Monday, December 8, 2014

Food – A Fitting Birthday Present!

One of my birthday presents from David II, Amy and our grandsons, David III and Emmett Lee was definitely right in my ‘sweet spot’, perfect for a guy who blogs a lot about food and restaurants!

They got me a gift card to a local restaurant that both Laurie and I like to visit for their Italian pasta offerings.  As per David II, there was quite a bit of confusion and uncertainty when he called from Omaha Nebraska to buy a gift card for David from David.  Perhaps they thought that it was some kind of scam.  After all, local casual restaurants in Seymour Tennessee don’t have too many gift cards purchased from out of state, much less from Nebraska.  


A few weeks ago, (my birthday was this past summer), we finally got around to driving over an hour to reach our destination…Willie’s Restaurant.  We don’t make it over to Seymour too often as it is quite a drive just for dinner and our route along US 411 from Maryville to Seymour is only a winding and fairly busy 2-lane road.  It’s a heightened adventure to drive it after dark when daylight is at a minimum.



Dinners at Willie’s are very reasonable, especially considering the fact that the meal starts with an all you can eat salad bar and some garlic bread knots with spaghetti sauce for dipping.  This is Laurie’s salad plate…complete with 2 of her favorites…beets and sliced olives!


I ordered Penne Pasta with Willie’s homemade meat sauce and 2 meatballs. ($7.99 with the salad bar and garlic knots!)  This is my second favorite entrée from the list of pasta offerings at Willie’s and it is a very satisfying and filling meal. (There is enough pasta for two!)

FYI…My favorite pasta dish at Willie’s is Shrimp Fra Diavolo.  I was concerned that I didn’t see it on the new menu but the waitress assured me that they would still serve it if that’s what I wanted.  But this time I was in the mood for meat! 


My better half almost had a stroke when she looked at the menu and our waitress confirmed that Laurie’s favorite item, Lobster Ravioli, was no longer available.  It just wasn’t being ordered enough to keep it on the menu…

She decided to order the Penne Pasta with Shrimp, Bacon and Crab Meat.  There was plenty of shrimp and crab meat in this entrée but Laurie thought that the crab meat made the vodka sauce too sweet for her taste.  It was OK but she wouldn’t order it again.


In the past, desserts at Willie’s were focused just on cheesecake…and while it was good cheesecake, it wasn’t great.  Plus I don’t care for cheesecake, (unless it’s fresh made from ricotta cheese), so I’ve never been interested in dessert at Willie’s.  The other factor working against dessert at Willie’s is that the portions are so big that we’re always stuffed when were done with our meals…

However, our waitress told us that we should try either the cheesecake or one of the pies that she and another waitress bake and have added to the dessert selection.  I do love pie and Laurie loves cheesecake, so….  



We were far too full from dinner but we did purchase desserts to take home with us.  We’d eaten at about 4:30 PM so we figured that by 7:30 or 8:00 we’d be ready for some sweets.

Laurie had this hunk of Key Lime Cheesecake.  She loved it and when I tried it I agreed that it was pretty good. (That’s high praise from someone who doesn’t care about cheesecake!)


I’d decided on a slice of Coconut Cream Pie.  All I can say is that it was excellent all the way from its homemade crust to the coconut on top!  In the future we will plan on bringing dessert home with us whenever we dine at Willie’s.

FYI…The total cost for our meal including the salad bar, ice tea, pasta entrees and desserts…with tax included…came to only $31.78!
 
The new menu at Willie’s is a little confusing only because some of the items that were featured before don’t show up now…but they’re still available.  We’d prefer being able to see all of our choices right up front.  The quality, quantity and price for meals at Willie’s are still pluses and, with or without my birthday gift card, we will return!

Willie’s Restaurant is located at 10321 Chapman Highway (US Hwy. 441) in Seymour Tennessee.  Phone: 865-773-0170.  Website: http://willies-restaurant.com/.  

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like the perfect gift for you guys, but I can imagine Laurie's disappointment. Both meals look good but the pie looks outstanding.

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  2. bummer on the lobster ravioli, that's what I had there and loved it!

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  3. Oh, my goodness those penne all'arrabbiata! My favorite pasta dish. And Sayaka's favorite dessert is Key Lime cheesecake, she ate in Florida for the first time. Happy Belated Birthday David! Mine is also in the summer, July 24th. When is yours?

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  4. al look amazing!! Lucky you guys!!
    Tell Laurie I love the key lime pie!!!

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  5. Dear Dave, Those portions certainly are hearty. I like that. You can always take some home and have it later or the next day.
    I am glad you and Laurie enjoyed the meals and the price certainly was right.
    The desserts look real good. Key lime and coconut cream are two that I really enjoy.
    Blessings, Catherine

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  6. You just can't beat that price. The portions are insane! That one meal would probably feed me for two days. Lobster ravioli sound really good, I'm surprised more people never ordered it, but that medley looks like a pretty good replacement to me.

    I love a good cheesecake myself. As you have probably read my family and I are the biggest cheesecake fans on the planet haha. That coconut cream though looks too good to pass up!

    What a fun night out, Dave. Too bad it isn't closer, but I guess that makes it even more special for when you guys finally get around to getting out there.

    Take care you two!

    Tammy<3

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