When a restaurant has the word “possum” in the name, it’s natural to expect the kitchen to showcase Southern cuisine. But when The Grub Spouse checked out one of Maryville’s newest eateries last week, we were surprised that the down-home grub was more elevated than what one might find at the local Cracker Barrel.
I had been hearing a lot of buzz about the debut of The Possum, which is just a block off Lamar Alexander Parkway, not far from the downtown area. The Spouse and I found the place in a renovated older brick home, with both downstairs and upstairs rooms converted into sequestered dining spaces. A hostess escorted me and The Spouse to the upper level, where we took our places in a room where two other couples were already dining.
How Southern
is the food? We got our first hint while perusing the starters (they’re called “snacks” on the menu). I spotted items like cornbread, fried saltines with pimento cheese, and pork rinds with hot sauce. I wanted to try the bologna burnt ends ($10). That’s chunks of fried bologna tossed in a barbecue sauce and topped with crispy onions.
Salad options include a chicken cracklin’ Caesar and Romaine topped with grilled chicken. Sandwiches range from a cheeseburger and smoked bologna Reuben (I gave this item some serious consideration) to a B.L.T. and a fried catfish po’ boy.
The Spouse and I, however, focused our attentions on the main dishes. Among the entrees that caught my eye were the sweet tea brined fried chicken, shrimp and grits and the full Appalachian breakfast, featuring a buttermilk biscuit, pimento cheese grits, two eggs made to order and a choice of two of sausage, country ham and bacon.
I got the meatloaf ($18). It’s topped with a brown sugar tomato glaze and is normally accompanied by mashed potatoes and brown gravy as well as creamy collard greens. The kitchen was out of collards that evening (perfectly fine with me), so I substituted the mac and cheese instead. (For the record, other side dishes include pimento cheese grits, cole slaw, fries and green beans.) The Spouse ordered the roast chicken and dumplings ($23). That plate features two thighs, chicken gravy, potato dumplings and glazed carrots.
Our server (whom we overheard telling other customers that she had logged some 16,000 steps since starting her shift at 9 that morning), started by delivering our burnt bologna ends. The thick chunks of fried bologna were country-good, and I liked that the barbecue sauce hadn’t been slathered on too thickly. The crispy onion pieces were a nice textural touch.
We had a bit longer of a wait for our main dishes but not an unreasonably long one. A food runner showed up with our plates, and having saved a good portion of our bologna snack for later, we were eager to dive right in.
The meatloaf was nicely done, again with a suggestion of a glaze rather than a heavy-handed topping. The texture and consistency of the loaf was satisfactory, and the flavor delivered. If you insist on smooth and creamy mashed potatoes, consider yourself warned; the mashed taters at The Possum are lumpy (which I had no issue with), but the flavor is deliciously buttery underneath the gravy topping. The mac and cheese was thick and creamy - out of this world.
The Spouse’s chicken thighs were moist and tender, and the potato dumplings were a slightly different doughy experience from what one might usually expect from this traditional Southern staple. They struck my palate as denser than the more familiar flour-based version.
The only hiccup in the experience from my perspective came when we were considering our dessert options: buttermilk pie, banana pudding ($8) or homemade vanilla ice cream. I asked our server if the pudding was a shareable portion, and she said it was. I reckon “shareable” means different things to different people, because The Spouse and I wound up sharing a small serving (for the nearly $10 price tag), which we polished off in short order. But the thick, creamy pudding was very tasty. The banana pieces were integrated into the pudding, and only two vanilla wafers adorned the treat, which was served in a small drinking glass.
Otherwise, however, I’m more than happy to recommend a meal at The Possum, where good Southern food doesn’t roll over and play dead.
The Possum
Food: 4.25
Service: 4.25
Atmosphere: 4
Overall: 4.25
Address: 313 N. Houston St., Maryville
Phone: 865-233-0632
Full bar service
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday through Monday
This Southern-centric restaurant just made its debut in Maryville with a lineup of elevated down-home cuisine.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: The Possum serves up tasty elevated Southern fare | Grub Scout
