A few Sundays ago, our friend Leslie from The Food and Me invited us to join her at one of her new favorite restaurants. CousCous opened just last year, tucked back on Dutch Valley Road a few doors down from One Midtown Kitchen, and it’s been doing its business pretty quietly, flying under everybody’s radar. She and some friends had visited several times, taking advantage of some offers on Groupon or Scoutmob to sample many things on the menu. Continue reading “CousCous, Atlanta GA (CLOSED)”
Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Chattanooga TN
To make up for my daughter being away for a week, and, as it turned out, not having quite as perfect a vacation as she had hoped, I asked her what sort of food she’d like when we got to Chattanooga. She picked pizza, and I looked for something promising on the I-75 side of town. Having already tried everybody’s patience by turning the ninety-minute drive from Knoxville into three and change, I didn’t want to press my luck going around and north to Soddy-Daisy or someplace and suggesting that this was still technically the Chattanooga area. No, best just to find something close to the interstate and move on. Continue reading “Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Chattanooga TN”
Full Service BBQ, Maryville TN
Apology accepted, Full Service. Apology accepted.
We did pretty good for eastern Tennessee barbecue on this trip. Our third barbecue stop, and the first that our daughter was able to join us for, was at this delightful little place that opened in 2009 in the space that was once home to a Crown gas station. Caleb of Smoked Pig and Sweet Tea gave it a nice writeup a few years ago and it certainly sounded promising. Continue reading “Full Service BBQ, Maryville TN”
Two Tennessee Drive-Ins
I decided that after we collected the girlchild, we’d take a long way home. We were in no particular hurry. US-411 runs parallel to I-75 for most of the way home, so we drove a little south to the town of Maryville, one of Knoxville’s suburbs, and stopped at a classic drive-in for a snack. Continue reading “Two Tennessee Drive-Ins”
The French Market Crêperie, Knoxville TN (take two)
This is Marie, writing a take two on a restaurant we had an incredibly positive experience with the last time we visited. It’s always good to check back and make sure things are still going well. Spoiler alert – it was even better this time. Continue reading “The French Market Crêperie, Knoxville TN (take two)”
Litton’s and Denton’s, Knoxville TN
Our son fell asleep, finally, on the road back from Johnson City as we returned to I-40. He snoozed and Marie and I braced ourselves for Knoxville’s Friday 5:00 traffic, which never came. We lucked out, I suppose, and our route, which brought us into town from the east and around the top of the I-640 half-a-loop to I-75, is outside whatever the local rush hour crushes. So we checked into our hotel without trouble, and carried him, sleeping, up to our room, where we kicked back for about an hour while he finished his nap. Continue reading “Litton’s and Denton’s, Knoxville TN”
Dixie Barbeque Company, Johnson City TN (CLOSED)
When we went to the Tri-Cities, I knew that we’d be having some very unique and original barbecue at Ridgewood, but I wanted to try some more traditional pulled pork in the area as well. We arrived at Dixie Barbeque Company, a couple of miles north of downtown Johnson City and on our way back to I-81, in a quiet lull between their lunch and dinner rushes. A gentleman named Alan Howell opened this place in 1990, after spending almost twenty years in a couple of other restaurant jobs. In the 1980s, he owned a burger joint called Richard A’s, but eventually realized that he enjoyed barbecue even more than burgers. Apparently, some of the locals howled in protest when he closed Richard A’s, no matter how good his barbecue is, because while barbecue will always spark friendly disagreement, everybody concurs that the Tri-Cities haven’t had a hamburger as good as the ones that he used to make. Continue reading “Dixie Barbeque Company, Johnson City TN (CLOSED)”
Marie, Let's Eat! 