This is Sloan’s Village Home Center at TN
Hwy. 72 and Hwy. 444 in Loudon Tennessee.
This store sells hardware, lumber/building supplies, has a big lawn and
garden operation, a Bass Pro outlet and…their ‘deli’ serves breakfast and
lunch! (Note: Laurie and I have learned that any place that makes sandwiches in
East Tennessee is called or can be called a ‘deli’. They are nothing like the true delis that one
finds in major metro centers around the USA…
Sloan’s Village Home Center is one of 3
locations that comprise a long-term family owned business. Other locations can be found in along US Hwy.
411 in Vonore and Madisonville Tennessee.
The store in Vonore has a full service grocery store and all three
locations operate either ‘delis’ or a restaurant. For more information on this family
enterprise, you can go to http://sloansstore.com/index.html?win=lo.
Appropriately, the Deli has its own
entrance along the side of the building.
It’s the same entrance used by many of the local contractors who purchase
their building materials from Sloan’s.
Contractors, lawn service companies and local utility workers, as well
as many residents from adjacent Tellico Village provide Sloan’s Deli with lots
of business…
Laurie and I can assure you that East
Tennessee is a great place to live! No
income taxes, low property taxes, moderate weather, beautiful scenery,
reasonable housing costs, etc., all combine for comfortable living. Tellico Village is just one residential/retirement option
in East Tennessee but it is the largest of them all. To learn more, go to http://tellicovillage.org/.
The main dining area of Sloan’s Deli can
best be described as country cozy… There is the rack of snacks, buckets with
condiments, a coffee bar on the right hand side, a bit of country décor, a
bulletin board with all sorts of messages and business cards plus a miss-mash
of seating options and tables. There is an 'overflow' dining area set up around the corner in the warehouse...
While there are printed paper versions, this
chalkboard displaying breakfast offerings gives you an idea of the deli’s
menu. One positive is that you can
easily mix and match items to come up with the breakfast of your choice.
FYI…Family Pack Specials are offered as is a Boater’s Special. (Tellico Lake is within 200 or 300 yards of the store) The Boater’s Special includes a cooler, 10 lbs. of ice, 6 cans of soda, 16 oz. of potato salad, 16 oz. of coleslaw, and your choice of 4 cold sandwiches, 4 BBQ sandwiches or 4 burgers. The price ranges from $21.99 for the cold sandwiches up to $29.99 for the burgers.
FYI…Family Pack Specials are offered as is a Boater’s Special. (Tellico Lake is within 200 or 300 yards of the store) The Boater’s Special includes a cooler, 10 lbs. of ice, 6 cans of soda, 16 oz. of potato salad, 16 oz. of coleslaw, and your choice of 4 cold sandwiches, 4 BBQ sandwiches or 4 burgers. The price ranges from $21.99 for the cold sandwiches up to $29.99 for the burgers.
Here’s another view from inside the
dining room at Sloan’s Village Home Center…and deli. The lumber sign and power tools are part of
the ambience. You place your order at
the window at the left of this photo and you’re either called up to pick up
your food, or it’s delivered to your table.
Laurie ‘assembled’ her breakfast from what
is really an a la carte menu. It consisted
of 2 eggs over-easy, a nice little stack of bacon, 2 slices of toast and 2 hash
brown ‘wedges’. The bacon was very nice
and she enjoyed her breakfast…
The lunch menu is fairly standard and
just what one might expect. Burgers, hot
dogs, bologna and cheese, BLT, Philly Steak, BBQ, etc. It would be hard to go broke here! A club sandwich, an order of French fries and
a small (16 oz.) beverage would set you back $7.27 plus tip and taxes…
I ordered 2 easy-over eggs, rye toast, 2
sausage patties and the ‘hash browns’. I
am not a huge fan of hash brown ‘wedges’…and I wouldn’t order them again. It’s a personal preference and many people really
like breakfast potatoes like these. The
sausage was fine and the eggs were fried correctly. I must say that this was the best meal I’ve
ever had at a hardware store!
There were some specials posted and
perhaps that’s how our meal was priced when we checked out. According to my calculations, (after I
revisited the menu at home), breakfast with coffee should have cost $4.99 for
Laurie and $5.99 for me. (Very reasonable indeed!) They don’t give you a bill
at the Deli…you just walk up to the registers at the front of the store and
tell them what you had… I told the cashier exactly what we had and I think that
she ended up just ringing up the toast and egg specials for both of us…at $3.69
each! Maybe our a la carte listing was
too much effort to calculate.
We’ll have to go back and try lunch at
Sloan’s Deli…and I’d like to see what their biscuits and gravy are like. I know that their biscuits are pretty good because
when I’ve stopped by for minnows to go fishing, as I checked out, I’ve grabbed
a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuit, ($2.49), from the front register ‘warming
station’...and it was good.
Just click on any of the photos to
enlarge them…
Thanks for stopping by and sharing
breakfast with us!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Dear Dave, I love the line that says, "it was the best meal that I've had at a hardware store'". The prices certainly seem reasonable and the food seemed fine. It seems like a fine place to meet the local people and grab a bite at a reasonable price and enjoy a cup of coffee.
ReplyDeleteI wish you and Laurie a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving with good memories.
Catherine