Saturday surprise at Center Hill Lake

Hungry? Yes, we were.

Fortunately, we were near Center Hill Lake, a location where we have shared some great meals in the past.

We headed to a lakeside eatery where we had dined upon occasion, but it seemed strangely deserted. Was it closed? Or maybe it was out of business?

Didn’t get a chance to find out because Betty Lou was behind the wheel. She jetted on by as I twiddled with the onboard navigation system. Not too far down the roadway, she spotted a sign advertising Barbara’s Cedar House Restaurant.

“What do you think?” she asked as she ducked down Johnson Chapel Road. “Was that it?” I asked as we whirled past a log and board-type structure. It looked a little too friendly to be just a lakeside tavern.

But she didn’t stop. Betty Lou had spotted the signs for a lakeside park. Ah-ha, she was looking for a public restroom. We found them and they were padlocked. Her need overcame the beauty of the spot which would have been lovely for a picnic. Except….Except we didn’t bring any food.

Suddenly, we were back in the truck and heading back out Johnson Chapel Road.

This time she didn’t ignore the sign on the front of Barbara’s Cedar House, but it looked deserted despite the sign proclaiming that the café was indeed open. We parked the truck and walked up the long porch.

Hmmmm, it was open and we were greeted by a dark-haired woman who we soon discovered was Barbara McHugh. Barbara and her husband John own the restaurant.

Hammerhaid reviewed the menu while Betty Lou dallied. It was amazingly diverse and boasted quite a spred of seafood and a number of unusual items including German (make that Bavarian) dishes.

Beef roulade, sauerbraten, schnitzle, spaetzgle and bratwurst at a rural Tennessee restaurant? It didn’t make sense, so Hammerhaid and Betty Lou ordered a typical of cheeseburgers, fries and onion rings.

While waiting on their orders, Betty Lou took the opportunity to chat with Barbara about her origins.

Come to find out that both Barbara and her husband hail from Chicago where Barbara had been involved in the restaurant business for years. Their chef, inexplicably, comes from New England where he specialized in Bavarian cookery.

Hmmmmm, Hammerhaid was beginning to regret ordering a cheeseburger instead of a Chicago-style hotdog.

However, the regret soon passed with the delivery of his burger. It was a double-decker loaded with cheese. Delicious! The fries were hot and crunchy too. And the onion rings were so good that Betty Lou was reluctant to share.

So-o-o-o-o, we’re ready to head back.

For more information and a map on how to find it, check out barbarascedarhouse.com