Foothills Milling Co — Restaurant in Maryville

I came to the beautiful state of Tennessee for a wedding in late October. I stayed at a marvelous AirBnB in Maryville. And on my first night there, I decided to check this place out. It had marvelous reviews across multiple different websites. So I made my reservations and sat down in their cozy, candlelit dining room.

We started off with a free little ham and cheese style croquette. So that was nice. It was cute, and it tasted nice.

Thennn, I got an app. The Spicy fried Mississippi quail (Served with house made buffalo sauce, shaved celery ranch salad and blue cheese ice cream). This is the reason this place got five stars. I love whoever thought of this. First of all, quail is delicious. Not everyone knows that, and I was a little surprised to see it in Maryville, TN.

Anyway, it was fried to perfection, and tossed in that sauce with expert precision. So crispy, and just enough meat for a quail. The play on the regular chicken wings accompaniments was really fun. The celery salad dressed in ranch and the blue cheese ice cream really cut down the minimal heat that the quail put out. This was excellent. Get this.

Then came out another freebie. Some sort of lemon sorbet, for a nice palate cleanser. Very nice.

For my entree, I couldn't skip the Braised Pork Collar (Served with apple butter bbq sauce, green tomato chowchow, aged cheddar grit cake and braised greens). And I picked correctly. This pork was fall-to-pieces tender. The green tomato chowchow/chutney was a nice, Southern touch. And the grit cake gave you that carb that you needed to sop up the juice and finish off that sauce. This is a unique item, and you need to get this, too.

I also got to try the Maple Leaf Farms Duck Two Ways (Seared duck breast cooked to medium beside a pecan and apple smoked leg quarter, served with soft polenta, roasted broccolini, and port cherry reduction). I know, duck is exciting. But you can skip this one. The duck was cooked fine, but the seasoning was a little bland, and the sides were a little uninspired. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad. There was just a lot left on that menu that I thought would have been better.

Finally, we ended with dessert. A mixed berry galette with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. This thing was HUGE. And it was delicious. Very flakey crust, a ton of berries, and that cool cool vanilla ice cream to make this feel very homey.

Overall, this place was very very good. Probably the best place in Maryville. So if you're doing anything here or in nearby Knoxville, give this place a try. You...

Mixed feelings.

We came in for a casual dinner. The place aspires for fine dining but let’s get one thing clear: fine dining and southern food with a lot of fried food are two different things, and they don’t really go together. Trying to combine them is a recipe for failure and that’s what happened tonight.

Our appetizers were very tasty though quite heavy: goat cheese tart and green fried tomatoes were seasoned well and served quickly. The seasoning on both was similar though which says something about the chef. Before the entrees, we were served a palette cleansing sorbet, which was impressive and proves that the place at least is trying for fine dining. The entrees: NY strip and duck two ways were underwhelming on many levels: first of all, far under seasoned (rosemary and garlic on beef is nice but only if combined with the correct amount of salt; the duck was blunt and the white meat part far too pink for me, I couldn’t eat it; personally, I’d suggest smoking the duck first and using more salt to eliminate any funky after flavors); also, even though I told them I don’t like lukewarm food, that pink duck came out lukewarm. Secondly, heavy protein like duck or beef should be balanced out with lighter sides like fluffy potato or parsnip purée. Instead, I was served with under seasoned grits and my husband’s beef with Mac and cheese; both were far too heavy for us. My other side: broccolini, was too hard (undercooked!). Finally, they said they have espresso but what they served us wasn’t espresso; it was watered down coffee (basically Americano). I suspect that different chefs make appetizers and entrees, hence such a different experience. Also, my old fashioned was watered down or it didn’t have enough liquor; it’s unusual around here, so I was a little disappointed. Overall, I’d like to come back sometime to try some other dishes (mainly seafood), but their execution of meat wasn’t as amazing as I’d expect for almost $200 for a dinner...

Had my birthday meal at Foothills Milling Co. We checked in for our reservation and then went to the bar and had two phenomenal chocolate martinis. Well made and visually stunning. We got called into the dinning area and had Melanie M. as our waitress. Very nice and knowledgeable for our first visit. We ordered and the kitchen sent us a little crab cake complimentary. It was incredibly good. Definitely a preview of what was to come. Then Melanie brought out lemon sorbet to clear our pallet before dinner. Such a nice touch and it was very tasty. My fiancée and I both got the tempura lobster. It was visually stunning. The presentation here is exceptional with everything. This meal left me absolutely speechless! The lobster was firm, sweet, and cooked perfectly. The sweet chili sauce was so complimentary to the lobster. The rice was fantastic especially with the sauce. It had a ring of sauce and mushrooms. I usually dislike mushrooms but ate every single one. The green beans were fresh and crisp. We had a basket of incredible bread with homemade butter in olive oil. Everything was absolutely stellar. To experience a meal like that with my fiancée was really special. For dessert I got white chocolate crème brûlée. It was a religious experience. Rich, sweet and velvety smooth. It's indescribable how good it was. The restaurant gave us a slice of buttermilk pie for my birthday. Such a nice gesture. It to was unbelievable. That graham cracker crust is next level. This was such an incredible experience from start to finish. We had to save to do this as we are not rich but it was so worth it. Everyone should have this level of food and service once in a while. It's something we will remember for a very long time. I can't recommend this place strongly enough. It's a complete experience that can't truly be described unless you just go have it. I'm grateful we got the opportunity to experience...