Location: 2807 Roane State Hwy Harriman, Tennessee
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pg/wendellsdiner/
Quick Glimpse: Open Mon - Sat: 7am - 8pm, closed Sunday. Serves classic diner food such as burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches. Kids meals available.
Wendell's has a cute 80's theme and is decorated with toys and pop culture items from the decade. The items on the menu also include fun names such as Pound Puppies (hot dogs), Cassette Tape (grilled cheese sandwich), Full House (appetizer sampler), Parachute Pants (fried mushrooms), Rubik's Cube (club sandwich) and more.
He was a little irritated about the lack of mac 'n cheese options on the menu, but we placated him with the promise of tater tots and ketchup. My children love ketchup. I mean, they really love ketchup. They'd eat it straight up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if we let them.
We were playing with fire taking them to a restaurant during their usual naptime, but we put on our game faces and hoped for the best!
The service was fast and friendly, though when the waitress came to take our order we were informed that they were completely out of chicken, which knocked out a few of my first choices. That was kind of a bummer.
Matt ordered the Mr T. - a cheeseburger with grilled onions, bacon, and A1 sauce. The patty was juicy and you can't ever go wrong with grilled onions and bacon. The addition of A1 sauce is about as diner-esque as it gets. He ordered onion rings on the side and they were delicious, perfectly crisp with a great crunch on the outside and flavorful soft onion inside.
The kids shared a small cheeseburger with fries and we got an extra order of tater tots. Wendell's has a selection of 6 different cheeses for all cheeseburgers or sandwiches. The kids enjoyed their burger and, of course, the favorites were dipping the tots and fries into the ketchup.
I ended up ordering a regular Wendell Burger with fries. The diner goes the extra step with their hamburger bun and does things right by buttering them and grilling them to a nice toasty crunch. One thing I really appreciated about this diner is though their offerings are simple, they do them well.
Overall, we both felt that Wendell's is a solid little diner serving up well-prepared lunch food. Because of it's close proximity to the interstate, it's a great stop if you're traveling along I-40 and want to avoid stopping in the Knoxville area.
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