Hillbilly Restaurant and Lounge

Quintessential redneck bar/diner right out of the movies. Everyone in there was smoking. The cook/bartender was drinking a beer, which is probably against the law, but maybe not in Grundy County. Two pool tables, juke box, Ms. Pac Man. Ashtrays in front of every bar stool and on the two or three tables.

I'd heard the burger was good, so I decided to give it a shot. The three nice people eating there said they get their meat fresh from a local butcher and that it is never frozen. The burger took a long time to cook and I was the only person with an order in. Must have taken 15 minutes to cook. I got it to go and had consumed it by the time I had reached the bottom of Monteagle. As good a burger as I've ever had. Perfectly hand pattied, tender, flavorful, juicy. I truly did not need to have added mustard and ketchup. Yet, I didn't detect any other seasoning in the meat. It was just excellent quality meat cooked perfectly. Highly recommend this place. Oddly, I've also heard their pizza is good.

After driving past this establishment for the past few months, I finally worked up enough courage to go inside. First, it looks like a biker bar for hillbillies, so I guess the name is appropriate. I went about 6pm, before the crowd showed up for what the bartender/waitress said was "gonna be a great pool tournament".

If you're upset that the rest of the country has banned smoking inside bars and restaurants, you'll love the Hillbilly. The place reeks of acrid smoke and your eyes start stinging the minute you walk inside.There are several pool tables inside, so even though the sign outside says "Restaurant", this is definitely a pool hall/dive bar. Service was friendly. I learned that the place has been in business about 30 years and that the owner's wife recently passed away. There are signs all over the walls stating that they don't tolerate profanity, which the bartender/waitress confirmed. The owner showed us some pizzas he'd made for a to-go order, and the crust looked underdone and flimsy. Definitely not coming here for the pizza. Bottled beers are $2 each, so a pretty good bargain.  I had my one beer and left.