Scrambled Jake’s Breakfast Co. and More

Time for a short “blog break” from our trip up to the northeastern USA… As is frequently the reason for a pause in my story line, food is the focus for this post! 

We recently visited a breakfast/brunch restaurant here in East Tennessee that our friends Norm and Linda had told us about… 

This is Scrambled Jakes Breakfast Co. in the Rocky Hill community of Knoxville.  This restaurant just opened for business last year.  The building began life ca. 1994 as a Hardee’s.  After various expansions and remodels, it became a Bar-B-Que restaurant and then a bar and nightclub.  Once again modified and redesigned it’s in business one more time.  Note the outdoor patio dining area at the left of the photo…

The interior of Scrambled Jakc’s has a warm feel to it.  Note the polished concrete floors, lots of wood, the fireplace, paintings, mural, trophy mounts, ferns and the counter built with rocks… We also liked the fact that the tables are spaced far enough apart to avoid crowding.

My kind of place!  Scrambled Jake’s even has a Hot Sauce Bar for the discriminating diner…

Then there is the breakfast bar/counter, reminiscent of old time diners but greatly updated.Another modern touch is the fact that Scrambled Jake’s offers a variety of Breakfast/Brunch cocktails.  We also learned that there is a fabulous Bloody Mary Bar, with all types of Bloody Mary add-ons, just on Saturdays and Sundays.  We’ll have to return just to check it out!

I know that it was breakfast…but when we saw Deep Fried Deviled Eggs on the menu, we had to give them a try. ($4.00) They were OK, but compared to Laurie’s deviled eggs, they were far too bland for us.

Laurie ordered an omelet, which is highly uncharacteristic for her.  This was Scrambled Jake’s Classic Cheese Omelet. ($8.50) The omelet was made with 3 cage free eggs folded with aged cheddar cheese and then topped with a gruyere cheese sauce and chives.  

The omelet was accompanied by an order of the restaurant’s breakfast potato casserole.  Laurie also ordered a side of bacon. ($4.00) Both the omelet and bacon were winners!  She liked the potato casserole but we both favor good old fashioned hash browns…

For my breakfast, I checked out the "Benny’s"/Eggs Benedict portion of the menu.  I selected the Rocky Hill Hammer. ($10.75) It consisted of grilled thick sliced bologna with tomato slices on a buttered biscuit covered with sausage gravy and then capped with 2 cage free poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce.  It was a bit different than the usual eggs Benedict and I really enjoyed it.

We will be back but, unfortunately for us, Scrambled Jake’s Breakfast Co. is over an hour’s drive from our home.  This innovative Breakfast/Brunch restaurant is located at 7428 South Northshore Drive in Knoxville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-540-6199.  Scrambled Jake’s is open 7 days a week.  Website: https://scrambledjakes.com/.

I thought that I’d add another breakfast to this post.  Those that know us know that Cracker Barrel isn’t on my normal list of dining options.  However, we were headed to southwest to Knoxville on I-81…and it was time to eat. 

We decided to try something different on the menu as a breakfast starter we could share.  These were the Buttermilk Biscuit Beignets with butter pecan sauce.  They were very tasty…a nice treat!

We wanted the old standbys for breakfast.  Two eggs over easy, with hash browns, meat and toast.  Easy right?  Good luck finding these basic simple breakfasts on the Cracker Barrel menu! 

Everything comes with other ‘stuff’, items that we didn’t want.  Grits, pancakes, potato casserole, etc.  Our helpful waitress saved the day!  After we had struggled with the menu for a while, she told us that we could order what we wanted ‘off the menu’.

So we finally got our basic breakfasts.  They were OK if not great.  Then the manager came by and asked us how our meal was… We commented about the menu not including the basic breakfast.  No sympathy or even understanding from him… He just walked away stating the menu wasn’t going to change.  “Great” customer service…not!

Let’s move on to a casual dinner.  We returned to ‘The Burgers’ on US Hwy 321 in Lenoir City Tennessee.  We had decided to try something on the menu other than burgers… This appetizer is Parker’s Maple Syrup Glazed Smoked Pork Bellies. ($8.00)

The maple syrup glaze with the pickle slices was tasty…about what was expected.  However, in our opinion, the ‘pork bellies’ tasted like and had the texture of thin slices of roast pork.  It isn’t something we’ll order again.

OK…so no burgers on this occasion.  Laurie decided to try the 3-piece Fish and Chips Basket. ($14.00) Her meal came with The Burgers nice seasoned French Fries, Southern Slaw and Tartar Sauce. (The red cup in her basket held cocktail sauce ‘just in case’ I had to ‘help’ her with any of that fish!) There was a lot of food and it was all very good! 

I chose the Southern Crisper, a nice piece of fried chicken on a hamburger bun with pepper jack cheese, tomatoes, chipotle ranch sauce and sliced jalapenos. ($12.00) I also chose the coleslaw as my side.  This was a very nice and very satisfying sandwich!

There are 3 locations for “The Burgers” in the Knoxville area.  The Lenoir City Tennessee restaurant is at 540 Highway 321 North.  Phone: 865-816-6900.  The Burgers website is found at http://www.eattheburgers.com/.

That’s it for this recap of our recent food experiences in the Knoxville area.  In my next post I'll return to our adventures and dining experiences from our summer road trip.    

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave