If you read my previous entry about The Varsity, you may recall that ConnieLou and I had headed up to Young Harris for a quick overnight get away and to a ‘Seafood Festival and Art Walk’ at the Mayor’s Park in town of Young Harris. Now you may be wondering why on earth there would be a seafood festival in Young Harris since the town is at least a six to eight drive from any stretch of coastline. Honestly, we were wondering the same thing. But, we had been invited and it was a good excuse to go visit Young Harris College, our alma mater, and for a night away. Just for the record, I could consider dropping a fork at lunchtime a good excuse to go visit YHC. Don’t ask me how that would be an excuse, it just is. To me anyway. Don’t overthink it, just go with it.
Supper time rolled around but we weren’t too interested in seafood. We decided to give the popular local Italian restaurant in Young Harris that will remain nameless a try. When we stepped up to the hostess’s desk we were told that there would be at least a thirty minute wait because we didn’t have a reservation. Since I could see that the dining area was well over half empty and there was only one other couple in the lobby, we decided to go elsewhere. The hostess’s attitude didn’t exactly make us want to stay either.
We weren’t in the mood for Mexican or Chinese so that eliminated a few options. Due to the time, a nearby BBQ joint that came with a very good recommendation was also out and we didn’t really want to make the drive over to Blairsville since we were staying in Hiawassee. Connie gave Ashley a call and she suggested Chevelles on Highway 69 near Hayesville, North Carolina.
With a name like Chevelles one might think it’s a restaurant with an auto theme…and one would be correct. According to the Chevelles Story on the menu, Chevelles is a motor sports themed restaurant and bar. Needless to say there was plenty of automobile/motor sports related memorabilia to be found.
After checking out the menu I ordered a dozen hot wings and fries and ConnieLou ordered the linguine with chicken parmesan which came with a side salad. As we waited for our order we enjoyed the Friday night live entertainment. I’ve got to admit that the singer was pretty good…as long as he avoided Jimmy Buffet and Van Morrison songs.
When our orders came I was a bit surprised to see a dozen big, meaty wings in my basket. I mean they were huge! Much bigger than the wings you get at most restaurants. We were also surprised to learn that ConnieLou’s entrée came with two chicken breasts instead of one…and they weren’t exactly small either. Honestly, we could have split her meal and we both would have left satisfied.
How did it all taste? In a word…great! Wings can be very hit or miss but these were quite good. Big, meaty, crispy and tasty. The fries? Hate to say it but the fries weren’t anything special. Just average, previously frozen, restaurant fries. They were OK, just nothing special. As for ConnieLou’s linguine and chicken parmesan, it was probably some of the best we’ve had and I’d be willing to bet that it’s better that it would be better than a similar dish served at the popular Italian restaurant in Young Harris that will remain nameless. As for the service, no complaints at all.
So how did Chevelles rank on the Thumbs Scale? We gave it a qualified four thumbs out of a possible four. OK, you’re probably wondering what I mean by ‘qualified’. Normally I’d deduct half a thumb for serving frozen fries instead of fresh cut fries (hey, if Five Guys and The Varsity can serve fresh cut, any non-fast food type of restaurant should be able to manage to too). However, given the quality of the wings and the second chicken breast with ConnieLou’s order, I decided to overlook the fries this time around.
