A reader recommended King’s Smokehouse, located at 1800 E. Main St. (at Hawthorne), so we visited there on a recent Saturday afternoon to see if we agreed with her assessment.
We were told by our server that the place was previously a Mexican restaurant that also sold BBQ. The BBQ became so popular they simply changed to what they did best - BBQ. It’s a spacious couple of rooms with paintings, photos, and memorabilia adorning the walls. Nothing fancy, just a clean, inviting place with good food.
As we entered, we were given a friendly welcome and our pleasant visit continued throughout lunch. They are eager to tell you about their food (all meats smoked in-house over hickory wood and all BBQ sauces also made in-house), want you to feel welcome and hope you return.
There are several appetizers, two of which are nachos, and I understand the serving is quite large. Smokey Mountain Nacho Supreme is $7 and consists of “a super serving of tortilla chips with BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, pork, beef brisket, chicken, sour cream and green onions”. The Main Street Nacho Supreme ($6) has the same chips, but with chili, cheese, pico, sour cream, jabs, chicken and spicy salsa. Hmmm. What are jabs? With those descriptions, I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat them all and later, the chips would be soggy, so I opted for other menu items.
King’s Smokehouse offers sandwiches, wings, ribs, burgers, hot dogs, salads and desserts. They even offer a sweet blackened grilled salmon, which really sounds delicious – Cajun salmon filet basted with Coca Cola BBQ sauce, served over rice ($9).
Wayne ordered an appetizer portion of wings (six for $4) with a side of potato salad and baked beans. I ordered the Texas brisket plate ($8) with cole slaw and macaroni and cheese. Corn-on-the-cob and bread is a set part of the plate.
The brisket is served in small slices and has a bit of the Coca Cola BBQ sauce spooned on. I was extremely pleased with the brisket. It was tender, had plenty of my favorite, outside meat, and you could taste the smokiness, as it was not swimming in sauce. I ordered potato salad, but before she left our table, I asked about the mac and cheese. Our server told me that it was really good – and I said, “I’ve heard that before”. I told her about being served mac and cheese that resembles the boxed variety while attempting to pass it off as “homemade” – just macaroni and soupy cheese mix. While we were discussing it, the lady from the kitchen comes up behind me with a small sample. Whoa!! I loved it!! I am still thinking about it. It was just what I like – thick, with REAL cheese, baked a bit on top, but not stringy or runny. I would go back just for the mac and cheese! I changed my order.
Wayne really enjoyed the wings, although they had a bit more sauce than he prefers. For me the sauce was a bit strong, but then I didn’t order them, he did. We both found the potato salad to be quite good (I sneaked a bite of his). It appears to be red potatoes with peelings. They make potato salad and cole slaw fresh each day. The beans were sweet and thick with small bits of meat.
You can get a full pound of ribs with corn and two sides for $10, which I feel is a very good price. Or, the Chatt-town Chick – grilled chicken breast tossed with Coca Cola BBQ sauce, smothered with bacon, chopped pork and three mix cheese ($9).
The desserts were tempting, but I bypassed them – even the applebottom cobbler with vanilla ice cream covered with pecans, cinnamon and caramel sauce ($3.50). King’s also offers a children’s menu priced at $3 and $3.50. They also offer daily specials such as on Monday, buy one pork or chicken sandwich and get one beef brisket for half price. Thursday is any sandwich with one side and drink for $5 – and Wednesday wings are $.50. All sandwiches are served on Niedlovs rolls.
It’s quite possible when I get a “hankering” for mac and cheese, I’ll be back at the King’s Smokehouse On Main.
Hours for King’s Smokehouse are Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m., and Sunday noon until 5 p.m. Check them out – it’s locally owned!
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cdojanet@chattanoogadineout.com