It’s been years since we visited Hot Rods in Alcoa, TN but since I had a 12:30 appt. in town and Bev wanted to visit Cindy at the rehab center, we decided to kill several bids with one stone including our meal out for the week and a stop for lawn lime at Rural King. Hot Rods has a giant menu (eg - 80 kinds of burgers) and clicking on the link will take you to it. It was a nasty weather day so I borrowed an outside pic from the web.
As you can see, the inside is heavily decorated in the 50's motif.
Rather than spend who knows how long making a food decision
after arriving at the restaurant, I spent many minutes looking over the menu on line at home and deciding on my meal and I encouraged Bev to do the same.
The first things we ordered were dairy treats – a chocolate
milkshake for Bev and a chocolate malt for me – likely the first one in 15 or
so years.
Bev had to go all out and order The Hog which they claim is pork tenderloin but I’m confident you can’t make tenderloin become that big so I suspect it’s pork loin. Hers came with fries.
I opted for the chicken fried steak so I could compare it to Angie’s and I sided with a house salad and mashed potatoes and gravy.
The Verdict:
After the dairy treats and a few bites of salad I was about
full before the meals came and so was Bev. I’ll
start with Bev’s where the sandwich meat was very good and I don’t think she
ever made it in to the bread but her fries left a lot to be desired as they
were a little burned and quite salty. I
thought my Chicken Fried Steak was good but I liked Angie’s better. The meat wasn’t quite as tender and the gravy
was the white paste common around here including for breakfast with a little sausage in it. The mashed potatoes were real deal and good but I thought everything
was a little too salty which is pretty unusual for me. The highlights of the meal were Bev’s shake
and my chocolate malt which were both delicious. There weren’t many folks in the restaurant when
we arrived but they must all have just ordered because it took quite awhile for
our meals to show up. I would compare Hot Rods to Cheddars in that they had big servings of pretty good food at a reasonable
price. If we go again, I think it will
be shakes and split The Hog sided with onion rings.
Photos can be
enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.
Have a great day
and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.
Larry
3/1/24 meal date
I'm a believer that a chicken fried steak is a art form. Someday I'll try it again. I'll take your advice from years ago and have a butcher tenderize the meat instead of buying cube steaks. Looks like Hot Rods is the type of place that would have a good burger.
ReplyDeleteMy dad LOVED chocolate malts! I haven't had one in years and now have a craving. It's too bad the meals were a bit too salty because they look tasty. That pork sandwich is huge!
ReplyDeleteHi Larry, It's been a while since we've eaten at Hot Rod 50's. Part of the attraction and charm is the decor and many food items are just OK. I do love the Hog! The burgers are good too. The malts are great and I just love the Deep Fried Twinkie dessert. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
ReplyDeleteCheers to a day out! Hope Cindy is recovering well too. Sounds like Hot Rods was okay but nothing to write home about-
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the milkshakes….that’s what I ordered and a veggie burger. The burger was moist , seasoned well and huge. I agree with the French fries… mine were too greasy & salty. But their onion rings were spot on. Thanx for your post. Once I’m allowed to come home we’ll all have to dine together with the knowledge of what’s good & what’s not.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that the burgers didn't live up to the decor. I guess the 50's theme gets them in the door. Karen
ReplyDelete