Yet Another ‘New’ Dining Opportunity…at Least New for Us

Recently we got together with our friends Norm and Linda for dinner.  We decided to try a relatively new restaurant in Alcoa Tennessee that neither couple had dined at previously.

Alcoa is a city of about 11,000 people just a bit south of Knoxville.  It was the site of a large aluminum smelting plant owned and operated by the Alcoa Corporation.  The plant was established in 1911 and the company employed as many as 11,000 workers during World War II.  The successor company now operating in Alcoa is the Arconic Corporation and it employs about 1,000 workers.  Alcoa was initially known as North Maryville but the town was incorporated under its present name in 1919.

Early Alcoa was a classic ‘company town’, with the company maintaining a paternalistic relationship with the city.  As time went on, diversification of the area’s economy and negative feelings toward the Company, caused a reduction in Alcoa’s influence.  The first City Manager that wasn’t employed by the company was hired in 1956 and toward the end of that decade, the company relinquished ownership of the town’s utilities.

…enough history for now.

This is Blue Moose Burgers and Wings in Alcoa.  The original Blue Moose location is in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.  From what I can determine, Blue Moose is owned and operated by Diverse Concepts, a professional restaurant management company.  In addition to Blue Moose, some other restaurants falling under this management umbrella are Bullfish Grill, Carino’s Italian, Harrison’s, Lakeside Tavern, Liberty Park, Mellow Mushroom and Parkside Grill.

As you can see, Blue Moose has televisions mounted everywhere.  With a menu focused on burgers and chicken wings plus those TV’s, it is truly a large sports bar/venue…with casual dining and a semi-industrial décor.  It’s also quite popular even though it has only been open a fairly short time… Booth seating dominates the dining room, something I really don’t care for at my stage and age.

Norm and Linda ordered the Big Breaded Double-Dipped Onion Rings as their starter. ($9.49) They are fried ‘crispy’ and served with a house-made sauce.  I didn’t partake but from what I gathered, Norm thought that the onion rings were OK…but not great.

As our starter, Laurie and I ordered a dozen traditional wings.  For our sauce, we chose the Hot Teriyaki.  The wings weren’t amazing but they were just fine…and the sauces we chose had just a bit of a bite to it.  As usual I started eating before remembering the camera!

What I don’t totally understand is the pricing of chicken wings.  Our 12 ‘traditional’ wings (bone-in) were priced at $17.99 but if we’d ordered ‘boneless’ wings, we would have only been charged $15.99.

The answer is that ‘boneless wings’ are not wings at all.  They are usually formed from breast meat and they’re a spin-off of the breaded chicken nugget.  They are faster to cook but not a succulent as real wings.  About 60% of the chicken ‘wings’ ordered in the USA are bone-in but the boneless ‘wings’ are less expensive for restaurants to purchase.  Basically, if the demand for real chicken wings is high, they are more expensive for restaurants to purchase…

Both Linda and Norm ordered 8 wings as their entrée after the onion rings.  They ordered mild sauces as they aren’t into any spicy heat.  Linda ordered the Boneless ‘wings’ ($11.49) and Norm ordered the bone-in wings. ($12.99) They were content with their meals if not impressed…

Laurie decided against a hamburger, and went for the Wild Ranch Chicken Wrap…”a flour tortilla loaded with grilled chicken, crisp iceberg lettuce, juicy bacon strips, shredded cheddar and jack cheese, plus diced tomatoes and wild ranch dressing. ($11.99) For her side, Laurie picked the French fries over the homemade potato chips.  Two other options were available for a 99 cent upcharge…sweet potato fries and onion rings.

The French fries weren’t great and the chicken wrap lacked any flavor plus the chicken was dry…

Since Blue Moose is all about beer, wings and burgers, I decided to order Moose’s All American burger as my entrée.  It comes with 2 slices of melted American cheese and some lettuce on a grilled bun. ($12.99)

I’d ordered the burger medium rare but it was way overcooked.  The burger itself lacked any flavor despite being on a grilled bun.  I seconded Laurie’s opinion of the French fries.

Service was another issue…and we understand how hard it is to staff any business these days.  We had 3 different waitresses wandering back and forth and 2 of them were just clueless.  As for the food…we won’t be in a rush to return.

Blue Moose Burgers and Wings in Alcoa is open 7 days a week.  This restaurant is located at 334 Fountain View Circle in Alcoa Tennessee.  Phone: 865-233-4667.  Website: https://bluemooseburgersandwings.com/.

Now onto something more positive!  Laurie’s sister Bonnie forwarded this Easter family gathering Facebook photo of Bonnie and Bill’s grandchildren…hence Laurie’s grand-nieces and grand-nephews.  From the left front there is Elliot Jane, Keaton and Charley Kate.  In the left rear there is Avery Eileen, Collen and Delany Claire.  They are growing so fast…3 teenagers already.  Great looking group though!

…and this is our newest neighbor.  His name is Shrek…mostly Black Labrador.  He is now training his humans, Mike and Sherry, to serve his every need.  He has already learned to ring the bell when he needs…or is it wants…to go outside.  He is constantly ringing the bell!  I’m sure his older ‘sister’, Fiona, a mixed breed, finds him quite entertaining.  FYI, Shrek and Fiona were characters in a major movie, entitled “Shrek”.  It will be interesting to see just how big Shrek will be when he's fully grown...

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave