By Type Archives - Page 19 of 37

1885 Grill (Chattanooga/St. Elmo)

September 8, 2013

1885 Grill is a great restaurant in the St. Elmo area of Chattanooga with fantastic food and a heart for the community of Downtown Chattanooga.

I have been wanting to try 1885 Grill really badly ever since it opened in June. I have no idea why it took me three months to get down there. We considered going for my birthday a few weeks ago, but since the original plan was to go to Elemental, we stuck with that. Anyway, 1885 is connected to Tremont Tavern (in Chattavore’s opinion, the spot for Chattanooga’s best burger) by a common co-owner and is located in the former Blacksmith’s Bistro location in St. Elmo, next door to the former location of Pasha Coffee and Tea. They have done quite a good business since opening, and I had heard that they are almost always busy-no doubt in part due to the fact that they are only open for dinner through the week (open for lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch only on Sunday), but surely also due to some great food, I was confident. While I read some mixed reviews of 1885 Grill on Urbanspoon (their overall rating is 87%, though), I had heard nothing but good things from friends and family members who had already eaten there.

We got to 1885 Grill at around 2 p.m. and the place was still pretty crowded-the lunch crowd had not yet thinned out. We were seated at one of the last available tables on the patio. It was a nice day to sit outside-not too hot-but we weren’t really thinking about the fact that, of course, the patio is the smoking section. That was our one “issue”, if you could call it that, but then that’s our own fault, isn’t it? I did go inside to use the restroom but didn’t really pay much attention to the decor. The inside dining area was fairly dimly lit with very simple, clean decor but that’s about as much as I noticed.

Our server, Victoria, quickly came to our table and brought water glasses and a bottle of water that she left on the table. She ran down the specials (a fish special, the name of which I can’t remember, and an eggplant sandwich) and strongly suggested the pimento cheese appetizer, which, of course, we had already decided to order (we did consider ordering the empanadas instead, but this is Chattavore and if there is pimento cheese to be had, well, pimento cheese must be had). Apparently this is far and away their most popular appetizer, and I can see why…though I think it may have more to do with the fried okra served alongside the pimento cheese than the spread itself. The okra is cut lengthwise and has more of a cornmeal batter than a cornmeal breading. It is cooked very well-not slimy at all, as okra tends to be-and I would call it the best restaurant fried okra I’ve ever had. It’s so very, very difficult to find a restaurant that serves housemade (not frozen) fried okra, and I get tired of being served okra in a breading jacket. Now, I don’t mean at all to imply that I didn’t like the pimento cheese-I liked it a lot. Like me, they use a cream cheese base, with big chunks of pimento and a grated white cheddar. They also use smoked paprika and minced jalapeño to add another element of flavor-but don’t worry, it’s just a little spicy. Wimpy tastebuds like mine can handle it!

My brother had told me that the pork chop (glazed with Red Delicious apples and a choice of two sides) was excellent and I thought hard about ordering it, but in the end the Country Cuban sandwich won. I posted a Cuban sandwich in the very early days of my blog (if you look at that post, please excuse the photography! Philip has encouraged me to leave old photos so I can remember where I came from.) and I love a good Cuban. The “Country Cuban” is a grilled sandwich, served on sliced Niedlov’s Cuban bread, with sliced roast pork, country ham, white cheddar, thinly sliced dill pickles, grainy mustard, and housemade chips (squeal!) on the side. The sandwich was very large and packed with ingredients. It was grilled but not greasy with a good balance of ingredients. I loved the country ham, though I can’t say that I loved the roast pork. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t “grab” me. I could only eat half of the sandwich and as I’m typing this six hours later I am wondering if I should eat something even though I’m not really hungry so I won’t be starving at bedtime. The chips were amazing. Let me say that again. The chips were amazing. You guys know how I feel about housemade chips. They were great!

Philip ordered the shrimp and grits, which, if I am not mistaken, are made using the recipe of co-owner Miguel Morales’s mother (as are many of the dishes at the restaurant). They offer a choice of loose grits or grit cakes, and of course Philip ordered grit cakes. He prefers grit cakes 500%. There were three grit cakes but they weren’t huge with a crunchy coating on the outside. There was a good ratio of shrimp to grit cakes and not a ton of sauce-the shrimp and the grits were the star players and the sauce had a supporting role. His verdict was that these were not quite as good as those served at the now-defunct Market Street Tavern (which, coincidentally, was also co-owned by Tremont Tavern and 1885’s Dustin) but better than those at FoodWorks (his other favorite) which he said has a lot of very rich sauce that, while it tastes really good, leaves him feeling a little icky after. He did think that the addition of some sort of ham (like the Tasso ham used at FoodWorks) would have kicked it up a notch…but congratulations, 1885 Grill. According to my husband, your shrimp and grits are now the best in Chattanooga.

We were already sold on 1885 Grill, but the thing that has sealed this place as far as our business goes was not related to the food-at least not as far as the flavors are concerned. While we were eating our appetizer, a lady came and sat down at the empty table next to us. She had three children with her and told us that she didn’t have any money to buy food for them. We don’t generally carry cash and Philip told her that while we didn’t have any money to give her for groceries, we would buy her something to eat and she accepted, so we asked a nearby server for a menu. A few minutes later Miguel brought the menu out to us and Philip explained that we were going to buy them some food, to which Miguel replied, “Don’t worry about that-we’ve got it,” and took the lady’s order. One of the managers also brought them drinks. After the lady left, Philip commented to the manager, Katie, that he was very impressed that they gave her food. Katie told us that she felt like if they have a kitchen full of food, giving food to someone in need is the right thing to do. That, my friends, is taking care of your community. 1885 Grill earned my respect for not only their food but for their kindness.

Our total, pre-tip, was about $32 plus some change. Personally, I am looking forward to trying their pork chop at some point as well as some of their fish dishes, which I have also heard are excellent (again from my brother, who typically doesn’t even like fish).

I highly recommend that you give 1885 Grill your support. Good people like that deserve our business.

1885 Grill is located at 3914 St. Elmo Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37409. You can call them at 423-485-3050. Their hours are Monday-Wednesday 4 p.m. – 10 p.m., Thursday – Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The parking behind the building is very limited but there is overflow parking across the street. There are “no parking” signs in the spaces but we talked to Victoria about this and she explained that the businesses across the street are not open when 1885 is open so it works out well. Check out 1885’s website, http://1885grill.com. You can also like them on Facebook: facebook.com/1885Grill and follow them on Twitter: @1885grill.

Blue Orleans-August 31, 2013

September 1, 2013

Blue Orleans is a New Orleans-inspired Creole restaurant in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, opened by a family displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

So, when I wrote about Enzo’s Market a few weeks ago I believe that I mentioned that we were actually planning to try Blue Orleans but they are not open for lunch. They open at 4:00 p.m., so we decided yesterday to head there again with our friend Rachel for an early dinner. We got there about 4:30 and were the first patrons in the restaurant, so we were of course seated immediately.

Blue Orleans is a New Orleans-inspired Creole restaurant in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, opened by a family displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The walls are brick, the floors hardwood, and the tables shiny wood. The restaurant is decorated with fleur de lis and some Saints gear, but nothing gaudy (which is what you often find in Creole/Cajun restaurants). It’s a nice, tastefully decorated place, smaller than we imagined based on the outside.

Our server, who was lovely (and I believe my have been one of the owners), took our drink order. They serve 20-ounce bottled Coke products for $2.00 each (this is the second place we’ve been in the last month that serves bottled drinks-unusual indeed), unsweetened tea, beer, wine, and of course water. Philip and I ordered water and Rachel decided on unsweetened tea. One thing I can say is that they kept our drinks full to the top! Our server and another very, very friendly lady came around frequently to refill our glasses. Philip tried to talk us into some gator bits but Rachel and I weren’t convinced….plus at $9 they were a little steep. That was one issue that I had-the menu items were priced pretty high, with the least expensive entrée being a $12 po’boy and they quickly went up from there.

I decided on the shrimp po’boy, “dressed” (remoulade, lettuce, tomato, and pickle). The sandwich was huge, served on a large portion of French bread with breaded fried shrimp, shredded iceberg lettuce, and pickle chips. The shrimp were large and well-cooked, not chewy or gummy. The remoulade lent a bit of spiciness but was not overly spicy. The sandwich was a little “bready” and I ended up pulling a lot of the excess bread off, but it was still pretty good. I ordered Cajun fries with it; the fries were obviously from frozen, but I appreciated that they were not overly doused with Cajun spices like some that I’ve had…just enough to give them a mild spice.

Philip went way authentic (that’s sarcasm) and got a black and blue Orleans burger, which is topped with bacon and blue cheese and dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayonnaise. This was really one of the largest burgers I’ve ever seen…it looked like one of those truck stop burgers that if you eat the whole thing they put your picture on the wall (by the way, Philip would have gotten his picture on the wall). The burger took up almost the whole bun, though, like me, Philip did pull a bit of the bread off. I wouldn’t call the burger itself a masterpiece…I don’t think there was anything “special” about the meat, but Philip did really like the combination of bacon and blue cheese with the other toppings. Philip got regular fries, which were just the same frozen shoestring fries that I had but just salted, not seasoned-nothing special but not bad either.

Rachel decided on the shrimpalaya-spiced cajun rice with sliced andouille sausage and seasoned sautéed shrimp. It was a pretty generous portion. Like my shrimp, Rachel’s shrimp was well-cooked, not chewy or gummy. The sausage was mildly spicy but not overwhelming. I tasted the rice and found it to also be well-cooked, not mushy or sticky and also not hard or crunchy, and it was spicy without being overwhelming (by the way, I need to get my aunt’s recipe for jambalaya to share with you guys!).

We decided to get some beignets to share for dessert. I love beignets, but, believe it or not, I’ve never made them from scratch. I really should soon. They are yeast-raised and most of the recipes that I’ve found for them contain evaporated milk, which is not an ingredient I generally keep on hand. I used to buy boxes of Café du Monde beignet mix at the grocery store and make them from that….not from scratch but still pretty delicious. Anyway, our server made sure that we were okay with waiting 10-15 minutes for the beignets to be prepared (we were) then brought out dessert plates for us. Beignets are basically yeast doughnuts without a hole. Strips of dough are fried till brown, during which time they puff up, and then they are generously doused with powdered sugar. These were very tasty-yeasty and a good sweet tooth solution without being tooth-achingly sweet.

So my verdict on Blue Orleans? Well, I am going to qualify this by saying that I have basically no experience with Cajun or Creole food. I’ve never been to New Orleans and the only “Cajun” restaurant where I’ve ever eaten before was Meo Mio’s. I’ve made “Cajun” recipes before or ordered “Cajun-seasoned” foods at restaurants. I am no expert. This food was definitely better than what we had at Meo Mio’s, but I have no idea how authentic it was. It was pretty good, but was it worth the price? Eh. I probably won’t go there again just based on the price for what we got. I will say that I thought the atmosphere was really nice, and the staff was very nice. I do believe it’s the only Cajun restaurant in town anymore (correct me if I’m wrong), so if you like Cajun food you’ll have to try it yourself to decide on the authenticity. Have you tried it? What are your thoughts (be nice/constructive and remember my comments policy!)?

Blue Orleans is located at 1463 Market Street (on the corner of Market and Main), Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-757-0088. You can find more information, including the Blue Orleans menu, at the Blue Orleans website. They are open Monday-Wednesday, 4-9 p.m.; Thursday 11-2 p.m. and 4-9 p.m., Friday 11-2 p.m. and 4-10 p.m., and Saturday, 4-10 p.m. (closed Sunday).

Universal Joint Chattanooga

August 11, 2013

Universal Joint Chattanooga is a burger joint located in an old service station near the Hamilton County Courthouse in Downtown Chattanooga.
I don’t remember exactly when it was, but I remember being pretty excited when I heard that the old Pure station on Georgia Avenue was being converted to a burger joint. You know me and burgers…we’re tight. I looked up the company-Universal Joint-and found that they are a small chain, small enough to “qualify” for Chattavore status (I’ll only review very small and regionally specific chains).

For months I drove by the location of Universal Joint Chattanooga every single day on my way to and from work, watching the progress on the outside of the building and wondering when they would open. That day came Thursday and Philip suggested that we attempt to go there this weekend, so we decided to drive by to see how busy they were and make a decision (cause you know we aren’t into playing the waiting game). It was crowded but not packed out, so we parked and walked there, leaving our umbrella in the car (which turned out to be a mistake because the sky opened up and it poured down rain while we were eating, which is why the photos are kind of dark….).

They did not have a hostess doing “seating duty”, which I imagine was due to the fact that there were plenty of tables available both inside and out. Happily, they had a blackboard at the door telling patrons to seat themselves. I really, really wish that all hostess-less restaurants would do this-way to go, UJ. There is lots of outdoor seating-both covered and uncovered-but with the threat of rain we decided it was a better idea to go inside. We chose a seat near the window and were quickly greeted by two different servers, including Sierra, who ended up being our server. She quickly brought out our waters and left us to peruse the menu for a few minutes.

Philip was instantly drawn to the Sunset Dip (smoked tomatillo cheese dip) on the “bar snacks” portion of the menu, which also included edamame with soy-ginger sauce (an unusual offering) and BBQ brisket nachos. There’s also a “group snacks” section that includes loaded fries, spicy egg rolls, sliders, hummus, pimento cheese, and wings. I don’t really get the distinction between “bar snacks” and “group snacks” but I don’t guess it really matters. Anyway, we ordered some of the cheese dip at the same time that we ordered our burgers. We really, really liked the dip. It was a fairly standard cheese dip but had the dang of tomatillo (and we are tomatillo fanatics) and a little bit of spice, which I noticed but Philip didn’t, but his spice radar is much less sensitive than mine. It was not overly spicy…it just had a nice little bite. The chips were not hot, but they were crispy and tasted good. I would definitely order this again.

Now, the menu includes salads, non-burger sandwiches, chicken fingers, and tacos, but come on…this is a burger joint and burgers are obligatory, at least on the first visit. After contemplating the Smokehouse Bacon burger (with bacon, cheddar, Swiss, fried onions, and barbecue sauce) and the Old 1-2 (with “million island”, chopped lettuce & onion, sliced tomato, and American cheese) I settled on the Steinbeck’s Burger (with pimento cheese, bacon, jalapeños, and ranch) with fries. I did ask for the jalapeños on the side…I try not to alter the dish from the creator’s original intention, but I also try not to ruin a dish for myself by ordering something that might be so spicy that I can’t enjoy it (I had a bad curry experience at a favorite restaurant once and it was pretty upsetting that I could barely eat a quarter of my meal). The jalapeños turned out to be pickled anyway, so I didn’t eat them…I just don’t really care for pickled jalapeños much. The burger was good, nice and thick with a good grilled flavor and cooked well. I really liked the pimento cheese, which clearly contained shreds of cheese and which I sampled with my fork before eating the burger. I would eat the pimento cheese by itself, which is indeed a compliment, Universal Joint. I love pimento cheese. The bun was good but not really anything special, which is about where the fries are…I’m pretty sure they were frozen.

Philip got a regular cheeseburger with cheddar and he ordered tots with his burger. He felt about the same way about his burger that I did…it was well-cooked with a good flavor and it had a nice slice of cheddar melted on top (extra points for melting the cheese…not everyone does that, oddly). The tater tots were standard, obviously frozen…but then again, ordering tater tots is like ordering fried okra…chances are it’s going to be frozen. Does anyone know a restaurant that makes their own tots? I want to go there.

The verdict? Good, not great. No, they didn’t shove anyone out of the Top Five. My biggest problem was that our appetizer came out at the same time as our burgers (actually, right after)….and since the burgers took a little while, that meant that our chips and cheese dip came out like twenty minutes or so after we ordered them. I was a little irritated because the wait for the burgers really wouldn’t have seemed that long if we’d had our appetizer; I had to keep reminding myself that they’ve only been open for three days. I’m sure they’ll get their speed of service issues taken care of. Another thing that we noticed was that it was loud in there…after all, it’s an old garage. They might want to consider some modifications to the acoustics in the building to make the noise level a little less overwhelming. Still, it’s a pretty cool atmosphere, the food was pretty good, and the staff was friendly. I am sure they’ll work out their kinks soon. By the way, our total (for 1 regular burger, 1 special burger, and an appetizer) was about $24 pre-tip.

If you’re looking for a burger in Downtown Chattanooga, Universal Joint Chattanooga is definitely a good option.

If you want to check out Universal Joint Chattanooga, they are located at 301 E. 6th Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (across from Unum, near the court house). You can call them at (423) 468-3725. Check out their website: http://www.ujchattanooga.com They reference a Facebook page on their website but it doesn’t appear that the Facebook page for Universal Joint Chattanooga has been established yet…I’ll try to check back soon.

Taqueria Jalisco-August 3, 2013

August 4, 2013

Taqueria Jalisco is a tiny Mexican restaurant just off of Main Street in Downtown Chattanooga. They serve delicious authentic Mexican food.

If you’ve read much of Chattavore, you probably know of my love for this little place in Soddy-Daisy called Delia’s. It’s pretty much ruined me on other Mexican joints in the area. I’ve been hearing so many awesome things about Taqueria Jalisco, just off of Main Street, that I knew I was going to have to check it out and soon. I went to a Mexican restaurant that shall remain unnamed (not Delia’s!) for lunch yesterday (yes, my friends….it’s that time again. School starts back Thursday!), kind of thinking, “Well, I guess I’m going to ruin my appetite for Mexican” but that didn’t happen, so after scooping up a couple of awesome finds at McKay, we headed on over to Taqueria Jalisco.

Now, this place is seriously tiny. We found a parking spot on the street (there’s no parking lot but street parking was pretty abundant) and walked on in. There’s a screened in patio and a small dining room…we grabbed the last table in the dining room and were handed menus. The menu is simple….appetizers, tacos, a handful of entrees, and tortas (Mexican sandwiches). All of the drinks are bottled-bottled water, Pure Sodaworks sodas, Mexican Coke (real sugar!) and Jarritos. Actually, if I had realized that the water was bottled, I would have ordered a Jarritos…I love that stuff!

We also ordered chips & salsa for $3.00. Some of the other appetizers included guacamole and pupusas. The salsa was pretty spicy, but not unbearably so, and very smooth (i.e. not chunky) which is just how I like my salsa. The chips were nice and crisp, unsalted (as they are in most Mexican restaurants). The chips were good, but they did not beat the thick and always freshly cooked chips at Delia’s.

I decided on tacos Mexicanos, with corn tortillas, onion, cilantro, and choice of meat. You can also order tacos Americanos, which are served (obvi) in the American style with cheese and sour cream. For my meat I requested al pastor, which is chunks of pork marinated in a whole bunch of delicious spices, and barbacoa, basically slow-cooked shredded beef. Each taco was served on two corn tortillas with a good portion of meat, plenty of chopped cilantro, and diced white onions. Now, another thing that you know if you read my blog much is that raw onions pretty much reduce me to tears…except here. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason raw onion in Mexican-style tacos does not bother me, and in fact I feel like ordering them without would take away from the flavor. So I leave them on and I’m glad I do. Both meats were delicious, the pork perfectly seasoned and cooked perfectly, not dry in the least, and the barbacoa shredded and seasoned, tasting like the best pot roast you’ve ever eaten. Actually, the special was two tacos with rice & beans for $5.50, so we ordered that and found that their rice and beans were also excellent, very fresh (no skin on top of the beans-score!) and seasoned just right. Delicious.

Philip ordered the same thing as me, except that he ordered his standard chorizo as well as a lengua taco. Yes, that’s right. Beef tongue. He has been wanting to try beef tongue for quite some time and, as it is not exactly an easy-to-find meat…this was his first opportunity. While I do tend to be a bit freaked out by unusual meats (Philip is not and will try anything once), I was adventurous and gave it a try…and it was good! Looking at it you would definitely know that it was not your run-of-the-mill meat, and the texture was different in a way that I can’t really describe (but, in my opinion, not an off-putting way at all) but it was delicious…like the barbacoa, tasting like a great pot roast. Philip really enjoyed it, but his real treat came when he took a bite of the chorizo, immediately proclaiming it to be the best he’d ever had. I tasted it as well and indeed it was delicious and I was a little jealous that I hadn’t ordered it, though I would have had to eat three tacos because no way would I have given up the pastor or the barbacoa taco.

So, we both pretty much licked our plates and then we asked for the one item on the dessert menu: tres leches cake (cake with three milks, duh and yum). Alas, they were out and tears were nearly shed (and we had to have a consolation treat of Biscoff cookies with our afternoon coffee) but our server assured us that it was delicious (thanks for rubbing salt in that wound, buddy!). We’ll have to go back soon to sample it. At $17 and some change pre-tip, it was a pretty good bargain too.

So the verdict….well, it’s a toss-up. Delia’s wins in the chips and salsa category and the location category (you know, since it’s ten minutes from our house) but when I compare their al pastor, barbacoa, and chorizo to Taqueria Jalisco, well….sorry Delia’s. Taqueria Jalisco edges you out by a nose. I’m so glad for some great authentic Mexican restaurants in our area and I can’t wait to visit Taqueria Jalisco again. Go. There.

Taqueria Jalisco is located at 1634 Rossville Avenue (not Boulevard!!!), Chattanooga, TN 37408. You can call them at 423-509-3430. You can also “like” them on Facebook.

Saturday in the Park: Muenster Truck, Chattanooga Brewing Company, and Ice Cream Show

July 21, 2013

How many of you are singing the Chicago song with me now? If you don’t know that song, you are obviously younger than me and let’s never speak of that again. Anyway, it was the twentieth of July, not the Fourth, but close enough.

You may have guessed based on the establishments about which I am writing that the park to which I am referring is Coolidge Park. I had an appointment scheduled yesterday afternoon to do a photo shoot, so when Philip saw on Facebook that the Muenster Truck was going to be at Chattanooga Brewing Company, it seemed logical to both of us to head down for some grilled cheese action.

You may have walked past Chattanooga Brewing Company many times without really even realizing that it was there. Located next door to N2 Shoes, Chattanooga Brewing Co. is only open to the public on Fridays from 5-9 p.m. and typically on Saturdays from 1-9 p.m.(well, these are the stated hours on the front page of their website, though I did notice that their event calendar on the website mentions growler hours starting on Sundays at 3 p.m.), though they opened early yesterday to accommodate grilled cheese eaters. The company originally opened in 1890 (later closing in 1915) and was reopened in 2010, microbrewing a variety of brews right their in their tiny space. Their Imperial Pilsner and Hill City IPA are available year-round and other brews rotate. During their “growler hours” (listed above) you can purchase their fantastic small-batch beers by the glass (or smaller samplers of the whole variety) or in growlers (64 oz.). Chattanooga Brewing Company beers are served in many local establishments-check out the list hanging in their window to find out which ones (I wish I’d taken a photo of it)! Pictured below is their Hill City IPA.

When I first heard of the food truck trend, one of the trucks that really piqued my interest was a Los Angeles truck known simply as The Grilled Cheese Truck, serving plain old grilled cheese sandwiches as well as more unusual offerings like a macaroni & cheese and short rib sandwich. Truth be told (and I may have mentioned this here) I once wanted to open a grilled cheese truck in Chattanooga, but I’m definitely not cut out to be a food truck owner so I’m glad someone else undertook the task.

I was super-excited when I heard a few months ago that Chattanooga was soon to get a grilled cheese truck….and apparently so were a ton of other people because when I went to the Chattanooga Market the Sunday before Independence Day the Muenster Truck was by far the most crowded. The line was a mile long and I was hot and hungry so even though I really wanted a grilled cheese, I was not going to stand in that line (regular readers know that I’d rather gouge my eyes than wait in a superlong line or wait for an hour and a half to be seated in a restaurant). Guru, the Muenster Truck owner, emailed me recently and told me that Center Park tends to be a little less crowded than the market, so my plan was to head down there in the next week or two, but this was the perfect opportunity.

I came extremely close to ordering the Angry Bacons sandwich, which contains two of my favorite things: bacon and avocado (in the form of guacamole) but in the end the smoked gouda of the Dragon Ball Cheese won out. Besides, you can’t go wrong with caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms. Philip decided on the Rocket Italian, with provolone, a spring mix, Italian vinaigrette, and tomatoes. Honestly….any of these sounded delicious, because who doesn’t love a grilled cheese (and coincidentally, I’m going to be sharing some grilled cheese recipes with you guys fairly soon)? When Raj, whom I gathered is the manager of the truck, handed us our sandwiches, the first thing that struck me was the smell. It smelled like a grilled cheese. That may sound strange to some of you, but you dyed-in-the-wool grilled cheese lovers (like myself) will know what I’m talking about. Some food purveyors try to be fancy or modern or “healthy” with their grilled cheese/paninis, brushing or spraying them with olive oil instead of cooking them in butter. This was a true butter-grilled sandwich. Heaven help me.

Raj promised that these sandwiches would fill us up, and let me tell you….he wasn’t lying. The sandwiches were very large and assembled on sturdy but not dense white bread. For you health nuts out there, get over it. As much as I’d love to love a grilled cheese on whole wheat-and do make them myself sometimes-I cannot deny that a proper grilled cheese must be made on white bread…it just turns up the comfort food level a couple of notches. There was a good ratio of cheese to toppings, which can be difficult to achieve. The mushrooms and onions on my sandwich were sautéed very well-to the point that they still had some texture but didn’t give that off-putting crunch of pseudo-caramelized onions that haven’t really been caramelized at all. I was only able to eat about 3/4 of my sandwich.

Like my sandwich, Philip’s had a nice ratio of toppings-including tomato, radicchio, and some more delicate greens-to cheese. This is a great sandwich for someone who likes a little crunch on their grilled cheese, but honestly, my favorite feature of the sandwich was the Italian vinaigrette. I have never thought of putting a vinaigrette on a grilled cheese, but I think it provided a perfect balance between the vegetables and the cheese. Delicious.

At $17 (including 2 bags of Miss Vickie’s chips and 2 bottled waters, of course this is a little more expensive than making a grilled cheese at home, but how many of you have all of the aforementioned ingredients to add to your grilled cheese? You should definitely support the Muenster Truck. To find out their hours and locations, you can check out their website: http://themuenstertruckchattanooga.com/www, like them on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter.

After our lunch (which we ate on a barrel inside Chattanooga Brewing Company) we still had a quite a bit of time to kill before my photo appointment. This provided the perfect opportunity to get a little leisurely exercise by walking across the bridge. We circled Bluff View Art District and then ended up back at the bridge with time to kill, so Philip suggested a stop-in at The Ice Cream Show.

The concept at The Ice Cream Show is seemingly simple-you choose your based (soft serve chocolate or vanilla ice cream or yogurt) and your container (waffle cone or cup) then add mix-ins to your liking (they have a sign with suggestions, which I photographed, but my photo was way blurry. Unfortunately (if you’re indecisive like me anyway), the list of mix-ins was pretty long and it took me a minute…but then I saw green mint and all was right with the world. The cashier suggested one of their combinations-green mint, dark chocolate, and Oreos. It sounded pretty good to me, except the Oreos were unnecessary. Green mint & dark chocolate in vanilla ice cream. Yes. Pretty tasty, though I could only eat about half of it (that was a pretty large container of ice cream!). The green mint chips and dark chocolate chips lent the perfect amount of flavor to the vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm. Philip decided on a chocolate malt, which is pretty much his standard ice cream shop order unless he’s just in the mood for a waffle cone. The malt had a good texture, unlike the malts served at some shops that are not well-mixed and have chunks of malt powder throughout, but the malt flavor was not as strong as he would have liked (note-if you like a strong, bitter malt flavor….ask for extra malt!). Still a pretty decent malt, though-definitely better than many he has had.

Normally $13.75 might seem a little steep to me for ice cream, but when you’re sweating bullets in ninety-degree heat on a July day, it seems perfectly reasonable. The Ice Cream Show is definitely conveniently located at the south end of Walnut Street Bridge and I have no doubt that they do a ton of business in the warm weather months. It’s not Nana’s (because in my opinion no one will ever top Nana’s), but it’ll do. The staff was friendly and the service was quick, and they have a good selection and a nice atmosphere for patrons to cool down from the summer heat.

The Ice Cream Show is located at 129 Walnut Street, Chattanooga, TN 37403. They are open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. You can call them at 423-702-5173 or check out their website: http://www.theicecreamshow.com/TICS/Welcome.html or follow them on Twitter.

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