A Favorite Restaurant Re-opens!

It was well over a year ago when we learned that a close by and the most reliable American style restaurant in the area had sold their property to the local hospital and they were closing.  The good news is that they also promised to build a new restaurant to replace the earlier one...

It was open for a few weeks before we decided to try it out.  I personally like letting new restaurants have a little time to 'get their act together' and for the initial rush of customers to slow down a little...before we check them out. 

One of our friends from Maryville Tennessee drove down to Loudon County Tennessee for a visit.  It had been a while since we'd gotten together but we knew that he really liked the Aubrey's Restaurant in Maryville so our first foray to this local chain's new location in Lenoir City Tennessee was a natural.  When we arrived, the parking lot was crowded with vehicles...a good sign for the restaurant as it was almost 1 PM and the early lunch crowd had moved on.

Aubrey's was quite busy but it is a large restaurant and they can serve a large number of diners at any given time.  The 'open' industrial ceiling style that is so popular now is now worn out from my point of view.  It does save cost though.  Like the previous Aubrey's in Lenoir City, there are a lot of windows.  Actually the floor plan and the overall 'look' of this new restaurant is very similar to the one that was sold to the hospital. 

As with the previous location, the bar with additional dining is just to the right after patrons enter the restaurant.  Again the layout of this area hadn't changed much design-wise.  The one notable difference is that there are partial glass partitions separating the bar area from the lobby space.

The kitchen and service area is located to the left of diners as they are led to their seats.  It is more open than it was in the former building.  This transparency gives customers the feeling that the restaurant has nothing to hide...

Now on to the food!

   

All three of us treated our lunch as if it were the evening meal so we ordered substantial items and we all took food home with us for later consumption.  

Laurie ordered the Seafood Pasta, shown above. ($16.00) It consisted of shrimp, Pacific white fish, sugar snap peas, red onion and bowtie pasta with cream sauce.  I was a little surprised as she normally goes for the Haystack Pasta with grilled chicken, sauteed mushrooms, linguine, parmesan and mushrooms in a cream sauce.  However, she was very happy with her choice.  FYI, there are two other pasta options on the menu. 

                              

Our friend Glen ordered his usual, which also seems to be his favorite.  This is Aubrey's Fish + Chips and, as you can see, it is a generous platter of food.  This entree includes plenty of nicely breaded fried fish plus those thin sliced fried potatoes...which are a meal in themselves.  He was very happy with his fish!

The Fish and Chips is a house specialty.  Other specialties include North Carolina Catfish, Boston Scrod, Barbeque Ribs and a Chicken Finger Platter.  All specialties come with one side...and there are 15 different sides to chose from...

There was one more specialty on the menu and it was my choice for lunch.  This is Aubrey's Buttermilk Fried Chicken...a double battered buttermilk marinated chicken breast, which is deep-fried and then smothered with homemade white gravy. ($17.00) I chose the 'smashed Yukon golds' as my side.  I actually took about half of the potatoes and 40% of the chicken home for leftovers.  This entree always was my favorite and it still is...

Aubrey's menu also includes a section entitled "Favorites" with 8 options, plus there are 8 different sandwich offerings plus soup and salads (5 are dinner salads)...and I also skipped over the 7 small plates or appetizers and we managed to avoid the 5 dessert choices.

Aubrey's is a regional chain operating in East Tennessee. They currently have 16 locations stretching from Bristol to Cleveland.  The Aubrey's Restaurant in Lenoir City Tennessee is located at 375 Town Creek Parkway (right off US Hwy 321, very close to US Hwy I-75) Phone:865-412-4178.  Website: https://aubreysrestaurants.com/lenoircity/. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave