Crowne Metro Restaurant - Grilled Chicken

Crowne Metro Salad

The Crowne Metro restaurant located inside the Crowne Plaza Hotel located in Rosemont, Illlinois, a suburb of Chicago, is the next stop on our list of critiques.

Upon entering the restaurant, there were only about a dozen people eating. That is a bad sign especially during a trade show when thousands of extra people are in the city. Anyway, we were seated immediately at a table. I ordered the grilled chicken as the main entree and the house salad.

The salad was adequate at best and a little on the bland side. No celery, no bacon, cheese, eggs, olives. Just some lettuce and a few croutons. I wasn't holding out much hope for the chicken.

Grilled Chicken

About 20 minutes later, my dinner arrived. The chicken was cooked well, wasn't juicy, but wasn't dry either. The lemon helped add a little flavor to the chicken. The portion was generous, two medium sized pieces.

The baked potato was average sized and well cooked. Butter was the topping of choice.

The cost was a little steep, $20 dollars without tip.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2.5 out of 5 stars and barely recommends Crowne Metro for lunch or dinner.

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Maxwell's Restaurant - Grilled Chicken

Maxwells Of Gatlinburg

Maxwell's Restaurant is located right on the Parkway in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Being in the mood for something different to eat, we ventured in and were greeted by a huge fish tank with apparently our dinner swimming inside. We were met by the hostess and seated right away. (Not a good sign on a busy week during the Smoky Mountain trade show in Gatlinburg) Our waitress took our drink order, (Diet Coke) and then our dinner order which was the grilled chicken in a lemon sauce.

Potato Soup

Instead of the salad, I opted for the soup, which was a wise choice for it was potato soup. A huge assortment of bread was brought to our table with plenty of butter. The potato soup was exquisite, the best potato soup I have ever had. Big chunks of potato, carrots, celery, a hint of bacon, onion, and a very steamy broth that made my mouth water. The bread I passed on.

Grilled Chicken

The main dish came out minutes after our soup and salads were done. The chicken was plentiful, cooked just right, and several added lemon slices were on hand just in case more was needed. A steaming hot baked potato in butter completed the meal.

The chicken tasted great. (It tasted just like chicken!) Very tender, juicy, and just spicy enough. As baked potatoes go, this one was very good.

The cost was just under $30 not including tip.

The Grassy Knoll Diner awards 4.25 out of 5 shots to Maxwell's Restaurant in Gatlinburg and recommends them for dinner.

Addendum: 10/24/2011: Sadly, Maxwell's restaurant has closed. The reason is not known. The sign is still up but no new restaurant seems to be going in anytime soon.

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LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

1. 
   

   Contessa Confessa said

   March 5, 2008 at 11:12 pm e
   I just love a man that delivers… *wink*
   Reply
2. 
   

   LOTGK said

   March 5, 2008 at 11:40 pm e
   There’s plenty more where that came from.
   I was at Stack, Kokomo’s, California pizza, and Carnegie Deli twice this trip. But I’m lazy, it will take a little while to get them posted.
   Reply
3. 
   

   Eddy said

   March 6, 2008 at 1:36 am e
   I thought you were in Las Vegas. or are you behing again.
   Reply
4. 
   

   Jungljim69 said

   March 6, 2008 at 7:25 am e
   You know what gets me LOTGK? You and I both travel extensively. When I look at the meal listed above and add up the cost of the ingredients, (.60 potato, .30 diet coke, 1.00 potato soup and MAYBE .99 worth of chicken and they have the nerve to charge 30.00 for it. I can see maybe charging 10.00. BASTARDS!
   Reply
5. 
   

   LOTGK said

   March 7, 2008 at 12:19 am e
   Excellent point Jim.
   I always wondered the same at the service garage for my car. You can buy the part needed to repair the car for 10 bucks, but then have to pay a mechanic 150 dollars to install it.
   I guess the same goes with restaurants.
   You pay the cook 30 dollars to cook it.
   Plus tip….
   All of them bastards.
   Reply
6. 
   

   Scott said

   April 6, 2009 at 3:47 pm e
   My wife and I try to always get to Maxwell’s every time we are in Gatlinburg. I have always been happy with the quality of the service and the food. Given that it is a local restaurant we weren’t expecting a lot the first time we went in and honestly only did so because it was open later than most other places.
   The trout is good and the beef loin, excellent. The bananas foster is a kick but it’s definitely a dessert for two or more. I agree they are overpriced (what isn’t in Gatlinburg?) but for a couple’s night out I am willing to splurge a little.
   I recently tried getting to their website but the one I found had expired, I went to a to get the phone number to make sure they were still open for business.
   Reply
7.