I went to watch a game at Union County on Friday. For anyone interested: The new UCHS is nice and modern, as are both their new turf field and the surroundings elements. It’s scenic and well-kept. UCHS has the best play-by-play announcer of any I’ve heard at any high school game. Maynardville now has three (3) pizza parlors, a modern McDonald’s, and a brand new Taco Bell. There are apparently throngs of Floridians and Ohioans who are scooping up property. Construction is the #1 industry in Union County, by a long shot. For a place that is so frequently derided, and at times rightfully so, it seems to be doing well and progressing, however slowly. Again, for any who may be interested in such things.
Sounds like when I graduated in 2002. Same UCHS (but new turf now and a track), same Pizza Parlor drama, same "now we got a <insert chain>!" We used to have a hardee's, and have had that tiny McDonald's for 20 years. Still tons of half-backs buying up the lake front that was imminent domained away from locals to TVA. Construction is still #1, because of the low number of people who go to college. They often are contractors and don't have health insurance, so when they hit their 40's their bodies are broken down and they are dependent on pain killers, which leads to you know. I don't deride the place, it just isn't going to get anywhere because it is exactly the product of Country Politics in Tennessee. As long as the top has nice mcmansions near the lake and the right families are getting the cushy government jobs, all is well. Pay no attention to the trailer parks and generational poverty.
Agree with it all - but from someone from there, and who was with me, he says that the old McDonald's was destroyed and they built a completely new one in its place.
I know several people that have said the best place to get a steak in this area is some steakhouse up there right past the high school. Can't remember what it is called.
That's it. I knew it was a person's name, but couldn't remember what. I think I'm going to go up there in a week or so and try it for my FIL's birthday.
I’ll take progress in that community wherever I can find it, however small or seemingly insignificant.
Any time people do better at all that’s a good thing, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to look at what you’re talking about and be hesitant to call it real progress (if IP’s analysis is on point and I see no reason to think it isn’t).
I’m not arguing that a new McDonald’s represents substantive progress. It’s Union County, not Auburn’s “campus”.
Have now tried. Had the XL ribeye last night, hand cut thick, 18oz. $25(ish?). Perfectly cooked medium rare. This is no small feat, for anyone like me, who has grown tired of ordering medium-rare steaks, and getting a medium, but who also understand that it’s only because the kitchen has grown sick and tired of re-cooking steaks for people who are too stupid to know what medium rare actually is. It was indeed the best ribeye I’ve had in Knoxville, and by a damned mile, outside of Ruth’s Chris’ $120+ tomahawk ribeye, and even then, just damned barely. New favorite steak in Knoxville. Hard stop. Pete’s place is sort of a weird setup, and doesn’t look anything like what you’d expect to get a great steak. It looks like any one of thousands of independently-owned-mom-and-pop restaurants, offering the same simple menu items / prices (fried pickles, spinach dip, burgers, chicken, etc.). When you come in the front door, you’re in a vestibule, and there are two totally different dining areas, and you seat yourself in either. The dining area on the right has a bar and drinks, and the one on the left doesn’t have a bar. They are completely separated by a fully walled middle room that serves as an area for shared bathrooms between the two dining areas. I don’t know if that’s just how the building was laid out, or it’s purposefully that way to separate the two sides - one that has a bar and serves alcohol and the other that doesn’t, as there are no signs anywhere that say as much, but I assume that’s the reason for the setup. I only knew that the right side had a bar because I could see it when the door would open for patrons coming in and out. It had music playing and was more raucous - think any chain restaurant bar area. We sat at the first available table, on the left side, and which had replaced the music with a tv showing Wheel of Fortune and then ESPN, and where I never saw any drinks being served, or drink menus, etc. Again, I mention this only for the oddity of it - I don’t drink, but don’t give a shit if anyone else does, but I guess many in Maynardville do care, and a great deal. If it works, it works. However the dining room is setup or why, and whether you teetotalers or degenerate drunks visit or not, the kitchen turns out the second best - and arguably equally best - steak that I’ve ever had in Knoxville. We can disagree on anything, and God knows how wrong I can be, but I know red meat better than you know your own [Richards]. Thank you very, very much for the excellent recommendation.
I don’t often order ribeye but when I order it medium-rare I find it to be tough as the fat hasn’t fully rendered. Do you have that issue? I order every other steak medium-rare.
Glad to hear from someone else that it lives up to the hype. I've still not made it up there to try it, but still intend to do so sooner rather than later. The first person to recommend it to me is an uppity woman who is part of a family that owns one of the more popular restaurants in Knoxville. For her to recommend it over her families restaurant, and with it being in Union County, told me that it had to be amazing.
Never experienced this, but I always go for the thick cuts on ribeyes - 1.5 - 2.5”. Those tend to be more tender, by default, and may be able to withstand more heat (to melt more fat) but without exceeding the medium-rare range, but that’s just a guess.