Little River Pub & Deli caters to visitors to the Smoky Mountains | Grub Scout

Every year, I try to visit a restaurant or two in Townsend. Summer is nigh upon us, which means that more and more folks will be visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park and possibly passing through that community, aka the Peaceful Side of the Smokies, on the way. It’s more peaceful than the Stressful Side of the Smokies, yes, but that doesn’t mean Townsend doesn’t have a respectable number of eateries and such.

Like 98% of everything in that town, it’s on the U.S. Highway 321/Tennessee Highway 73 corridor. The Grub Spouse and I arrived for a recent Sunday lunch, early enough that we wound up being the first customers seated that day. We had our choice of a couple of interior dining rooms or the outside beer garden, which comes with views of the grounds of the neighboring Strawberry Patch Inn as well as the Little River just beyond. We claimed a table with a river view and set about sorting through a sandwich-centric menu.

Little River Pub & Deli does offer a limited number of shareable appetizers, including pork nachos, pimento cheese with naan dippers and mini corn dogs. We got the Moonshine Meatballs ($8.50), which are bathed in barbecue sauce.

The rest of the menu is divided into panini and other sandwiches. I volunteered to try the former, all of which are pressed and served hot with a choice of potato chips. Creations include the City Folk (mozzarella, basil pesto and sun-dried tomatoes), the Boyd (premium roast beef, cheddar, onions, jalapeños and a sauce made with roasted red pepper and garlic) and a grilled cheese made with cheddar and provolone.

I ordered the Hot Wendy ($12.50). I’m not sure how this item got its name, but it’s roasted chicken chunks tossed in hot Buffalo sauce then topped with blue cheese crumbles and mozzarella cheese. I chose salt and vinegar as my potato chip.

Other non-panini sandwiches feature main ingredients like hot meatballs, pork barbecue, roast beef, and ham and cheese. The Spouse got the Jenny Lea ($10.50) — turkey, provolone cheese, pesto mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion. It also came with a choice of chips, and The Spouse picked the mesquite barbecue flavor.

In addition to food, Little River Pub & Deli is known for its beer service. The table-tent beer menu I looked over didn’t strike me as having a huge selection. It appeared that about seven local/craft-beer labels and an equal number of more traditional, national brands comprised the total lineup. Although I’m not categorically opposed to day drinking, I decided to pass on the suds for this outing. Nonetheless, I could see mountain-bound (or home-bound) travelers stopping off to enjoy a pint or two in this peaceful riverside setting.

Our server first delivered the bopballs (that’s what the elder Grub Sprout used to call meatballs when he was a toddler). With eight balls to a basket, each slightly more than an inch in diameter, Dwight and Stanley from "The Office" would surely have approved of how thoroughly we got meatballed. As far as the taste goes, no complaints here. They embodied pleasingly seasoned beef flavor with additional smoky help from the barbecue sauce.

Not long afterward, the server was back with our sammies. The Spouse’s Jenny Lea was quite good. The turkey was notably highlighted by the distinctive taste of the pesto mayo, but the soft, thick bread took top honors on this particular item. We never confirmed the variety, perhaps a light wheat of some kind, but in my opinion, it was the highlight of the Jenny Lea.

I liked the Hot Wendy too, though perhaps not quite as much as The Spouse’s sandwich. But overall, it was still enjoyable. The bread was toasted to just the right level of crispness (still a little chewy), and the chicken meat was adequately, though not excessively, doused in Buffalo sauce. The heat level was more than tolerable; in fact, my palate wouldn’t have minded a few more degrees of fire. However, I thought the layer of mozzarella cheese was an interesting choice that tied the whole thing together texture-wise and added one more subtle flavor note.

(For what it’s worth, the chips were good too. They were Dirty chips, a product of the Utz snack-food company. And not unlike Seinfeld’s Cosmo Kramer, they made me really thirsty later.)

The day’s only dessert option was a pineapple upside-down cake, which sounded decent, but we skipped it to save room for a Mother’s Day dinner for my mother-in-law that evening.

My takeaway was that Little River Pub & Deli has a lot to offer Smoky Mountains visitors. The grub is satisfying, the beer menu covers at least the minimum bases, and enjoying either (or both) within eyeshot of a flowing river is never a bad recipe for a daytrip in my (cook)book.

Little River Pub & Deli

Food: 3.75

Service: 4

Atmosphere: 3.75

Overall: 3.75

Address: 7503 W. Old Highway 73, Townsend

Phone: 865-738-3696

Beer service only

Kids’ menu

Hours: Noon-8 p.m. Sundays through Tuesdays; noon-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Smokies-bound travelers should consider this roadside restaurant and pub for sandwiches, suds and scenic beauty.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Restaurant review: Little River Pub & Deli caters to Smokies visitors