Downtown Chattanooga Archives - Page 12 of 21

Milk and Honey

April 28, 2013

Milk and Honey is a popular spot on Chattanooga’s North Shore serving breakfast, lunch, gelato, sorbet, housemade paletas (popsicles), & a variety of drinks.

Drawing on their backgrounds in the restaurant business, Mike and Taylor Monen started Taco Mamacita (read my reviews here and here) in 2008 and haven’t looked back. It seems that they have built a restaurant empire in Chattanooga, adding Urban Stack Burger Lounge in 2010 (read my review here), Community Pie early this year (read my review here), and Milk & Honey just last month (they also have Taco Mamacita locations in Nashville and Sullivan’s Island, SC). Milk and Honey is the answer to the lack of desserts at the Monen’s restaurants. According to Lauren Evans, Operating Partner, Taylor (who masterminded all the recipes at Milk and Honey) had always dreamed of opening a sweets shop and the need to add desserts to their menus provided the perfect opportunity to start a shop that would operate as its own entity but also provide desserts for their other restaurants: paletas (fresh fruit popsicles) for Taco Mamacita, gelato as the base for Urban Stack’s milkshakes, and gelato for Community Pie.

When I arrived at Milk and Honey at 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon to chat with Lauren, the space was teeming with afterschoolers seeking a treat….I saw a lot of popsicles and cookies (thumbprints and cereal bar cookies) being consumed. The line was out the door but was quickly moved along by cute and friendly girls wearing shirts that said “Let’s Spoon” on the back. The black and white color scheme of the shop permeates every facet, down to the straws (pictured below).

There are a few booths inside the shop plus stools at the counter, but I have a feeling the real draw for diners here is the open seating area by the entrance. A long counter runs along the front wall with seating on either side, so you can sit outside or inside and enjoy the weather on a nice day. A sandwich board proclaims not only the gelato and sorbet flavors for the day but also the “nooner” and other lunch items. The nooner is the lunch special, which is served from 11 a.m. until it runs out and changes weekly. When I visited, the nooner was a NY-style corned beef Reuben.

A chalkboard style menu showcases all of the amazing and unique creations, from coffee drinks, tea, and homemade ginger ale to housemade gelato (which is Italian ice cream, made with milk and denser than American-style ice cream) and sorbet (in rotating flavors that are never the same as what are being offered at Community Pie), the colorful paletas (also in rotating flavors), and breakfast served daily from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. (and sometimes later) Monday-Friday and until 3 p.m. as Saturday and Sunday brunch (they even provide carhop service!). The muffin of the day, the Milk & Honey birthday cake, cookies, granola, handmade caramels, and caramel popcorn in beautiful displays round out the countertop accoutrements. Milk & Honey obtains as many ingredients as possible from local sources like Pure Sodaworks, Benton’s, and Sequatchie Cove, which you know is a Chattavore plus!

I spent a few minutes talking to Lauren about the shop. The opening of the shop has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm from the community. I asked Lauren if there was a time that they weren’t crowded, and she said that indeed, 4-8 p.m. on weeknights provides some relief from the crowds (I imagine that once school is out that window will shrink a little bit). The weekends, however, are busy from 9 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. (and they close at 10!). It has been a bit of a learning experience for these restaurant business veterans, who are used to the traditional busy times (lunch and dinner times). Because people tend to gravitate toward Milk & Honey for dessert, the shop gets busy at later times than a traditional restaurant would.

When I asked Lauren what her favorite items on the menu are, she told me that her favorite drink is the horchata latte: a double-shot of espresso with horchata (a sweetened rice milk flavored with cinnamon). Her favorite dessert item is the stracciatella gelato, which is made with the signature milk & honey flavored gelato layered with housemade magic shell that eventually gets crunched up to make a unique chocolate chip gelato. Her favorite breakfast item? The mega biscuit, which features red pepper spread, eggs, sausage, white cheddar, onion, shallots, and spinach. Her favorite lunch item is the turkey & brie pita with raspberry preserves. The biggest sellers overall have been the gelatos and the coffee drinks.

While I was intrigued by Lauren’s favorite horchata latte and have heard that the coconut milk latte is to die for, the lavender & honey latte grabbed my attention, since I am obsessed with all things lavender flavored (as evidenced here, here, and here). For $4.53 I got a small latte ($3.75) and a thumbprint cookie ($0.40). While the coffee tasted great, I was a little sad that I didn’t really taste the lavender, which is infused into the honey….however, I have been inspired to try to make a super-lavender flavored coffee creamer (with half and half, of course) at home (maybe I’ll share that with you all later!) and next time I’m definitely trying the coconut latte. Or the horchata latte. We shall see. The cookie was delicious, with a crumby (not soft) texture and a lovely almond flavor. My friend who met me after I talked with Lauren decided on the burnt sugar gelato and a thumbprint cookie. I didn’t taste her gelato but she said that it was indeed pretty tasty. I can’t wait to return to try breakfast…and lunch…and every flavor of gelato, sorbet, and paleta under the sun (except maybe the ones that have habanero in them…)!

Even if you don’t have the chance to make it by Milk and Honey for a while, you can find them all over the community. As I said before, you can find their wares at Taco Mamacita, Urban Stack, and Community Pie….but you can also find the “Ollie Pop” at Elemental, a new restaurant located by Whole Foods Market. The Ollie Pop is a brown-cow style popsicle featuring vanilla gelato (though they have used other flavors, like banana) dipped in chocolate. You will also be able to find their products in a case at Enzo’s Market on Main Street, which will be opening on May 10. They’ll be selling paletas, gelato, and coffee at the Chattanooga Market on Sundays.

Milk and Honey is located at 135 North Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (next to Taco Mamacita). You can call them at 423-521-3123. You can also check out their website, http://milkandhoneychattanooga.com, or you can find them on Facebook.

North Chatt Cat-April 20, 2013

April 21, 2013

North Chatt Cat was a dive restaurant/bar (now closed) that was formerly located on Chattanooga’s North Shore near Coolidge Park.

Do you guys have any idea how difficult it is to find a butter dish? When I wrote my biscuit post a few weeks ago I took a picture with my very utilitarian Snapware butter container in it and made the observation that I really needed to get something cuter. I’m thirty-four years old, y’all. I don’t do a lot of entertaining but a 34-year-old woman really should have a presentable butter dish. Anyway, we set out to Mia Cucina yesterday looking for a nice butter dish and came up with nothing. Seriously. In fact, the only one I saw yesterday at all was a crystal one from Belk. A crystal butter dish. A very large crystal butter dish. It looked more like a butter cloche. No thanks. Anyway, I think I’m going to order a Fiesta Ware butter dish. Did you know that Fiesta Ware is made in the USA? I’ve never been a huge fan, probably because I’m not really into the bright colors, but I think I’m going to start building a collection of black & white Fiesta Ware. It shouldn’t be too big of a surprise since we’re all about local food, but we are big on “made in the USA”….better quality and supporting the US economy and job market. I found this website yesterday: http://stillmadeinusa.com/. Fascinating.

Anyway, since we paid for parking downtown we decided that we should just go ahead and eat down there, and since Mia Cucina is right across the street from North Chatt Cat, which is about the only place on the North Shore that we haven’t visited from my “list” it seemed logical to go there. Plus, they have outdoor seating and the weather was glorious. We grabbed the last table on their patio after walking through their indoor seating area which smells like burgers (surprise, surprise, I know!).

There was one server working and she brought us a menu after we sat down. The menu is very simple: sandwiches, extras (like cheese & bacon), sides, non-alcoholic drinks (tea & fountain drinks), and beer. That’s it. There are two prices for each item: a price for those paying with cash and a price for those paying with credit. Cheap beer (PBR, High Life) abounds but they do have a few more, um, “upper crust” varieties like Yuengling and Sam Adams. As far as imports, I saw a guy drinking Red Stripe (which is Jamaican but produced in the U.S. so I guess technically is not an import) before we left, and I think I saw Corona on the menu but I’m not sure. They don’t have a website and the menu from Urbanspoon does not have the beer menu from the back page so I’m not positive.

There are quite a few sandwiches on the menu, including a veggie burger, a black bean burger, a Reuben, and a grilled cheese. There are also chicken fingers on the menu. There are several sandwiches with animal names, like the hound dog, which I am assuming is a hot dog (there’s no description) and the Tweety Bird, which is grilled chicken. Philip decided on the bison burger because if a restaurant has a bison burger he must order it. I decided on the Puddy Cat, a 1/3-lb burger, after considering the 1/2-lb Ally Cat but deciding I did not need to eat a 1/2-lb burger. I also contemplated a BLT but ultimately decided to try the burger. I asked for onion rings ($1.00 up-charge) but unfortunately the fryer was on the fritz. Our server told us we could have chips (chips,fries, or tots are included in the price of the sandwich) or she could take off the side and charge us $1.00 less. We opted for the chips. We each ordered cheese on our burger as well ($0.25 up-charge). (pictured below is the Puddy Cat)

Our burgers came out pretty quickly (within about 10 minutes). Nothing fancy about the presentation: a red burger basket with a piece of parchment. The buns were just a standard, out-of-the bag bun, with iceberg lettuce, a tomato slice, pickle chips, American cheese, mayo, & mustard. Philip also had onions. The chips were just plain old Lay’s…not much to say there. My burger was a fairly thin patty, cooked through and well-seasoned with that classic greasy spoon burger taste (not a bad thing). Not too much mayo or mustard, also a good thing….often places just drench the sandwiches in condiments but these had just the right amount. Philip’s bison burger was much more rare than mine, probably about medium, because bison meat dries out very easily so you cannot overcook it or it isn’t worth eating. (pictured below is the bison burger)

I wouldn’t call these burgers the best in Chattanooga but they were just good old greasy spoon burgers. This place is definitely a dive, but it’s been around for a long time (ten + years, I believe….I’m pretty sure they opened when I worked on the North Shore in college). The food is tasty but not unique. There were some older guys sitting next to us who were obviously regulars, and there were other diners young and old. It’s definitely a mainstay and worth checking out. If you can find a seat on the deck/patio, the views are awesome. We even saw a couple standing at the edge of the deck, looking toward the river, to drink their beers (there were no seats available on the deck, though there were several inside). By the way, our total was about $17.

North Chatt Cat closed in 2015 but has been replaced by another restaurant.

North Chatt Cat was located at 346 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405 (at the corner of Tremont & Frazier). You can call them at 423-266-9466. They do not have a website, but you can “like” them on Facebook.

Blacksmith’s Bistro-April 6, 2013 (CLOSED)

April 7, 2013

Blacksmith’s Bistro was a popular dining spot, now closed, that was located first in St. Elmo and later in Downtown Chattanooga.

I’ve been meaning to get to Blacksmith’s for quite some time now. I’ve mentioned my Adventures in Dining coupon book (chock-full of buy one entrée, get one free coupons) before…well, there isn’t a Blacksmith’s coupon in the edition that I currently have, but I first heard of Blacksmith’s from an Adventures in Dining book. Unfortunately, I never got around to using the coupon, probably because of the slightly out-of-the-way location of Blacksmith’s (near The Incline in St. Elmo). Nice spot, but we just rarely make it to that side of town.

Well….they are out of the way no more, having moved to the former location of Market Street Tavern, which closed late last year. Apparently I was not the only person who kind of saw Blacksmith’s as “out of sight, out of mind” because Philip started talking to one of the employees about their relocation and it turns out that part of the reason that they moved was to increase their lunchtime visibility. Being right-smack in the middle of downtown definitely makes you more attractive to the business set, and their sales have increased 25% since they moved just a few weeks ago.

Anyway….we were driving aimlessly, consulting the list, and I mentioned Blacksmith’s….so off we went. There were only a couple of other tables occupied (it was about 2 p.m., so after lunch time and way before dinner) so we chose a table and checked out the decor, which is similar to what was here after MST moved in and remodeled, with specials written on the large chalkboard on the walls and dark tables and walls, but with Blacksmith’s own touches hanging on the walls. They have quite a few house drink specialties, a decent variety of beers on tap, a nice wine selection, and several non-alcoholic special drinks, including Pure Sodaworks bottles (yea!) and their own specialty Italian sodas. Michael, our server, quickly took our drink orders while we perused the menu.

The first section of the menu is “small plates”, or, basically, appetizers. I really wanted to try the fried green tomatoes, served with pimento cheese, black bean sauce, and booyah sauce (more on that in a few minutes) for $6, but Philip’s been on an antibiotic that’s seriously affecting his appetite so we passed. My eye was also drawn to the hummus, of course, and the vegetable spring rolls. They have quite a few unique-sounding salads on the menu, including the beet (with romaine, marinated beets, goat cheese, walnuts, and dijon vinaigrette), the arugula (with black bean-corn salsa, roasted tomatoes, and avocado), and the ubiquitous pear salad (with mixed greens, toasted pecans, gorgonzola, and dijon vinaigrette), which had us both salivating. Ultimately we decided against getting an appetizer or salad, though. Next time…next time.

They had several tasty sounding “big plates”, including steak frites (fancy-speak for steak & fries) and a couple of varieties of mac & cheese, but we were definitely in a sandwich mood. I perused the sandwich menu and was tempted-very tempted-by the Chatty cheesesteak (voodoo steak, pimento cheese, caramelized onion, sourdough)….but the Gooey burger (pimento cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, russian dressing) was calling my name as well so I enlisted Michael’s assistance to choose. He recommended the burger, so that’s what I went for (nine times out of ten I will go for the server’s recommendation). I did not regret that decision. The burger patty was huge and really caramelized on the outside. The meat was absolutely delicious…I was very impressed. The flavor really stood out to me, I think because of the wonderful caramelization. The vegetables were fresh and the Russian dressing was just a teeny bit spicy, which was a nice complement to the salty, creamy pimento cheese, which had nice big (but not off-putting) chunks of pimento. The fries were shoestring fries, not made in-house, sadly, but Michael did tell me that the items that are outsourced are purchased from researched, reputable companies. I dipped mine in some booyah sauce because the name of that sauce was just too intriguing for me to pass it up. It was kind of like a wing sauce, thin, orange in color, not terribly spicy but smoky with the flavor of chipotle. The sauces-pimento cheese, Russian dressing, booyah sauce, etc.-are made in-house.

Philip decided on the Local Vore (Eagle’s Rest bison, Sequatchie Cove Coppinger cheese, balsamic honey marinated red onion, arugula, ciabatta, herb aioli) without much thought because, well….those are a few of his favorite things. It was served on an individual ciabatta roll, which was gigantic still, with very fresh bison meat that is brought to the restaurant a few days a week by the man that raises the bison, perfectly cooked. Of course, Coppinger cheese is a very local raw milk cheese with a very unique flavor, and the caramelized onions and arugula were an excellent addition to the strong flavors of this burger. Philip liked the shoestring fries, too, and we joked that we needed some cheese sauce with them (because they were very similar to the shoestring fries served at Steak & Shake, which are just not right without cheese sauce).

We were too full for dessert (both of us cleaned our plates!) but I asked Michael for a dessert menu just so I could check it out. It was pretty standard-a chocolate lava cake, an ice cream sundae, and a few other things, including an ice cream float served in stout beer. Our total was about $24. We really enjoyed our Blacksmith’s experience and will definitely go back…perhaps to try their Sunday brunch? I’m dying to try the Croque Madame from their brunch menu, and I’m sure that Philip would be more than happy to check out their shrimp & grits.

Blacksmith’s is located at 809 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at (423) 702-5461. Check out their website: http://www.blacksmithsgastropub.com and “like” them on Facebook. They are open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Also, a reader recently asked me to share whether establishments are wheelchair-accessible. Due to their location right off of a major downtown street with curb cuts, Blacksmith’s is wheelchair-accessible, and a large space running between the tables on either side of the restaurant allows room to get around (not sure about the restroom).

Marco’s Italian Bistro (Chattanooga North Shore) (CLOSED)

March 31, 2013

Marco’s Italian Bistro was an Italian restaurant, now closed, that was located on Chattanooga’s North Shore (Frazier Avenue).

Well, kiddies, spring break is almost over. This teacher is feeling a little sad. While winter break is two weeks long and sates me for a little while, fall and spring breaks are just a blasted week and always leave me longing for more, especially when the weather is colder at the end of March than it was in December and I spend the whole week trying to hide out in my house wearing knee socks and fuzzy slippers to avoid freezing to death.

Finally on Thursday the weather started warming up a bit, enough to be outside without a coat at least. Philip and I went downtown to St. Mark’s United Methodist (in the north Chatt area) to check out their Faith Marks exhibit (about the spiritual meaning behind people’s tattoos) with out friend Rachel. Very, very interesting (you may not know that I am married to a, um, tattoo enthusiast, or that I have a couple myself). After checking it out, we headed to the North Shore for dinner. Not too many places left in that area that haven’t been blogged about, so it came down to North Chatt Cat or Marco’s. Obviously, Marco’s won.

We got there around 6:45 or 7 and were seated immediately. Our server, Frank, quickly took our drink orders and let us know the specials: housemade butternut squash ravioli with either cajun cream sauce or citrus pesto, and some variety of filet (I think it was filet, anyway….definitely a steak of some sort). We set to perusing the menu, which consisted of appetizers, salads, chef’s specials, create your own pasta, pizzas, and desserts.

Frank brought us some bread, an herbed focaccia with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, herbs, and red pepper for dipping. It was pretty tasty and I especially liked the crunchy outside texture of the triangles. I decided to order a half spinach salad (spinachio on the menu), which is definitely out of character for me since it contained goat cheese, which is just not my thing. However, it also contained pancetta, dried cherries, and roasted walnuts, which are all my thing, and was served with a tangy red wine honey vinaigrette. Full disclosure, I don’t really care for goat cheese because it tastes “musty” to me, but combined with all of the other delicious flavors in the salad, I didn’t find the goat cheese at all off-putting and it may have inspired me to try goat cheese (in small amounts) in combination with other strong flavors to see if I can increase my appreciation of it! Philip decided on a half Caesar (Appassito insalata Caesar) on the menu, which was a grilled romaine heart served with creamy Caesar dressing and a gigantic parmesan cracker (a frico). The menu said there were croutons with the salad but there were not any on his, though with the crunchy parmesan croutons were not necessary. The creamy dressing was really good and the frico was delicious. Philip liked it but I do tend to prefer a more traditional chopped romaine Caesar. Rachel decided on a cup of the bisque di pomodoro, tomato basil bisque drizzled with olive oil. It was slightly creamy, thick, with visible pieces of basil. I didn’t taste it, but Rachel enjoyed it.

As soon as Frank announced that butternut squash ravioli was a special I knew what I was going to order. I decided to top it with the cajun cream. It also came with sautéed spinach in the middle. The spinach was garlicky and perfectly cooked. The portion of ravioli was perfect, just enough for dinner so I wasn’t stuffed after. The raviolis had a decent amount of filling, not overstuffed but not skimpy either, and the filling was sweet and squashy. I liked the cajun cream but wish it had been just a little more spicy. Yes, I’m a bit of a wimp, but when dishes are supposed to be spicy I do like to taste at least a little bit of spice. I would have liked a tangible amount of grated parmesan (instead of the powdery white stuff you can see here) on top. Still, I liked this dish and would order it again.

I didn’t take Philip long to settle on the chicken piccata, which is chicken breasts pounded thin, lightly breaded and sautéed, and topped with a light lemon-caper sauce. Marco’s serves theirs on a gigantic bed of arugula. Frank asked Philip if he wanted to sub a side for the arugula…apparently a lot of people don’t notice that part of the menu and are taken aback when the chicken arrives atop all that arugula. Philip, however, loves arugula and definitely wanted it. There was definitely a lot of arugula and a good-sized portion of chicken. The sauce was lightly drizzled over the whole dish. It was light and lemony, not overpowering, and the arugula was very fresh and not wilty at all except in the spots where the warm chicken had touched. Philip really liked this dish and would definitely order it again.

Rachel decided on the baked ziti, ziti mixed with tomato-meat sauce and baked in a crock with mozzarella on top. Wow, this was a large portion. Rachel didn’t make it through too much of it and took home probably enough for at least two meals. There was a ton of cheese on top….I don’t know how “traditional” that is (or how traditional baked ziti is, for that matter) but I definitely never argue with a blanket of mozzarella. The pasta was not swimming in tomato sauce but was nicely coated and there was a good amount of meat, though it was sausage, not beef, which is what I expect in a meat sauce around these parts. I tasted the pasta; the sauce had a strong tomato flavor and the cheese was nice and melty, though I avoided the meat because I’m just not a fan of Italian sausage.

Philip saw crème brûlée on the menu and knew he had to have it before we had even ordered our meal. He sees crème brûlée on a menu and develops a one-track mind. The crème brûlée was good, flecked with vanilla bean with the whole cold/warm dynamic going on, but it wasn’t turning cartwheels great. It was crème brûlée, and you really have to do something amazing with crème brûlée to really blow me away since it’s one of those things I can make at home (restaurant meals tend to become less impressive when you start cooking everything at home).

I liked the food at Marco’s but it was a little pricier than I expected; I had a bit of sticker shock over the end bill, about $45 before tip for my & Philip’s meal (2 half salads, a pasta special, the chicken piccata, and the crème brûlée). …but we don’t usually order dessert so I guess that’s what kind of threw us over the top. Frank was friendly and attentive as were the hostesses and the atmosphere was pretty nice. If you are on the North Shore and looking for some Italian food, give Marco’s a try!

Marco’s is located at 417 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-710-2568. Check out their website, http://marcoschattanooga.com and “like” them on Facebook. They are open Monday-Saturday from 4-10 p.m. and are also open for brunch 11-3 on “special occasion” Sundays like Easter (that’s today, so if you are interested give them a call!) or Mother’s Day.

Conga Latin Food-March 9, 2013

March 10, 2013

I have no idea how long Conga (formerly known as Taco Rico) has been serving Salvadorian food down on Main Street (who else is singing Bob Seger now?) but I first realized it existed when it popped up on the Living Social (or maybe it was Groupon?) radar early last year. I scored a buy one get one free coupon in my Adventures in Dining coupon book. I drive by it every Wednesday when I drive to the farmers market, but Philip is never with me so it’s never an opportunity for dinner, and every time I think of it we aren’t in the mood, or else we just don’t want to drive down there. As if downtown Chattanooga is on the other side of the state….but when you live 30+ minutes from where you work, sometimes you just really don’t want to get near work on the weekends. A lot of times, actually.

Anyway, I was taking some family photos for a friend at the Choo-Choo then on Main. They decided to stop at the Terminal per our glowing recommendations and we headed back to the car to get our Conga coupon. We had heard glowing recommendations for Conga from three different people in the past week so we figured it was time. No one else was in the restaurant when we walked in and were seated immediately. I’ll say one thing….the server was very eager to take our order. She asked three times before we were ready! Anyway, we decided to order some fried plantains then felt a little puzzled when a basket of crispy fried plaintains (with a chip-like consistency) arrived at the table then minutes a later a plate of thicker-sliced, warm but not crisp plantains arrived with refried black beans and some creamy substance (crema perhaps????). Apparently the plantain chips are brought out just like chips & salsa at a Mexican joint. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor and texture of both (plantains are very similar to bananas in texture though only slightly similar in taste) and thought the beans and what.ever.that.creamy.stuff.was. were delicious. Philip liked the “chips” but, while he liked the flavor of the other plantains felt the texture was just too much like a banana (he hates the texture of bananas). There were also “sweet” fried plantains, fried yucca root, and more “standard” Latin appetizers like cheese dip and guacamole.

The menu is small but includes a few standards (tacos, a burrito, chicken tamales) as well as chicken or beef tortas (which I filed away to order for later, empanadas (basically a Latin stuffed turnover), and pupusas, thick masa cakes stuffed with cheese and other fillings (spinach, beans, pork & bean [which the menu calls “original”], pork, chicken, cilantro & onion, or carrot). I decided on the combo #1: one pupusa (I ordered spinach) with rice & beans. The pupusa was delicious, filled with delicious stringy cheese and spinach and seasoned perfectly. There was a slaw dressed with a vinegary dressing that I didn’t care for too much because it had a very strong oregano flavor. I like oregano in small doses but this was a bit much for me. The rice and beans were excellent; long grain white rice, seasoned with salt and not much else but cooked to a perfect bite, and beans with onion and cilantro, well-seasoned but not overpowering. Different from your average Mexican restaurant plate of refried beans & red rice. Mmmmm.

Philip went for a taco combo (2 tacos plus rice and beans) with an extra taco. He ordered a fish taco, a chorizo taco, and a pastor (pork) taco. The tacos come on your choice of corn or flour tortillas and he chose flour (you know I would have chosen corn, but they weren’t my tacos!). He bit into the fish taco, chewed for a moment, then said, “Oh MY,” and handed it to me. I took a bite and he said, “It takes a second to hit you.” Sure enough, the longer I chewed the more pronounced the flavor became. The fish was grilled and coated with some sort of heavenly seasoning. Amazing. The pastor taco was filled with chunks of deliciously seasoned pork, and the chorizo was mild, not greasy in the least, and wonderfully spiced. Philip ordered his tacos with cilantro and onion, which added a perfect accent to all three meats. Philip also loved the rice and beans.

A sign in the window proclaimed sweet crepes (filled with Nutella or other confections) for dessert, but we decided to walk down a couple of blocks to Velo to buy some lolly-pies from Sugar Pie (more on that later). There are also sangrias on the menu (which I always think look so delicious but I am sure I would hate them because I do not like wine) and bottled Latin versions of standard soft drinks (which means they are sweetened with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup). Of course, we had water, and that is my one complaint of the day: after bringing our food, our server was too preoccupied with whatever she was doing to come back and fill our drinks (and I was dying of thirst, so I drained my water). She was friendly, though, and I’m just going to assume was busy and off her game (other customers came in after we did and she was the only server, plus they were getting ready to end their lunch service). I thought the food was delicious and I will definitely go back. By the way, before our coupon was applied our total was about $20.

Conga Latin Food is located at 207 East Main Street, Chattanooga, TN 37408. You can call them at 423-201-4806. They do not have a Facebook page or website at this time.

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