Tellicafe is a family restaurant in Tellico Plains. It doesn’t look fancy on the outside but the food is good and so is the service. They serve a varied menu that highlights country cooking with some diner specials and a little gourmet mixed in.

• Country cooking, Burgers and Sandwiches
• Gourmet, Vegetarian, and All-You-Can-Eat Options
• $8-$15 for lunch menu $10-$25 for dinner menu
• Date of visit 7/16/2021

Location

The Tellicafe Restaurant is located on Bank Street in Tellico Plains. It is one road over from Highway 68 (you can see it through the parking lots) and right near where the Cherohala Skyway begins. Once you are on the right street it would be very hard to miss.

Atmosphere

You walk into a country-decorated entryway with a dining room on either side. It has a family restaurant feel. They usually ask you to wait for a hostess to seat you. Booths and tables are available including at least 1 table for a larger group.

Menu Variety and Price

Tellicafe serves lunch and dinner. Their menu has several sections including appetizers, burgers, wraps, and sandwiches, barbecue, country cooking, regular entrees, salads and vegetarian, kid’s menu, and desserts. There are separate menu inserts for current specials and specialty burgers.

Prices are low to mid-range. Lunches are mostly $10 to $12. Dinners start in the same range and go up to around $25. Kid’s meals are around $6.

Food Quality and Portions

The food is tasty, well-cooked, and the portions are large. (All three of us took half of our food home with us).

Randy and I have thought a few things were undersalted. Frances said everything was salted correctly for her. She is used to a lower sodium diet than Randy and I are. Undersalted is way better than oversalted, especially when you are cooking for a lot of people.

Burger rank = A+

Wait Staff

We were seated fairly quickly and the wait staff was always friendly and attentive. They were very pleasant about giving us time to decide what we wanted.

Our food took about 20 minutes after we placed our orders. They offered refills and checked on us regularly. A manager even made one round of the dining room asking several people how their meal was.

Lucinda’s Thoughts

I got a hot roast beef sandwich on rye with sweet potato fries. The fries were excellent and the sandwich was very tasty with tender meat and a nice mild horseradish sauce. The only thing I would change is to cook the onions just a little more. Of course, I like my onions very well cooked.

Our aunt Frances was with us and she ordered the turkey and dressing meal. It came with mashed potatoes and gravy, and cranberry sauce. Again the meat was tender and the gravy and cranberry sauce were excellent. The main thing she would change is the seasoning in the dressing. She said it wasn’t bad just not the country cooking flavor she is used to.

We’ve eaten here before and the meal I remember most is their teriyaki burger. It’s marinated in teriyaki sauce and comes with a slice of grilled pineapple as well as a couple of other standard toppings. It was messy but one of the best burgers I’ve ever had which is why I remember it so well.

Would you go back? Definitely, the staff is always friendly and helpful and I’ve never had bad food there. The wide variety means you could almost always find something you were in the mood for and there are lots of other things I’d like to try. The Xango dessert (cheesecake rolled in puff pastry) sounds particularly interesting and I really want another teriyaki burger sometime soon.

Randy’s Thoughts

I got the bacon cheddar cheeseburger with fries and sweet tea to drink. The meat for the burger was larger than the bun. It tasted like a burger cooked on a grill without a charcoal taste. The flavor was better than I hoped and I’d order it again.

The sweet tea is sweet without being too sugary, but it’s easily sweet enough. I can drink a lot of it without feeling like I’ve had too much sugar. This might be my favorite tea from a restaurant. It’s smooth. It’s called Black Currant.

Would you go back? Yes. Tellicafe is easily one of my all-time favorite family-style restaurants. I like to stop in anytime I’m in the Tellico Plains area.

Who Should Visit

Tellicafe is a good choice for almost anyone looking for somewhere besides a fast food restaurant to eat at the Tennessee end of the Cherohala Skyway.

If you travel to (or through) Tellico plains very often you should give it a try at least once.

More information

128 Bank St
Tellico Plains TN 37385
423-253-2880
Tellicafe.com

Have you eaten at Tellicafe? Let us know what you think in the comments.