Downtown Chattanooga Archives - Page 19 of 21

Brewhaus-February 18, 2012

February 19, 2012

Back in November, when Philip and I went to Good Dog, we noticed a new restaurant on the north shore called Brewhaus. I am sure you won’t be surprised that it didn’t take long for us to figure out that it was a German restaurant-a German gastropub, the website calls it. We were immediately intrigued. When we were trying to decide where to eat with a couple of friends this weekend, Brewhaus came up and we decided to try it out.

We arrived at Brewhaus at 6:30ish. I wasn’t too sure how the seating worked when we walked in; there were no signs asking customers to wait to be seated. When a server walked by, I asked him how it worked and he told me that it was first-come, first-served. We grabbed the one empty table that we saw, out on the back porch, which was covered since it was only in the 50s and beginning to drizzle. When our friends came, one of them asked if the outdoor heater behind our table could be turned on, since the temperature was dropping. I’m not sure why, but it took us asking twice and another person asking as well before it was turned on. I am assuming it was just because they were pretty busy. Anyway, the heater made it nice and toasty….

Covered Porch on a Cool, Drizzly Evening

Our server was also the bartender, and she was very helpful with suggestions. The menu consisted of appetizers, a handful of salads, sandwiches (mostly burgers), a hot-dog style brat, entrees, “side cars” (aka side dishes), a couple of desserts, and drinks (they have a variety of bottled beers-both German and otherwise-as well as an ever-changing selection of draft beers). After considering the fried pickles, Philip and I ordered a honey-bacon deviled egg appetizer. It was a fairly standard deviled egg topped with large pieces of bacon, with honey on the side for dipping. That’s right-honey. It seemed quite strange, as I am sure that it probably does to you….but oddly enough it really worked! Very tasty. I never would have thought of serving honey with deviled eggs!

Deviled Eggs with Bacon & Honey Dipping Sauce

I had pretty much decided before I ever set foot in the restaurant what I was going to order: The Rooster Schnitzel Weiner Art (and you better believe I pronounced it “veener”, not “weiner”. I’m all about authenticity!). This is a pork loin cutlet, pounded thin, breaded, and fried (classic schnitzel) and topped with a fried egg. On the server’s recommendation, I ordered German potato salad and veggie medley. I really liked the schnitzel….the oozy fried egg yolk really made the whole thing. The egg was highly peppered, and if I order this again I will probably ask them to go a little light on the pepper. It just made it a little spicier than I would have liked. The crispy coating on the schnitzel was perfectly fried and the meat was not greasy. The veggies were good…carrots, broccoli, and snow peas, cooked till crisp-tender and lightly seasoned. However, I was not very happy with the German potato salad. German potato salad is served warm, which I like, and has a vinegary dressing, which I also like (I’ll post my potato salad recipe sometime), and it has bacon in it, which I like in theory….but my potato salad was pretty much just bacon. A big pile of limp bacon. I’m not sure what happened….maybe I got the last of the batch and ended up with the majority of the bacon? There were very few potatoes on my plate. I didn’t care too much for the dressing, either. It was just a little weird to me. Philip liked his, though, so don’t make your decision based on my opinion. Your experience might be better than mine. I should have ordered the spaetzle (more on that in a minute).

Rooster Schnitzel Weiner Art with Overly-Baconated German Potato Salad and Veggie Medley

Philip decided on the Jäger Schnitzel Weiner Art-and no, it does not contain Jägermeister. It’s a classic schnitzel, as I described above, served with mushroom gravy on top. Philip decided to get German potato salad and spaetzle as his “side cars”. As I said above, he really liked his potato salad….but then, his was not just a gigantic pile of bacon. He did not care so much for the spaetzle, which is an egg noodle dish with a tiny bit of creamy sauce. I, on the other hand, really liked it and ate several bites of his. He loved the schnitzel and ate the whole thing.

Jager Schnitzel Weiner Art with German Potato Salad and Spaetzle

Our friends both ordered Hamburg Cheeseburgers….one of them topped with pimento cheese. She said that she was a little concerned about ordering the burger since she didn’t know anything about it and had very recently eaten a Terminal burger, which is hard to follow. She liked the burger, but said that it was not as good as a Terminal burger. No surprise there (no offense, Brewhaus! The Terminal burger is one of the best around.). She did say that their pimento cheese was really good and that The Terminal should get the Brewhaus pimento cheese recipe to put on their burgers. You know what that tells me? I need to order something with pimento cheese next time (you know I have a things for pimento cheese)! They also ordered homefries and thought they were really good.

Hamburg Cheeseburger with Pimento Cheese & Home Fries

At the end of the meal, I was a little bit sad that I was so full, because I wanted some of the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (aka black forest cake, aka chocolate cherry cake) from The Hot Chocolatier. No, no German chocolate cake-did you know that German chocolate cake is not actually German? It was named after Baker’s German’s Chocolate. See the useless knowledge you gain when you watch food television all the time? Black forest cake, on the other hand, is authentically German. Next time, I will be saving room for this!

Well, next time I visit Brewhaus, I will be skipping the potato salad…and probably the appetizer, just so I can replace it with dessert. There will be a next time, though. The atmosphere is really cool in this “gastropub”, and I liked most of the food. I encourage you to try it out, and don’t be afraid of the word schnitzel….or spaetzle…or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. This is a great local restaurant.

Brewhaus is located at 224 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can reach them at 423-531-8490 or info@brewhausbar.com. Check out their website: http://brewhausbar.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Market Street Tavern-February 11, 2012 CLOSED

February 12, 2012

Market Street Tavern closed at the beginning of December 2012.

You know what my favorite type of meal in a restaurant is? The kind I don’t have to pay for. Okay, technically we paid $3.01 in tax + the tip….but that’s all. Philip’s sister gave us a gift certificate to Market Street Tavern for Christmas. I’m not sure why we just now got around to using it, but the coldest day so far this year seemed like a perfect time to park a mile away and walk in the wind tunnels between the buildings in downtown Chattanooga. I mean, doesn’t it make sense to you? Anyway….

We got there at 12:15; they open at noon on Saturdays and we were the first customers. I think that happened to us the last time we went there a couple of years ago. I guess a “tavern” is probably more crowded in the evenings. Obviously, we were seated immediately. The first thing that I noticed (as with the last time that we went there) was the one problem I have with Market Street Tavern-the decor. The space used to be an Italian restaurant (Cibo, I think) and they just kept the decor. The walls don’t bother me, and part of the restaurant has nice-looking hardwood floors, but the carpet, tables, and chairs could use an update. Still, I don’t go to restaurants for the decor, so it’s definitely not going to affect my decision to go back or not.

We ordered our waters and some fried pickles. I puffy-heart love fried pickles so I was very happy to see them on the appetizer menu. Link 41 sausage was also available but we had already ordered the fried pickles when we realized that. They took about 10 minutes and they were hooooootttttt. The fried pickles here are pickle spears, not chips….I think I’ve decided I like spears better, although they hold the heat in more so they are definitely more risky to eat. I definitely burned my mouth! Oh well-my fault! They were battered, not breaded, which I loved, and served with ranch dressing for dipping. There were 6 spears….and we ate them all. Mmmmm.

I couldn’t decide between the Tavern pizza (herbed flatbread with artichokes and sundried tomatoes) or the Sequatchie Cove burger, so I asked our server, Kate, which she would recommend. She recommended the burger, so I ordered it, medium, with sauteed mushrooms and Swiss cheese. For my side, I chose chips; they are housemade. If they had been packaged chips, I would have opted for fries. In case you don’t know, Sequatchie Cove is a local farm that sells grass-fed beef; yea for local! The burger is served on a Niedlov’s bun. I definitely was not disappointed by this burger. It was so juicy that the bottom of the bun was drenched, but the bread was sturdy enough that it still held together. As you see in the photo, the burgers are served with lettuce, tomato, and onion. I left the onion on for the pic, but removed it immediately after, of course. The burger was perfectly cooked, and since it was local, grassfed beef from a source that I know and trust, I was fine with eating it pink. Delicious! The handcut chips were great too, and if I hadn’t eaten 3 fried pickle spears, I would have cleaned my plate.

Philip decided to order shrimp and grits. Ever since the first time we ate at Food Works, he has been on a mission to find a restaurant that serves shrimp and grits as good as theirs. Up to this point, he has been unsuccessful….but he actually liked Market Street Tavern’s shrimp and grits better. I was beside myself. The shrimp and grits here consisted of three fried grit cakes (he felt they could have served two and it would have been plenty of food), country ham, sauteed shrimp, brown butter sauce, and scallions. The country ham and the brown butter sauce give a deep, smoky, rich flavor, and the grit cake (as opposed to just a big bowl of grits) lends structure and texture. Amazing. We considered dessert, but we were way too stuffed for one of their gigantic cupcakes made by Belle’s Cupcakes, and since I was planning to bake a cake to blog, it seemed like overkill to get one to go. Next time!

I didn’t know this, but I guess Market Street Tavern and Tremont Tavern are owned by the same person or people. I guess that makes sense…..especially since the burger was so good. I haven’t tried Tremont yet, but I actually have a Living Social deal for there, so it will be coming soon. I have heard that their burgers are among the best in town….but that’s another post.

This was definitely a great dining experience for us. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend Market Street Tavern. They are located at 850 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-634-0260. Their website is http://marketstreettavern.com; you can follow them on Twitter or “like” them on Facebook. I am including photos of their menu; not great photos but they’ll give you an idea of the offerings.

9/16/12: Over the summer, Market Street Tavern moved across the street to 809 Market Street. Of course, the restaurant has a more updated look, and the menu has gotten an update as well. I hope to write an updated post about them soon!

Urban Spoon-January 28, 2012 CLOSED

January 30, 2012

3/31/13 During a trip to the North Shore this weekend we saw that Urban Spoon has closed.

Saturday Philip and I decided to venture down to the North Shore to try out The Urban Spoon. The Urban Spoon is a little hole in the wall in the former location of Chattanooga Sandwich Company. I had heard great things about their Sunday breakfast buffet, so I checked out their online menu and it seemed to fit the bill of the type of food we were in the mood for that day.

I was worried that it may be crowded and we would have to wait for a long time, especially since we were pretty much starving. No worries…we were seated immediately. I took quick note of the specials on the blackboard when we walked in-a smoked salmon salad, cottage pie and mixed green salad, and “chicken pot pie” soup before I checked out the menu, which included a soup/salad section, an entree section (including sandwiches), and a dessert section.

Philip decided to try a cup of the Suck Creek stew. The menu description reads, “Smoked sausage, chicken, black-eyed peas, onions, and smoked ham hock. Can you say….suck-u-l-e-n-t!” It was indeed tasty-nice and smoky. I only took one bite, so I didn’t taste the spiciness, but Philip told me that it was spicy, presumably from the smoked sausage. When the soup came out, a couple of cornbread muffins accompanied it. I’m not going to lie to you here-the cornbread was good, but it wasn’t “my kind” of cornbread. It was sweet, and I prefer my cornbread “unsweet”. It was also a little drier than what I make. I ate my muffin, but, my friends, it just wasn’t as good as my own. I’m a little biased!

For his entree, Philip chose the Georgia Pecan-Crusted Chicken, described in the menu like this, “This dish became famous when we were the wedding caterers from hell! Fresh sautéed chicken breast smothered in seasoned pecans and baked to delightful tenderness. Served with wild rice pilaf, sweet gingered carrots, and drizzled with Honey Mustard.” Amazing is all I can say. The pecans were deliciously toasted and completely coating the chicken, making it as crispy as if it had been fried, and the honey mustard lent a perfect and not overpowering sweetness to the chicken. The rice was perfectly seasoned and made me a little jealous. I haven’t perfected a great non-fried rice recipe. I must figure out their secret. The gingered carrots were indeed sweet and gingery, but not too much so. Ginger can be a very strong spice if overdone, and this was not. This dish was pretty much perfect.

I decided on the cottage pie special with vidalia onion dressing for my salad. In case you don’t know what cottage pie is, it’s shepherd’s pie made with ground beef (and if you don’t know what shepherd’s pie is, it’s a thick stew made with ground lamb and vegetables and baked under a mashed potato “crust”). Some people and restaurants make their stew tomato-ey and others make it more gravyish. I personally make mine gravyish, and I was glad that The Urban Spoon did so as well. I did think that the stew was just a tiny bit saltier than I would have made it, but it was still delicious, with green beans, corn, peas, and onions mixed in. The mashed potatoes tasted great on the pie as well as by themselves. The salad was made with mixed greens, a tomato wedge, a red onion slice (which I removed, of course, after taking the photo), a big slice of pickled beet (which I ate even though I think beets smell like dirt-look at me trying new things!), and a pimento-stuffed green olive. I chose the vidalia dressing over ranch and raspberry vinaigrette since it was “different”. I’d only had vidalia dressing once, at another local restaurant which is well-known for theirs, and didn’t like it. That was not the case here. The dressing was great. The meal overall was great!

By the way, aside from one slightly eye-jarring wall, the decor inside of The Urban Spoon is nice, spare but not lacking, with paintings of local scenes (I assume by local artists) hanging on the wall (and available for purchase!). As you walk by, you can see into the kitchen, which is always nice. I was very pleased with this experience, and I will definitely be back, hopefully on a Sunday morning next time!

The Urban Spoon is located on Chattanooga’s North Shore at 207 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can reach them at 423-710-3252. Check out their website, http://www.urbanspoonchattanooga.com, and their Facebook page.

Taco Mamacita, Vegetarian-Style-December 23, 2011

December 28, 2011

Over the last couple of months, Philip and I have cut way down on our meat consumption in an attempt to be a little more healthy and save a few bucks as well. It’s funny, it started as a “let’s see how this goes a couple of days a week” sort of thing, which morphed into a “let’s try it every other day” sort of thing, then eventually my inner over-achiever took over and lately we haven’t been eating much meat during the week at all. Now, we are far from observing a vegan diet during the week, as we still eat lots of milk, cheese, eggs, and butter….but we really don’t miss the meat, which has been quite surprising to both of us.

We visited Taco Mamacita on “Christmas Eve Eve” with some friends who were visiting from out of town-in town for 16 hours before heading out of state to see family for Christmas. Philip had already mentioned ordering some of the vegetarian items off the menu, and I was perusing the menu trying to decide if I was going to go for strictly vegetarian options or if I was going to have something with shrimp or fish (interestingly, eating too much meat seems to take its toll on my digestion now, so since I knew I’d be eating pork and prime rib for Christmas Eve and Christmas, respectively, I had already decided to forego pork, beef, or even chicken on this jaunt). One of our friends, however, is a vegan, and when she asked our server about vegan options, the server produced a vegan menu. I had no idea any such thing existed!

There is a handful of vegan appetizers on the menu, one being chips and the choice of one of their three salsas and another being the salsa sampler, which is, of course, chips and all three salsas (mango-chunky; roasted tomato-red, slightly spicy; tomatillo-green, a little tart). As you can see, we ordered the salsa sampler. We also ordered the chips and queso, but I’ve already shown you a picture of that, so no reason to take another one! Anyway, the chips are hot, fresh, and yummy, and I liked all of the salsas, but I have to say that the tomatillo is my favorite. I just really love tomatillo salsa (AKA salsa verde, or “green salsa”).

Salsa Sampler: clockwise from left-roasted tomato salsa, mango salsa, tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)

I decided to go for an avocado taco, because I have been completely obsessed with all things avocado of late, and a “Freakin’ Vegan.” The avocado taco included, naturally, slices of avocado, lettuce, pico de gallo, and escabeche. The Freakin’ Vegan had rice with spinach, petite red beans, lettuce, pico, guacamole, and escabeche. I tried to find a good description of escabeche online, but everything I found kept saying that escabeche was a method of preparing fish using a pickling liquid (similar to ceviche, I presume). This led me to assume that the escabeche on my taco was the large shreds of onion on top that were kind of limp, as if they had been soaking in some sort of liquid-perhaps the pickling liquid???? Anyway, I guess I should have asked. But I didn’t. I did, however, remove said large strips of onion from my tacos. You know I’m not a fan! I also asked for my tacos to be served on corn tortillas instead of the standard flour tortillas. I was glad that I did! Not that there’s anything wrong with their flour tortillas-they’re quite good-I just prefer corn. Much prefer. Anyway…..I was surprised to find that I actually preferred the Freakin’ Vegan to the avocado taco. The avocado taco was good, it just seemed a little messier and more difficult to eat than the Freakin’ Vegan, and the beans gave the Freakin’ Vegan a little more substance. Both tasted great, though! I also got the vegan option of the black bean and corn salad, which was absolutely delicious, with a white balsamic vinaigrette. I ate every bite of it and considered drinking the liquid out of the bowl. I definitely recommend this as a side. I liked it best of any of the sides I have tried here.

Freakin' Vegan on the left, Avocado on the right, black bean and corn salad in the middle!

An upclose and personal view of the Freakin' Vegan

And the inside of the avocado taco

Philip didn’t go quite as far as I did; he had a vegetarian meal but not a vegan meal. He chose the black bean taco, which I had on the trip I wrote my first Taco Mama blog about, which has a black bean cake, monterey jack cheese, crema, lettuce, pico de gallo, and escabeche (there it is again!) and a vegetarian jerk taco, which included sauteed plantains, shredded cabbage, refried black beans, mango salsa, peach aioli, and spicy Caribbean jerk sauce. For his side, he decided on chipotle turnip greens. I was honestly surprised that Philip ordered the plantain taco, because plantains are similar in texture to bananas, which Philip hates (for the texture!), but he really liked the plantain taco. He was also extremely happy with the black bean taco, and he loved the chipotle turnip greens, which I actually tasted. They were very smoky and seasoned just right. I am not a huge fan of turnip greens-in fact, I despise the smell of them-but these were good! By the way, I didn’t take a picture of the inside of his black bean taco; you can go to my original post if you’d like to see one.

This is what the inside of the vegetarian jerk looks like!

I was definitely pleasantly surprised by how fantastic the vegan and vegetarian items at this great restaurant were. That’s one of the truly great things about some of the up and coming local restaurants: they are really working to keep all of their clientele and potential clientele happy and provide options that meet everyone’s dietary preferences and needs. Support local business! Eat at Taco Mama!

Taco Mamacita is located at 109 North Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37405 (the old Durty Nelly’s location). They can be reached at 423-648-6262. Check out their website or Facebook page.

Tony’s Pasta-December 3, 2011

December 11, 2011

I’m not sure why I’m just now getting around to Tony’s Pasta. I’m coming up on a year of blogging in just a few months, and Tony’s is hands-down one of my favorite restaurants in Chattanooga. It has been since the first time I ever ate there…..over twelve years ago, when Philip and I were first dating.

Tony’s Pasta is hidden in the Bluff View Art District in downtown Chattanooga, near the Walnut Street Bridge and Hunter Art Museum. It’s a cozy little (maybe not so little anymore!) restaurant with outdoor seating areas out front as well as on the balcony upstairs that are lovely for warm days. This day was not so bad, but we were not brave enough to sit outside in the 50ish degree weather-although other people were. The inside of the restaurant is what could be described as “rustic”, with dark wood walls, floors, and tables. We were seated upstairs, which is a fairly small room. It seems that this is where we usually sit, and that’s fine with me.

We were quickly greeted by our server, Heath, who took our drink order and returned shortly with our waters (of course!). We perused the menu for a few minutes. I knew that I was going to get the spinach and garlic ravioli off of the “create-your-own” menu, definitely my all-time favorite dish at Tony’s, but it took me a few minutes to make a decision about my sauce. Would I choose sun-dried tomato and artichoke cream? Tomato and spinach cream? Basil pesto cream? I finally decided on sun-dried tomato and artichoke cream, plus a Caesar salad. After very seriously considering the Italian sausage burger, Philip decided on the baked penne with Italian sausage, tomato-basil sauce, and mozzarella, with a Caesar salad as well.

After taking our order, Heath quickly returned with a loaf of bread-roasted-garlic ciabatta-and olive oil with grated parmesan for dipping. This bread is heavenly, and, to be perfectly honest with you, I could eat just this bread as my meal. Roasting garlic kills the strong garlic flavor and makes it sweet and soft. It’s perfectly delicious. There is a bread bakery on the premises at Bluff View, so you know that the bread is always fresh, which makes me very happy. The salads came out soon after. Now, I know I talked about BiBa’s yummy Caesar salad a while back, and while it’s great…..nothing compares to Tony’s Caesar salad. I love that you can tell that it’s made from whole hearts of romaine, which is how I make my Caesar salads, with very fresh croutons and shaved parmesan-which, I’m sure, is true Parmigiano-Reggiano. You can taste the individual ingredients (including, yes, the anchovy, which just lends a salty, savory taste, not at all fishy. Don’t be afraid of the anchovy!). It’s pretty much the perfect Caesar salad, and, yes, I ate every bite of it.

Roasted Garlic Ciabatta with Olive Oil

The Perfect Caesar!

Shortly after we finished our salads, our entrees came out. I absolutely love this housemade ravioli. When you visit at night, sometimes they are out of ravioli. While that’s always a bummer, that tells you two very good things: (1) the ravioli tastes fantastic; and (2) it’s made here, so it’s not superstocked in the freezer. It’s fresh. It’s just a little garlicky, just a little cheesy, and so delicious. The ravioli is a reasonable portion, with a reasonable amount of sauce. That’s one of my favorite things about Tony’s: while the portions are certainly not miserly, they are also not the gargantuan portions that you generally get at chain restaurants. The sauce was tomato-ey, creamy, and a little bit sweet from the sun-dried tomato (one of my favorite things on earth) with grated parmesan cheese and quartered artichoke hearts. I super-adore artichoke hearts, so I tried to cut my artichokes into smaller pieces so that I could get some in every bite. I ate most of the ravioli, leaving a few pieces because I was full and wanted to avoid becoming overstuffed.

Spinach and Garlic Ravioli with Sundried Tomato and Artichoke Cream

Philip’s baked penne came in a little gratin dish topped with bubbly, browned mozzarella. The sauce is fresh and homemade, just a little bit chunky….but not too much. I wish I had thought to ask if the Italian sausage was made in-house, but I didn’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is, though, or at least somewhere in the art district. Philip said that it tasted great, and even after he was full he had to finish all of the sausage. He said that it wasn’t spicy (although he wouldn’t have minded if it was) and it was just delicious. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of Italian sausage, so I didn’t try it. I do love their baked pastas, though. Again, the portion was not tiny but not so huge as to be overwhelming. He ate most, but not all of it. Heath offered dessert, but by that point, all we could do was laugh. Desserts come from Rembrandt’s Coffee House across the street (which is where Philip proposed to me!) and of course are delicious…but that’s another blog post.

Baked Penne with Italian Sausage, Tomato Sauce, and Mozzarella Cheese

Now, I’m not going to lie. The tab was not cheap. The salads were the thing that kind of “put it over the top”. We don’t eat out much, though, so I generally don’t feel too bad about ordering what I want in a restaurant. When the food is this fresh and delicious, and the money is going back into the local economy all around, why would you feel bad? Tony’s is definitely THE place to go in Chattanooga for perfect pasta. I highly recommend it! If you are not in the mood for pasta, they also have pizzas, sandwiches, and salads. I’ve never ordered anything I didn’t like! Go for lunch, go early, or be prepared to wait, though. It’s a popular place, and the wait at peak times can be a killer!

Tony’s Pasta is located at 212 High Street, Chattanooga, TN 37403. You can call them at 423-265-5033×6. They are open Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Visit the Bluff View website: www.bluffviewartdistrict.com or find it on Facebook.

« Previous Page