Restaurants Archives - Page 31 of 49

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.

Pepper Jack’s-March 16, 2013 CLOSED

March 16, 2013

I’ve been asked a few times how I come up with my “list” of restaurants to review. Honest answer? The initial list came from the phone book. Yep. I pulled out the phone book and combed through the restaurant section, using the internet to research whether restaurants were locally owned if I wasn’t sure.

This was an eye-opening experience for me. There are a lot of restaurants out there that I hadn’t heard of prior to April 2011 (I bought my domain name in January 2011 but didn’t write my first post until April). One of those restaurants was Pepper Jack’s on Signal Mountain. I feel like Signal Mountain is kind of a “neglected” area of Chattanooga on Chattavore, probably because it is kind of “isolated” from the rest of the city (though I don’t think I’ve written about a single restaurant in the Ooltewah area-any recommendations for me? I do have a list….). I have been trying to make it to Pepper Jack’s for a while, but the last time that I was really thinking about it was the day that a sudden snowstorm came through and made the roads a little sketchy for a while, so no way were we driving up Taft Highway….

Anyway, up Signal we went today. Pepper Jack’s is a little out of the way, past the Bachman Community Center and across from the Dollar General. I didn’t see a sign on the street but there is a sign on top of the building. But just look for the Dollar General. Anyway, we were seated quickly, choosing to sit outside (in retrospect, probably a bad idea because it was pretty windy and a little chillier than we were expecting-I ended up getting my sweater from the car). Our server, Dee, was with us immediately after the hostess seated us on the porch, taking our drink orders and telling us the specials (fish & chips, chicken livers, and bone-in smoked chicken, Manhattan clam chowder, maple-bacon bread pudding, and carrot cake). She also brought out some cornbread muffins, which were really good. They were very moist and I liked them even though they were a little sweet (which I don’t usually care for), especially since they were served with real. Butter. Amen.

The appetizer menu included such items as wings, jalapeño poppers, fried jalapeños, onion fries, chips and salsa (to which you could add queso for an additional charge), and fried pickles. Now, I actually love jalapeño poppers but you never know how spicy they’re going to be so I was afraid to spend money on something that I might now be able to eat. I considered the chips and salsa….but you know the fried pickles won out. They were nice and freshly fried with a crispy flour coating, but not so hot that they burned the roof of your mouth off. Not too salty but just salty enough. They were served with ranch dressing, which was good….but I think if I order them again I will ask for the ancho chili pepper dressing that’s served with the ancho BLT wedge.

I was seriously considering ordering the smoked chicken special with mashed potatoes and green beans….until I noticed the veggie style stuffed potato. On Dee’s recommendation, I decided to order the stuffed potato, which was topped with steamed broccoli, cheddar-jack cheese, butter, and onion straws (actually, there was some sour cream on there too, but it wasn’t listed on the menu. I would have asked for it if it hadn’t been there, though). The skin of the potato was crusted with salt and the texture of the potato was nice and fluffy. There were plenty of toppings but (unlike the stuffed potatoes served at many of the local barbecue restaurants) there wasn’t so much on top that I had to take some of it off. I really liked the addition of the onion straws. The only issue that I had was that the broccoli didn’t taste like it was seasoned, but Dee brought me some salt & pepper so it was all good.

Philip decided to order the meatloaf, which is “baked with special seasonings, ketchup, and applewood bacon”. He decided to have it with sweet potato casserole (topped with brown sugar and pecans, no marshmallows) and fried okra. The meatloaf was good (not as good as mine, but don’t take it personally, Pepper Jack’s. My meatloaf rocks the house)….very moist with small chunks of peppers and onions. There was a decent amount of ketchup but it wasn’t smothered. Philip didn’t really detect the bacon, though. The sweet potatoes were creamy and I thought that I got a hint of orange flavor in the bite that I tried. The coating on the okra was pretty uniform so we weren’t too sure it was hand-breaded (not that the menu made that claim anyway) but it wasn’t bad. The portions were good-sized but not so huge that Philip felt overly stuffed after eating it.

Can you guess what we had for dessert? That’s right. Carrot cake. Okay, no, not really. Of course we had the maple-bacon bread pudding. It was very bacony, which is definitely a good thing, and there was a hint of a black pepper taste to it. Interesting. The maple flavor was not overpowering; in fact, I thought it could have used just a smidge more maple. The texture was more like French toast than bread pudding, so it tasted like something that you could eat for breakfast. I liked it and may experiment with the idea of a maple-bacon French toast casserole (to go along with my eggnog French toast and cinnamon French toast casserole recipes).

The total for our meal before tip was $32. The server and the hostess were both extremely friendly and the decor was nice, with lots of wood and tin everywhere. The place smelled like smoked meat, so that was definitely a bonus. There weren’t a ton of people but definitely a steady stream the whole time that we were there, and a man was working on a deck expansion as we ate our meal. I will definitely go back to Pepper Jack’s, and I encourage you to go out of your way a little bit to try this place out.

Pepper Jack’s is located at 3720 Taft Highway, Signal Mountain, TN 37377. You can call them at 423-386-5449. Their website is www.pepperjackssignalmtn.com. You can “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter (they don’t tweet much, though!). They are open 11-9 Sunday-Thursday and 11-10 Friday and Saturday, plus a breakfast buffet ($10 adults, $5 kids) from 8-10:30 on Saturday.

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.

El Sol Mexican Restaurant-March 2, 2013

March 3, 2013

Wow, is it really March? I just typed “February” into the title field for this post then realized, “Wait, it’s March!” It’s snowing here in Soddy-Daisy right now (and has been since yesterday morning) but it’s not cold enough to stick and besides, snow on the weekend is a total waste as far as teachers are concerned. No matter, though. Spring break is at the end of March! I have a full week of doing nothing planned and I can’t wait.

Anyway, I wasn’t feeling too hot yesterday (still not) and didn’t really have a restaurant in mind. I wasn’t in the mood to go much of anywhere, really, but there also wasn’t any food that I just wasn’t in the mood for. I really wanted some soup but I couldn’t think of any locally owned restaurants that claim soup as a specialty, not since Soup’s On that used to be on Broad closed (and I don’t think they were ever open on Saturdays anyway). Soup suggestions, anyone? Anyway, Philip suggested El Sol, the Mexican restaurant in the building that was formerly Hillbilly’s and before that Backyard Burgers-near Highland Plaza on Hixson Pike. Fine by me.

We were seated quickly. There was only one server working the floor, but at 1:30 in the afternoon there were only a couple of other tables occupied. He took our drink orders and suggested queso dip, which we of course accepted. He quickly brought out our waters, our queso, a basket of chips, and some salsa. The queso was standard Mexican restaurant queso…not too spicy, creamy, not too runny but not too thick. The chips and salsa were the same….the chips pretty standard, not too thick, not greasy, pretty fresh. The salsa was mild and not super-chunky, which is always a plus for me because I am not a fan of chunky salsa (for this reason I do not like salsa from a jar). Not bad but it didn’t stand out in any way from any other Mexican restaurant in the area (besides a couple that shall remain unnamed that I have not blogged about whose chips have been stale the last couple of times that I’ve been).

Again, the menu was pretty standard. There was a lunch menu on the back with lunch specials served until 3 p.m. I decided on taquitos Mexicano, which come stuffed with shredded beef or shredded chicken. I ordered one of each. Taquitos are, of course, tortillas (theirs were flour) rolled around a filling and fried. These were served with sour cream, pico de gallo, guacamole, and shredded cheddar (an unusual choice for a Mexican restaurant for sure) and refried beans and rice. I found the taquitos to be a little bit greasy but they did have a good flavor. I am not one to choose chicken over beef (ever!) but in this case I actually liked the chicken taquito better than the beef because the beef had large pieces of onion in it. The guacamole was fresh-tasting and very smooth. I really liked the rice…it was seasoned well and not clumpy. The beans were pretty standard.

Philip ordered the burrito El Sol, which contained beans and rice, lettuce, and chorizo (not listed as an option on the menu, but just ask!). It was covered with cheese sauce and salsa verde (green or tomatillo salsa). Philip is a huge fan of chorizo and has taken to ordering it at all the local Mexican restaurants. He liked their chorizo a lot-better than El Metate’s, as good as Delia’s, and not extremely greasy, which a lot of chorizo is. Overall, he really enjoyed his burrito and would order it again.

For some reason, dessert is not an item that we often order in Mexican restaurants, but their dessert menu (curiously) is at the front of the menu (not an afterthought at the end like most) and we happened to notice it. While my eye was immediately drawn to the banana chimichanga (hello, bananas Foster in a fried tortilla?!?!) Philip despises the texture of banana so that idea was out. He was all about the sopapilla, though, and when we had finished our lunch he wanted to order one. I was definitely game. Their sopapilla is basically a fried flour tortilla sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with honey, topped with whipped cream (okay, Redi-whip) and a maraschino cherry (you can also get ice cream if you like, presumably for an additional charge). Funny, I just got a new Tex-Mex cookbook (The Homesick Texan Cookbook) and the sopapilla recipe in it is not made with a flour tortilla (it’s made with fresh dough) but I’ll cut them some slack. This was pretty good, reminiscent (in my opinion) of the cinnamon “crispas” that Taco Bell used to serve in the Eighties, and that made me think of my grandmother, which is definitely a happy thing. They were good, but I want to make the real thing soon and share them with you!

Overall, I’d say that El Sol didn’t stand out as any better than the average Mexican restaurant in the Chattanooga area, but it definitely wasn’t below average. Delia’s still stands undefeated in my play book. I’d eat at El Sol again, though, and if you are thinking about going to the Taco Bell just down the street…..keep driving for a minute and pull on in to El Sol. It’s worth the extra minute’s drive.

El Sol is located at 4047 Hixson Pike, Chattanooga, TN 37415. You can call them at 423-877-2879. They do not have a website or Facebook page (at least not that I could find).

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