Bluff City, Tennessee
More than just a food store, it’s an institution with hungry anglers on the South Holston Tailwater.
End Of The Line
August 2024
By Polly Dean
Photos courtesy of Hickory Tree Grocery
The family-owned Hickory Tree Grocery and grill is a convenient place to grab a snack, soda or even a satisfying down-home meal in Bluff City, Tennessee. Located near the shore of the South Holston River, the store and eatery happens to be owned and managed by Brady Carter. He was the On The Fly South crew’s fishing guide during our visit to the Tailwaters Lodge on the South Holston River.
Carter supplied our box lunches from Hickory Tree for our day long float trip. “Fishing guides and anyone going to or from the river can pick up bagged lunches from Hickory Tree Grocery. Crowd favorites are the jalapeño pimento cheese with bacon on a croissant or autumn berry chicken salad croissant. We make a classic ham and cheese or an awesome old-fashioned fried bologna and white-bread sandwich. The sandwiches are wrapped up and put in paper bags with chips and a delicious no-bake cookie, or any one of our delicious homemade desserts,” he said.
Dropping back by the store after fishing, we noticed that locals and families were stopping in for dinner, indicating that this is a popular location. Judging by the reviews, comments and return customers on their Facebook page, it is a business that has been around for a few decades.
Open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., six days a week, they are closed on Sundays. They serve breakfast, sandwiches and burgers with a wide assortment of side options for lunch and dinner, along with daily home-cooked specials that keep the locals coming in on a regular basis.
The breakfast menu will have your mouth watering and the prices keep your wallet satisfied too. Besides breakfast plates, options include sandwiches and croissants with sausage, bacon, steak, eggs and biscuits and gravy. Their gravy is noted to be amazing!
Lunches include sandwiches, burgers, chicken and much more. The summer menu offers servings such as shrimp and grits, carnita tacos, blackened salmon, chicken and waffles and catfish fried or blackened. They also serve smash burgers, soup and cornbread.
“My wife Kelsie has been doing some of the catering for Tailwaters Lodge through Hickory Tree,” Carter explained. “She prepares oven-ready breakfast casseroles with biscuits, and dinner casseroles with sides including dessert.
“Whenever I can, I find a good excuse to eat lunch at the store,” Brady continued. “On a warm day it’s nice to take a break from the summer heat to sit in the A/C, grab a cold Dr. Enuf (a locally bottled lemon-lime soft drink), and eat a cheeseburger from the flat top. The daily hot lunch specials also do wonders for warming up your spirits or your body on those wet or cold days.”
This truly is a convenient place to stop in for a quick, but hardy meal, when you are challenging the trout on the South Holston tailwater.
