November 15, 2012 - Anthony's, Bryson City, NC


Well, as you have probably guessed, we are not at Fryemont Inn. When I called, Thursday was already filled and they closed the week of Thanksgiving. Also, Pam had a conflict and asked us to go to Anthony's instead of Fryemont Inn so she could go with us to Fryemont Inn. But since they close next week, we just reconciled   to ourselves that we would have to circle back around next spring and hit the Fryemont Inn when they reopened,. So.... in the spirit of camaraderie, we decided to hit Anthony's in Pam's absence. But although we would miss Pam, we had two new members. Beth and Robert agreed to join us on this night. We were glad to have them and thoroughly enjoyed their company. The laughs, conversation and good times were not in short supply this night,

OUTSIDE ANTHONY'S. TAKE OUT WINDOW AND TABLES OUTSIDE. 



Anthony's has been in Bryson for several years. As far as I know, it has been in the same place all that time. it is located near the train depot and gets a lot of traffic from the train riders. The parking is a bit tight as the parking lot is very small and is shared by other businesses. But there is parking on the street and in the Dollar General if they are closed. The only thing about parking in the parking lot ... well a couple of thing.... is that it's dirt with large mudholes if it rains. Also, since no space are designated sometimes folks park all crazy. Also,. there is at times, spill over from the bar next door and often things can get a bit exciting with fights, etc.

Anthony's is basic Italian with the standard fare such as Pizza, Pasta, Salads, and Sandwiches. As a note, their Pizza is consistently very good. Nice crust, wide variety of toppings. The only drawback is that they use canned mushrooms instead of fresh. I love mushrooms and this is a great disappointment.
They do offer a nice variety of subs/sandwiches, and pasta dishes. According to Anthony, he makes his own  pasta sauce.
You can choose to get a salad which is not bad. Typically fresh, but I have had one that was not once or twice. As  you can see from our salads this night, they were fresh. Anthony's does not make their dressings. 

SALAD WITH RANCH DRESSING

SALAD WITH THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

Greg and I have both had several of their past dishes, and my favorite is the Chicken Marsala. I have had this dish at several other Italian restaurants, and this one is my favorite. I especially like the tiny pasta. On another side note, Anthony's does make their tiny, buttery rolls and believe me when I tell you... you can't eat just one. 

CHICKEN MARSALA WITH ROLLS 

 Naturally, I ordered the Chicken Marsala. I hadn't had it in a very long time and was not in the mood for a pizza. Greg ordered Spaghetti and Meatballs. This is one dish  that Greg has not had and so he was venturing into unknown territory. He didn't finish the dish as he said it had no flavor. The sauce was apparently bland. So that was a disappointment to him. 

SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Robert order the . He mentioned that it was good. Lots of flavor. 

SPINACH MANICOTTI

Beth ordered the Spinach Manicotti. She also said hers was good. Certainly filling as it was a big portion. 

PASTA ALFREDO ( WITH HAIR)

Now on to Rosemary. She ordered the Pasta Alfredo and apparently that night she  ordered an unadvertised special as she found a hair in her dish halfway through her meal. And apparently,she didn't want to share as she didn't tell us until the end of the meal. And her a pastor!!! I thought they taught stuff like being unselfish in the church. So I guess you could say she got a bonus with purchase. 

MANICOTTI

Lisa got the Manicotti. She said her was good too. So, I guess only Greg and Rosemary were the only ones disappointed that night. At least as far as the food goes.

Now... on to the real interesting part of the meal. While we were eating, we noticed Anthony's health rating  on the wall,which you can see in the photo below. It was an A, and we started discussing the different ratings and really what that means, Apparently the health inspector had not been to Anthony's in a while because while we were eating, Lisa and Greg noticed a baby roach climbing the wall. Greg discreetly got up and killed it. Then while we were pondering that unexpected sight, we noticed several others on other walls. They were all babies and all toward the top of the walls. Not being an expert on the habits and lifestyles of roaches, especially the babies, I was not sure what that meant, other than Anthony's had a roach problem.
 We discussed telling the waitress, and decided in the end to tell her so the issue could be addressed. She promptly told the owner,who chalked up the issue to the old building. Now.. the building is very old and is near the the river and several other very old buildings. I am sure that if Anthony's has roaches, the other buildings do too. Anyway, we finished our meal in some haste before we had parachutists drop in our food. 

MAIN DINING ROOM WHERE WE SAW LITTLE GUESTS SCURRYING UP THE WALLS

However, we didn't leave before we talked, laughed and told stories on ourselves. We missed Pam, but were glad to have Beth and Robert join us.  All in all, the food portions were very generous, the presentation was nice,

On a side note... I did see the Health Director about a week later and told her about the roaches. She stated she would pass that on to the inspector. She also stated those buildings in that area were very old. and if one had a problem they bugs just moved from one building to the next via the ceiling and walls.

Well.. that unofficially finished off Swain County for the Supper Club. We still have The Fryemont Inn but we will circle back around next Spring. Next on the agenda.... Jackson County. We have the list ready and the camera is ready. And more importantly......we are ready. Our first stop... El Pacifico.