Knoxville Auto Show plus Lunch

For several years now, I have delayed making a move that would satisfy one of Laurie’s wishes…wants…desires…needs.  She wants an SUV (sport utility vehicle) whereas I’ve always preferred a nice comfortable sedan.

Eventually even a mountain can be worn down by the weather so we’ve begun a slow search to determine what type of SUV she’d like.  It can’t be too big and it can’t be too small.  It has to have all the safety bells and whistles plus leather seats, good cup holders, a large video display and lots of space in the back for luggage and ‘stuff’.   On the other hand of course, is my goal is to not go broke buying Laurie’s new vehicle...

We started out the day with a visit to the orthopedic surgeon’s office for a quick check up on my various surgeries.  No problem there…so then it was off to lunch before going to Knoxville’s big auto show.

We chose Jason’s Deli for lunch.  We hadn’t been to Jason’s in quite some time, we’d enjoyed our previous meals here and Laurie had a hankering for a pastrami sandwich.

Jason’s Deli is a fast casual delicatessen restaurant chain.  It was founded in November of 1976.  The company currently has about 300 locations in 29 states.  This particular location is on Peters Road in west Knoxville but there is another store closer to downtown.

At Jason’s, customers peruse a printed menu or a menu board to decide on their food choices, either before getting in line or while in line.  Service is efficient and quick.  The staff was helpful and the restaurant was clean.

The menu at Jason’s is quite extensive.  There is a plethora of sandwiches to choose from to include many standard deli offerings, plus a Po’ Boy, wraps, pasta, potatoes, clubs, soups and a salad bar.  The company advertises that they use all fresh ingredients, no artificial trans-fats, no MSG or high fructose corn syrup or artificial colors and dyes.

The dining area at Jason’s is big, bright and open.  The large salad bar is located near the counter where customers place their orders and where the sandwiches/lunches are assembled on trays.  I noticed that if you were going to do the salad bar for lunch, and you had a credit or cash card, you could go straight to the salad counter to pay and begin selecting your lunch.

 

While the restaurant wasn’t too busy when we arrived just about at Noon, by the time we left, the place was bustling!  It’s obviously a very popular luncheon destination…

Laurie decided to go with her favorite deli sandwich for her lunch.  This was her Hot Pastrami on Rye with a bag of kettle chips. ($9.49) This big and very tasty sandwich includes about 8 oz. of hot pastrami on toasted rye bread with spicy mustard.  When we ordered she requested some au jus on the side so she could make her hot pastrami ‘wet’, more like what she might be served in a local East Coast neighborhood deli.  She was very happy…

I decided to try something new…something I hadn’t had before, when I ordered my lunch.  This Pot Roast Melt Sandwich with potato chips was perfect comfort food for a chilly winter day. ($10.29) I have to say that it was one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in a long time.  I’d order it again without hesitation! 

Jason’s Deli #870 is located at 133 North Peters Road in Knoxville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-357-3354.  The website and standard menu can be found at: https://www.jasonsdeli.com/restaurants/knoxville-deli.

Laurie had logically determined that a great place to start her (our) search for an SUV would logically be at an auto show!  This was our opportunity to check out all of the SUV ‘possibilities’.

We made our trip to the Auto Show on a Friday.  This was to avoid crowds and because on Friday senior citizens were admitted for free!  One look at the photo above shows that we certainly accomplished our ‘crowd avoidance’   objective.  There certainly weren’t very many people to get in our way…and it was about 1:30 pm when we arrived.

First Complaint: Parking!  The designated parking lot was closed to auto show attendees.  We were re-directed to a church parking lot across the street.  How does a convention center operate with parking arrangements like that?

This definitely wasn’t a ‘glitzy’ auto show…  It was more of a new car 'parking lot'.  Most of the automotive brands were represented with Toyota, Ford, Chevy, Cadillac and a couple others dominating the floor space.  Volkswagen was no-where in sight.  Kia had 2 cars against the back wall.

Second and Third Complaint: There were free bags to carry auto brochures as you picked them up but we only spotted 4 different brochures among the various brands.  Also, many of the SUV’s lacked electrical power…so we couldn’t open up the back of the vehicles to check storage space. 

While we liked the fact that the auto show was ‘pressure free’, i.e. no salesmen pushing product and in your face… However, (Fourth Complaint), given the lack of knowledgeable automotive personnel, trying to learn about the different brands, accessories, etc. was quite frustrating. 

Ford and Toyota did have what appeared to be ‘outside contractors’ with smart phones and the ability to research/answer some questions and they tried to be helpful.  But, other than one salesman at Subaru, it was hard for auto show visitors to learn much about anything... One couple that we talked to briefly became so frustrated that they gave up and left the show.  

If we learned anything at all at the show, sadly it was that going to this show was a major waste of our time.  As the saying goes, ‘you can’t win them all!’  At least the Auto Show was free…but it wasn’t worth the price!  On the positive side, we did have a nice lunch…

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave