Restaurants in Chattanooga

[marawhitney]

I will be in Chattanooga right after Labor Day. Are then any restaurant/food recommendations.

Thanks,

Mara Whitney

[Guilty Gourmand]

Afraid I haven't been to Chattanooga in awhile but I do recall a recent (last couple of months) Southern Living article on sites and scene around Chattanooga that included some restaurant recommendations. Hopefully others will have more detailed information but that article might be worth tracking down if you have not already seen it.

[2shoes]

Here is a recent Times article that was sent to me. It might give you some travel ideas.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/travel/2...982fe5e0f9a99eb

[Tonyfinch]

Very acceptable ribs at Sticky Fingers on the Main St. The beer at the big downtown brewhouse was delicious and the food looked good, although I didn't have any.

[dlc]

In the area of downtown east of the TVA headquarters is a great find called St. John. The place is owner run, his brother is the chef and used to be a line chef at Garmercy Tavern. PS. the owners wife works in a fabulous jewelry store in the same area. We had a wonderful lunch at a small rest. in am old whse. conversion that I have forgotten the name of. I will look up my notes and try to PM you.

[pogophiles]

St. John is covered favorably in the linked NYT article above, as well...

[Mayhaw Man]

I have one reccomendation for Chattanooga. I have actually driven 150 miles off course to go there.

Thai Smile 3-located behind Big River Grille (a brewpub with really well made beers and good pub grub). It is a small family run Thai restaurant with great food and stunningly low prices. The menu is a series of brief descriptions with poloroid phots. Go for a late lunch and you will not need to eat dinner. The prtions are huge. The food is absolutely fresh and well made. Some of the best Thai food I have ever eaten anywhere in the US.

Chattanooga is maybe the best town in the SOuth. Enjoy your trip.

[Liz Johnson]

Any new recs from the area? I'll be staying north of the city on Lake Chickamauga. Looking forward to waterskiing, card-playing, reading, and of course — good eating! Any good farmers markets, groceries or restaurants around there or Soddy Daisy?

Mayhaw -- have you been to the Thai place lately? We can get pretty good Thai even here in Nyack, N.Y. Worth it?

[robyn]

We were in Chattanooga last summer and the best meal we had there was at 212 Market. Very good. It's a short walk from the Aquarium - which is a world class attraction. Once you read the website - you'll understand why it's important to support restaurants like this in smaller cities in the US. Robyn

Edited July 12, 2004 by robyn (log)

[CoolPapaBell]

I agree with 212 Market. I think we've been three times and it's always very good.

[davebr]

Isnt the Inn at Blackberry Farm right outside Chattanooga?? There is no way I could permit myself to be in Chattanooga and not go there.

[robyn]

I agree with 212 Market.  I think we've been three times and it's always very good.

The chef there is talented - and hard working. We were in Chattanooga for a friend's birthday party. He's a sculptor - and it was a huge party with people from all over the country and Europe. Great BBQ and bluegrass (J.D. Crowe). So the food really wasn't along the lines of 212 Market. But the chef is a friend of our friend the sculptor. And she made a spun sugar replica of one of our friend's sculptures to put on top of the cake. It was very cool. We didn't know the 2 were friends until we dined in the restaurant the day after the party - got to talking - and she showed us the experiments leading up to the final dessert show piece. I love to find places like 212 Market when I'm "on the road". Robyn

[hannnah]

Isnt the Inn at Blackberry Farm right outside Chattanooga?? There is no way I could permit myself to be in Chattanooga and not go there.

No, it's in Walland, right outside Knoxville. It'd be about 2 hours' drive from Chattanooga.

[davebr]

My bad

[artisanbaker]

check out the times article. i'm from chatt-town and it's a quirky market. people want their southern food done fancy, but not much past that.

check out shuford's bbq at the foot of signal mtn for great casual bbq

also see southern star at warehouse row for meat and 3 sides. very very busy at lunch. impeccable service

tony's pasta has a beautiful view on the bluff and a lot of my bread/pastry recipes for what they're worth...best for romantics

forget thai smile whatever. check out sweet basil on brainard rd for the best thai and service to boot

sticky fingers has excellent ribs and a nice terrace. good service

st john's does a reasonably good job at what they're attempting, but still have some work to do service wise

haven't been but stone fort inn has nathan's and it should be good. veteran from southside grill making southern fine dining. nice rooms too.

porkers on broad has good ribs for lunch in a less corporate atmosphere than sticky fingers

212 does pretty good fine dining but the atmosphere is too 80's. eat on terrace instead. she does do very good sugar work for the record.

grey friars has the best baristas in town (broad street)

northshore grille has a nice setup with good consistant upscale bar food. they raise the garage doors to make it open air during seasonal periods (frazier ave.)

terra nostra has the talent but i'm not impressed with the consistancy. marketed as a tapas bar, it's far from spanish. nice place for a drink if you can afford it. located on frazier

las margaritas is the standby for ameri-mex food in lively atmosphere. located in north chatt.

southside grill- bof...not bad i suppose.

i had a good date with my wife at carrabas at hamilton place last w/e. i was suprised and impressed, except for the bread.

blackberry farm is a bit of a drive...

[Liz Johnson]

artisanbaker,

Thanks so much for the suggestions — I'll keep them in mind for my trip next year. The only time we got to Chattanooga proper this time was for the Sunday farmers market. It's quite good. Have you been?

Also, two years ago, I went for lunch in the Bluff City Art District (is that the name?) at a New American-style restaurant. Do you know the name of it?

It was quite good for lunch: salads, grilled fish, good sandwiches, etc.

Thanks,

Liz

[artisanbaker]

that would be the Back Inn Cafe, next to Tony's. wonderful view as well. Tony's is more popular; BIC is more "fancy."

They have very nice rooms and Julie the head innkeeper is very helpful.

the whole place is called the Bluff View Art District, and is run by the prominent Portera family. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places in the south, thanks to their restoration efforts. They've come a long way in the last 10 years.

if you remember the sculpture garden, there was an old building next to it that was transformed into an artisan bakery in january of this year.

sunday farmers market at the first tennessee pavillion is great for a sunday afternoon. they have music and guest chefs; i've done a number of demos.

ps. check out bellagio on market near st. johns. they need to prove themselves over the long haul but i hear good things about this fine dining place. only eaten lunch once.

Edited July 30, 2004 by artisanbaker (log)

[Liz Johnson]

Bump! Planning another trip. Any thing new and noteworthy?

[Big Mike]

Easy Bistro is one my top five eateries in the entire country. Always seasonal and tons of locally sourced high quality ingredients. And an incredible value! Everything is very well priced just because it's in Chattanooga. Put this place in New York and everything would cost 35% more. Classic steak tartar, duck confit, oysters, stupid good slow cooked brisket, and perfectly executed risotto. I really want people to eat there because I don't want it to close, it's one of the few experiences I look forward to when I travel to the Noog on business.

[Crouton]

My hometown... *sigh*... I never thought I'd miss the place until I moved away. There's no local Frank Stitt equivalent, but it's a quaint little town. Country Side Cafe may be worth a trip out to Ooltewah, at least 10 years ago. Having worked the steam table for several years during college I can attest to the quality of the food... picture old ladies peeling potatoes by hand, making fried okra in a big cast-iron skillet continuously through service, a big fresh pot of beans simmering on the stove, handmade pies made fresh every morning... I think it was the first place to really change the way I looked at food. I don't know if Ponder still owns it, it could have changed hands and went downhill... but if the food is anything like it used to be, it's definitely a recommendation. Home-cooked Southern food... nothing fancy.

[Big Mike]

Dig it, I'll give it a try if it's still open. I go there every other month or so. They actually have a nice little restaurant scene going on with St John's getting a James Beard nomination two years in a row.

[Katie Meadow]

Bumping up this thread for the obvious reasons. I will be in Chattanooga for two nights at the end of this month. Anyone have anything interesting to add since 2010? Apparently everything named  the Chattanooga Chew (Chew) involves tobacco, no?  I always loved the Chat N Chew in San Francisco. Cute name is by no means a requirement.

[kayb]

There's a burger/lunch place downtown in an old service station/auto repair place called The U Joint that makes a fine burger. Been ages since I had dinner in Chattanooga. When are you there? I'll be passing through about that time.

[BeeZee]

I was in Chatanooga last year. For casual, Taco Mamacita is fun (went for lunch). We had a good dinner downtown at St.John's/Meeting Place (went to the more casual side-Meeting Place, not St.John's). They serve sorghum butter with the bread, yum.

[Katie Meadow]

On 9/7/2018 at 12:14 PM, BeeZee said:

I was in Chatanooga last year. For casual, Taco Mamacita is fun (went for lunch). We had a good dinner downtown at St.John's/Meeting Place (went to the more casual side-Meeting Place, not St.John's). They serve sorghum butter with the bread, yum.

Thank you for the tip. We did indeed go to St Johns MP and were very happy with our dinner. They had an app that was smoked corn on the cob with a harissa crema Mexican street style that was really yummy. And I agree about the sorghum butter; in fact I asked for bit to take away for our breakfast the next day at our airbnb. Excellent on toast! I can't imagine it would be hard to approximate. You could probably do a shortcut by simply buttering toast and then swirling on a little sorghum syrup if you were too lazy to whip anything.

 

We didn't really eat anywhere else, since our time in town was cut short by torrential rains. So much for Chattanooga. The main event of the trip was my daughter's wedding in north GA in the foothills, which was spectacular and with perfect weather.