Maxwell’s, located in downtown Gatlinburg between traffic lights # 9 and 10, has the slogan of "Great Casual Dining". You can’t miss the gold-shingled, red roofed building with big rock posts out front as you pass by.
We walked down the street after having had lunch at The Burning Bush and I asked my husband, as we were passing several different restaurants, where he wanted to have dinner that night. Imagine this . . . we had just finished eating lunch and I was already thinking about dinner . . . Guess who was planning ahead???? We scanned the posted menu in Maxwell’s front window, immediately eyeing the Maxwell’s Seafood Scampi, which advertised gulf shrimp, sea scallops and lobster sautéed in butter with garlic, white wine and scallions. Since we had not recently eaten seafood, we both agreed that this looked like a good restaurant for dinner that evening.
Maxwell’s also has beef entrees from $13-20, seafood entrees from $14-23, chicken breasts from $12 and pork chops for $14. All include the side items listed below and soup or salad. A wide selection of appetizers ranging in price from $5-11 include such items as fried green tomatoes, oysters Rockefeller or stuffed mushrooms. Four sandwiches such as hamburgers, BBQ chicken, or grouper sandwiches are available for $8-9. A children’s menu is available for age 12 and under and has spaghetti or macaroni and cheese for $2. Chopped sirloin/chicken tenders/popcorn shrimp are $5-6. Grilled cheese/cheeseburgers are $3-5.50.
We returned at 7:30pm and were quickly seated. We sat at our table for what seemed an eternity as several servers walked by and looked at us sitting quietly at our table. Finally as we were contemplating leaving, a young lady stopped and asked if anyone had taken our drink orders. We replied that they hadn’t and that we had been sitting for a while without anyone acknowledging our presence. Not the best way to start off a meal!
We ordered and, of course, I changed my mind!! But only after I discovered the crab cakes!! All entrées come either with soup or salad, and choice of one side item which includes garlic mashed potatoes, baked potato, onion rings, steak fries, fresh vegetables, pasta alfredo or rice pilaf. Freshly baked bread is also served. I ordered the crab cakes, which were pan sautéed in butter and served with lime aioli and tartar sauce for $15.99. I chose the garlic mashed potatoes and a salad. My husband stuck to the original plan and ordered the Maxwell’s shrimp scampi with rice pilaf and a salad for $19.99. Mine was delicious! However, my husband was unhappy with his selection as it was extremely bland and contained six shrimp, two sea scallops, a single 1" x .5" lobster piece, and six little crawdads. This wasn’t what he expected for $20 and he commented that Red Lobster’s was better!! (I’m glad I changed my mind)!!
My food was good, his wasn’t . . . The service was less than adequate originally . . . but it improved greatly. Would we go back . . . maybe!