A Search for Greek Food in East Tennessee…

Laurie and I do miss the ethnic restaurants that we enjoyed during our 27 years in the Chicago area. (Please understand that we don’t miss Chicago’s traffic, the scenery, the millions of people or the weather!)

In downtown Chicago’s ‘Greek Town’, there is a very nice restaurant named Santorini. We had a corner Greek restaurant called Rose Garden in Elk Grove Illinois where we went for heaping platters of gyros and pita with tzatziki sauce.  There was enough garlic in this dish that we both had to order gyros to be able to stand each other.  We also didn’t order gyros if we had any appointments or social engagements within the next 24 hours!

We just never got around to trying Ali Baba’s in Knoxville before they decided to retire and we discovered that our ‘dining out card’ for Athena was useless because that restaurant was closed… Was there no hope?!

When Dawn Marie’s last visit drew to a close, she flew back to Miami via Chattanooga’s airport…so that gave us a chance to check out any Greek restaurants in the southeast corner of Tennessee.  This is The Acropolis, just off of I-75, north of Chattanooga.  It has been in business for many years so we were very hopeful!

Our first visual was promising… Like many Chicago neighborhood Greek owned restaurants, there was a display of desserts by the front door.  The dining room, (above), had a warm feeling…and it felt right as compared to our past experiences.

Teddy Kyriakidis opened his first restaurant in New Jersey back in ca. 1958.  The Acropolis is his second restaurant in the Chattanooga area.  His first place was in business for 13 years and The Acropolis Grill has been open for almost 18 years!

I couldn’t find our appetizer on the Acropolis Grill’s on-line menu.  This was a combination of Greek spreads with pita bread and toast points. ($7.00) This really wasn’t my thing but both Laurie and Dawn Marie thought that it was pretty good.

 

I had a bowl of the Avgolemono soup with my lunch.  Laurie also had a cup of this soup… Avgolemono or egg-lemon soup is a family of Mediterranean sauces and soups made with egg and lemon juice mixed with broth…  As a soup, it usually starts with chicken broth.  Typically, rice, orzo, pastina, or tapioca is cooked in the broth before the mixture of eggs and lemon is added. 

Unfortunately, this version of Avgolemono soup just didn’t do it for us.  It appeared that a little orzo had been added to the mix but the soup was much thinner…more broth-like…than what we’d become used to in Chicago.  It lacked the substance which I believe usually modifies the lemony taste.

I ordered the Gyros Dinner. ($9.95) It came with the preceding bowl of soup… I’m guessing that this is a luncheon portion as the price listed on-line is $10.95.

What’s with the ‘chunks’ of gyro meat?  We’ve never seen gyros served this way before.  Proper gyros should be sliced in strips from a ‘loaf’ of lamb, or beef and lamb, rotating on a vertical rotisserie spit.  Gyros usually have quite a bit of flavor as well…and this product didn’t ‘pop’ at all.  Spices used to make Gyros usually include salt, sweet paprika, white pepper, black pepper, parsley, garlic powder and dried oregano…and sometimes others!

Our impression was that these were pre-formed strips of gyro meat (or some semblance of gyro meat) that were pan-fried and served.  The only flavor that really came through was because the ‘chunks’ were grilled/fried.  Our gyros at Acropolis Grill were very disappointing.  For anyone interested in learning more about gyros, you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyro_(food).

OK…enough about the gyros themselves!  The second key to great gyros is top notch tzatziki sauce.  Tzatziki sauce is to gyros like butter is to bread… Sadly, the tzatziki sauce at Acropolis matched the gyros themselves.  You could taste the yogurt and the cucumbers, but what happened to the usual ingredients…garlic, salt, olive oil and dill?  Can you spell ‘bland’?

In summary…for gyros and tzatziki sauce…you’d be better off ordering yours at the Sweetwater Flea Market in Sweetwater Tennessee.  While the Flea Market version isn’t great, they do have a bit of flavor and no chunks...they were sliced off of a vertical spit!

To be fair, Acropolis Grill has been in business for 18 years so they must be doing something right!  Our sampling of their offerings was very limited indeed.  I checked Trip Advisor and Acropolis Grill had a 70% recommended rating and it was listed as 61^st out of 537 area restaurants.  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g54946-d394214-Reviews-Acropolis-Chattanooga_Tennessee.html.  Acropolis Grill is located at 2213 Hamilton Place Road in Chattanooga Tennessee.  Phone: 423-899-5341.  Website: http://www.acropolisgrill.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Exploring Meigs County Tennessee #2

Chapter 2 of our exploration of our historical scavenger hunt in Meigs County Tennessee… Sometimes I can find a lot of specific site information on the Internet and sometimes I’m amazed at how little I can learn about these historic sites or properties.  In this case, readily available information was limited at best for two of the sites we found.  

 

This is the John Stewart House near Decatur Tennessee.  It looks like the old farm house is starting to fall apart… The chimney is partially gone on this end of the house and it’s leaning against the second floor at the other end of the house.  From what I can tell, this house dates back to 1825.

John Stewart's place in the history of Meigs County was guaranteed when the first Court for the new county was held at his home in 1835-6.

John Stewart was one of the earliest settlers of Meigs County and in the early 1800’s, he was probably one of the most respected men of the community.  He was born in Maryland on September 25, 1792.  He was allegedly a stage coach driver between Knoxville and Nashville and he met his wife Lettie in Knoxville.  By 1825, they had moved to Rhea County Tennessee…settling in the portion that later became Meigs County.  He acquired quite a bit of land north of Decatur, eventually totaling nearly 2,000 acres.  The photo shown above was borrowed from Wikipedia…

Besides farming the Stewarts also operated a commercial distillery and "Stewarts Landing" on the Tennessee River. According to some accounts he also imported salt from Virginia and sold it to the community.  John and Lettie had 14 children…

Laurie and Dawn Marie liked this old farm specific Aberdeen Angus sign.  For over 150 years, the Stewart Century Farm served the needs of the surrounding agrarian community, from providing transportation for area farmers to supplying hay in times of drought.  It is among the most significant properties in East Tennessee. 

When he died at the age of 82 in 1874, John Stewart willed his son Matthew B. Stewart 400 acres of the family property.  It has been passed down through the family for these many years and today, 188 years after it was acquired, David Stewart is the owner of the land.

This is the old Meigs County Bank on Courthouse Square in downtown Decatur.  From what little I could discover, this former bank was founded in 1907.  It looks like a great structure in a busy location… Someone should be able to find a use for it! 

Based on its current appearance, it’s hard to imagine that part of this structure dates back to 1850.  This is the Decatur Methodist Church on Vernon Street in Decatur… It was originally built in the gothic revival style…but, while I’m sure that it’s a very functional structure, its historic appearance is greatly modified.

Decatur was founded in 1836 to serve as the county seat for the newly formed Meigs County.  The town was named after Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr., an early 19^th century American naval officer and war hero.  He served in the 1^st and 2^nd Barbary Wars as well as in the War of 1812.  He was killed in a duel with a fellow officer and Commodore at the age of only 41.  For more on this American hero's exploits, you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Decatur.  

Just click on any of these photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and participating in our historical scavenger hunt!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave   

Breakfast = Eggs Plus What?

I do like eggs…deviled, poached, hard boiled, scrambled, as an omelet, etc., but I especially like fried eggs, easy over!

I am somewhat limited as regards my 'egg combinations' by my list of dislikes and ‘can’t stands’… These ingredients include mushrooms, big hunks of onion, and bell peppers of any color… Laurie looks forward to eating out especially so she can have some fried onions or sautéed mushrooms with her meal.

In any case, I’m always looking for something leftover in the refrigerator to pair with my fried or soft scrambled eggs.  Here are a couple of my latest ventures…both safe and simple but very satisfying!

I topped a buttered slice of Food Lion’s Tuscan bread with a leftover country style fried chicken breast from Cheddar’s…2 slices of pepper jack cheese…and of course, my 2 easy-over fried eggs.  The extra slice of toast was used for mopping up!  Once I splashed on a bit of Tabasco, this was a simple but satisfying late morning breakfast!

A couple of days later, I started looking for another breakfast ‘fix’!  This time I went with toasted and buttered English muffins.  I topped them with Benton’s prosciutto, some sharp shredded cheddar cheese and my easy-over fried eggs.  The combo worked well… Benton’s prosciutto is very distinctive but the combination of bread, sharp cheddar cheese, the egg yolks and Tabasco mellowed it out.  Score another point for a second satisfying mid-morning breakfast!

Just click on either of the photos for a satisfying breakfast…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Great Trips – New Zealand X

We’re only 3 or so blogs from the end of our 2000 great trip to the South Island of New Zealand… In this edition of our saga, the sun was out and the photos were especially sharp!

 

Before we left Lake Te Anau, I once again followed one of the ‘traditions’ of the Myers men.  We love to dam up, channelize or divert streams of water or even lakes!  This creek empties into Lake Te Anau just across from the bed and breakfast that we stayed in.  I decided that a rudimentary dam and rapids were in order…

I’m actually the first person, at about the age of 12, who connected Little Lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with Lake Superior…just by digging a little channel between the two.  By the morning after, my channel was a raging torrent and it had lowered the level of Little Lake.  At some later date the US Coast Guard apparently recognized my forward thinking and Little Lake is now a designated safe harbor on Lake Superior.

 

This is a view of the Mataura River Valley along Route 6, on the South Island.  We were driving south toward Invercargill.  Beautiful scenery with no people, no traffic, almost no pollution and no stress!

 

 

This is a view of Foveaux Strait near the town of Riverton, New Zealand.  The strait separates the South Island from the much smaller Stewart Island to the south.  Stewart Island has a total population of about 400 people…

Foveaux Strait is noted for its dangerous waters… From 1998 through 2012, 23 people lost their lives in the strait. 

 

Laurie took this photo of these bright and colorful flowers at a home in the town of Riverton New Zealand.  Riverton, which is also known as Aparima, has a population of about 1,900. 

 

The town was founded in 1837 and its one of the oldest towns in all of New Zealand.  Riverton lies on the South Island’s Southern Scenic Route and it’s very popular with tourists due to the fact that its beaches are safe for swimming and it has a protected harbor. 

 

 

This is the Beachhouse Café Bar in Riverton NZ.  We stopped by and had a nice lunch…but the view from the restaurant was even better.  It’s right across the street from the ocean! 

 

I checked and found that this restaurant is still in operation.  For more information, you can go to this site on Trip Advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g670372-d722044-Reviews-Beachhouse_Cafe_Bar-Riverton_South_Island.html.  A total of 33 reviewers gave Beachhouse Café Bar a “Very Good” or “Excellent” rating.  I noted that the prices ranged from $17.00 t0 $32.00 US.  I’m sure glad that the NZ dollar was at 49 cents to the US dollar when we were there!  

 

Another helpful traveler took this photo of Laurie and me at the southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand in the town and port of Bluff.  If you headed south from here, the next land that you’d encounter would be Antarctica!

Bluff has a population of around 2,000.  It is a seaport that’s located about 19 miles from the larger city of Invercargill.  Bluff’s harbor is the terminus for twice daily catamarans to Oban on Stewart Island…about 10 or 11 miles south.  An oyster fleet is also based in Bluff and this port is the main gateway for New Zealand ships that are headed to the South Atlantic Ocean.

 

Here’s a close-up of the sign at Stirling Point, the southern tip of the South Island… Just think, it is ‘only’ 2,989 miles to the South Pole and ‘just’ 9,326 to New York City from here!

 

 

This is another view of the far South Pacific from along the highway near Bluff.  It was a beautiful day for driving and sightseeing!

 

 

Since I like taking big ship photos, I’m ending this chapter of our New Zealand trip with this photo of the "TNT Alltrans", an Australian registered bulk carrier, as it entered the Bluff Harbor with a load of alumina for the nearby aluminum smelter.  The first ship to enter this harbor did so in 1813.

A little research revealed that this ship transferred to new owners in 2008 and it was renamed “Star Carrier”.  This 620 foot long ship gained a bit of notoriety in 1985 when it ran aground on Lady Musgrove Island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.  Fortunately, relatively little damage was done to the reef.  The officer on duty had fallen asleep after drinking…

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and vicariously sharing our New Zealand adventure with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Tellico Grill – A Promising Beginning!

A new restaurant has opened in Loudon County Tennessee.  It took over the site formerly occupied by a succession of restaurants…Catino’s, Ayala’s and American House of Pancakes.   

Catino’s had been fairly popular but internal discord brought that operation down.  Ayala’s, a Mexican restaurant, opened in the same building, which is just a couple of blocks down the street from the locally popular Lorenzo’s… Despite having a license to sell beer, Ayala’s was in effect ‘boycotted’ by nearby Tellico Village residents loyal to Lorenzo’s and the new operation folded fast.  AHOP never did get its act together…we once waited an hour for our food after the order was turned in!

So, hoping for the best, we called our friend Karen and we all met at Tellico Grill for dinner earlier this week.

 

The restaurant is bigger than it looks.  There is a large back dining area behind the front room and, in warmer weather, there is a very large deck or patio for outdoor dining. 

 

 

This is an interior photo of Tellico Grill.  The casual ambience of the restaurant has been upgraded with brick accents, a bit of artwork and white tablecloths under glass. 

Word on the street is that the owner of Tellico Grill is one of the partners who operate The Market, which is a meat and specialty grocery operation with 2 locations in nearby Maryville and Knoxville Tennessee.  The Market also offers a limited luncheon menu.   Assuming that The Market or a partner from that operation is indeed the owner of Tellico Grill, fresh high quality ingredients should be a given!

 

This is another view of the inside of Tellico Grill.  The archway to the back right of the photo leads into the second dining room and the door to the back left of the picture leads out to the deck/patio dining area.

The following picture shows the temporary menu currently in use at the Grill… I was told that a formal menu is under development, a second chef is being trained and that Tellico Grill will eventually be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Right now the staff is focused on training and working the bugs out of the ordering system.

 

Laurie and I like the idea of an a la carte menu… In effect, it allows the diner the opportunity to ‘construct’ his or her own meal with whatever sides are desired...and as big or as small as desired.

 

 

Laurie and Karen started out with the side Caesar Salad. ($3.00!) This salad is a bargain…and it was very good!  The Caesar dressing was very good and the croutons are probably the best we’ve ever had… I only wish that I’d started with one of these salads!

 

 

This was Karen’s entrée…the Classic Chicken Piccata. ($7.00)  She had a bite or two of the chicken before Laurie took the photo.  For Karen’s side, she ordered the Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes. ($3.00) She really liked those potatoes!

 

 

Laurie also went with the Chicken Piccata.  For her side, she ordered the Seafood Chowder.  The chowder came with a hush puppy in the middle.  Both the chowder and its floating hush puppy were winners from Laurie’s viewpoint.

I also tasted the Chicken Piccata.  We all agreed that it was unlike any other chicken piccata we’d ever had…but we liked it and would order it again. (Maybe a bit of Tarragon?)  

 

Since I’m always looking for a good hamburger, I ordered Tellico Grill’s Grass Fed Cheeseburger...with cheddar cheese. ($7.00) My side was this humongous order of Sea Salt Fries. ($3.00) The fries were good but there were enough for two people!

 

 

As for my burger…I like them medium rare …juicy and flavorful!  I was impressed when I cut my sandwich in half and discovered that this cheeseburger was cooked perfectly.  This was a very nice burger and the bun was better than average as well!

OK… We’ve heard and read a few negatives re: this brand new restaurant.  They’ve almost all revolved around service.  In our case, the entrees arrived too soon after Karen and Laurie got their salads... But...give these folks a break!  Opening a new restaurant with an unproven menu, new equipment and a brand-new crew is a challenge for sure.  They’d only been open a few days when we went for dinner… The food was good and we need a quality alternative dining opportunity in the area.  Time will tell but in the meantime we will support this new venture, giving it a chance to develop and succeed!

Tellico Grill is located at 222 Ritchie Road in Loudon Tennessee.  For those from around this area, the restaurant is on Ritchie Road just west of County Road 444.  Phone: 865-458-2210.  We're looking forward to the official grand opening...and we understand that they've applied for a beer and wine license.

Just click on any of these photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by, and if you’re in the area, give this new restaurant a try!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Exploring Meigs County Tennessee #1

This has been a relatively cold spring season here in East Tennessee.  Nevertheless, Dawn Marie was visiting us from Miami, the weather was sunny if brisk, and all three of us were restless…

I’d been researching the National Register of Historic Places for another county in East Tennessee to explore…and it was a beautiful day for a drive.  Meigs County was the site for what Dawn Marie termed as ‘our historical scavenger hunt’.  

 

This is the R.H. Johnson Stable, also known as the Edgemon Barn.  It’s located at approximately 30275 TN Hwy 58 and it’s readily visible from the highway.  The structure dates back to at least 1888.  This stunning old barn or stable has been well maintained… 

The great majority of Meigs County’s thirty-eight (38) listings in the NRHP were accepted and published in 1982.  I’m guessing that it was a community effort spurred on by some dedicated residents who had an interest in preserving the county’s history.  In 1985, a quilt was made which depicted several of the historic sites or buildings in the county.  The R.H. Johnson Stable was one of those structures.  That quilt and many other exhibits now reside in the Meigs County Historical Museum located at 200 Smith Avenue in Decatur Tennessee. 

Photos of some of the exhibits, including some nifty old pictures can be found on the museum’s website at http://www.meigscohistoricalmuseum.org/.  The museum is only open for a few hours on Fridays.  For further information, you can contact the museum coordinator at meigsmuseum@MeigsMuseum.com. 

 

This is the Mt. Zion Church.  It’s also pictured on that special quilt at the Meigs County Historical Museum.  This Methodist Church was organized ca. 1830 and this particular structure was built around 1850.  Due to flooding in its former location, it had to be moved and rebuilt at its current site.

The last member of the church died in the 1930’s…but “Homecoming” is held on the 2^nd Sunday in June each year.  To quote: “Visit your ancestors and hear stories of those still in the area or just eat the great southern food they bring and listen to the music”.  The church is only open for Homecomings, Funerals and Special Events.  Interested parties are instructed to contact Ricky Crabtree, who happens to be the Vice President of the Meigs County Historical Society.

 

This is the cemetery that adjoins the Mt. Zion Church.  For information on this cemetery, (i.e., the cemetery’s ‘residents’), as well as photos of the headstones, you can go to http://knaepen.homestead.com/Mt-Zion-Cemetery.html.   

Laurie’s photo above shows the ‘Boggess Corner’ of the cemetery.  Six members of the Boggess clan are documented as having been buried here.  Boggess Crossroad is still listed in Wikipedia as a populated place in Meigs County.  I found records showing that members of the family fought in the War of 1812, the Civil War (Confederate Army), World War I and World War II.  Captain Abijah Boggess (Jr.), the family member who fought in the Civil War, was killed in the battle of Bentonville NC.  This battle in March of 1865 took place less than a month before the end of the war.

Note: Members of the Boggess family still reside in Meigs County.  I noted a couple of fairly recent real estate transactions and Taylor Boggess was named to the Class 5-AA Girls All District Basketball Team for 2012.  The family line can be traced back to Robert and Mary Boggess and a son, who arrived in Virginia from England in 1656.

 

These are two of the tombstones enclosed in the little walled area from Laurie's previous photo.  Abijah (Sr.) and Susan were very early settlers in the area.  The Boggess family had a long history in Meigs County.  Abijah is recorded as being a veteran of both the War of 1812, during which he would have been between 17 and 20 years of age, and the Civil War, when he would have been 65 to 70 years old!

Abijah and his wife Susan had 13 children.  Despite having that many children back in the early 1800’s, Susan lived to be 72…but Abijah, despite serving in 2 wars, lived to be almost 88! 

One of the most interesting of Abijah and Susan’s children was Captain Irby Holt Boggess. (Also a Civil War veteran) He was born in 1835 and died in Texas in 1914.  This colorful character is considered a north Texas pioneer and he helped found the town of St. Jo Texas…current population of just under 1,000.  There was a divorce, shooting and lots of business dealings… For more information you can go to http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hjs04 or http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/files/TX/IraHoltBoggess.htm.

 

I had to toss in this photo for viewing by those of you who are into history and/or the restoration of historic sites.  This is the newly restored Stonewall Saloon that was built by Captain Irby Holt Boggess in St. Jo Texas.  It is now a western museum.  A tremendous amount of work went into this building restoration…

This photo was ‘borrowed’ from the museum’s website.  For more information on this north Texas attraction, just go to http://www.stonewallsaloonmuseum.com/.

 

This is what remains of the Big Sewee Creek Bridge.  It was built ca. 1914 but the basic iron structure still stands… The Champion Bridge Company erected this truss bridge.  It contains one 94.5 foot span on concrete abutments and its 17 feet tall with a ‘curb to curb’ width of only 11 feet.  

 

 

Meigs County barricaded and closed this bridge to traffic in 1985.  It remains intact as a historic ruin.  Laurie liked the way that Mother Nature is having her special ‘artistic’ way with the steel frame that remains…

FYI… This was also known as the Hickory Flat Road Bridge.

 

As you can see from this photo, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, in cooperation with Meigs County and the Federal Highway Administration, built this replacement bridge in 1988.  While the new bridge is safe and very utilitarian, it lacks the beauty and romance of the old structure…

Well, that’s about it for this chapter of our tour of Meigs County Tennessee.  More will follow in the weeks to come… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this historical and architectural tour with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Cazzy’s Corner Grill – Knoxville Tennessee

Another cloudy cold spring day in East Tennessee…  This spring has been much colder and gloomier than last year.  I really shouldn’t complain as it could be much worse…we could still be living and experiencing spring in the Chicago area!  That would mean we’d have to wait until late April/early May to warm up and green up…

However, the weather did discourage us from going for a drive in the country or going to the driving range to hit a few.  I remembered hearing about a ‘new’ restaurant, (at least new to us), on our local NBC TV affiliate, WBIR.  So off we went for our midday repast!

 

Our Magellan Road Mate GPS managed to get us to the general vicinity of Cazzy’s Corner Grill…about 3 blocks away at an intersection with zero buildings ‘she’ announced that “We’d arrived at our destination”.  Fortunately Dawn Marie’s Smart Phone managed to redirect us to the correct corner.

We’d driven right past the restaurant as we were totally focused on the GPS unit, ignoring the tall building on the corner.  We pulled in the parking lot and this was the entrance to Cazzy’s…

 

This is the front of Cazzy’s Corner Grill.  There is some patio seating, the signing that we just didn’t see and what looks like a main entrance…but isn’t.  The parking is all in the back as shown in the previous photo so I’m sure that 98% of their customers enter via that door.

 

 

We’d arrived a bit early for lunch so the restaurant was almost empty.  As you can see, the décor was that of an upscale sports bar and grill.  WBIR TV had featured Cazzy’s Corner Grill a week or so earlier because it had sponsored a charitable fundraiser.

 

 

Laurie took this photo of Cazzy’s dining area a bit after we arrived and the luncheon crowd had begun to filter in…

The founder of this restaurant had previously worked for or with Macaroni Grill, P.F. Chang’s, Flemming’s and Cozy Mels.  In addition, he’s developed a couple of local concept restaurants…Wok Hay and Dead End BBQ.

 

We started out with an order of Fried Pickles. ($6.99) It came with either ranch dressing or the house dipping sauce.  We went with the house dipping sauce and it was a good move.  The pickles were fried just right and the tangy sauce was perfect with them…although we did have to ask for a bit more sauce.

Other appetizers on the menu include the usual standards as well as a couple that you don’t see all the time.  The highest price for an appetizer was $10.99.  Choices include Chicken ‘Tenders’, Chips and Salsa, Chicken Wings, Nachos, Flatbread and Hummus, Sliders, Fried Mushrooms, Wisconsin Fried Mozzarella, Onion Rings and Fried Green Tomatoes.

 

For her brunch/lunch, Laurie chose the French Dip with homemade au jus and homemade potato chips.  It was a good sandwich with nice au jus and it was on a very nice baguette.  The chips had great flavor but they were a little too salty.

Other sandwiches on the menu include a selection of hamburgers, plus a turkey burger, a veggie burger, a Pesto BLT, a couple of chicken creations and a deli type sandwich featuring turkey, pastrami and Swiss cheese.  All sandwiches come with one side… The most expensive sandwich is $10.99. 

Available sides include mac and cheese, parmesan green beans, broccoli, red bliss mashed potatoes, baked beans, Texas caviar, sweet potato mash, cole slaw, onion rings, French fries, fresh chips and corn on the cob.

 

For her entrée, Dawn ordered from the Appetizer Menu.  This is the Cuban Quesadilla, ($10.99), with a side of Mac and Cheese.  This quesadilla consists of pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and BBQ sauce served between two flour tortillas with Cuban mojo sauce on the side.  Dawn asked them to leave off the BBQ sauce.  Living in Miami, she didn’t like the idea of BBQ sauce on a Cuban type sandwich… She enjoyed her quesadilla but she thought that the Mac and Cheese was just average.

There are 10 salads on the menu at Cazzy’s Corner Grill.  They range from the House Salad ($4.99), to a Caprese Salad ($8.99), a Caesar Salad w/Salmon ($11.98), to a Arugula Salad w/Shrimp ($13.99)

 

As per the information on the website, Cazzy’s Corner Grill has a number of ‘signature dishes’.  These include a Cajun-encrusted sirloin, the Cazzy Joe (a version of a Sloppy Joe), and the Pastrami Burger.  Since I like Pastrami and it really sounded different, I ordered the Pastrami Burger with a side of French fries. ($10.99) This sandwich consisted of chopped pastrami cooked and served burger-style, topped with a fried egg and Swiss cheese on a Kaiser bun. 

OK…I just didn’t get it.  By chopping and ‘cooking the pastrami burger style’, I thought that that great pastrami flavor was diminished.  Maybe the pastrami was too lean?  I think that un-chopped slightly ‘wet’ pastrami would have worked better.  I sure liked the concept but it just didn’t work for me. (I know that Larry, aka ‘Big Dude’ at http://bigdudesramblings.blogspot.com/ could make this creation ‘pop’, especially since an egg is involved!) The French fries were just OK… I preferred the homemade potato chips.

The menu also includes Fish and Seafood, Pasta as well as Steaks, Pork and Chicken.  To view the menu and to learn more about Cazzy’s Corner Grill, go to www.cazzyscorner.com.   Cazzy’s Corner Grill is located at the Northshore Town Center at 2099 Thunderhead Road in Knoxville Tennessee.  They are open 7 days a week.  Phone: 865-657-9624.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and sharing lunch with Laurie, Dawn Marie and myself!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave