Thursday, November 7, 2013

RV Rally – Restaurants In Townsend – Oct, 2013

During the recent RV Rally in Walland, TN, we ate several meals in Townsend just a few miles away and at an entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  

MISS LILY'S CAFE - Our first meal as a group was dinner at Miss Lily’s Café and I forgot my camera.  Granted they were serving a party of 20 but I was not impressed and would call this a typical tourist restaurant – mediocre food at a high price.  Bev had eaten there before and they are now 0-2 with her.

BLACK BEAR CAFE - During the rally, lunch meals were usually on your own and we first tried the Black Bear Café, a small place that was obviously popular with the locals as well as the tourists – it’s nearly always good to find out where the locals eat.  I didn’t get a shot of anything inside but my meal – the open faced hot roast beef sandwich.

It came with real mashed potatoes and brown gravy and I thought it was very good as was Bev’s fish sandwich.  We would both eat there again.

LIL CUBAN CAFE - The next day for lunch we ate the Lil Cuban Café at Trillium Cove along with three other couples. 


I believe everyone had a Cuban sandwich and I thought it was very good and on a par with Maryville’s Aroma Café, except I missed the mojo sauce that is frequently served with the sandwich.  I would eat there again but Maryville is much closer to home.

CARRIAGE HOUSE - The second restaurant for a group dinner was at the Carriage House Restaurant which has been in Townsend for as long as Bev and I can remember.


Our group had a private room and the option of the buffet or ordering from the menu and Bev and I chose the buffet.


This is my plate and I thought it was right good buffet food and Bev said it one of the best buffets she’d had so it must have been pretty good. 

The veggies were more like I’d cook at home vs. the bland partially cooked ones frequently served and the chicken was moist, well seasoned, and very crispy.  They also had good fried fish and sliced ham and pork chops, which I didn’t try, along with some other veggies and a decent salad bar – we would eat it again for sure.

LITTLE RIVER BBQ - The next day we ate lunch at Little River BBQ with two other couples, where dining is available inside or on the deck overlooking the river (too cool for that though).

I had the “Ribs and More” with sauce on the side so I could sample their ribs, chicken and brisket (but they brought me pork).

Bev had potato skins topped with pork.

Everything we ate was average restaurant BBQ with not a lot of rub or smoke flavor in the meat so saucing it was definitely needed.  The potato skins were okay but Bev was disappointed in the amount of pork on them.  I’d call this another typical tourist restaurant. 

RIVERSTONE FAMILY RESTAURANT - The morning of departure, we decided that we should try breakfast at Townsend’s Riverstone Family Restaurant since we were so close.  I didn’t take any shots as we ordered pretty normal breakfast fare. 

Bev had the “Smoky Mountain Mash - One home-style biscuit topped with two sausage patties, white pepper gravy and two eggs on top $5.99.”

I had the “Hearty Egg Breakfast - Two eggs, choice of bacon, sausage patties or ole tyme ham, grits or shredded hash browns, toast or biscuit $5.99.”

We both thought our meals were very good and they were also an excellent value for a tourist town – we’d definitely eat there again.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry  

10/21 – 10/25/2013 event date

10 comments:

  1. Wow, that's a lot of restaurants to choose from. I always go with the homemade mashed potatoes. You don't see homemade as much anymore at these kinds of joints. By the way, we aren't much for buffets so it was nice to hear Bev liked her meal.
    Sam

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  2. We have a Black Bear in Mesa which we like. I do like trying out new restaurants though. Some good some not so much.

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  3. We enjoyed our campground in Townsend, but not the food. More and more, we find that if we want really great food, we eat in the motorhome.

    BTW, if you are still near Townsend, there is a cool cave that you could tour, if you want to. We found the information at the tourist ctr.

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  4. Larry, I think that you covered more than half the restaurants in the Townsend area! Thanks for the warning re: Little River BBQ...and we concur with your appraisal of Miss Lily's Café. We've eaten at Lil Cuban Café and we also thought that it was pretty good. We haven't tried Riverstone or the Black Bear Café...and now we will. We had a terrible experience at a breakfast buffet at the Carriage House...but it was off season with few customers and perhaps dinner is just a better option there... Thanks and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  5. I love that you are always trying out new restaurants... Chris and I tend to get into the habit of picking a few good ones and than we stick to them .... guess we need to branch out a little more :)

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  6. Interesting post, Larry. There sure is a lot of pretty ordinary food out there in lots of restaurants. It's a real treat to find a local one with delicious food. Your open faced roast beef sandwich makes my mouth water.

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  7. You had quite a selection of restaurants. Never had a Cuban so wouldn't have missed that sauce. And, I can't be trusted at buffets so would have ordered off the menu. Love that photo of Bev and coco.

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  8. I think that brown gravy looks terrific! You guys have all the fun :)

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  9. I've always wondered about that BBQ place when driving to and from Cades Cove.

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