Puleos Grille

We used to like Puleos, but it’s clearly gone downhill. The food is mediocre at best. The décor is really run-​down. The menu is too large (in terms of items) and resembles that of an old diner. In fact, if it was simply a diner it might be more acceptable as such– but the food, the service, the décor all combinen to make it a lackluster place sorely in need of a make-​over. The last time there we were joking (partially joking) about what a great candidate it would be for one of those TV restaurant remake shows. They need to update everything!

My first experience at Puleos Grille… Nice atmosphere and the service was excellent! Our server was right on time with drinks and kept the meal flowing nicely. They have a diverse variety of food. It was hard to choose what to eat. I had fried green tomatoes for the appetizer; very good. They were seasoned just right and bursting with flavor. I decided on white and red bean chicken chili (loved it) and a blue cheese wedge salad for starters; very fresh iceberg lettuce, chunks of blue cheese, blue cheese dressing, bacon bits, and croutons. Both were incredible. The entrée was baby back ribs and bar-​b-​que chicken combo with cornbread dressing and cheese grits as the sides. I could not have been more impressed with the flavors, tenderness, or freshness of the food. It was well prepared and everything was delicious. It wasn’t crowded at and I was very surprised. This place should stay packed… especially on a weekend. Pricing was very reasonable. I will definitely be dining here often. Highly recommend!

I have eaten at this restaurant several times. Each time I get something different, and each time it is worse than the last. I usually put up with the food because my relatives somehow enjoy it. My latest torture of choice were the fish tacos. We were in that terrible establishment for over 3 hours. It took about 15 minutes for us to get drinks, and then another nearly 45 minutes for us to get our bread. After that we got about half of our food in about 30 minutes, and the rest of the party got it nearly an hour later. Nearly all of our orders were wrong. These are just a few of the errors: overcooked steak, wheat bread instead of white, having to be asked 3 or 4 times to bring us some condiments, and putting the gravy on potatoes and fried green tomatoes where gravy was specifically asked to be left off. However, this was not even the bad part. The checks were an absolute fiasco. We waited at least 45 minutes after everyone was done eating before we got our checks, and then all of them were wrong. All of the checks had to be returned and fixed 3 or 4 different times. This lead to us standing around waiting for our checks for at least half an hour. I don’t mean just small errors like a soda in place of a water (although that did happen), I mean big errors. It was like they took all of orders into a randomizer and handed them out. For example, my fish tacos were on a bill with the burger and salad from two other different parties. I realize our party was nearly 20 people, but this was absolutely ridiculous. Usually I go with 4 or 5 people, that way all I get is bad food instead of bad food and bad service. I recommend staying away from this restaurant with any number of people, but avoid at all costs if you have more than 10.

Mrs. M and I enjoyed our Saturday afternoon late lunch here today. I had the Italian Broiled Scallops with kale for a side. Mrs. M had Prime Rib and we shared a Caesar Salad.
Puelo’s always does a very good Caesar salad and we both enjoyed ours. The scallops were excellent and well prepared. The kale greens were enjoyable too. Mrs. M reports that he prime rib tasted nice, but was overlooked, more well done than the medium well she had ordered. I would agree as there was no color left in her meat.
The service was also somewhat lacking as the waitress left empty bread bowls, salad plates on the table until we finished our entrees and asked for the check. Puleo’s is usually good for 5 stars so both the prime rib and service problems were outside the norm.

The prime rib was amazing! The portions are very generous! And the staff were very friendly! Five star in my book! If I lived closer, I would be a regular.

Excellent service. They held the doors open for us and were extremely accommodating overall. Food was excellent too– I had the chicken park dinner with a Caesar salad. Both were delicious, and I say that as someone who eats a lot of Italian food on a regular basis.

This place is truly as good as it gets! Great menu with something for everyone. I had a hard time deciding for dinner last week but chose the Grilled Chicken Florentine and it was the best I have ever had. Additionally, when I paid the bill, I accidentally left my credit card at the restaurant. On my way to the airport and an hour or so out of town the next day, I realized it and called the restaurant. The general manager confirmed my card was safe and promptly sent it to me in the mail, no questions asked. I will be dining here anytime I am in the Alcoa area…

Don’t let this place fool ya… they have very reasonable prices and something for everyone… I love their lasagna (enough to split it in half).its very good and tastes like Olive Gardens. Really good!
Their salads are fresh and crisp and they have raspberry vinegarette dressing… soooo good!
Fast, quick service.
Would recommend.

This has to be one of the worst experiences I have had in a restaurant in quite a while. And is the first negative review I have ever given a restaurant. It is way overpriced for the amount and quality of food that you get. My wife and I both got the prime rib that was way to fatty even for me. (Who has always said that was one of the best parts), and was also cold. They had taken caned potato gravy and watered it down and called it au jus. The salad was wilted and they brought one piece of bread at a time for three people. My son had the fish with crabmeat. It was cold and dry. And the crabmeat on top was more some type of yellow sauce than crab, our waitress was kind and did the best she could but was overworked trying to wait tables, be the bartender, make other wait staff drinks, and handle the take out orders. So needless to say she did not have a lot of time to help. The management was no where to be found to say anything to, and sure did not make them self available for questions. We will not be going back. Our nights out are few and far between. And this was a huge waste.

I came here with my husband on recommendation from the place we were staying at. We were there on a Thursday night and were looking forward to some great steak. Unfortunately, we were disappointed. The place was practically empty (maybe there’s a reason for that?). We both started with Caesar salads which had more cheese than lettuce and was so overdressed it was inedible. I ordered a filet cooked medium and my husband ordered a prime rib. Our entrees came out pretty fast, so I was suspicious of the cook on my filet. I did the touch test and it felt rare. I cut into it and it was purple. Not red, but purple. It was like they just seared the outside and sent it out. I wasn’t about to eat rare meat so I waited for the waitress to come back. While I waited, my husband dug into his prime rib. The color was off — instead of the bright pink color it should be, it was this dusky pink with a brown underside, like it had been sitting around since last week. Like four minutes later the waitress came back, and by then my plate had been covered in the blood from my severely undercooked filet. She took it back. A couple minutes later, the manager (I’m not sure, some random guy who never introduced himself) came back with my filet. It was clearly a different steak altogether — smaller, gnarled, and burned. He waited while I cut into it, and it was tough and medium well. I was disappointed yet again. $ 24 bucks for that steak that looked like my dog was chewing on it before it made it to my table. I didn’t eat it. My husband barely ate his «prime rib». I think this place has reallllly low standards for meat and poorly trained cooks. Obviously the manager didn’t care that we didn’t eat our salads or our steaks. We were still charged almost 80 bucks for the most horrible meal of our honeymoon. Puleos grill is overpriced and underwhelming. Save yourself the torture and go elsewhere.

This is a very inviting atmosphere, and the food’s not bad either.
The atmosphere is very comfortable, and they pipe in pretty great pop music from the 80s through today. The food is not quite as great as the ambiance, but it’s not bad. I started with the gumbo, which was very good, except it had celery that was undercooked. Like they threw it in too late. The entrée was good, although the Filet Mignon was undercooked. I ordered it medium rare, but it came out straight-​up rare. Sent it back but it still came out rare. It was a very good cut of beef, although a bit thin. Maybe ¾″ thick or so. The broccoli and carrot side was cooked perfectly, not too soft but not too raw. The grits were highly recommended by the waitress but disappointed somewhat. I ordered the grilled shrimp addition, which was also perfectly cooked.
The waitress was very friendly and helpful. She had clearly worked there for some time. She was very enthusiastic about her job. She helped make the meal.

Puleo’s wasn’t very busy when I ate there and the service was attentive but not overboard. I had the rattlesnake ribeye and the house salad with the house balsamic dressing both were prepared exactły as requested and very appetizing. I would definitely recommend Puleo’s to anyone.

Mon and thur is 5.99 hamburger and fries. One of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Shrimp and grits is wonderful also. Not a Pepsi fan if they had coke I would have given 5 stars.
Service is great but was a little slow today.

I like ribs, but not in my salad !! There I said it… bad salads for me and my hubby was just the beginning of a not so great meal tonight.
This was not our first visit to Puleo’s but in the past, we got better food all around.
First of all, we ordered King cut ribeyes, each a salad, and loaded baked potatoes, along with sweet tea to drink.
The iced tea was sooo watered down, it barely had the taste of tea.
They put far too many ribs in each of our salads… for the price here, they should build you a nice salad !
The bread had obviously been baked for quite some time, it was chewy and not warm or tender at all. We ate only a bite or two of it, whereas In the past, we would have eaten more than one little roll.
Both of our baked potatoes had obviously been pre-​baked and reheated, and not reheated very well… They were hard and not creamy [even with the toppings] and got cold far too quickly.
Now to the steaks… a good flavor to both of them… and we enjoyed them, although we both had more fat on them than we were comfortable with, and there was a chewiness to the meat… my husband said his had gristle… and he discreetly had to remove a piece with his napkin back to the plate.
Our wait staff was the highlight… She was attentive, sweet and personable and we couldn’t have asked for more out of her.
This was a Friday evening, and we truly expected Puleo’s to have their «game» on and be ready with fresh, hot everything… They were disappointing tonight.
I do think I have finally realized why this place has only a smattering of customers while the Texas Roadhouse next door has a long wait line. We will go next door with the others when we are craving beef again !!

For the price it is very good. I had pizza and it was perfect for one person. The apple pie a la mode was delicious. If you are a traveler looking for something close by to the airport, I would recommend. But if you are looking for gourmet, and have time, go into Knoxville.

Good food, close to the airport, great service.
We’ll be back…

It was cold rainy night. Cold, flooding, ice storm warnings and school closure notices on the news.
Front desk of my hotel said they deliver. Yeah!
I call to ask if they are delivering in this weather.
They come back and say yes. Yeah!
Ordered my food.
Salmon with herb butter, a salad and the Fried Green Tomatoes.
1 — Delivered it fast… less than 30 min!
2 — Delivery person was super friendly. (Greg or Glen… sorry I cannot remember).
3 — Everything that was supposed to be hot was hot and everything that was supposed to be cold was cold.
4 — and most importantly, EVERYTHING tasted excellent.
If I had more days in town, I would visit the restaurant.

Ok… for a chain restaurant. The atmosphere was standard, the service was slow and the food is nothing special. I tried the citrus grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli/​carrots. Just ok, but could make much better myself at home.

I tried this location for the first time this weekend on my way back from knoxville. The service was spot on and very friendly. I was in the mood for shrimp and grits all day and to my surprise they served it at puleos! I pretty much rockstarred it and it was gone in 5 minutes! It had great flavor and ample portions. I would recommend stopping in and giving it a shot here!

I have never been to Knoxville before, so when I got to my hotel, I checked in on Unilocal and looked to see what restaurants were close by (foursquare did not have much to offer) and there was this one and one other.
So I looked at the reviews most all were good, but there was one bad one, so I thought I would give it a try.
And I am glad I did.
Though this may indeed be a small chain of restaurants, it was a very good one. Service was excellent, and the food was top notch.
It was a Monday Night, and I did not know they had specials, (a welcome surprise when my bill came and what I ordered was much cheaper than the menu price)
For sure when I return to this town, I will again visit this restaurant!