Steve’s Landing – This Landing Is Your Landing

On the weekend of my granddaughter’s wedding they had the rehearsal dinner at Steve’s Landing in Soddy Daisy, to which Lou and I were invited.

Traveling to Chattanooga, Lou and I already had Taco Bell earlier for lunch and we weren’t very hungry for dinner. All of the family were to meet outside and while we were waiting for everyone to arrive, some of the family sat on the long bench under the large picture window of the place. I needed to stretch my legs so I stood up and leaned on a post across from the bench while we all visited.

A man coming out of the restaurant must have thought he couldn’t get by my families’ feet and me leaning against the pole and I guess he wanted to show me I was in his way so he pretended to stomp on my feet and he walked off in a chuckle.

Everyone on the bench laughed, but Lou thought the man was flirting with me. I didn’t say a word, I just minded my own business.

Even though reservations were made, there was a bit of a wait because I think people were lagging at the table where they planned to seat us. Jack made a joke saying we should all start looking in the big window at the folks sitting at our table. That got me tickled.

It wasn’t much longer before we were seated at the table. My future grandson Nick wanted jalapeño hushpuppies for an appetizer. The waitress brought them out and brought honey butter on the side. I always like to try new flavors, but I was with Jack when he said, “Pass the ketchup!” Any kind of dog or puppy just needs ketchup.

We had such a large crowd with us, the table was long and not everybody could hear each other. Lou was sitting by me, but I was on the side with more women who were talking so Lou ‘the talker’ didn’t have much to say at first.

It was also hard to hear because the whole place was crowded and there was loud music going on. This must be everybody’s favorite place to eat because I think the whole town was there on a Friday night.

When I looked over the menu I noticed there weren’t many choices of bakes fish dishes, but plenty of fried dishes. I decided on the ‘Kickin’ Chicken’ with a potato.  Natalie and Nick were in the middle of the table so everybody could talk with them and Lou and Nick got into a conversation when the waitress came up to take our order. I was listening to their conversation and missed writing down what everyone ordered.

I can’t remember who got what but Lou got the Fried Grouper dinner and somebody ordered the Catfish Dinner and my granddaughter Natalie ordered the Cajun Chicken dinner.

The waitress Kristen was a pro. She handled a large group very well. She kept trying to refill my tea, but I was watching my caffeine (and I just don’t drink as fast as everybody else) so I kept telling her I was fine. But I swonny, when I got to talking to my granddaughter another waitress came by and filled up my tea glass! The people working there stay hopping and they are good.

Jack wanted more hushpuppies. He thought they came complimentary the way some places do with bread. He didn’t realize they were ordered as an appetizer so when he was looking for more hushpuppies and didn’t see any, he asked the waitress to bring some more. She brought out an order of hushpuppies and everyone helped Jack eat them. I think he’d hoped to keep all of them for himself.  Those ol’ puppies were a hit.

I tried my best to keep track of what everyone was eating and to get a photo of their meals before they dug in. I got what few I could and then I told the people on the other end of the table to take a photo of their food with their phones and be sure to email them to me. Lou said, “Oh, you’ve got people working for ya!”

It took a while to get them in order to finish this story, but with such a large group it was a challenge to even take notes. 

Just when I thought I had enough notes down, I saw my boy Jack pour ketchup on his cole slaw. On his COLE SLAW!  Maybe it wasn’t the hushpuppies he liked as much as it was their ketchup.

My Kickin’ Chicken was very good, but it didn’t have quite the kick I had hoped for. I believe my daughter in-law had the Cajun Chicken dinner and she said it was pretty spicy. Next time I will order that.

Nick’s mother ordered the Chocolate Glaze dessert with an Oreo crust. It looked good. Everyone enjoyed the food and it was a fun place to go. I loved the beautiful scenery out on the water too. It seems hidden away, but if you find it I know you will like it!

1145 Poling Cir, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379
Phone:  423-332-4098
Hours:  5-10 p.m.