Restaurants Archives - Page 16 of 49

Formosa Chinese Restaurant

October 5, 2015

Formosa Chinese restaurant is a dining-out institution in Hixson, Tennessee. They serve delicious Chinese food with great, friendly service.

How have I not written about Formosa Chinese restaurant? That’s a rhetorical question, I suppose, but Formosa is one of Hixson’s longest-standing restaurant and (since Mandarin Garden closed) the place that we generally go to get Chinese food close to home. However, every time that we’ve gone I, for one reason or another, haven’t been in a blog post mood (it was never because I didn’t like the food, but, for example, I remember that we went there one time the night before I had surgery).

It was raining cats and dogs Saturday and I was definitely not feeling going out of the Hixson area, particularly not to any spot where we would have to do a lot of walking (i.e. downtown). We considered the tiny handful of Hixson places that we still have yet to visit and Philip pointed out that we really should go to Formosa, considering how long it’s been around. It’s really a Hixson institution. Please excuse the awful photos in this post….it’s very dark in the restaurant.

We were seated immediately and given lunch menus, since it was only around 1 p.m. The lunch menu is considerably smaller than the dinner menu, with a few specials (mostly chow meins and egg foo young plus few other standards like sweet and sour chicken) listed on one side that included either an egg roll or soup and then another list of entrees on the other side. My favorite thing about Formosa (I’m just being honest here) is that they bring you a bowl of fried wonton strips (which I call Chinese potato chips). Those things are just addictive. They also bring sweet and sour sauce to dip them into, but I really am indifferent to that.

We ordered our meals off the specials menu. We both wanted soup and and egg roll so we ordered egg rolls separately. I like that their egg rolls don’t have any weird pink meat (the meat is pink because of curing salt, but that doesn’t make it any less bizarre in my opinion). They are filled with ground pork, baby shrimp, and cabbage. They were brought out immediately, which might make you worry that they wouldn’t be fresh, but they were fresh, crispy, and hot. The server brought us some hot mustard too, but aside from a tiny fingertip dab that I tasted it was too hot for me. I ordered egg drop soup, which was hot, well seasoned, and had lots of egg and green onion in it. Philip had wonton soup. He said that the wontons seemed housemade and that the soup was also tasty and well-seasoned.

I decided to get the chicken with mushrooms, which is described in their dinner menu as “sliced chicken breast sautéed with mushrooms, water chestnuts, and snow peas in a light sauce”. There were also carrots and pieces of cabbage in the sauté, and it was served with fried rice. Their fried rice is more basic than most, basically just seasoned and fried and not mixed with carrots, peas, and eggs, but still quite good. The portion of sauté was fairly large, large enough for me to bring home probably more than half of it to have for lunch the next day. Everything was well cooked, the vegetables just crisp tender (besides the mushrooms, which were very tender) and the chicken very thinly sliced and very tender considering that it’s chicken breast, which tends to be dry. The sauce was indeed light and not overly salted. The thing I like about Formosa is that I don’t feel bloated and icky like I do after eating at some Chinese restaurants (I think it’s MSG that makes me feel that way, though I know a lot of people dispute the whole MSG negative effects theory).

Philip had the beef chow mein, which is very thin slices of beef sautéed with Napa cabbage, onion, zucchini, and carrots and is also served with fried rice. The meat was incredibly tender and the sauce light and nicely seasoned. The vegetables were nicely cooked, crisp-tender just like mine were, and Philip also had enough to bring home for lunch. My friends, it is never sad to have leftovers to throw in the microwave when you arrive home starving after church.

Like I said, the dinner menu is much larger than the lunch menu, with soups, appetizers (including chicken fingers and fries, which always makes me laugh), family dinners (for families of 2, 4, 5, or 6), vegetable dishes, Chef’s Specialties (including sesame chicken and General Tsao’s-their spelling-which is different from what is served at most Chinese restaurants, as it is thinly sliced instead of just spicier sesame chicken). They have sections of seafood, chicken, beef, pork, duck, plus chow meins, lo meins, chop suey, fried rice, and egg foo young.

The decor in Formosa Chinese restaurant, I’m not going to lie, is a little dated. Honestly, I don’t think it’s changed one iota since I was a kid in the eighties and would go in with my parents to get take-out (not that I ever ate it, I wouldn’t have touched that stuff with a twenty-foot pole as a child). I don’t really care too much about decor, though. I mean, if a place has great decor, I’ll notice, but I’m more concerned about the food and service. Our service was quick and friendly (if very business-like) and the food is consistent and always good. I know it’s “American Chinese”, but where do you find anything but around here? Formosa Chinese restaurant is a great place…it’s not going anywhere any time soon.

Formosa Chinese restaurant is located at 5425 Highway 153, Hixson, Tennessee, 37343. They are open daily from 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. You can call them at 423-875-6953. You can view their menu on their website, formosa-restaurant.com. You can also like Formosa on Facebook.

Double Barrel BBQ (Signal Mountain)

September 28, 2015

If you’re looking for delicious barbecue on or near Signal Mountain, Double Barrel BBQ serves tasty barbecue (and great beer!) in a great atmosphere!

I recently discovered something called bullet journals and now I am obsessed (mine isn’t nearly as pretty as the one in that post, but I love the idea of keeping my calendar, notes, and lists organized as opposed to having random notebooks floating around and having to dig through them to figure out where things are. This weekend I updated my list of restaurants I need to try and posted the list on Facebook to see if anyone had anything to add. Turns out I have a lot of places to visit in Cleveland and North Georgia…those take some planning. We ended up at Double Barrel BBQ on Signal Mountain, which a friend suggested on my Facebook post (I have a handful of other places on Signal to try as well).

Double Barrel BBQ is on Taft Highway just a little past the Signal Mountain “business district” in the building that used to be Pepper Jack’s. Double Barrel started as a food truck and in August opened their static location. They are currently operating off of their food truck menu but will be expanding starting with their grand opening in October.

We were offered the options of being seated in the bar or the dining room and were seated immediately by a very friendly server. It’s a log cabin so the decor consists of lots of wood, but it’s not dark. They have lots of cool pendant lights hanging all over the dining room and interesting wall hangings. There are televisions in the dining room as well as the bar.

Our server, Tabitha, came pretty quickly to take our drink orders and brought a beer list at Philip’s request. They have a pretty impressive list of craft beers-both bottles and draft-at great prices, including some local brews from Chattanooga Brewing Company. Philip ordered a Straight to Ale Lily Flagg milk stout, which was listed on the list as a bottled beer for $2.50 but was actually on draft for $3.50 (still a pretty amazing price). He’s had that particular beer before and loved it. I, of course, stuck with water.

They have a pretty lengthy list of sides that come in a side-size portion or as an appetizer, and we decided to order some fried pickle chips, which the menu purported to be hand-bettered. We got the appetizer sized portion for $5.75…it was a pretty large portion and we probably should have stuck with the side-size portion for $2.50. Oh well. I never cry over more fried pickles. They were indeed hand-battered and were very tasty, well seasoned and with just enough batter to add crunch and flavor but not so much to mask the pickle flavor. They were served with ranch dressing which was just basic ranch dressing.

Right now the menu consists of a selection of meats and some hot dogs. I decided to get the 1/2 pound pulled pork plate for $9 (you can get a half-sized portion for half the price) with a side of fried squash, which the menu also said was hand-battered. I was a little less convinced about the squash being hand-battered than I was the pickles, since the coating was fairly thick. It tasted good, though, and was well-seasoned with Cajun seasoning. The meat was tender and smoky and was pulled and served on top of a couple of toasted dinner rolls. I had enough to bring home for lunch the next day.

Philip decided to order the 1/2 pound of brisket ($9.25), chopped (you can also order it sliced) with fried okra. The brisket was chopped into bite-size pieces and had a spicy rub on it (it was also served on top of toasted dinner rolls). The fried okra was lightly coated and was also seasoned with Cajun seasoning.

The sauces at Double Barrel are made in-house. I didn’t think to get a photo, but there was one called “Old Faithful” that was sweet and chunky…it was our least favorite. There was a molasses-based sauce that had a deep molasses flavor and a little bit of spice. The third sauce was a sweet and spicy blend, and it was very spicy.

Our total for this meal was $29.22 pre-tip, which included fried pickles, a beer, a pork plate, and a brisket plate. The service at Double Barrel BBQ was friendly and the food was tasty. I like the atmosphere in this restaurant, and it didn’t hurt that the mountain air was nice and cool and just made it nice to be up there (I love what I call “shorts and long sleeves weather”). I can’t wait to see what they unveil for their expanded menu. By the way, they also serve a breakfast buffet daily and offer growlers of beer to go. There are daily specials as well.

Double Barrel BBQ is located at 3720 Taft Highway, Signal Mountain, TN 37377. You can call them at 423-777-5491. They are open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 7 a.m.-12 a.m. Friday-Sunday. You can check out their website, www.doublebarrel.me and like Double Barrel BBQ on Facebook.

Embargo 62 Cuban Restaurant

September 21, 2015

Embargo 62 is a Cuban restaurant on Cherokee Boulevard, near Chattanooga’s North Shore. They serve tasty food and great drinks in a casual “Cuban-style” atmosphere.

It seems like there are lots of new restaurants cropping up in Chattanooga lately! This week I all of a sudden got an urge to check out Embargo 62, the new Cuban restaurant on Cherokee Boulevard. My urge was solidified after I checked out their menu online.

When we got there at around 1, it was open seating (unsure of whether seating is open all the time) and there were quite a few tables open. We decided to sit on the covered patio. It’s a kind of beachy atmosphere, with glass light fixtures and bright furniture and lots of wood.

Our server, Lucy, quickly brought us our menus and waters, told us what beers were available, and recommended that we order the mojito gold. Philip decided to order a North Coast Brewing Puck saison and I stuck with the mojito criollo, with white rum, fresh lime juice, fresh mint, sugar, and club soda (I didn’t want to pay extra ?? to get an extra shot of rum). Our drinks came out quickly; my mojito was refreshing and light. You can check out Philip’s review of Puck here.

We decided against ordering an appetizer, but the appetizer menu consisted of ceviche, empanadas, mussels, and fried plantains with truffle oil. I had a difficult time deciding whether to order a sandwich (the Elena Ruz, with roast turkey, cream cheese, and strawberry jam on a semi sweet bun sounded very tempting) or a Completa, or complete meal. Ultimately, I decided on a completa and set to making a decision between the lechon, slow roasted mojo marinated pork, served with Congri (black bean and rice blend) and sweet plantains, and the palomilla, marinated top sirloin served with black beans over white rice with sweet plantains. I finally settled on the palomino, which turned out to be a huge piece of top sirloin that was surprisingly tender considering how thin it was. The rice was cooked well and seasoned perfectly, and the black beans were delicious, with lots of herby seasoning. The plantains were also great, lightly fried, no seasoning.

Philip thought the El Barrigon (burger) sounded pretty tempting. Their burger was a half pound blend of ground sirloin and pork belly (which was what sold him on the burger) with melted Monterey Jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. The pork belly adds a pretty substantial amount of fat to the burger, which = flavor & tenderness. The burger was well-seasoned, well-cooked, and very tasty. The sandwiches are served with plantain chips, which are ??delicious??; Philip also decided to order a side (which was a pretty substantial basket) of their hand-cut fries for $3.00 and wow. They were fantastic: light, crunchy, perfectly golden, and perfectly salted. We had to move the basket out of the way so we’d stop eating them!

Our server, Lucy, was friendly and attentive. The atmosphere at Embargo 62 was really cool and the menu limited (which, if you read my blog very often you know I think is a good thing because they can focus on making the few items on the menu great) and authentic. The prices were reasonable (that is, competitive with similar restaurants); our pre-tip total including a beer, a cocktail, a burger, fries, and an entree was about $37. If you like Cuban food (or just want to find out if you like Cuban food) you should definitely check out Embargo 62! By the way, we parked in the pay lot near Whole Foods and walked down, but Embargo 62 offers complementary valet parking.

Embargo 62 is located at 301 Cherokee Boulevard, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at (423) 551-4786. They are open Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-12 a.m. and Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-1:30 a.m. You can read more about them on their website, www.embargo62bar.com, like Embargo 62 on Facebook, and follow @embargo62 on Twitter.

Puckett’s Grocery Chattanooga

September 14, 2015

Puckett’s Grocery Chattanooga is a fantastic Southern restaurant located on the riverfront near the Tennessee Aquarium.

This weekend we decided to take advantage of the amazing weather and head downtown to walk on the bridge. We talked through our options for lunch…I’m still avoiding burgers for another week or two. I have a few places that I want to try, including Talus on Lookout Mountain and I need to check out Main Street Meats‘ expanded space. However, since we were in the area, we decided to check out the newly opened Puckett’s Grocery Chattanooga location.

Puckett’s Grocery opened just a few weeks ago in the former TGIFriday’s location next to the Tennessee Aquarium. If we want to get technical about it, Puckett’s is a chain, but it’s a very small (4 locations), regional (Nashville based) chain so, like Tupelo Honey and Universal Joint, it fits in my guidelines for Chattavore. I’d heard good things about the Nashville locations of Puckett’s Grocery, though I actually hadn’t heard anything about the Puckett’s Grocery Chattanooga location. I was excited to try it out.

It was around 1:30 when we got there Saturday afternoon, a little late to try their breakfast (which is served daily from 7-11 a.m.) but that was okay because we weren’t really interested in trying breakfast anyway.We were told that the wait would be twenty minutes or less and that they would text us when our table was ready. It took maybe ten minutes before we got the text and were seated near the bar.

Our server, Ashton, quickly greeted us and took our drink orders. Philip asked if they served beer flights and Ashton checked with the bar, telling us that it had been discussed, but they do not (yet, anyway). He decided on a Blackstone Pumpkin Ale, which he thought was fantastic (and he plans to do a review if he can find a bottle of it).

We got stuck on the appetizer menu, trying to decide whether to order fried pickles, fried green beans, or fried green tomatoes. We ultimately decided to order the fried green tomatoes since we had fried pickles last week at Couch’s and fried green beans the week before at FEED Co. All three are served with bacon-chipotle ranch dressing, which is quite tasty, with a distinctive bacon flavor and a sneaky but sharp bite from the chipotle. The tomatoes were nicely breaded with an herby cornmeal crust (hi guys, how do you get your cornmeal crust to stick so nicely????) that was quite delicious. The tomatoes were wonderfully crunchy and not greasy at all.

The lunch menu is full of options, including plates with meats & vegetable sides, a selection of salads, and a large variety of sandwiches. I had a hard time deciding between the grilled cheese sandwich with pimento cheese (you can also choose American, Swiss, Cheddar, or Pepper Jack) or the Brisket Taco Salad: romaine drizzled with BBQ Ranch and topped with black beans, house-made pico de gallo, shredded cheese, tortilla strips and slow-smoked beef brisket. I asked Ashlyn and she said both! buuuuutttt….if I had to choose, to get the taco salad. I was not sad that I chose this. The salad was very fresh, topped with a generous but not outrageous portion of very tender and flavorful brisket (so so good), monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, and a generous amount of pico. The BBQ ranch dressing was, I assume, made with their signature BBQ sauce (which you can purchase bottled in the store). I would highly recommend this salad!

Philip (unlike me) loves spicy food, so he decided to order the Music City hot chicken sandwich, though he traded the Texas toast that the sandwich is usually served on for sourdough instead (Nashville hot chicken is normally served with plain old white bread, as in Colonial or Wonder Bread, but Philip just can’t deal). The sandwich was just spicy chicken (hot chicken is made with a generous amount of cayenne pepper) and pickle slices, with coleslaw and fries on the side. Philip said that the sandwich definitely got hotter as he ate it, which is how it goes typically. The chicken was well-cooked, juicy, flavorful, and well-seasoned. He also liked the fries and the slaw.

Other menu items included several burgers (of course), a regular fried chicken sandwich, a smoked bologna sandwich, and quite a few traditional Southern entrees, like Southern fried chicken and Cajun shrimp & grits. They have a pretty delicious menu of Southern desserts, too…chocolate chess pie, banana pudding, maple pecan pie, a deep fried brownie (!!!!) sundae, and a cobbler of the day (which was blackberry yesterday). Of course, we were too full to eat dessert. Regrettably so.

One thing I wanted to mention….something happened with our order and it took longer than expected to come out. Our server and two managers came by to apologize to us and we were also offered a complimentary soup or salad to eat while we waited. The thing is, we’ve both worked in food service and we know that those things happen. If the food or the service had been bad, we would have been upset…but both were great and the fact that they acknowledged the mistake and offered to “make it right” if need be totally made up for it.

I definitely recommend Puckett’s Grocery Chattanooga for a great atmosphere, great service, and delicious Southern food. Our pre-tip total, including a beer, an appetizer, my salad, and Philip’s sandwich was $35.56, which is on par with other similar restaurants. By the way…they also have live music at least one night at week. Go by and check them out!

Puckett’s Grocery Chattanooga is located at 2 West Aquarium Way, Chattanooga, TN. You can call them at 423-708-8505. Check out Puckett’s website: puckettsgro.com, like Puckett’s Grocery Chattanooga on Facebook, and follow @PuckettsGrocery on Twitter.

Couch’s BBQ – Ooltewah, Tennessee

September 7, 2015

Couch’s BBQ is a popular, family-owned barbecue restaurant in Ooltewah, Tennessee, near Chattanooga.

When Philip and I were trying to decide on a place to try this past weekend, I had two criteria: it needed to be somewhere that I would not regret not ordering the burger (I’m taking a month or so off from burgers after writing the list) and I didn’t want to have to walk any sort of distance to get there, as grass or ragweed or something that is blooming is killing me. That second caveat effectively killed just about any place downtown. We went to McKay’s to peruse their used books (where I found Sarah Wu‘s Fed Up with Lunch, about which I was pretty excited) then decided to head over to Couch’s Bar-B-Que in Ooltewah, just a few short miles away.

Couch’s BBQ came highly recommended, as Amanda from Dish T’Pass had told me a while back that it was her family’s go-to barbecue joint and Southern Living recently proclaimed Couch’s Bar-B-Que one of the top fifty barbecue joints in the South. Besides, it’s been around since 1946, so they are clearly doing something right.

It was around 2 when we arrived but there was still a fairly hefty lunch crowd (though we didn’t have any trouble finding a seat). A friendly server brought us our waters while we checked out the menu and we ordered fried pickles because, you know, I have a rule (i.e. if fried pickles are on the menu I’m required to order them). I was a little disappointed when they turned out to be the same frozen fried pickles we were served at Choo-Choo BBQ and Kevin Brown Burgers, but oh well. Fried pickles are like pizza…even when they aren’t great they’re still pretty good.

I considered ordering a barbecue sandwich. The sandwiches here are topped with lettuce and tomato, which I find to be an interesting concept and I’m certain one that I would enjoy. In the end, though, I decided to order the pork “Couch Potato”, which apparently is somewhat of a claim to fame for the establishment as they have several signs stating that they are the “home of the Couch Potato”. In my opinion, the potato here is a cut above most other places around town-they are crusted in salt then topped with a generous but not exorbitant amount of butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, and whatever meat you choose. They are also served with a couple of rolls (pre-packaged).

One thing about the pork here, as you may notice in the picture, is that it is not pulled or even sliced but rather shaved. According to Grant, who writes the blog Marie, Let’s Eat!, Couch’s BBQ uses uncured hams rather than the usual Boston butt (aka pork shoulder), smokes them, then shaves them on a deli slicer. It is definitely a different barbecue experience, but not different bad or even different good-just different. We liked it; the meat was flavorful (if maybe just a smidge dry) and paired well with both of the housemade sauces (signature and sweet, which had a telltale molasses hit). The fact that they make their own sauce here is a huge advantage, as I have found very few places around here that do. There is nothing that I hate more than walking into a barbecue joint and being greeted with a food service container of sauce sitting in plain view.

Philip decided to get the pork plate, which is served with three sides and rolls. He decided to get the slaw, baked beans, and fried okra. Honestly, he was fine with all of the sides but didn’t think that they were anything outstanding. The okra was the familiar frozen okra and he couldn’t really tell if the other sides were homemade or not. I will say, again, that Grant touts their hot slaw on Marie, Let’s Eat! as delicious albeit “magically weird” (actually, in his first review of the spot he says, “It has a smell-the-back-of-your-brain kick and leaves a sharp and very strong aftertaste. It is all kinds of fantastic. I have no idea what is in it. I am absolutely clueless, but they don’t list it as a side on the menu so you have to know to ask for it.”) I’m not sure if Philip forgot to ask for it or just decided against it.

If we hadn’t been so full, I would have loved to have had a slice of one of their homemade pies: coconut, pecan, buttermilk, key lime, and (I think) chocolate. We just. couldn’t. do it. So, instead, we paid our bill ($21.03 pre-tip) and headed back toward home.

Couch’s BBQ was good, but it’s quite a drive for me so I don’t think we’re going to become regulars anytime soon. As seems to be par for the course, they pay a little less attention to their sides than to their meat, which I guess makes sense for a barbecue restaurant but good grief, I just want to find a spot that fries their own okra. Still, I’d definitely go back to Couch’s Bar-B-Que, and I highly recommend the Couch potato.

Couch’s Bar-B-Que is located at 8307 Old Lee Highway, Ooltewah, TN 37363. They are open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. You can call them at 423-238-4801. You can check out Couch’s website, www.couchsbbq.org, and like Couch’s BBQ on Facebook.

Disclaimer: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link for the book Fed Up with Lunch, because I think it’s so eye-opening that you should read it if school lunches affect you in any way. If you click through and buy this book from this link, I will make a small commission. For more information, read my disclosures/privacy policy.

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