Revisiting a Local Golf Course Clubhouse Grill…and More!

Another day and another restaurant… It was time for an early dinner and we didn’t feel like driving too far from home.  So we were off to a local golf course and it’s clubhouse restaurant.

This is a view of the recently renovated and enlarged Toqua Clubhouse with its golf store and the Toqua Sports Bar and Grill.  The Toqua Golf Course is one of 3 such courses to be found within Tellico Village, an ungated, open to the public retirement community, which is located in Loudon and Monroe Counties in Eastern Tennessee. 

Tellico Village was a Cooper Development that now stands on its own.  Of note is the fact that there is no minimum age restriction for anyone to live in the Village.  The Village, with a population of over 9,000 residents sits along several miles of shoreline on Tellico Lake, a Tennessee Valley Authority reservoir.  To learn more about Tellico Village, go to https://tellicovillage.org/. 

The Toqua Sports Bar and Grill has been greatly expanded in the last year.  The rebuilt restaurant is very spacious, with a nice fully equipped bar and plenty of seating.   Both this restaurant and the golf course are open to the public.   While the bar it’s self is well equipped with TVs for sports events, the dining area only has TVs along the walls so the impact isn’t too overwhelming for those who aren’t watching…just chatting with each other.  By 5:30 PM the Grill was hopping!

The Grill also has some pleasant views of the gold course itself…actually the driving range and practice greens.  In addition, there is a patio dining option for those who prefer fresh air and sunshine.

One recent addition to the staff of the Toqua Sports Bar and Grill was the owner/chef from Z’s Fish House in Loudon Tennessee.  Sadly, despite being featured on “Restaurant Impossible”, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and increased costs caused him to close his restaurant.  His addition to the staff at this restaurant should be a big plus.

With those facts in mind, Laurie ordered the Salmon Cake Salad for her entrée. ($15.00) That salmon cake was quite large and I had a couple of bites of it myself.  It was very flavorful and Laurie really loved it paired with this nice salad.

For my dinner, I decided on these Pastrami Sliders with a side of coleslaw. ($13.00) I liked them a lot!  Very satisfying indeed… While not New York Deli quality pastrami, the meat was better than I’d had anywhere here in East Tennessee in quite a while.  The meal’s presentation would have been better if the slaw had been served in a ceramic or glass bowl.

Our server Kelsey was very efficient and friendly.  Given the quality of the food, we will return to try other items in the near future.  We hadn’t eaten here in over a year but it has greatly improved.

Toqua Sports Bar and Grill is located at 200 Toqua Club Way in Tellico Village (Loudon Tennessee).  Phone: 865-458-1330.  This restaurant is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ToquaSportsBar.

While we are eating out again more often than over the past 2 “Covid-19” years, we still look for simple items that we can prepare easily at home.  So, the other day while shopping at Costco, we came across a big package of chimichurri marinated skirt steak.  We decided that we’d have it for dinner that same night so I fired up the grill.  I used an iron skillet for part of the process and I put the meat directly on the grill to finish it. 

We both thought that it was very nice…lots of flavor and fairly tender too.  Love that chimichurri!  That marinade worked well as we dredged it up from the platter and poured in on our rice/vegetable mix as well as on the steak itself.  Best of all, I now have plenty of leftover skirt steak for breakfast or sandwiches!

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

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave