I was about to
review the other restaurant we visited in Boone, North Carolina. However, I thought that since hardly anyone
will be making the trip to Boone, North Carolina, I thought that I would review
the last place we ate in Knoxville, Tennessee: Puleo’s Grille at Centre at
Deane Hill before arriving home after our trip to Bristol.
Let me preface my
comments about this review primarily is only for the location that just opened
at the Centre at Deane Hill.
I ordered the
Chicken Cordon Bleu. The sides that I
added to the meal were the sesame noodles and the asparagus. The food was really good. But I wished I had more. Let me say that this location could have increased
their guest check average if the server was more attentive. I wanted to order additional sides and my
wife would have gotten a dessert.
As with the other
two visits the food was excellent. It’s too bad that with a store’s opening,
the service didn’t match what we’ve experienced in the past. The server who was waiting on us worked at
the location only a few weeks. It
showed. He would not take the dirty
dishes away when we were done; he made us wait for a long time for our refills
and when I wanted to ask him for another side for my meal he dashed off faster
than I could say anything to him. It was
not the typical service we’ve received at this Southern Roots-Italian Heritage
chain.
On my rating
food/beverage scale (1 being the lowest and 5 giving the full WoW effect), I am
giving this location a 1.5 for service and 4 for food. It would have been higher if the server
was responsive. I am really
disappointed that I had to give the rating that I did for this restaurant
chain. Ever since being introduced to
the chain after getting married in 2007, we have always had memorable
experiences at Puleo’s Grille the last two times. We have visited two other locations on our
path through Knoxville, both of the times on the way from/to the Smoky
Mountains, the first time for our honeymoon and the second on the way back to
Memphis on our 1st wedding anniversary. Both times I can say we received at least 4,
or maybe a 5, on both the service and food.
We were so
frustrated about the dining experience that we called the manager over and told
him about our experience. He apologized,
and handled the situation very professionally.
He offered another dining experience on the chain’s expense. We did not call the manager over for this
purpose. We may not even use the free
dining experience, also. Before this
experience, there was no doubt that we’d stop by Puleo’s Grille if we were
traveling through Knoxville. Now, we will
have second thoughts.
