Restaurants Archives - Page 45 of 49

Deciding to be Positive

January 4, 2012

If you’ve ever left a comment on my blog, you’ve probably noticed that Chattavore is a “positive-only” blog. A couple of people have left negative comments about some of the restaurants I’ve blogged, and those comments were promptly deleted (don’t worry, I didn’t know any of the comment-leavers). My thought is that this is my blog, I have chosen to keep it positive, and if you want to say ugly things (and the things that I have deleted have not been “on-the-fence” but instead have been horrible, scathing comments about the restaurants) then you can either start you own blog or you can leave your remarks on Urbanspoon or Yelp.

Sometimes it feels a little burdensome only writing positive reviews. Not that I want to write negative reviews….but it can be very frustrating when I visit a restaurant and am terribly disappointed, or when I haven’t done a review in a while and really need to post one. Today, I ate at a restaurant that wasn’t terrible, but I also didn’t have anything good to say about it. It was food, and I didn’t hate it, but there was not a single great thing about what Philip or I had to eat. It really upset me, because I really wanted to do another review….it’s been several days.

I have considered going ahead and writing reviews for restaurants I don’t like. Philip pointed out to me that it could be seen as more “constructive criticism” than just negativity. I do try to be honest when I write a positive review and point out things that could be changed (for example, my comments about the customer service at Nana’s), but I just don’t think that I can go into the realm of negative reviews. For one things, even if I don’t like a restaurant, there are probably plenty of people who do like that place, as must be the case for the place where I ate today, which has been in its current location for several years. Who am I to say that they are wrong? Second of all, what if my remarks negatively impacted someone’s business? Since I only review local restaurants, that would be a terrible effect. I have no illusions that thousands of people in the Chattanooga are are reading my blog and making their dining-out decisions based on what I say, but it is my hope that someday that will be the case. I don’t want to hurt someone’s business!

Finally, I want to have an honest dining experience. Let me say it again: I have no illusions that everyone and their brother knows who I am, and restaurant owners don’t know me. Still, I have read about well-known food writers who got “special treatment” when a restaurant owner or chef figured out that they were in the restaurant. Again, no one knows who I am…but what if they did? What if I got some really great food and the place was actually really bad for the average diner? I realize that this could still happen if I’m only doing positive reviews, but it seems to be most prevalent when a restaurant is trying to avoid a negative review.

So anyway, I didn’t get a restaurant post today. Instead, I wrote this. For tomorrow, I guess I better get on my photo editing so I can give you a recipe (Swedish pancakes, anyone?). Cause Chattavore is keepin’ it light, people!

Delia’s Taqueria-December 26, 2011

December 29, 2011

I have a confession to make. I know that being a food blogger, I should be adventurous and be willing to try new places sight unseen….but that’s not my style. I don’t usually try new eateries until someone I know has recommended them. Example: Kioto. My assistant ate there before me (Thanks Melissa!) and recommended it….so I knew it was safe. Another example: we recently tried to “have an adventure” and try a brand-spanking-new local place without hearing anything (positive or negative) about it….and it was a complete disaster.

That being said, when I saw Delia’s Taqueria while driving through Soddy-Daisy a month or so ago, I knew I had to give it a try, the sooner, the better. There’s just something about hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints; they are always, ALWAYS the best. Not that you could really call Delia’s a “hole-in-the-wall”, since it’s free-standing. Really, it’s more like a stationary taco truck. There’s not really any seating to speak of…a couple of picnic tables out front is all. So, get it and go….and that’s okay with me, because food this good….well, you really don’t want just anybody seeing you eat it. Oh, and another plus for me: I love being the person to tell Urbanspoon about a new restaurant! That’s just plain fun. But, I digress.

Delia’s is a little red food truck, cart, trailer, whatever. I guess you just have to see it to get the visual. It’s connected to a trailer that used to be the office of a used car lot, which I am assuming has been transformed into a storage facility or office of sorts. They have a little covered porch where you walk up to the window to order, and their menu is a huge board of pictures and descriptions of dishes (think of the menus in Mom & Pop Chinese joints). We took a few minutes to peruse before ordering. The man who took our order was very friendly. Philip asked him if they had been doing good business and he told him that they had been. He also told us that they make all of their food fresh, right down to the tortillas and the chips. Okay, I’m sold. We ordered and were on our way within 10 minutes, and that is with the guy in front of us ordering for himself and his 5 children. I’m not kidding! That’s what I call speedy service. The worst part of this was having to smell the intoxicating bouquet (ha!) of the food while we made the 10-minute drive home….but somehow I made it and even managed to photograph the food before ripping into it.

Of course, I have a gene that does not allow me to eat food from a Mexican restaurant without having chips and salsa. I cannot physically do it. These (fresh and homemade) chips and salsa did not disappoint. Oh, do you need me to repeat that for you? THEY MAKE THEIR OWN TORTILLAS. The chips were fantastic, and the salsa was very fresh-tasting and tomato-ey, just slightly spicy but safe for lightweights like myself. They did include tiny cups of “hot sauce”, one red (just a little spicy) and one green (medium to hot…I only took one bite) that each had fantastic flavor.

Chips & Salsa-Hot, Fresh, and Homemade for $2.00!

There were many items on the menu that were extremely tempting for me, but I decided that I would go simple on this first trip since I feel like you can really judge a restaurant based on their most simple, basic items. I chose the taco platter, which included two chicken or beef tacos (I chose beef), rice, and beans. You can choose the type of tortilla that you want (corn or flour), and of course I chose flour. The tacos also had lettuce, tomato, and white cheese (queso blanco? I’m not sure what kind of cheese it was!). The menu states that they are made with pico de gallo but there wasn’t any on my taco, and honestly I was happy with that. I prefer my tacos without salsa or pico. The tortillas were not fried, which I love. You don’t find a lot of Mexican restaurants that offer tacos in corn tortillas that are not fried (although I’m sure most of them would do it if asked). It’s more authentic this way. The tacos are served in two tortillas each, which helps with the “breakage issue”. The meat was incredible. It was perfectly spiced but not greasy at all and was not in a thick sauce as you typically find in more Americanized Mexican eateries. The produce was fresh and tasty. The beans were perfect-not too thick, not too thin….and there was NO SKIN on them, which is so important! I really loved the rice, too. It was not overly flavored and didn’t have a lot of weird chunks like Mexican rice sometimes does. I ate every bite of my meal. And I didn’t regret it.

Two Beef Tacos, Rice, & Beans-$4.99

Philip decided on the Fiesta Burrito, which is available in ground beef, steak, chicken, a mix of steak and chicken, shrimp, pork, a combo of steak, chicken, and pork, barbacoa (the best description I could find for barbacoa was “Mexican barbecue.” Traditionally sheep meat is used for barbacoa, but this is Soddy-Daisy, so I am assuming they used beef…), al pastor (which to me sounds like it would be lamb but apparently is pork with a chili sauce), Mexican sausage (chorizo, I presume-are there other varieties of Mexican sausage? I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know!), or vegetables. The Fiesta Burrito is prepared with rice, beans, pico de gallo, and sour cream. Philip chose Mexcian sausage. When he took a bite, his eyes rolled back in his head and he proclaimed the meat “incredible”. He insisted that I needed to try it, so I did. I typically don’t like sausage because I don’t care for the spice combinations, but this stuff truly was incredible. Of course, Philip finished his burrito as well, and then stated that, “Now there’s no need to ever go to Q’doba.” I won’t argue with that!

Mexican Sausage Burrito ($4.99), before....

Mexican Sausage Burrito, After-I had to show you the inside!

All of this incredible food, my friends, was had for around $13. They also serve fountain beverages and the traditional bottled drinks that you see in the “international foods” aisle at the grocery store, which always look so tempting and yummy, and Mexican Coke, which is made with cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. They also served flavored fresh waters in flavors like mango and tamarind. I must try these at some point. Also, I recommended Delia’s to my mom, who went and got take-out that same night….and then again the next night-so clearly it made an impression on my parents, too.

I love promoting truly local businesses, especially these tiny operations that don’t generate a lot of publicity in the traditional ways. This place is amazing. Please eat there, all of you, so they will stay in business and we can eat there whenever we want! You will not regret it!

Delia’s is located at 105 Porter Street, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379 (near Wal-Mart). You can reach them at 423-521-7145. They are open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. At this time, they do not have a website or Facebook page. I have sent the menu to Urbanspoon to be uploaded onto their Urbanspoon page, but here it is for you!

Taco Mamacita, Vegetarian-Style-December 23, 2011

December 28, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

An upclose and personal view of the Freakin' Vegan

And the inside of the avocado taco

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

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

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

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

Hillbilly’s-December 22, 2011 (CLOSED)

December 26, 2011

December 16, 2012: Hillbilly’s is closed. They’ve actually been closed for a few months now, and I thought I had either updated this post to reflect that or deleted it….but apparently I was wrong. The former location is now “Hixson Pike Diner”, which opened last month. If it lasts I’ll give it a try one of these days!

Okay, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that when a restaurant named “Hillbilly’s” opened at the former location of Backyard Burgers in Hixson, I had myself a good laugh. Not too sure about that name, and the location just didn’t seem great to me. Not too much action in that area, you know? Anyway, a few months back a friend posted on Facebook that he was at Hillbilly’s, so I asked him what he thought about it. By this time, it had been around for some time-and had even changed locations-so I was beginning to wonder if maybe it wasn’t so bad. My friend, whose opinion I trust when it comes to food, told me, “It’s not Southern Star, but it’s good.” Fair enough. No offense, Hillbilly’s, but it really is tough to beat the Star. So, at that point it was decided that we needed to give Hillbilly’s a try.

The time came last Thursday when we couldn’t make a decision about where to eat lunch. Hillbilly’s was there, it wasn’t crowded, it just made sense. When we walked in, we were immediately greeted by a very friendly server who told us to have a seat and immediately took our drink orders (water) which he quickly brought out in gigantic Mason jars. He told us about the day’s specials-chicken and dumplings and chicken and dressing-which come with two sides and tea. There were other specials on the menu-each day has three or four specials. There’s a massive sandwich menu, including a burger called a quadruple heart attack-three burger patties sandwiched between four grilled cheese sandwiches for $14.75 (or was it $14.95?). Anyway, there was a (rather small) guy there when we got there who actually finished one. What???? Wow.

I pondered ordering a burger for no other reason but that Hillbilly’s sign boasts that they have the best burgers in town…but unless a burger is a restaurant’s specialty, I usually don’t order them on the first try. I like to feel out a restaurant before jumping into the burger world. I decided instead to order one of the specials: a fried chicken breast with green beans, mashed potatoes, and a biscuit. Philip decided on Grandma’s meatloaf with fried okra, mashed potatoes, and cornbread. I went ahead and decided to get the tea that came with the special (Philip passed on it) and thought that their sweet tea was fantastic. These days, I don’t order anything other than water very often, but sweet tea is so easy to mess up. The worst is when a restaurant serves Nestea. This was definitely brewed tea with just the right amount of sweetness. Score!

When our food came, the portion sizes were large but not outrageous. The gravy was brown gravy, which I was just a tiny bit disappointed with-I was hoping for cream gravy. Oh well. I had heard that the mashed potatoes were instant here, but they had lumps and skins in them, and I have yet to encounter a mashed potato with lumps and skins. They were not the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had, but they were fine. The green beans were very tasty, slow cooked and seasoned just right. The chicken was great! It was hot, fresh, and had a nice crispy crust on it. By the way, it was a boneless breast. I know there’s a lot of debate about whether it’s okay to serve fried chicken boneless, but it definitely cuts down on the work you have to do to eat it! My only disappointments were that the biscuit was not homemade, and it was served with “whipped spread”, not butter. You know how I feel about margarine!

Fried Boneless Chicken Breast, Mashed Potatoes (Gravy on the Side), Green Beans, and a Biscuit

Philip was very happy with his meatloaf, which was not chunky (big score!) and had a ketchup sauce (but it wasn’t as good as my meatloaf, which is really tough to beat!). I tasted it and it was really good. He also had the mashed potatoes, and his assessment of it was about the same as mine-good, not the best he’d ever had. He did really like the fried okra, which didn’t have a super-thick breading “jacket” on it and was crispy but not greasy. He also really liked the cornbread, which has been the subject of much debate. The cornbread is more like a cornbread pancake-a Johnnycake if you will-as opposed to the traditional squares of cornbread we’re used to in the South. It was sweet, but not overly so.

Grandma's Meatloaf with Fried Okra, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, and Cornbread

Okay, so as my friend said, Hillbilly’s is not Southern Star, but it’s good southern food from a friendly staff for a decent price. There’s definitely a decent amount of food and a good variety offered. Definitely give it a try if you are looking for southern food in an unassuming atmosphere!

Hillbilly’s is located at 4047 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343 (in the old Huddle House building in the Lupton City area). You can reach them at 423-877-4457. Unfortunately, they don’t have a website or Facebook page, and I was unable to find their hours online (and forgot to look while I was there!). I am pretty sure they are open seven days a week, though.

Tony’s Pasta-December 3, 2011

December 11, 2011

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

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

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

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

Roasted Garlic Ciabatta with Olive Oil

The Perfect Caesar!

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

Spinach and Garlic Ravioli with Sundried Tomato and Artichoke Cream

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

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

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

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

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