The Chow Hall menu front cover
The Dining Duo received a recommendation from a reader to try The Chow Hall in Halls, 5700 East Emory Road, 37938. A small, nondescript building belies the ample seating within with walls covered with community-donated military memorabilia. The diner’s moniker, Chow Hall, honors the history of the miliary dining facilities. The menu echoes the sentiment, carrying the seals of each branch of service on the front.
The menu offers a variety of choices with appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, salads and wraps.
The recommendation was to get the hamburger so one Duo ordered The Pounder which was a literal pound of fresh, hand-patted burger, with everything on it and requiring an impressive act to even take one bite at a time. Having just had a disappointing burger earlier in the week, this burger met every expectation.
Duo Two ordered the ¼ pound dog with relish, slaw and mustard that required a fork to eat and was the best this hot dog connoisseur can recall.
David Brice started The Chow Hall about 10 years ago according to his sister who is his right hand while David handles the kitchen duty.
If you are lucky, David’s dad and mom will drop in with Dad’s stories of his Vietnam service at the beginning of the conflict in 1959.
The Chow Hall is open Monday-Friday 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. and Saturday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
Dining Duo is looking for the “hidden gem eateries “where the locals fill the breakfast and lunch hour; those local haunts tucked into the out of way or right on the way places missed in the hustle and bustle of the day. Email us your recommendations at email here.
I wish I had known about this place a few years ago. I did 4 years in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Our chow hall was great! After The Army I got into TV and film film production and was working as an editor for a Food Network show featuring quirky and cool restaurants. During a slow period one of the producers ask me to help find places near Knoxville. This sounds like it could have been perfect.