Les Jones

Food & Drink > Review: Elkmont Grill in Alcoa, TN

Melissa and I ate at Elkmont Grill tonight. This wasn't casual dining; this was a dining Code Blue. This building had already claimed the lives of three restaurants - Friendly's, the Rib Crib, and Mashed Taters, all of which had disappeared so quickly we had never gotten to try them. Four facades later, we wanted to go to this one before it, too, went belly up.

The chef is from Blackberry Farms. The food is mostly traditional, but with plenty of fresh ingredients.

The house salad is served with lettuce and greens, with tommy toe tomatoes and a thick slice of yellow bell pepper. The house dressing is in two parts, with a whole blackberry vinaigrette and a mayonnaise-based dressing.

The sides are heavy on the fresh vegetables. Melissa didn't like the fried apples. I did, but I thought they had too much of a liquor taste and not enough sweetness. She also wasn't wild about the cole slaw, which I thought was outstanding - a fresh, crisp taste, with a variety of fresh vegetables.

We liked our first visit. We're going back to explore the menu further, but we won't be in such a big hurry. We think this is one restaurant the building won't kill.

May 4 Update - it's gone under. Darnit.