Thursday, September 07, 2017
Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Alcoa, Tennessee
250 Hamilton Crossing Dr, Alcoa, TN 37701
My birthday was coming soon and I was
told that I could pick the place for breakfast. I gave it a lot of thought
trying to select someplace new perhaps or maybe unique but not one that anyone
might object to. I wandered over my mental map of the area, thinking about any
recent drives and what I might have seen. Cheddar’s came to mind! After a quick
check of their web page I learned they opened late morning for lunch, no
breakfast service. I asked our go-for-grub pals if a lunch was okay and I
received positive replies. Then lunch, instead of breakfast, it would be.
The wife and I arrived a few minutes late. I noticed a change had taken place since my first Cheddar’s encounter. Cheddar’s Casual Café was now Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. When Aubrey Good and Doug Rogers founded Cheddar’s in Arlington, Texas back in 1979 their stated credo was ”… when a meal is prepared and cooked fresh just for you, it not only tastes better, it makes you feel good.” Perhaps the name change is paying homage to their beginnings. There are a few stores in the Great Plains and some in the Southwest but by far the majority of the 164 Cheddar’s locations are in the Eastern half of the United States. In 2012, Zagat ranked Cheddar's the nation's No.1 full-service restaurant chain as well as Top Overall American Cuisine. Consumer Reports and others have given high ratings and customer satisfaction reports. We were about to see if the reports were true.
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen
250 Hamilton Crossing Dr, Alcoa, TN 37701
(865)
983-5582 https://cheddars.com/
10:30Am
– 10:30PM (11:30PM week ends)
This would not be my first visit to a Cheddar’s
restaurant. In January of 2014 my wife’s dear Aunt Effie and Uncle Gilbert
treated us to lunch at their new discovery, Cheddar’s Casual Café in Pinellas
Park, Florida. It was a very positive experience and I looked forward to this
next encounter. You can see that blog here.
The wife and I arrived a few minutes late. I noticed a change had taken place since my first Cheddar’s encounter. Cheddar’s Casual Café was now Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. When Aubrey Good and Doug Rogers founded Cheddar’s in Arlington, Texas back in 1979 their stated credo was ”… when a meal is prepared and cooked fresh just for you, it not only tastes better, it makes you feel good.” Perhaps the name change is paying homage to their beginnings. There are a few stores in the Great Plains and some in the Southwest but by far the majority of the 164 Cheddar’s locations are in the Eastern half of the United States. In 2012, Zagat ranked Cheddar's the nation's No.1 full-service restaurant chain as well as Top Overall American Cuisine. Consumer Reports and others have given high ratings and customer satisfaction reports. We were about to see if the reports were true.
Abbie and Mariano, our go-for-grub pals, had secured a
spacious booth next to a shaded window. It looked to be a cozy comfortable spot
for lunch. The waitress was already there taking beverage orders. I’m sorry I
didn’t get here name as I would have liked to thank her by name for her good
nature and thoughtful service. She wished me a happy birthday and I then knew I
had been setup by the go-for-grub pals.
I just hoped that Cheddar’s didn’t do fool-crazy things designed to
embarrass their patrons.
The wife Janis is a light eater
and her selection was the CLASSIC
LUNCH COMBO ($6.79 Select
two of the following: HALF CHEDDAR’S CLUB SANDWICH - HALF MONTE CRISTO -
BOWL OF SOUP - HOUSE SALAD - CAESAR SALAD - LOADED BAKED POTATO - BAKED SWEET
POTATO) Her particular choices were the half Club Sandwich and the Caesar
Salad. The salad was a nice bowl of crisp greens and some croutons, dressing
not too heavy, not to light. It was accompanied with a butter glazed croissant.
Her preference would have been without the butter but the croissant as well as
the salad was very good and fully enjoyed.
Our go-for-grub pals, Abbie
and Mariano, opted to share a big platter of HOUSE SMOKED BABY BACK RIBS (Add a
House or Caesar salad, $3.29 HALF RACK $10.99
FULL RACK $15.99 Homemade rub, slow smoked in-house, and grilled with a honey
BBQ sauce. Served with French fries and coleslaw.) Coleslaw is not their
favorite and at their request the server provided a house salad instead. The
serving of ribs and French fries was, to say the least, more than ample for two
hearty appetites (luckily for Mariano, Abbie is also a light eater). It was a
pretty serving thick and clingy barbecue sauce adding a delicious shine to the
ribs. The meat was very tender easily separating form the bone. Abbie and
Mariano had eagerly anticipated their visit to Cheddar’s for the ribs and I do believe
they enjoyed them very much.
I like light meat chicken and love shrimp. The combination dinner plate of chicken tenders and shrimp caught my eye; CHICKEN TENDERS & SHRIMP ($11.19 Served with two sides. Add a House or Caesar salad, $3.29 Grilled or hand-battered fried shrimp with our homemade chicken tenders. See a list of sides at end of blog.) For sides I ordered mashed potatoes and gravy and coleslaw. For a big appetite the plate piled high with chicken, shrimp, mashed potatoes and coleslaw was a welcome sight. Included were cocktail sauce and honey mustard dipping sauce.
The
full menu
is available online in pdf format.
Her
sandwich arrived a short time later. A diagonally sliced sandwich of two slices
of toasted bread well filled with ham, turkey, cheese, bacon and tomato, it was
very similar to her order during our first Cheddar’s encounter. The only
significant difference was it was cut as a half sandwich instead of the more
traditional quarters. As with the salad, it was thoroughly enjoyed.
Our go-for-grub pals, Abbie
and Mariano, opted to share a big platter of HOUSE SMOKED BABY BACK RIBS (Add a
House or Caesar salad, $3.29 HALF RACK $10.99
FULL RACK $15.99 Homemade rub, slow smoked in-house, and grilled with a honey
BBQ sauce. Served with French fries and coleslaw.) Coleslaw is not their
favorite and at their request the server provided a house salad instead. The
serving of ribs and French fries was, to say the least, more than ample for two
hearty appetites (luckily for Mariano, Abbie is also a light eater). It was a
pretty serving thick and clingy barbecue sauce adding a delicious shine to the
ribs. The meat was very tender easily separating form the bone. Abbie and
Mariano had eagerly anticipated their visit to Cheddar’s for the ribs and I do believe
they enjoyed them very much.
I like light meat chicken and love shrimp. The combination dinner plate of chicken tenders and shrimp caught my eye; CHICKEN TENDERS & SHRIMP ($11.19 Served with two sides. Add a House or Caesar salad, $3.29 Grilled or hand-battered fried shrimp with our homemade chicken tenders. See a list of sides at end of blog.) For sides I ordered mashed potatoes and gravy and coleslaw. For a big appetite the plate piled high with chicken, shrimp, mashed potatoes and coleslaw was a welcome sight. Included were cocktail sauce and honey mustard dipping sauce.
The
coleslaw was dressed with a slightly seasoned sauce that added to the flavor
but itself did not clamor for attention. Nice crisp cabbage; I would call it a
good slaw. The mashed potatoes were of the industrial grade variety but
acceptably smooth. The gravy was very tasty and would be most welcome on a
chicken fried steak.
There were
four, possibly five (sorry, I didn’t count them) large butterflied, battered
and deep fried shrimp. The coating was golden brown and slightly crispy and
pleasingly not oily. They were large shrimp, the meat was cooked just right and
moist and tender. (As an aside: This serving of shrimp in a basket with some
French fries would have more than made a beach-front fish shack offering of a
shrimp basket.) They were very tasty fried shrimp.
There were
four very large “chicken tenders.” I suspect they are more than tenders, more
like a chicken breast sliced in two pieces. Breaded and deep fried to a golden
brown, well drained and not oily, the meat was tender and very moist; lots of
good chicken flavor. I tried a bit of the honey mustard sauce; a nice blend,
not to sweet, not to tart but good mustard flavor. I am on again – off again
with honey mustard and today wasn’t the day. I tried a bit of cocktail sauce;
good but a bit too much tang from the horseradish to go with the mild taste of
the chicken. I thought about asking for some plane old ketchup but decided to
just eat the tenders down to the finger lickin’ end as they were. They were
that good all by themselves. As you can probably guess, I really enjoyed that
meal.
In the few
years that we have been here, for various reasons two other local restaurants,
best described I guess as up-scale beer and burger places with lots of big
television screens, had become our fall back places to go. The food was good,
they were close; known entities were we felt comfortable. I feel that Cheddar’s
will replace the other restaurants as the spur-of-the-moment place to go. It is
still quite close to the house, the prices are competitive and the menu offers
more of a variety than the others. The interiors are brighter, more focused on the food and dining and
offering a more relaxed and casual (as in casual café perhaps) dining
experience. On this visit Cheddar’s has validated the aforementioned awards and
positive citations.
Just before we left, the hostess came
by the table to offer her birthday congratulations. She brought a small bag
with two still hot, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (sort of a mini
version of their giant cookie Sundae). I was grateful for the remembrance especially since it was
low key, quiet and private.
FYI: MADE-FROM-SCRATCH
SIDES – Substitute any side for a House or
Caesar salad for an additional .99 Steamed Fresh Broccoli, Buttered Off-The-Cob Corn, Freshly
Made Coleslaw, French Fries, Idaho Mashed Potatoes, Homemade Black Beans, Mac
and Cheese, Broccoli Cheese Casserole, Baked Sweet Potato, Loaded Baked
Potato, Seasoned Rice, Southern Green Beans.
Add a side to any order, 2.49
- Honey Butter Croissants, 3 for
2.99
Labels: baby back ribs, Caesar salad, casual café, Cheddar's, chicken tenders, club sandwich, cocktail sauce, coleslaw, French fries, fried shrimp, gravy, honey mustard, house salad, mashed potatoes, scratch café
¶ 12:30 PM
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