Traveler/writer finds that Glade eatery as good as any, anywhere

COMMENTARY

By BOB EPSTEIN

For The Vista

Most Fairfield Glade residents know about Legends at Druid Hills — a full-service restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

My wife Barb and I knew it was there on Lakeview Drive — but we finally found out how good and moderately priced this excellent place is.

Why? Well, quite simply, we travel so much we just have not had a chance to visit until now.

So, on a recent evening, my wife Barb and I stopped by and enjoyed one of the best steaks and prime rib dinners anywhere in Tennessee.

From award-winning Prime rib flat bread appetizer (inset top left) to Eggs Benedict (bottom left inset) to fall off the bone ribs and many other dishes, Barb Esptein had her hands full trying to decide what to try first. But she and other guests of Legends at Druid Hills right here in Fairfield Glade never have a problem finding something tasty to fill their stomachs and satisfy their taste buds.

We ordered on the menu for the meat dishes mentioned above, to try them out, but we really came for their legendary pot-stickers, Asian rice dishes, and a terrific stir-fry — as Friday evening is their themed Asian Nights (all manner of very tasty Asian fare, in a buffet mode).

This night, we really enjoyed the shrimp and pork stir-fry made to order by their Fry-Cook, Eric Barnes. Desserts? Yes, many different choices … we chose Creme Brule’ (WOW) and their Coconut Cream pie.

But Legends at Druid Hills Restaurant, quite literally out-did themselves with their Saturday night rib night.

Today, there are rib places in every town, and most are good, or they wouldn’t stay in business. Ribs are tricky to do well, after all, they are bones with meat on them, and so, they can be dried out quickly during their roasting time.

A chef has to be on his, or her toes to prepare, season, baste, and pick just the right barbeque sauce to compliment them. We were thrilled to see that this all came together at this restaurant. We eat out just about every day looking for the finest resorts, their meals, and amenities, so we can tell our readers about them. We experienced from soup (great French Onion with the correct cheese melt) to nuts (the desserts as in carrot cake and a brownie with delicious ice cream) and all the important stuff in between.

We really came for the aforementioned ribs (plenty of them) cole slaw, fries, after a prime rib flat bread appetizer, and a beef medallions entree’ as well. The tenderloins were oh, so tender, topped with beef mushroom demi’-sauce.

Can we recommend Legends at Druid Hills? No doubt!

We also visited Legends great Breakfast Bar Buffet on Sunday, and had various egg dishes “our way” and Eggs Benedict made while you wait (not hanging around and drying up in a chafing dish). And the coffee that tastes like coffee, and they have all the breakfast meats you could hope for, and at least 100-pounds of Danish, cake and bread products to choose from.

The buffet was very reasonably priced for what you had to choose from and, frankly, we are going back again!

And the best thing? Yippee! We found a “keeper” restaurant we will be happy to go to, week after week right here in our own backyard.