Voted Best Restaurant!

That's the message on the highway billboard sign that convinced our family to exit and dine at a Knoxville restaraunt. As we arrived the message on the front door of the place almost drove us away- an Italian restaurant with southern roots. For a moment I thought perhaps they meant southern Italian, which is most decidedly different from the north of Italy.

Nope. They meant exactly what they said.

They are trying to be a fine dining establishment, but they blew it with the special. When the waiter showed up he told us about it – “a nicely baked scrod (Scrod is defined as any sort of ‘everyday’ white fish that is often unidentifiable) sprinkled with Ritz cracker crumbs and baked to perfection!”

I opted for the ‘Italian Sausage, Shrimp and Grits’ which the waiter assured me was his favorite. Michelle went the safer route taking the joint up on its Lasagna. My food was disgusting, consisting of de-tailed shrimp looking particles that probably came from the bulk frozen aisle at the local Costco, while Michelle’s looked almost exactly like a particularly gruesome possum road-kill plate.

‘Steve’ is the owner, the waiter told us, and my guess is that he and his family were the sum total electorate that voted on the best restaurant in Knoxville. As we got back on the highway we saw Macaroni Grill off the next exit. I had a fleeting thought of the ancient Romans and their vomitoriums. I sure could go for a nice Spaghetti Bolognese.






Click here if you would like to subscribe to the DigitalRichDaily
E-mail update. Place 'subscribe' in the subject line.