The Old Capital Public House – Kingston Tennessee

Once again our friends Norm and Linda have upstaged us!  These local restaurant guru’s invited us to dinner with them over in nearby Kingston.  A new restaurant had taken over a space that had been vacated by another restaurant… We really liked Gloria Jean’s Fine Southern Provisions, the previous restaurant in this location and we were hopeful about its successor. 

Of course, the scenery here in East Tennessee is hard to deal with.  Kingston, population ca. 5,900, is located on the shores of Watts Bar Lake, part of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s lock and dam system along the Tennessee River and its tributaries.  Watts Bar Lake is over 72 miles long and has a surface area of 39,000 acres…

This is the Old Capital Public House in Kingston.  It’s in the Town Center Shopping area which is part of the Ladd Landing’s master development which includes new homes as well as retail space.

The interior of the Old Capital Public House hasn’t changed too significantly from its predecessor.  It’s a warm open space with a slightly industrial feel and lots of light.  

Laurie took this photo of yours truly with our dining guides, Norm and Linda. 

FYI… As usual, we were eating early, hence a shortage of other patrons.

Norm and Linda ordered these Coconut Shrimp as their appetizer. ($6.50) It came with pita strips.  Unfortunately, this offering had been partially consumed by the time I remembered to take a photo.  I did have one of the shrimp and it was pretty decent.

Laurie has a ‘thing’ for fried pickles…so, we ordered these battered and Fried Dill Pickles. ($6.00) The dill pickle slices made this appetizer ‘pop’!  It was very tasty and we’d order it again.

Linda decided to try the Old Capital Public House ‘Sangria of the Week’.  It was a blend of wine with raspberries, etc...

Laurie and I did order a couple of craft beers. (No Photos) The Old Capital Public House is owned by Monkey Town Brewing Company in Dayton Tennessee. (Home of the Scopes “Monkey Trial”) Laurie’s beer was very ‘hoppy’, something she likes.  It was named H’oat’el M’oat ‘el Hopiday Inn. ($6.00) As usual my choice was on the mild side.  It was called Little Miss Thang Blonde Ale. ($5.25) Both were 13 oz. pours…

For his dinner, Norm selected the Chicken Avocado Wrap. ($10.00) Sliced chicken breast, Applewood bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato with chipotle aioli are all wrapped in a flour tortilla.  He chose the house potato chips as his side.  Norm was quite happy with his selection…

Linda decided to go for the House-Made Meat Loaf dinner. ($13.00) She was a bit stunned by the huge portion of meat loaf!  It was enough for 2 to enjoy… As you can see it came with mashed potatoes and a sautéed vegetable medley.  She was very happy with her choice and part of that meat loaf went home for another meal…

Laurie decided to have the Club Sandwich for dinner. ($10.00) It included ham, turkey, lettuce, bacon, tomato, American cheese and mayonnaise on Sourdough bread.  The fact that the bread was grilled and ‘seasoned’ kicked this old standby up a notch.  Laurie really liked it and I was ‘forced’ to help her by eating a quarter of the sandwich.  It was very nice indeed!

For my entrée, I chose The Bone in Pork Loin Chop with a jalapeno marinade, green beans and mashed potatoes. ($13.00) An attentive observer will note that the potatoes in the photo are not mashed.  When I saw Baby Baked Potatoes tossed in a garlic parmesan mixture, I made a quick and decisive decision.  I wasn’t disappointed!  Those potatoes ruled!  The beans were fine and the pork chop was done correctly…still a little pink in middle…and consequently still a bit juicy. 

We all agreed that the Old Capital Public House was a winner!  Service was pleasant and efficient, the staff was friendly and the food was certainly above average.  We will return…introducing other ‘novices’ to the ‘new’ restaurant that ‘we found’!

Old Capital Public House is located at 1000 Ladd Landing Boulevard in Kingston Tennessee.  Phone: 865-248-1555.  To learn more and to view the menu, their Website is at http://oldcapitalpublichouse.com/index.html.

While relaxing with Norm and Linda at their home after dinner, we learned that Norm had created and painted some wooden birds but he hadn’t done anything with them.  He showed them to Laurie and when she said she liked the wren and woodpecker, he gave them to her.  One of them now inhabits the floral arrangement on our front door and the other has found a home on the cotton wreath gracing our door into our garage.  Thank you Norm!

That’s about it for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by to see what was for dinner!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave