T-Bones specializes in Monterrey chicken

ABOUT THE DISHWhat: Monterrey grilled chicken.Includes: 6-ounce chicken and two sides.Cost: $6.49 ($7.49 with three sides).Availability: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays.ABOUT THE RESTAURANTWhere: T-Bone's Sports Cafe, 1419 Chestnut St.Website: www.tboneschattanooga.com.Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 a.m. Friday, Saturday, 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. Sunday.Phone: 266-4240.DAILY SPECIALSMonday: Hamburger steak with onions and gravy and two sides ($5.99).Tuesday: Monterrey grilled chicken and two sides ($6.49).Wednesday: Lasagna or spaghetti with meatballs, side salad and garlic bread ($6.49).Thursday: Country fried steak with gravy and two sides ($6.49).Friday: Pan-seared tilapia or hickory-smoked ribs and two sides ($7.99).

When it comes to developing a menu for a clientele as diverse as T-Bone's Sports Cafe's, trying to please everybody is setting the bar pretty high, especially during the lunch rush.

"It's been hard to set an identity because we're different things to different people," said manager, cook and co-owner Chad Danner.

Part sports bar, part meat-and-two and part barbecue joint, T-Bone's has a menu that reflects its wide-ranging customer base, offering nachos supreme and chicken salad alongside buffalo wings and beef brisket cooked in a massive computer-controlled wood smoker housed in an adjoining garage.

The split identity is never more apparent, however, than in the rotating line of lunch specials, which starts Monday with hamburger steak and ends Friday with pan-seared tilapia.

Danner begins preparing Tuesday's special, Monterrey grilled chicken, by grilling a 6-ounce chicken breast, to which he adds a coat of Sweet Baby Ray's, T-Bone's house barbecue sauce.

As the steam begins to rise, Danner then tops the chicken with two slices of hickory-smoked bacon and, later, two squares of Swiss cheese. He allows the growing stack to remain on the griddle until the cheese melts, drooping over the edges of the chicken like a blanket.

Plating the entree, he finishes with a topping of 2 ounces each of fresh diced tomatoes and chopped scallions. Danner then adds a pair of sides, a half- pound of hand-mashed potatoes and two ladles of green beans cooked in butter, bacon grease, salt and chicken stock.

At 3 months old, Monterrey grilled chicken is a relatively new addition to the special rotation menu. Danner said he added it after an employee approached him with the recipe, which took advantage of ingredients T-Bone's already stocked.

"It just sounded good," Danner said. "I knew it would appeal to people."

On a relatively busy Tuesday lunch rush, Danner said, T-Bone's will serve 20 to 25 orders of Monterrey chicken. With that kind of popularity, he said, it's likely to stay in the rotation for a while.

"It's maintained that level of popularity, and that tells me that people like it and it's not just that it's new," he said. "The smokiness of the sauce and the bacon and the creaminess of the cheese with the onion and tomato -- it's just a great blend."

T-Bone's has occupied the corner of Chestnut and West Main Street for 25 years, but those with longer memories may recall it was once a lunch counter named Blaylock's.

Danner began working there about nine years ago, about a year after his parents, Charlie and Susan Danner, bought T-Bone's from its namesake, who ran it for 15 years.

Before taking up managerial duties at T-Bone's, Danner worked as a sauté chef, his first culinary position, at the western location of the Copper Cellar in Knoxville.

He said he first entered the restaurant business as a way to meet people after relocating to Knoxville from Mississippi. Cooking offered a way to hobnob with other young people while doing something that provided immediate feedback on a job well done, he said.

Trying to offer something for everyone can be a challenge, but a chef should aim to do more than please people's taste buds, Danner said.

"It should engage more of your senses," he said. "It's like a reason for people to get together and share experiences. There's a lot more to it than satisfying your hunger."

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