Hixson Archives - Page 5 of 7

Mountain City Café-September 8, 2012

September 9, 2012

One of my earliest posts on here was about a restaurant named Wisteria Café, located in Middle Valley. It was a “Southern cooking” restaurant with some modern twists (my first meal here was a fried green tomato BLT with pimento cheese) and while the food was great there were also some clear issues. The restaurant didn’t last long, and early this year Philip and I noticed that the sign in front had changed from “Wisteria Café” to “Mountain City Café”. Not too long after it was featured in the Dining Out section of the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, touting a new owner and a new chef. We saw it again in the Dining Out section this past weekend and decided to give it a try today.

Today, the sign when we walked in said “Seat Yourself”-I am going to assume that when it is crowded (which I have heard it is at times) that you have to wait to be seated. We chose a seat near between the entrance and the kitchen and waited for the server, who quickly brought us a menu and our waters (although we did find out when we left that technically they were still serving breakfast when we arrived and we did not get a breakfast menu). The special of the day was breaded, fried pork chops (with bread and two sides) along with chili and a chicken gumbo on the soup and salad bar, which can be purchased on its own or added to any entrée.

The lunch/dinner menu is fairly small, with a few appetizers (mostly deep-fried items like pickles and chicken tenders), a few sandwiches (a burger, a tuna salad sandwich, a grilled cheese, and a few others), and some entrées. There are several “country-style” side items, like mac and cheese, fried okra, and pinto beans. I decided on the fried chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli salad. Our server gave us a bread choice of rolls, cornbread, or both. We decided on both. The rolls were yeast-style but I am pretty sure they are not made in-house…the square shape is too perfect. The cornbread came in muffin shapes. It was slightly sweet but not bad (here’s the thing, though….we’re spoiled by the cornbread I make in a cast-iron skillet replete with butter, bacon grease, and cornmeal and flour that I grind myself). I was disappointed by the “whipped spread” that was served alongside the bread instead of butter.

The chicken was a gigantic boneless chicken breast that seemed to be freshly battered and deep fried to a golden brown color. It was nicely seasoned, tender, and crunchy. I really did like the chicken a lot. The broccoli salad had cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds, pecans, raisins, and a slightly sweet mayo-based dressing. I absolutely adore broccoli salad and found the flavor of this salad to be quite good. The broccoli was cooked, which I thought to be a little odd (I use raw broccoli in my broccoli salad) but it was very tasty. The mashed potatoes were undersalted (I honestly didn’t think they tasted like they had any salt in them at all) but the texture and flavor were okay (although I make mine a little creamier). Once I added salt they were fine. I thought the brown gravy tasted like the kind that comes out of an envelope.

Philip decided on the meatloaf with fried okra and fried apples. The meatloaf had a thin layer of ketchup-based sauce on top and didn’t have a lot of big chunks (onions, peppers, etc.) in it, which is definitely a plus in our book (I don’t put “chunks” in my meatloaf). I thought the meatloaf tasted like it could have had just a touch more salt in it, but the flavor was good. This is one of the few places that we have found in Chattanooga that actually fries their okra from scratch rather than out of a freezer bag, so that was impressive. Their okra is batter-dipped and deep-fried rather than the more traditional Southern cornmeal-coated, shallow-fried okra, but it was tasty and crispy. The apples were pretty good, but Philip did suspect that they may have come from a can (the sauce was very thick and “cinnamon-y”).

We picked up a breakfast menu on the way out. They have pretty standard breakfast items-biscuit sandwiches, gravy and biscuits, meats and eggs, and pancakes. They also serve a cheese omelet and a “redneck eggs benedict” which features country ham, cheddar cheese, and cheesy hollandaise sauce. The cashier told us that breakfast is served on Saturdays until noon, although the menu says it is served all day. There were also several cakes featured on the dessert menu, which, if I am not mistaken, are made by the owner’s mother. The featured cakes were key lime, Coca-Cola, orange-pineapple, and coconut (and maybe one more we can’t remember). We considered ordering some Coca-Cola cake but were feeling a little too full for it. Next time.

This is pretty decent “Southern” cooking (though I wouldn’t consider it 100% homestyle). I am interested to try some of their other menu items (like the burgers, the chicken & dumplings, and the desserts). We’ll definitely give it another try. Next time I’d really like to make it in time for breakfast….I feel you can really judge a restaurant’s quality by how well they do basic breakfast items like eggs, biscuits, and gravy. I say….give it a try and decide for yourself!

Mountain City Café is located at 6849 Prestige Lane (just off of Boy Scout Road near the light at Middle Valley Road), Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-847-1163. They do not have a website or Facebook page at this time.

Ichiban Hixson Pike-August 19, 2012

August 26, 2012

Seriously, people. This is getting ridiculous. I am getting so desperate for material that I sat on this post for almost an entire week. I can’t wait until I get back into the “groove” of my job so that I can get back into a regular posting schedule!

Anyway, Ichiban was my birthday dinner with my family. My mom gave me that option of getting a birthday cake or going out to eat, and since I knew that there would be cake at my in-laws’ when we ate with them the same day, I opted for dinner out. We were actually supposed to go to another restaurant, but my sister called called me and told me there was an hour-and-a-half wait so we were going to Ichiban instead. Fine with me. I like Ichiban better than said other restaurant anyway. Plus it gave me blog post material….

If you’ve never been to Ichiban, it’s the whole hibachi experience with the chef that puts on a big show, tossing knives and setting things on fire. I am under no illusions that this is in any way “authentic” Japanese food, but you can’t argue that it’s fun to watch and the food tastes good. We hadn’t been in quite some time because you also get seated around a large hibachi so you often end up sitting with people you don’t know, which Philip hates, so we only go if we are with a group (which isn’t often). My family took up our entire side of the table, though, so we didn’t need to worry about that. In fact, no one else was even seated in the same room as us. Hmmmm.

When you order, you are brought a cup of chicken broth with a couple of scallions floating in it. It’s pretty bland (and not just here…universally so, at least in my experience) but for some reason I slurp it down anyway. Next, an iceberg salad with a bright orange ginger dressing. I like the dressing okay, but the whole combination is a bit watery and I despise iceberg in every form except a wedge salad. I have a great recipe for ginger dressing (which I should share sometime) that I like a lot better than this one and that has the added bonus of the fact that you can use it to top whatever greens you wish.

I decided to get the shrimp and steak combo with fried rice. Philip decided on the filet mignon, also with fried rice. As is usual for us, we asked for our steaks medium-rare. The meal is served with steamed rice, but I always add fried rice for $1.00. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone order it with just the steamed rice! I wonder how much money they make from fried rice??? Anyway, the meal also comes with mixed vegetables-onions, zucchini, and broccoli- that are cooked on the hibachi as well as very finely shredded cabbage that they only give you if you want it (I did). You get the rice first, then the vegetables, and the meat is last. Everything is doused with soy sauce and ginger sauce and cooked with oil and butter (at least I tell myself that the gigantic yellow block they use is butter, not margarine. Please don’t tell me any different. I eat there about once every 4 years and I don’t want to know.). It’s amazing how much the chef can have going on and still get every detail correct, cook the food just right, and crack jokes. Our chef asked my (picky-eater) nephew why he wasn’t eating and if he was on a diet….then he asked my mom how she liked her steak and if he could have a bite. Funny guy. He told us he had been doing the job for eight years.

Ichiban is not an inexpensive place. Meals range from about $13 (I think) to around $25 for the steak and lobster. As with many places that I’ve written about, I consider it a special occasion or once-in-a-while restaurant. Anyway, who wants to go watch that show on, say, a weekly basis (maybe my 5-year-old nephew, who had a gigantic smile on his face the entire time, although he wouldn’t let me take his picture)? Still, we got two nights worth of meals out of it. Speaking of paying…you get fortune cookies when you pay. I learned this week that fortune cookies, though mostly served at Chinese restaurants, are actually a Japanese creation.

Ichiban is located at 5035 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-875-0473. Visit their website at http://www.yourichiban.com.

Dixie BBQ-August 14, 2012

August 15, 2012

It’s a rare restaurant post in the middle of the week! This was actually supposed to be a post about spaghetti squash with sage and brown butter, but you guys will have to wait a few days for that one. Tuesday was the first day of school, and here’s how it goes down-every year: I tell myself that I’m going to cook…then I get home and I can’t even think about cooking. Today was no exception, unless you consider the fact that I told Philip on Monday night, “I have something planned to cook tomorrow night, but I’m under no illusion that I’m actually going to cook.” So….we went out to eat. No big surprise.

On Sunday there was a Groupon for Dixie BBQ-$6 for $12 worth of food. I had $5 in Groupon bucks, so I got the deal for $1 (by the way, I’m not really sure how one earns “Groupon bucks”. They just sent me an email a while back that I had some….)! My family has been eating at Dixie BBQ for years, but somehow I have never been here, even though it’s only about 10 minutes from my house. I guess I just kind of forget about it. I recently added it to my “list” on my iPhone, which I maintain to help us remember the places that we still need to go when we are out places. Tonight seemed like a perfect time to go….not very far, and we could pick it up and bring it home to eat.

By the time we walked away from the ordering window we reeked of smoked food (not a bad thing, at least in our opinion!). They have your normal BBQ restaurant fare….sandwiches, plates (meat, bread, & two sides), stuffed potatoes, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and I think there might have been chicken tenders but I can’t remember. The meats were pork, beef, and smoked chicken, and the sides that I can remember were slaw, baked beans, fried okra, potato salad, tater logs, and tater tots. I think there were a few more, but I don’t remember what they were!

I knew before I got there what I was going to order….the “killer potato”. Everyone in my family swears by this potato. I decided to order it with pork. I was not disappointed. It was gigantic and covered with cheese, butter, sour cream, pulled pork, and barbecue sauce. The pork was delicious, tender and SO smoky. I really liked the barbecue sauce….it was sweet (but not too much so) and not overly spicy. This was a great potato. The only thing I would change would be to add some chives or chopped green onions…but it really was a great BBQ potato.

Philip decided on the pork plate with fried okra and coleslaw. It also came with Texas toast (which Philip hates, no matter where it comes from, and threw in the trash). He thought the slaw was “meh”…he really loves Rib & Loin’s slaw (so do I, and I generally hate slaw) and just didn’t feel like it was quite up to par in comparison. He did like the okra, though. I tasted it too and thought that it tasted really good. We couldn’t decide if it was frozen, though….and suspect that it might be. Like me, he loved the pulled pork as well as the sauce.

The only real issue that I had on this trip was the fact that they do not take credit cards-cash or check only. I looked at the cash lying on my dresser before we left the house and thought, “Nah, I won’t need it….” I’m just so used to everyone taking cards these days, so I was a little taken aback when the girl told Philip that they don’t take cards. By this time she had already redeemed my Groupon so it was too late to back out of the order…so we ended up going to the Kangaroo station next door to visit the ATM. No big deal, though. We should have known better than to assume that they took cards-a lot of small, local businesses don’t because of the additional cost. Besides, we needed cash for the farmers market, and we needed gas, so we killed three birds with one stone (and didn’t get charged an ATM fee!). The total on our order was $13.11, which means that the total out of our pocket was $2.11.

So, if you are looking for some great smoked meat in the Hixson/Soddy-Daisy/Middle Valley area, check out Dixie BBQ. They are located at 1530 Boy Scout Road, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-842-4025. I did not think to check their hours of operation and I couldn’t find the hours online. I believe that they are closed on Sunday. They do not have a website or a Facebook page.

Lupi’s Pizza Pies (Hixson)-August 1, 2012

August 5, 2012

So yesterday’s post mentioned “those nights” that you just can’t quite bring yourself to cook. Wednesday night was one of those nights for me. I think it was the whole “last night of summer break” thing. Philip was going to be late getting home and all I wanted to do was make my lunch, take a hot bath, paint my toenails, and hang out on the couch with my laptop.

So, I pulled up the Lupi’s menu on my computer. For some reason, even though it’s been in Hixson since 1999 (and since 1996 downtown), I always forget about Lupi’s. I have no idea why. Philip and I were talking about it over the weekend and I added it to the list on my iPhone (actually, it’s a set of lists, divided up by regions of town). Wednesday night seemed to provide the perfect excuse.

It didn’t take me long to settle on an order. They’ve recently added housemade mozzarella to their menu, and they feature a margherita pizza with this mozzarella, local tomatoes, basil, and coarse salt. They also have a “take and bake” option, so I ordered that in a 16-inch with a whole wheat crust and headed on out to pick it up, thinking that would give me more flexibility as far as time went (so I wouldn’t have to go out at 8 p.m. to pick up a pizza).

Sadly, when I got there, I was handed an already baked pizza. I chose to not say anything…I wasn’t in the mood to hang out, and it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Mistakes happen, and the pizza did look and smell amazing. I decided just to take it and reheat it for a few minutes on my pizza stone (which I preheat at 400 degrees before placing pizza on it. Ten minutes and cold pizza is perfect and crisp again. This trick also works for fried chicken and French fries. I am not joking.).

I kind of underestimated how large this pizza was going to be. I think I could have gone with the 12″ and we would have had plenty of pizza for Wednesday night and plenty to have leftovers for dinner Thursday. Oh well. It was so good I didn’t really care. I was not expecting the pizza to have tomato sauce on it (since it had sliced tomatoes) but it did. Lupi’s pizza sauce is pretty sweet, but I liked it and appreciated that they didn’t put a ton of it on the pizza. The fresh mozzarella was amazing, and I liked the basil sprinkled evenly over the pizza. Believe it or not, the salt really added a lot to the pizza….it’s amazing what a little salt can do to bring fresh tomatoes to life. My only issue is that to me margherita pizza should have a very thin crust….this is the traditional way that it is served. This crust was fairly thick. I really, really liked it-it tasted great and did not have a cardboard texture like so many wheat crusts do-but just would have preferred a thinner crust here.

Here’s my favorite thing about Lupi’s: it’s about as local as you can get. Their flour comes from Sonrisa Farm, the local farm from which I buy my wheat berries at the farmers market. The tomatoes are local. I don’t know where they get their milk, but they made the mozzarella with their own hands. They buy local products whenever possible-including produce, ground beef, honey, etc.). And I love this: the money that would be contributed to advertising campaigns instead gets contributed to local schools, charities, and organizations. And you know what? I am pretty sure that they are doing okay without advertisement.

Lupi’s offers pizzas in slices as well as 12″ and 16″ whole pizzas. They offer an interesting variety of toppings…the usual assortment of meats and a wide range of vegetables, including more unusual options like roasted corn, zucchini, and avocado (I must try this). They also offer calzones and a small but fresh assortment of appetizers like bruschetta, garden salad, and homemade mozzarella drizzled with balsamic vinegar. You can also purchase a ball of mozzarella or a ball of pizza dough. They also feature catering and the option to buy a whole lasagna, bulk salad dressings, and a large salad (but they do request a day or two worth of notice for these items).

Know this: if you eat at Lupi’s, you’re going to pay for it. My pizza was about $18….but it was gigantic, and it made two meals for two people….two hungry people. People with smaller appetites (I admit, I eat like a horse…I’m sure you aren’t surprised) probably could have stretched it even farther. My rationale is that I would spend this much if we ordered Domino’s (because inevitably I’d buy that wretched cheesy bread….it’s so addictive with its burnt, crust ends) and if we order from Lupi’s we are supporting so many local businesses and getting much fresher, much more delicious product than if we went to the big D. It’s worth it to me.

Lupi’s Hixson is located at 5504 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-847-3700. Their website is lupi.com; they also have a Facebook page. They are opened Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

The Rice Boxx-June 9, 2012

June 12, 2012

As I mentioned in my Serendipity Cafe, we attempted to go to the Rice Boxx last month. Unfortunately for us, we went on a Monday night, and they are closed on Mondays. So, this past weekend we decided to go there for lunch on Saturday. In case you didn’t know, The Rice Boxx is located in the Bi-Lo complex in the Lupton Drive/Rivermont area. There were not very many people in the restaurant, so we were seated immediately. Our server quickly took our drink order and left us to peruse the menu.

The menu is pretty large with a section for Chinese/Thai and a section for Japanese (including a section only for sushi). I’m going to be honest, I am always a little bit suspicious of places that serve several different types of Asian cuisine under one roof….but I was a sport. One thing that I noticed that I found interesting was that, while they had a kids’ menu, the items on the menu were not typical kids’ menu items…they were child-sized portions of some of the items off of the regular menu.

We ordered a Thai spring roll (vegetarian) and a pork egg roll to start our meal. Turns out that Philip’s meal came with a spring roll, so we did not have to pay extra for that. As we were eating the rolls, we simultaneously noticed that there was no pink meat in the egg roll. I cannot stomach pink meat in egg rolls. That just screams processed to me, and I assume that the pink hue comes from the “pink” curing salt (nitrites) that are used. Anyway, this egg roll just had plain old ground pork. The rolls were both very crispy but not mouth-searingly hot (hot enough to be well-cooked but not hot enough to remove the skin from the roof of your mouth). My favorite was the spring roll, with its rice noodles and cabbage and flaky rice paper wrapper…but that’s just me.

I decided to order off of the “Japanese” section of the menu so I ordered teriyaki chicken and shrimp (menu options are available as hibachi-with soy sauce-or teriyaki-obviously with teriyaki sauce) with fried rice and white sauce (ginger sauce is also available, but I’ve never been a fan….and I have openly declared my love for white sauce here before). The server got mixed up and brought me chicken and steak, but the error was quickly corrected. I probably won’t bother with the shrimp again….it was a little bit chewy. The chicken was nicely done with no fatty or chewy pieces, and there were a lot of vegetables on the plate, which was nice. The rice was cooked nicely, but it was bland…forcing me to douse it with copious amounts of soy sauce. I can’t deal with underseasoned foods! I did like the white sauce….actually, I liked it more than Ichiban’s or Kyoto’s, but not as much as Typhoon’s or the sauce I make myself.

Philip decided to order General Tso’s chicken off of the Chinese/Thai menu. He got this with fried rice, and it also came with broccoli and soup. He decided on egg drop soup, which came with a bowl of fried wonton strips (which I happily helped him eat-I love those things!). His comment about the soup was, “Tastes like egg drop soup.” Thanks for the description. Wow. We cracked up at his plate when they brought our meals out….it was a gigantic pile of chicken, a mound of rice….and three broccoli florets. I was concerned that he would gorge himself on broccoli. But anyway….Philip too thought that the rice was bland, although he does not love soy sauce like I do and just ate it that way. He said that the broccoli was underseasoned (unseasoned?) as well, and only ate one piece (I needn’t have been worried). He did really like the chicken, which I tasted. General Tso’s chicken (which is an Americanized Chinese dish that you would not find in China-but then, aren’t most of them?) is usually similar to sesame chicken but with a slightly spicier sauce. I could taste the chilies in the sauce, but it was not overpoweringly spicy. Philip’s favorite thing about it was that while it was sweet, it did not have the usually tooth-aching quality you find in most Chinese restaurants.

If you decide to visit the Rice Boxx, you should definitely visit the restroom. The hallway leading to the restroom has a flashing light that changes colors…red, yellow, purple, orange, blue, green….very kitschy. It made me feel like I was trapped in an eighties horror flick. Too funny.

So, the verdict is that The Rice Boxx is not my favorite, but it definitely wasn’t bad. The prices were decent, as was the amount of food that we got. On this day, seasoning was a bit of an issue….and I wouldn’t bother with the shrimp if I were you. We didn’t try the sushi, but if you were so inclined you could sit at the small sushi bar and watch him make your sushi, which always make me feel better about restaurants that serve sushi, and I read several positive comments about the sushi on Urbanspoon. If you are in the area and you are craving some sort of Asian food, it’s worth a stop in.

The Rice Boxx is located at 3600 Hixson Pike, Chattanooga, TN 37415. You can call them at 423-305-0855. You can also visit their website at http://www.riceboxchattanooga.com.

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