington National Forest plus the town and county seat of Monterey. (My next Blog) 

We just liked the looks of this closed up or abandoned cabin along the back roads.  At times, we drove for miles without passing another car…a very relaxing drive!

In March, since 1958, the county stages a Highland Maple Festival.  During this time, Maple Sugar camps throughout the county welcome visitors to view the process of syrup making.  (http://www.highlandcounty.org/maplefestival.html) Every August, the Mountain Mama Road Bike Challenge brings cyclists from all over the country to challenge themselves on the steep roads of the county. (http://bikemountainmama.homestead.com/) Also, the Highland County Fair, held on the last weekend of August or the first weekend of September, is the longest continuously running fair in Virginia. (http://highlandcountyfairva.com/)

That’s about it for now… My next Blog will include more on Monterey Virginia, the Inn where we stayed and the only restaurant available at the time of our visit.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Valentine’s Day Dinner – Classico Italian Restaurant

For Valentine’s Day, Laurie and I, along with 3 other couples, made reservations at the Classico Italian Restaurant in Loudon Tennessee.  This was a perfect opportunity for a wide range of feedback regarding this busy local restaurant.  

This is the front of Classico Italian – Pizza and Pasta.  It’s located in a small strip center in the Loudon area.  The location is right as this restaurant is right next to Tellico Village, a 3,600 home development, (still expanding), along the west side of Tellico Lake in Loudon County.

Since it was the Valentine’s Day Eve…the restaurant was very busy.  This is the room that’s normally used for special events, area club meetings, etc.  The good news is that the old battleship gray main dining area has been repainted and the whole place looks much better than it did when Classico’s management first took over the building…

Note the singer in the background… She was actually very good, especially when she sang the old standards.

All entrees are served with a tossed salad, garlic knot rolls and pasta.  The salad was OK…average but OK.  The garlic knots were gone before we could take a photo.  They were good, with lots of parmesan cheese on top.  Most of the diners at our table really liked them.  My better half and I would have preferred it if they’d had more garlic on them…

The only real problem was that we asked for more garlic knots.  Our waitress kept telling us that they were in the oven…and then that someone else beat her to them.   Our waitress was embarrassed but we never saw any more garlic knots...

I didn’t feel like a salad, so I ordered the soup...I didn't write down the name but it appeared to be Italian Wedding Soup.  I’ve eaten a lot of good Italian soup…in Chicago, New York and on The Hill in St. Louis.  This didn’t compare.  It wasn’t very good… I had my wife taste it, as well as another couple at the table.  The most positive comment it received was that it was “beige”…bland…

Two members of our group ordered the Stromboli…containing ham, sausage, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. ($7.70) It was huge, it looks good and you get a lot for your money!  On a scale of 1 to 10, one diner gave it a 7…pretty good, and the other diner rated it a 5…just OK. 

One of the ladies with our group ordered the Eggplant Special.  I didn’t get the price of this entrée.  She liked it and scored it an 8 out of 10 points…

Another of the ladies in our group ordered the Eggplant Parmesan. ($9.95) The eggplant must have been pretty good as she also rated her eggplant entrée as 8 out of 10!

One of the guys in our party ordered the Veal Parmesan. ($11.95) He used to work in the restaurant business…as a vendor for some really good restaurants on the west coast.  He refused to give his entrée a rating…stating that he would never eat here again…Ouch!  He felt that the marinara sauce came directly out of a can…and that calling it bland would be kind…

My wife ordered the Veal Marsala. ($14.95) The menu describes it as sauteed veal with mushrooms, garlic and Marsala butter sauce on a bed of linquini.  There were lots of mushrooms, enough veal and the noodles were cooked correctly.  However, she felt that it lacked character…no pizzazz.  It was OK…and she gave it 5 points out of 10.

I ordered the Romano Chicken. ($15.95) It was described as Romano and Asiago-encrusted chicken breasts with Alfredo sauce on a bed of Linguini.  The Alfredo sauce was a little ‘soupy’ the chicken was fine…although the plural of chicken breast was incorrectly used.  It lacked any real definitive Romano/Asiago flavor…but there was plenty of it and I was certainly full when I finished it.  I scored it 5 out of 10.

Another of the ladies ordered the most basic of Italian entrees…Spaghetti Marinara.  ($8.95) She gave it a 1 ½ out of 10!  The marinara sauce didn’t deserve to be given that label… There was no flavor…little or no spices added.  She said that she wouldn’t have eaten it except for the fact that she was starving… I tasted it myself and, whether it was or not, it tasted like Hunt’s Tomato Sauce…

So… Our ratings for the food at Classico Italian Pizza & Pasta ranged from “0” to “8” on a scale of 10.  There were two 8’s, a 7, three 5’s, a 1 ½ and one “0”, for an average rating of 4.9.

When paying at the register, the hostess didn’t ask anyone how their dinner was. (Our waitress did though…) There was no parmesan on the table.  Apparently, silverware was in short supply.  I had a salad fork and a dirty steak knife wrapped with my paper napkin when I sat down at the table.  For the most part, the entrees came out from the kitchen 2 at a time…maybe because each couple had a separate check.  We had people with their food waiting to eat just to be polite.  The worst part was that the last Stromboli arrived a good 15 minutes after the rest of us gave up and started eating.

Interestingly enough, the previous evening Classico Italian had catered food for an open house for a new local business.  From what we understood, the food was late…30 to 40 minutes late…and then instead of it being delivered, the business owner had to have it picked up.  But, I do have to say that my wife and I thought that the Pepperoni Pizza was pretty darn good.  I also liked the chicken tenders…

We would go back for the pizza… Classico Italian Pizza & Pasta is located at 318 Lakeside Plaza in Loudon Tennessee.  Phone: 865-458-9316.  I wasn’t able to find a website or Facebook listing for this restaurant. 

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave