Restaurants Archives - Page 40 of 49

Chattavore “On the Road”-Smoky Mountain Brewery, Gatlinburg-June 4, 2012

June 8, 2012

Pretty sure I’ve mentioned before my love for Groupon and LivingSocial. This time, they provided us with a stellar deal at the Glenstone Lodge in Gatlinburg-a half-price room! Now, say what you want about Gatlinburg…I know it’s incredibly cheesy (we’ll call it “kitschy”) but (a) it’s close to home; (b) it’s familiar so there’s no trying to figure out where everything is, what there is to do, etc.; (c) we park our car at the hotel and walk everywhere except when we drive into Sevierville to go to the (d) Tanger outlet mall. Plus, we love all of the Copper Cellar restaurants up there, so it gives us the opportunity to eat there. Last time we went, I blogged about Calhoun’s, so this time we were actually planning to eat lunch at Cherokee Grill and do a blog post about it…until we got there and discovered that they don’t open until 4 p.m. Smoky Mountain Brewery it is!

Since it was a Monday and a little later in the afternoon (2ish) there was no crowd and we were seated immediately. Our server, whose name I didn’t catch (I hate it when I do that) was extremely friendly and quickly took our drink order. We perused the menu for a few minutes before I settled on the Philly Cheesesteak with fries. The bread for their sandwiches is baked daily, on the premises I assume since they have a wood-burning stove in which they cook pizza (I haven’t tried their pizzas but they look amazing). The cheesesteak was huge with thinly sliced strips of steak, sautéed onions, green peppers, and cheese sauce. The freshly baked sandwich roll was soft but at the same time crispy around the edges from having been placed on the grill. The juice from the meat soaked into the bread perfectly to create a little bit of sogginess, but not in a bad way….in certain sandwiches, this is actually a positive in my opinion, and this was definitely one of those cases. While the fries were decent, there was no real standout feature of them that made me jump up and down.

Philip decided on the Ole Smoky Burger, basically a bacon cheeseburger with barbecue sauce…only he had them take off the sauce. This actually cost less than if he had ordered the regular cheeseburger and had them add bacon. Of course, the burger came with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion, with mayo and mustard on request (they brought the bottles to the table). Again, the fries were fine but nothing to write home about, but the burger was great. The meat tasted very fresh and the grilled flavor was perfect. The burger has cheddar cheese on it, which is my personal favorite for burgers. This cheese was really sharp and paired nicely with the salty, smoky bacon…which, of course, makes everything better. The bread was fresh and soft. Highly recommend this one!

One of the true selling points of Smoky Mountain Brewery (and really all of the Copper Cellar restaurants by association) is, well…the brewery. They serve seven micro brewed beers year-round with a rotating selection of seasonal beers. I will be honest, I am not clear on whether or not there is actually a microbrewery in this location….the website expressly states that there are microbrewery operations inside the Turkey Creek (Knoxville) and Pigeon Forge locations. You can order the beers in a pint or 2-pint glass or try 5-ounce samples, and you can also purchase growlers and kegs. Their beers run the gamut from American-style lagers to porters to wheat beers, pale ales, and bocks. Just as I am a huge believer in small-batch bread, cheese, etc., I am a huge believer in micro brewed beers. Quality comes in small batches.

So…if you are ever in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, or Maryville area and are looking for a great but quick sandwich or pizza (or even a larger meal, as they do serve steaks, chicken, etc.) or are looking for a great glass of micro brewed beer, I would say that Smoky Mountain Brewery is your place. The Gatlinburg store is located at 1004 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. You can call them at 865-436-4200. Check out their website at http://www.coppercellar.com/Restaurant-SmokyMountainBrewery.html. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Glen-Gene Deli Hixson-June 2, 2012

June 5, 2012

Glen-Gene Deli holds a special place in my heart. It’s been around forever, or at least as long as I can remember. Until several years back, it was located inside of Northgate Mall (and, if I am not mistaken, there was also a location in Eastgate Mall). Since there have never been a ton of places to eat at Northgate (which, despite Hamilton Place’s ability to boast about being the largest mall in Tennessee, is far and away my Chattanooga mall of choice-I avoid crowds and traffic like the plague), I ate at the Northgate location more times than I can count. I ate there with my mom and my grandmother as well as with my friends on many a mall excursion. It’s funny to remember those days…it was back before the days of the smoking ban in Tennessee, and inevitably the place reeked of smoke. We usually sat out in the seating area in the mall. The mall has changed, and Glen-Gene is no longer there, having moved to the Oak Park Town Center (by the Hixson Wal-Mart) in a freestanding location. The food, however, has not changed.

Philip and I went there together on Saturday for the first time ever. I am not kidding. Now, I’ve been there a million and one times in the thirteen years we’ve been together, but he never wanted to go. For some reason he didn’t care for the food and he referred to it as “girl food”. He used to say the same thing about Chick-fil-a, but he is a Chick-fil-a convert now. While we were eating at Glen-Gene, we were talking about the whole “girl food” opinion. He formed this opinion because “it always seemed like only girls wanted to go there”. My explanation for this was that it was, after all, in a mall-as was the only location of Chick-fil-a when we were growing up. Besides, he and his friends pretty much lived at Taco Bell, so of course they didn’t want to go to Glen-Gene (or Chick-fil-a, for that matter).

I remember that when I was a kid/teenager, I used to order different things. Usually a cheeseburger, I think, but I seem to recall some chicken fingers in there too. When I was around 17 or 18, I tried their teriyaki chicken sandwich….and I don’t think I’ve ordered anything else since. It kind of makes me laugh….this sandwich is on the “10 grams of fat or less” menu, but on this gigantic bun I am sure that it’s got a pretty hefty amount of calories. You know I don’t get too worked up over that sort of thing….I’ll make up for it later. It’s basically a butterflied chicken, boneless/skinless chicken breast half basted with teriyaki sauce and served on a sesame seed bun. It’s consistent and tasty, not dripping with sauce, and always tender and well cooked. You can dress your own sandwich at their bar (when I was a kid, this wasn’t an option, and I seem to recall that they chopped their onions up into little pieces so they were impossible to separate from the lettuce. Ugh.). Philip decided on the bacon cheeseburger. It too is gigantic, served on a sesame seed bun. It’s a fairly thin patty. After at least 13 1/2 years since eating here (because I know he hasn’t touched it since our first date in 1999), he was won over. I doubt it will become his favorite restaurant, but he’s willing to eat there now.

We shared an order of fries. The fries are pretty average. They’re skin-on, but I have no idea if they’re made there or if they are frozen. One thing that bugs me about them is that they are unsalted, or at least they taste unsalted. I always have to salt them at the table (because really, who wants to eat unsalted fries) and you know salt doesn’t stick as well to fries when they aren’t fresh from the fryer. They also have a little shaker of seasoned salt by the toppings bar that you can add to your fries.

Glen-Gene has a variety of deli sandwiches, burgers, chicken sandwiches, and veggies sandwiches. They also have a large selection of “pita sacks”, including steak, gyro, chicken…you get the picture. They have a handful of “dinners” like chicken fingers or fried shrimp and fries. They have a surprisingly varied menu of sides, including fries, chips, tots, fried mushrooms, and mozzarella sticks. They also have several dessert offerings. You can check out their entire menu at http://glengene.com/. I checked them on Urbanspoon, and they have a “77% like it” rating. Like I said, I order the same thing every time. I encourage you to give it a try and decide for yourself. Glen-Gene isn’t haute cuisine, but it’s a quick bite to eat when you’ve been out shopping and you want a break from the usual. They feature a reusable coupon every year in the Hamilton County Schools Kids First coupon book.

Glen-Gene Deli is located at 5748 Highway 153, Hixson, TN 37343 (they also have a location at 7025 Shallowford Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421). You can call the Hixson location at 423-877-9997. You can visit their website, http://glengene.com.

The Blue Plate-May 26, 2012

May 27, 2012

Philip has been sick for the last week and a half, so when we ventured out yesterday in search of a restaurant to review we had to choose carefully. In search of sandwiches, we tried to go to the Purple Daisy, but their parking lot is über small and it was completely packed, as was the entire St. Elmo area on this Saturday afternoon….so, we had to formulate Plan B. The Blue Plate sprang into my mind. We’ve been there twice before, with a few years in between each visit, so I guess it was time to head back. The first time we went-which was at least six or seven years ago-we were unimpressed (bad service, which you can’t necessarily judge a restaurant for. We were much younger then and I think our server assumed-incorrectly-that we were not going to tip well and instead focused her attention on the family at the next table while our drinks went empty…but the food was good). The second time the service was much better and the food was great too. Truth be told, the location (river front, near the Aquarium, tourists, and crowds) is probably the reason we don’t go more often.

The interior of The Blue Plate is a contemporary design with round booths, lots of high-top tables, and a grey and blue color scheme. Almost exactly a year ago they completed a renovation to add a bar, Local 191, which will celebrate its first anniversary next week. The menu is simple, not too many items, which I think is a good thing. When I go to a restaurant that has a million items on the menu, I have to wonder how many of those items they actually make well.

We were seated within a couple of minutes and our very friendly server quickly took our drink orders. We perused the menu (including a small menu of specials) for a few minutes and I finally settled on the fish taco special (fish tacos used to be a regular menu item, but not anymore). Philip decided on the turkey club then asked the server to talk him into one of their $5 milkshakes, which didn’t take too much effort on her part. The food came out within ten minutes…in fact, the food came before the milkshake!

The fish tacos were made with grouper, finely chopped and served on a flour tortilla with cheddar cheese, lettuce, corn, pico de gallo (or maybe it was corn salsa? I should have written it down), and a dollop of avocado cream, with a salad containing several of those components also served on the side. I think I would have preferred rice or beans as a side as opposed to things that were served on the tacos…but I didn’t make the menu, did I? The tacos were tasty, the fish mild but not too much so, the onions in the pico not too strong. The cheddar (which is not traditional on a fish taco) lent a nice sharp flavor, and the corn and lettuce were nice contrasts to the warm fish and tortilla. I liked the avocado cream as well. It was a little brown, as you can see in the photo, but it really is hard to keep avocado from browning the minute oxygen hits it….

Philip’s turkey club included thickly sliced rotisserie turkey, cheddar and Swiss cheese, bacon (Benton’s!), lettuce, tomato, and avocado cream on toasted bread, with housemade potato chips. As he is apt to say about many things, Philip’s comment was, “Well, it’s a club sandwich.” He’s the kind of person that thinks that all apples taste….like apples. And so on. He did rave about the turkey, though, which was incredibly tender and juicy. I tasted the sandwich and felt like all of the flavors worked together really nicely…and yes, it was a club sandwich. There’s a reason that pretty much every casual restaurant has a club on their menu, right? I liked the addition of the avocado cream, although if I were making the sandwich I would put sliced avocado on it…but then, I’m pretty much obsessed with avocado. The chips were great, cut super-thin. I am pretty sure I ate more of them than Philip did; not too surprising, since I could eat my weight in homemade potato chips. If he had been feeling better, I probably would have ordered their blue chips appetizer-housemade chips, Maytag blue cheese, and homemade cheese sauce. Oh dear.

The shake came about halfway through the meal, so it was kind of like dessert. It was large, and the shakes are made to order with extras (like crushed Oreos) if you like. Philip had his fingers crossed for a malt, but they don’t do malts. The insides of the cup were drizzled generously with chocolate syrup. The shake was made with vanilla ice cream, milk, and chocolate syrup…just enough chocolate syrup. It’s surprising how many places cannot make a good chocolate shake….but this one was quite good.

We had a couple of servers wait on us during this visit, and they were extremely friendly and helpful, as were the host and hostess that greeted us when we came in. So, the bad service we got the first time we visited was definitely a fluke, and the food really is very good here. I really appreciate the effort that The Blue Plate makes to use locally-sourced products on their menu (they list the many local suppliers they use on the back of the menu) and to make lots of items fresh and from scratch. I would encourage you to brave the crowds of tourists swarming the river front (okay, I am totally exaggerating) and try out The Blue Plate!

The Blue Plate is located at 191 Chestnut Street Unit B, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-648-6767. You can visit their website, http://theblueplate.info, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.

Public House-May 12, 2012

May 14, 2012

As the end of the school year draws near and I am becoming more and more absorbed in trying to get through the last month and a half of classes, meal planning has become somewhat of an issue for me. Tack on the fact that I was off Friday which meant I went into “vacation mode” and that Philip sang the national anthem at the roller derby bout for the Chattanooga Roller Girls Saturday and that’s a recipe for going out to eat. We considered Public House a few weeks ago but ended up at Hair of the Dog instead, so Public House it was.

As we were walking up, we had to rush to get in front of a large and very loud crowd of guys that I placed at college age. I heard one of them ask (I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was joking), “Where are the TVs?” The hostess looked a little frightened when we walked up….I think she thought we were with them. No, thank you…table for two. We decided to sit outside…it was a beautiful night, temperatures in the seventies. In a week or two I am sure we will not see the seventies for at least three months (except in the middle of the night-maybe). Our server, Shannon, immediately came out and poured us water from this cool bottle, which he left on our table. And, look at the mini salt and pepper shakers!

There was no question about whether we were going to order a starter or what said starter was going to be. I am sure that Philip would have liked to have tried the deviled eggs with candied bacon (heck, I’m sure I would have liked them too) but I had been dying to try the pimento cheese ever since I first saw a PH menu, at least two years ago. Two different foodie friends have told me it was a must-try, and if you’ve read more than two posts on my blog you know that I am pretty much pimento-cheese obsessed. Public House serves their pimento cheese with fried pickles and grilled sourdough. I was in the restroom when it came out, but Shannon shared the “rules” with Philip: you are supposed to spread the pimento cheese on the bread then top it with fried pickles. Now, I am also pretty obsessed with fried pickles, so this is pretty much the perfect appetizer for me. The bread was charred around the edges and cut not-too-thick and not-too-thin. The pimento cheese was creamy and spreadable, with small flecks (not large chunks) of pimento and a (tiny) hint of spice on the back end. The pickles were perfectly battered and hot but not mouth-searingly so, with a hint of spice to them as well. The sourness and heat of the pickles combined with the salty coolness of the cheese and the crunchy char on the bread equalled a starter that I would say is unmatched in my book.

Deciding on an entree was decidedly more difficult, for me anyway. I had heard wonderful things about the fried chicken, but it comes with hot sauce, and I just can’t handle it…and I feel like when a chef puts an item on their menu, it should be experienced the way they created it (unless it contains raw onions. Then take those mothers OFF!). A burger sounded tempting, but really? I didn’t want to say that my first time at this amazing restaurant I got a burger. I considered the iceberg wedge and petite filet combo in earnest…but my eyes kept coming back to the PH fried chicken salad: fried chicken, mixed greens, tomato, Benton’s bacon (!), Reggiano cheese (a nice change from the usual suspect, cheddar), and croutons with your choice of dressing (I chose green goddess, a creamy avocado based dressing with a nice herby hit). I rarely order a salad as an entree, but I really wanted to try the fried chicken, but I really wanted some good veggies, and this seemed like a good way to have both. I also ordered a side of potatoes Lyonnaise. The salad came with two gigantic pieces of fried, boneless chicken (the fried chicken entree is traditional bone-in, I believe) with crispy greens. I loved the Reggiano cheese in place of cheddar….the texture and deep, salty, nutty flavor adds a layer of sophistication to a salad that you might not expect that from. Add to that the chunks of wonderful bacon….and it was a delicious salad. I loved the cool, creamy dressing, and I had enough left over for lunch on Monday (which Shannon kindly boxed up for me). Potatoes Lyonnaise are a French dish, thinly sliced potatoes and onions, sauteed in butter. These had a little bit of bacon on them too, and they were skin-on and fried to a deep brown, yet not really crunchy. Delicious!

By the way, you’ll have to forgive me for the quality of these photos. Without the flash, you couldn’t see anything…but with, hello overexposure!

Like I said, the entree decision took some time for me. For Philip, not so much. You see, if shrimp & grits is on the menu, he’s probably going to get them, unless they aren’t in a cream-based sauce. Fried chicken was going to be his back up if the sauce wasn’t cream-based, but lucky for him, it was, so that’s what he got. Plus a Caesar salad. Plus a side of arugula and balsamic vinegar. I forgot to take a photo of his salad until he had eaten so much of it that the effort would have been for naught…but you’ve seen a Caesar salad before, right? There’s was good, with a good garlicky dressing, and it had red and white onions (the white ones appeared to be grilled) in it.

Philip is very particular about his shrimp and grits, and he had a bad experience at an otherwise delicious upscale local restaurant that served him shrimp and grits in a tomato-based sauce. Public House serves their shrimp and grits, um, “loose”, not in a grit cake. The grits had cream mixed in and they were topped with a sauce made from shrimp stock. There was atonof shrimp of the grits, which is pretty rare. There were also some pieces of red pepper on top. The grits were cooked perfectly, the shrimp tasted great, and I really like the shrimp-stock based sauce. Philip enjoyed PH’s shrimp and grits but did say that it wasn’t his favorite that he’s had….just because he prefers the fried grit cake. The arugula was very fresh and crisp, but he did say that he would have liked a little more balsamic vinegar on top of it.

We were pretty much stuffed when we finished our meals, but when we eyed the dessert menu we figured we’d find room at some point. I really wanted to try the apple fritters with bourbon semifreddo, but semifreddo is a frozen dessert similar to ice cream, so no go since we were taking it home. We usually order crème brûlée when it is available, but again, that’s not really something that translates well to a 25-minute trip home. However, when I saw molten chocolate cake with mint creme anglaise (a light pouring custard), my mouth started watering. The molten cakes are heated right before serving, so Shannon boxed it up for us and wrote heating instructions on the box. Philip is not quite as big of a mint fan as I am, but the mint in this creme anglaise was very finely chopped fresh mint, giving the creme a very fresh taste that wasn’t too strong or overpowering. It meshed perfectly with the oozy chocolate of the cake. I will be making these at home!

I’ve wanted to try Public House since it opened and I am not sure what took me so long. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was beautiful. The service was friendly and fantastic. The prices were a little upscale, but not outrageous, and the lunch prices are no more than your average casual dining restaurant. I will definitely be going back to Public House Chattanooga, and I recommend that you try it as well.

Public House Chattanooga is located at 1110 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (in Warehouse Row). You can reach them at 423-266-3366. You can also make reservations online. You can read more about them as well as check out their menu on their website, http://publichousechattanooga.com. You can also “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Fresh on Fridays, 5/11/12-Taco Sherpa, Famous Nater’s, Pure Sodaworks, and Monkey Town Donuts

May 12, 2012

Did you know that Chattanooga has a street food scene? If you said no, you’re not alone. If you said yes, you are probably either (a) like me and unnaturally absorbed in the Chattanooga food scene; or (b) someone who works downtown. Food trucks in Chattanooga don’t do a lot of venturing out of downtown Chattanooga at this time, and why would they? Their bread is definitely getting buttered by the downtown crowd, as they sell out of product regularly and are definitely thriving. Right now, the food trucks in Chattanooga are Southern Burger Co. (aka the best burger in Chattanooga), Taco Sherpa (Korean tacos & rice bowls), Famous Nater’s (sandwiches), and A Taste of Argentina (duh, Argentinian food). Supplement that with Monkey Town Donut Company’s donut cart and Pure Sodaworks’ handmade soda cart, and you’ve got a true street food scene.

I’ve been wanting to try all of the above for some time now, but since I both live and work in Hixson and we are not big on crowds (i.e. we don’t care too much for the Chattanooga Market), this amazingness has eluded me to this point. I had a personal day that needed ot be used up before the end of the school year, so I took yesterday off from work and went to Fresh on Fridays, a gathering of all the food trucks and carts plus several other vendors at Miller Plaza. Once summer break hits, I am sure that I will attend many more of these plus some Food Truck Tuesdays at Warehouse Row. Both of these events begin at 11 and end at 2.

We arrived a few minutes early and the only vendor that was open was Monkey Town Donut Co., so we waited a few minutes. I had already decided to eat at Taco Sherpa. They opened promptly at 11 and I walked up and introduced myself as Chattavore (I’m a big dork like that). Whit, the chef, and I had conversed a little bit on Twitter, and he shook my hand….and he knew my first name. And that I’m a teacher. I was quite impressed. That, my friends, is connecting with your consumers. Whit’s wife, Lindsey, gave me a bite of dak galbi (spicy chicken) to taste so I could make sure that it wasn’t too spicy, since I’m a pansy. It wasn’t. I ordered one dak galbi taco and one galbi (pork marinated in sweet & spicy soy-based sauce) taco plus chips and salsa as a side. They also offer Korean banchan (pickled/fermented vegetables) but as I mentioned, I’m a pansy and I was afraid of the kimchi. I’ll wait for Philip to order it at some point, because if my food’s too spicy, I can’t eat it. And nothing is more depressing to me than ordering food and not being able to eat it.

My tacos came out quickly. They are served on double corn tortillas with cucumber, radish, cabbage, cilantro, sesame seeds, and sherpa sauce. The chicken is cut into large chunks and coated with the sherpa sauce, which is just a little spicy…you taste the chiles more than the heat. I liked it….but I liked the pork more. The pork was shredded/pulled pork and you could just taste the slow-roastedness of it. The sauce was perfect and all of the veggies really completed the flavor. I love corn tortillas and the tacos were great on them. The chips and salsa were….chips and salsa. I want to try the banchan…and I will, eventually. Taco Sherpa is a fantastic addition to Chattanooga’s street food scene. Try it. TRY IT! They just opened last month, and they’re sure to be around for a long time. You can learn more about Taco Sherpa at their website, http://tacosherpa.com, their Facebook page, or on Twitter (@tacosherpa).

****Sadly, the Sherpa closed in early 2013 when White and Lindsay decided to move back to South Korea. I wish them well but they’ll be missed!

While Philip liked the idea of Korean tacos, he was sucked in by the promise of the Famous Nater’s BBQ pork sandwich: 12-hour roasted pork with truckmade barbecue sauce, bacon, and cabbage slaw on a Niedlov’s bun. Yep. Pork on pork. Since Philip loves pulled pork and bacon about equally, he was pretty much fixated and couldn’t take his mind off that pork sandwich. Nater’s was a little late opening, so he had to wait a few minutes longer than I did. He got the BBQ sandwich and a bag of Route 44 salt & vinegar chips (we got our drinks from Pure Sodaworks-more on that in a minute). As you can see, there were a few lightly pickled vegetables also included with the sandwich, along with the huge stack of pulled pork in sweet sauce and a thick layer of red cabbage slaw. The roasted pork was perfectly tender and the sauce was just right, although Philip commented that he couldn’t really taste the bacon very much….I guess it was overpowered by the barbecue sauce. Oh well. The sandwich was still great and the Niedlov’s bun pulled it all together…quite literally. Famous Nater’s has been around since early 2011 and landed very close to the top in a national food truck competition…in their first year! You can find out more about Famous Nater’s on their website, http://famousnaters.com, their Facebook page, or on Twitter (@famousnaters). You can also call them at 423-596-5457.

Like I said above, we got our drinks at Pure Sodaworks. I had no idea such a thing existed until last month when another local blog, Local Milk, started talking about it on the blog and on Twitter. Handmade soda? In Chattanooga? Yes please. Philip and I are soda lovers but soda is a treat for us, and we are always on the lookout for a great soda that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup, and we’ve recently even tried our hand at making our own (good times!). Well, we have found the perfect one(s). Pure Sodaworks has a stationary location in Coolidge Park that just opened, and in addition to selling their drinks by the cup, they will start a bottling operation soon. They offer seasonal flavors-hooray-sweetened with natural cane sugar-hooray again! On this day, the offerings were root beer, ginger ale, hibiscus lemon, strawberry jalapeno, and lavender mint. I jumped at the lavender mint, and Philip decided on strawberry jalapeno. Both were heaven in a cup, a few squirts of syrup over pellet ice (rejoice!) and topped off with carbonated water. Mine was so fresh and herby tasting, not overwhelmingly minty or lavendery but a perfect balance of both. Philip’s was sweet and perfectly strawberry tasting with the peppery flavor of jalapeno and just a hint of spice…even my pansy tastebuds could handle it. He kept saying it was blowing his mind (in a good way) to taste sweet and jalapeno together. Perfection. Shawn, the soda jerk who was working the stand (I found out his name because I cyberstalked him on their website) carried our drinks to the table for me because I had my hands full of tacos and then he spent several minutes talking to us about their business before we left. I am so excited about Pure Sodaworks I can hardly take it! Get out of your Coca-Cola rut and give them a try! Pure Sodaworks is located at 181 River Street, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-299-3219. To learn more about them, check out their website, http://puresodaworks.com, their Facebook page, or Twitter (@puresodaworks).

Finally, as we left, we stopped by the Monkey Town Donut Company trailer. Monkey Town Donut Company is based in Dayton, Tennessee (get it? Monkey Town? As in the Scopes Monkey Trial?). Their donuts are tiny, one to two-bite donuts (one for Philip, two for me) coated with cinnamon and sugar. Oh, and they only have thirty calories each. Yep, 30 calories. Which means that a serving (six!) has less than 200 calories. Is that the perfect food or what? They were amazing hot, but we had a few left over (I think that he actually gave us a few more than a dozen-which only costs $4.00, by the way) which we ate cold with coffee after we got home, and they were pretty darn good too. I’m completely enamored and told Philip last night that I wished we had some more. I’ll definitely be getting them again! You can call Monkey Town Donuts at 423-902-6685 or check them out on Facebook.

Street food seems to be the new “thing” in the U.S. and I am glad that the trend has made it to Chattanooga. I hope that the trend will eventually bring our fantastic food trucks into Hixson from time to time, but lucky for me, I’m going to have a lot more free time over the next couple of months to support local street food. I’ve even kicked around the idea of starting my own food truck or cart one of these days-who knows? In the meantime, I’m happy to eat food from these amazing chefs, cooks, and creators who make this food fresh for us Chattanoogans. I encourage you to do the same!

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