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Easy Bistro-July 14, 2013

July 15, 2013

Easy Bistro, an upscale restaurant located in downtown Chattanooga near the Tennessee Aquarium and the Tennessee River, serves amazing brunch!

So Sunday was Philip’s and my twelve-year anniversary! We vacillate between “I can’t believe it’s been twelve years already!” and “It feels like we’ve been married way longer than that (but in a good way)!” Anyway, since it fell on a Sunday, we had to make a choice: go out on our actual anniversary or go out on Saturday so that I could do my usual Sunday morning blog post. Obviously we decided on the former.

We talked a little for a couple of weeks about where we might go for our anniversary but hadn’t really made any solid decisions. It came down between Easy Bistro & Bar and another upscale Chattanooga restaurant that hasn’t been around as long. Since Easy Bistro has been around for so long, I really felt like I needed to go ahead and give them the props and save the other restaurant for my birthday next month. We decided to go for Sunday brunch, which held a few advantages: 1) eliminating the need for me to think of something to make for lunch; 2) less costly; and 3) the brunch menu at Easy Bistro. Oh. My. Goodness.

Easy Bistro & Bar was opened by chef-owner Erik Niel in 2005 as Easy Seafood Bistro and Bar (I’m not sure when they dropped the word “seafood” from the name). Reading some of the articles listed in the news section of the restaurants websites, I found that prior to opening Easy, Niel worked in the kitchens of some of Chattanooga’s other well-known restaurants, including Southside Grille (which gave way to the now-closed Niko’s some years ago) and St. John’s. Philip and I had given Easy Bistro a try before-and liked it-but that was before the inception of Chattavore (2009 maybe? Or 2010? It was for another anniversary, that much I remember.) so it was definitely time to go back, especially since a friend had fairly recently highly recommended that I go back and write a blog post based on her own fantastic filet mignon experience.

We arrived a few minutes early. We have a habit of doing that…we are habitually punctual and we like to park far away. However, if you are not a far-away parker, there is valet parking for $7, which sure is convenient and is offered Thursday through Sunday. In our reservation we had requested a seat by the window (for picture takin’), and a seat by the window we got.

If you haven’t been to Easy Bistro….let me start by saying that it’s gorgeous. The ceilings are impossibly high and the walls are an impossibly shade of dark-black, to be precise. White trim and a cool panel of mirrors with accents of muted colors everywhere scream simple, contemporary, and beautiful (Chef Niel’s wife Amanda-who sat behind me in high school speech class-has a background in design so there you go). The new chevron chairs on the patio? Oh my. This place is a sight.

We were quickly greeted by our server, Christian, who brought us our waters and then asked us if we had any questions about the menu or did we perhaps want to order something from the bakery? Why yes, Christian, yes we do want to order something from the bakery. At only $3 each, we’ll take a cinnamon roll and an order of beignets, to be exact. I. Love. Cinnamon rolls. I can’t believe I haven’t made them for you here, but today got me thinking that I need to start a sweet roll series or something. But this isn’t about me, so I’ll shut up about that…and anyway, after eating this cinnamon roll, I’m not sure that mine will ever measure up. This was far and away the best cinnamon roll I have ever had, slathered with a warm swath of gooey cream cheese icing, somehow managing to be a little crisp on the outside but soft and buttery on the inside. How do you do it, Easy Bistro? How? The beignets (round doughnuts, native to Louisiana, drenched in powdered sugar…and another item I can’t believe I haven’t made for you yet-I’ve got to get cracking!) were just as delicious, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside just as the cinnamon roll was, with a light lemony flavor and not too much powdered sugar (the traditional “way” is to put them in a bag with powdered sugar and shake shake shake, which is delicious but quite messy). We had to stop, though, so we’d have space for our meal, but we had Christian box them up (we are not too proud to bring home our leftovers…those could not be wasted, and I just ate the rest of that cinnamon roll for breakfast).

Besides the bakery items, the brunch menu at Easy Bistro includes starters like yogurt & fruit and a blue cheese tartine (sort of open-faced baguette sandwich), traditional brunch items (steak & eggs, eggs Benedict, omelettes, etc., etc.), a selection of coffees and some “branchy” cocktails (like mimosas and bloody Marys), as well as soups and salads, some sandwiches (braised brisket, a burger), and a few additional entrées like fish tacos, shrimp & grits, and moules frites (mussels & fries). I really considered the fish tacos and briefly thought about the brisket sandwich, but ultimately the decision came down between eggs Benedict and the smoked bacon & mushroom omelette (which came with a salad with champagne vinaigrette). My craving for a good rich Hollandaise won the battle, though, so eggs Benedict it was. And my, what an eggs Benedict! Two oversized English muffin halves (Thomas brand-I asked in hopes that maybe they were made in house), perfectly toasted and topped with lightly browned Canadian bacon, tomato slices, perfectly poached eggs (see the picture of the oozy egg below to see just what a perfectly poached egg looks like), and a beautiful Hollandaise. One bite and I was sold….and then I ate the whole thing. The English muffin was wonderfully crisp around the edges, the Canadian bacon lending a delicious saltiness contrasting with the sharp tang of the Hollandaise, which had a little bit of spice to it, and the tomatoes were a nice touch that added a warm, soft touch to the whole dish. Perfection…wow.

Unlike me, Philip had no real consideration. We had checked out the brunch menu the night before as we made a decision about whether to go for brunch or for dinner, and the eggs Norwegian had caught his eye: toasted English muffin with smoked salmon, a tender lettuce, poached eggs, and Hollandaise. The smoky flavor of the salmon was, like the Canadian bacon, an excellent pairing with the sharp richness of the Hollandaise, the eggs adding a nice oozy bite to the whole thing and the lettuce lent a little bit of crunch. Philip’s dish did not have quite as much Hollandaise as mine but it was still plenty and he too ate the whole thing. We were both surprised at how full we were after finishing our meals, though we weren’t nearly as stuffed as we no doubt would have been had we gone for dinner. For $37 before tip, not too bad.

Easy Bistro was a perfect choice for our anniversary meal. The atmosphere was lovely and the menu flawless. I can’t wait to go back for dinner, perhaps to test that filet that my friend was raving about and definitely to check out the sticky toffee pudding that I saw on the dessert menu. If you are looking for an upscale meal in a beautiful setting with lots of local love (the website provides a list of many local farms with which Chef Niel partners), definitely give Easy Bistro & Bar a try!

Easy Bistro & Bar is located at 203 Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. They are open for dinner Monday-Saturday, 5-10 p.m. and Sunday 5-9 p.m. and for brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m. You can call them at 423-255-1121 or email at host@easybistro.com and you can also make reservations on their website, http://easybistro.com. You can “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Tremont Tavern Revisit-June 20, 2013

June 24, 2013

Tremont Tavern is a wildly popular bar and neighborhood hangout in North Chattanooga that many say has the best burgers in town.

When I wrote my Friday list about my Top Five Burgers in Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago, a few very strong opinions were expressed. Every. Single. One. of those opinions was in favor of Tremont Tavern.

Philip and I went to Tremont last spring. We really liked it, and I made them second on my list. The caveat, though, was the fact that since our most recent visit was before Tremont started grinding and patting their own beef, we hadn’t really had a burger from their, at least not the burgers that they are serving now. So, I resolved that I would return to Tremont and my mind was changed, I would update my list to reflect that. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may have noticed that I did, in fact, update my list this past Friday to show that Tremont now has what I consider the best burger in Chattanooga. It’s that extra step of cutting and grinding their own meat that really sets them apart from everyone else. They take a whole shoulder clod (sounds like a lovely piece of meat, right?), cut away all the unsavory stuff (the stuff that just gets ground up really fine at the factory), grind the meat and the fat separately, then weigh them into an 80/20 mix.

So anyway, I knew I had to get back. We waited until after lunch-rush time…the space at Tremont is pretty small and I’ll tell you, I have to be pretty patient in my professional life. I try to avoid situations that require a lot of patience (e.g. waiting at restaurants) outside of my classroom whenever possible. One o’clock on Thursday turned out to be a pretty good time. Our friend Brian, who also accompanied us to Merv’s, went with us.

It was difficult for me to decide what to order. Last time that we went, I had the pimento burger, with pimento cheese, onion straws, and bread & butter pickles. While it was amazing, I wanted to try something different. The Coltrane, with a fried egg on top, was tempting, but I was also interested in the Gouda, with smoked gouda, onion straws, and barbecue sauce. My friend Matt had recommended it, and anything with smoked cheese is pretty much perfect in my book. Our server (there were actually two girls serving us, and I regret that I didn’t get either of their names) told me that the Coltrane was a good “hangover burger” but that the Gouda was probably the most popular burger on the menu….so I went for it. It was pretty much perfect. Messy, drippy, sticky, and delicious. I had to wash my hands after eating it. It was gigantic, and I ate all of it. Luckily I don’t eat like this every day! The barbecue sauce was perfect with the onion straws and a great match for the smoked cheese. Not overdone but just righ, with the Niedlov’s bun soft enough to absorb some of the juice from the burger and structured enough to not fall apart. Last time we came I had the housemade chips, so this time I tried the beer-battered fries. They were pretty good, but I liked the chips better, and I ate so much burger that I didn’t have too much room for fries!

Philip contemplated getting the jalapeno Jack burger (which he had last time) again, but ultimately decided that the Dirty Gomez (don’t think I didn’t look at that name twenty times to make sure I typed the write thing!) sounded too awesome to pass up. 50/50 beef and housemade chorizo, with avocado and queso fresco. This started out as a special (Tremont has a “burger of the day” every day) and ended up being so popular that they put it on the menu. When he bit into it, the first words out of Philip’s mouth were, “Oh dear sweet Baby Jesus!” That good. I tried it…I don’t normally care too much for sausage, but it was quite good, just a little bit spicy but not too much so, with the taste of peppers in the background. He had the tots….he loves tots.

Brian had the jalapeno Jack, with fresh jalapeno, bacon, ancho cilantro dressing, pepperjack cheese, green leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, and red onion, and chose corn chowder (the soup of the day) as his side. He was extremely happy with his burger, which I described in more detail in my last Tremont post, and liked the corn chowder a lot as well (though he did douse it with hot sauce). I don’t like to spend a lot of time harassing my friends for details about their food, but he was definitely happy and did remark that he liked the Tremont burger more than he liked the Merv’s burger (which he still really liked).

We spent several minutes chatting with Dustin, the owner of Tremont Tavern, about their new(ish) practice of grinding their own meat. Apparently lots of other restaurants were starting to use the same preformed Black Angus patties that they were using and they decided that they needed to step it up a notch to set themselves apart from the other guys. They have certainly done just that, and I’d say that there aren’t too many other restaurants-especially not restaurants quite this tiny-that have such a fiercely loyal customer base.

If you love burgers and you’ve never been to Tremont Tavern, try them out….you just may become their next loyal customer.

Tremont Tavern is located at 1203 Hixson Pike, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-266-1996. You can “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

212 Market-June 15, 2013

June 16, 2013

212 Market is a Southern cooking spot in downtown Chattanooga, near the Tennessee Aquarium, that has been around for many years.

How is it possible to be a food blogger in the town in which you grew up and you’ve never eaten at a restaurant that’s been around for twenty-one years?

I have no idea, but it is.

212 Market has been open in Chattanooga’s downtown since 1992, around the same time that the formerly skid row-ish downtown area was being revitalized with the opening of the Tennessee Aquarium and lots of beautification projects. Back in the eighties you didn’t really go downtown unless you had to…say, you worked down there or something. It just wasn’t very smart. In the nineties it was much safer but old habits die hard and my parents didn’t care too much for the downtown area. It wasn’t until late in my high school career when I started going downtown with my friends that people from the suburbs felt safe going downtown.

I remember one of my best friends in high school loving 212 and going there often with her parents, but that was back in the age when lots of casual dining places were opening up in Hixson, starting with Applebee’s then later O’Charley’s and Chilis and those were the kinds of places where my friends and I hung out when we wanted a “nice” dinner, something besides our usual McDonald’s (I am not kidding). I lived downtown for four years while in college but still TGIFriday’s and Taco Mac were more my kind of hangouts. I recall Philip and I discussing going to 212 for our first dating anniversary but it never panned out. And so here we are twenty-one years after the inception of what I would now call an institution in the Chattanooga dining scene and I have finally eaten there (at this point I would say I haven’t been because I generally avoid the fairly congested area around the Aquarium….notice I haven’t blogged about Thai Smile or Hennen’s yet either).

So, we parked at the visitor’s lot at Unum and trekked it down to 212 Market for lunch (not really necessary, as 212 Market is one of the very few restaurants downtown that has free parking on-site for its patrons, but we like to walk). A sign was out detailing their brunch specials and though there were several tables occupied we were immediately seated. While the decor was not what I would call “contemporary”, it wasn’t outdated either. It was nice and comfy, and the first thing that I noticed was the Fiesta saucers on the table for bread. One of 212’s missions is to be as local as possible, and with the made in the USA Fiesta dishes they are really proving their point. We were given a brunch menu and a lunch menu, and our server Julia arrived very quickly with glasses of water for us, then a basket of focaccia and whole wheat bread. The bread is house made and had good flavor, though Philip and I agreed that the whole wheat bread was not really the kind of bread that is best served in a bread basket (a little too heavy/hearty).

Philip and I were both grabbed initially by the eggs Benedict on the brunch menu, but as usual decided against the brunch because we had already eaten eggs at breakfast. Honestly, I don’t even remember much else of what was on the brunch menu…I wish I had taken a picture of it! There is also a pretty comprehensive salad & starter menu, including a Mediterranean salad with hummus and quinoa tabbouleh, a strawberry and chèvre (goat cheese) salad, a bison spring roll (including locally-raised bison), and the obligatory Caesar salad. The spinach salad sounded particularly delicious with apples, gorgonzola, bacon, and spiced pecans dressed with orange-basil vinaigrette.

I wasn’t in it for a salad, though. While the burger with Alabama dry-aged beef sounded delicious, I was torn between the grilled pimento cheese sandwich and the signature spinach and walnut ravioli primavera. I asked Julia for her recommendation and she told me that both were very good….but from her descriptions, I could tell that her preference was for the pimento cheese sandwich. In fact, I felt that she threw down the gauntlet when she told me that their pimento cheese was the best that she had ever had…so I ordered it, with bacon, lettuce, and tomato, per her recommendation. She sounded a little less biased about the sides (which are $2 with a sandwich). Ultimately I decided to have the fruit…I definitely needed something besides fries, and I felt that fresh fruit would not compete with my sandwich. The fruit consisted of thinly sliced apples, kiwi, bananas, and nectarines, quartered strawberries, grapes, and and orange wedge. The fruit was very fresh and tasty, though I would have liked just a little more, or perhaps for it to be more of a “fruit salad” amalgam (I love a good fruit salad!). The sandwich was grilled to the point that the cheese was melty and drippy, but the outside of the sandwich was not greasy as it can sometimes be. While the bacon was included on the sandwich when I got it, the lettuce and tomato were on the side. The pimento cheese had shreds of cheddar and finely diced pimentos in it as well as green onions, which added a little zip to it. It was indeed among the best pimento cheese I’ve had at a restaurant…but not better than mine (sorry, 212). While, as I mentioned before, I thought the whole wheat bread was a little too “hearty” for a bread basket, I thought that it was an excellent sandwich bread.

Philip was seriously torn about his entrée. He thought the burger sounded amazing, but they had shrimp and grits on the menu and it is very difficult for him to pass up shrimp and grits. Julia told him that the dry-aged beef on the burgers was something that they had substituted once for the more local beef from Sequatchie Cove they used to make their burgers with, and their regular customers raved that they needed to keep the dry-aged beef on the menu…so they did. However, she stated that the shrimp and grits was one of her favorite items on the menu, the recipe of the Charlestonian grandmother of a former chef. While the sauce was not cream-based as he generally prefers (the grits were, though), Philip decided to take a chance and go for the grits: wild caught shrimp, Falls Mill stoneground grits, Link 41 andouille, black-eyed pea salsa, and fried green tomatoes. The shrimp were gigantic and very well-cooked, the andouille perfect (of course, Link 41 can do no wrong in our opinion), and the fried green tomatoes delicious…hand-coated in a cornmeal breading and fried to golden perfection. While the grits were loose, not in a fried grit cake form as Philip generally preferred, he was able to concede that while they were not the style of shrimp and grits that reeled him in or made shrimp and grits one of his favorite meals, they were still quite delicious.

Our final total was $26. Not too bad for a fine-dining restaurant, though we were definitely tempted to check out the dessert menu (since we had coconut ice cream and brown butter chocolate chip cookies at home, we figured we better abstain). 212 Market is definitely one of the most local restaurants around, making an amazing effort to source as many items as possible locally. With a registered dietician (Maggie Moses, one of the owners) consulting with them on their menu, they are able to offer many healthy options including clearly indicated gluten-free and vegetarian options. They are also a very “green” restaurant, practicing recycling and composting, sending scraps to local farmers to be fed to livestock, and sending leftover food to the Food Bank. They also have solar panels on the roof and electric car charging stations in the parking lot (and, need I point out again-FREE PARKING FOR PATRONS?!?!). They offer seasonal menus (allowing them to make the most of seasonal produce) as well as daily specials. I have no idea how it took us twenty-one years to try this place out, but I don’t think it will be another twenty-one years until we come back.

212 Market is a great place to try if you’re in Downtown Chattanooga!

212 Market is located at 212 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. They are open for lunch from 11-3 daily and for dinner Monday-Thursday, 5-9:30, Friday and Saturday, 5-10, and Sunday 5-9. You can call them at 423-265-1212. Check out their website, http://www.212market.com. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Food Love from Scratch at Dish T’Pass

June 11, 2013

Dish T’Pass is a cooking school and catering company located in downtown Chattanooga and serving up “Food Love From Scratch”.

Back in November I got a new follower on Twitter who piqued my interest. Her name was Amanda Varnell and her website was http://dishtpass.com. I was intrigued by the domain name and decided to do a little investigation…and discovered that Dish T’Pass was the name of a catering company and soon-to-be-cooking-school in Chattanooga. How had I not heard of this before? I sent Amanda a direct message and we decided that it was imperative that we get together for a chat. I headed down to their location on 6th Street that weekend (Small Business Saturday, to be exact) with my camera in tow.

Sarah Hooper, Amanda’s business partner, was not there when I was visiting, but Amanda was kind enough to give me the rundown of exactly what it was they were trying to do. Dish T’Pass began as CookingLIVE, a catering & cooking instruction operation that Amanda started in 2006 and Sarah joined a little later down the road. After several doors of opportunity shut, it became apparent that the proverbial window had been opened at the former location of the St. Barnabas nursing home, which was being turned into the Chattanooga WorkSpace-a space for local artists. Food is art, of course, and Amanda and Sarah immediately fell in love with the well-worn kitchen, seeing beyond the ceiling caked with grease from years of use and the industrial-sized fryer to see the potential of a space that, it turns out, was perfect for their dream to become a reality (I took “before” pictures but they did not turn out well).

Dish T’Pass opened for business in this location in December 2012. Because of all the construction in the WorkSpace, they couldn’t immediately begin offering cooking classes…but this provided the perfect opportunity for them to really begin expanding their catering business. They have built up a sizable clientele among the downtown lunch crowd, with several offices coming to them again and again for their fabulous boxed lunches, which include amazing sandwiches (made on Bread Basket bread), chips, fruit, a scratch-made cookie, and a drink.

Eventually they were able to open their space up to begin serving lunch from each day, including sandwiches, salads, and a hot option. They do their best to accommodate their customers special requests, something that they are, as moms, used to doing. The food that they serve is made from scratch, with love, and Amanda and Sarah are determined that while they want their business to grow, they never want to get to the point where the quantity affects the quality of the food they are able to provide.

A very attractive feature of Dish T’Pass is their FoodLove case. Teeming with small, single-serving items like Coke products, fruit, and Greek yogurt as well as family-sized servings of stuffed peppers, “Olive You” bread, baked potato halves, and take & bake cookie dough (made in-house, of course), the FoodLove case was a study in resistance for me. I already had dinner planned but so badly wanted to bring home some of their smoky chicken salad or maybe some of their bacony pimento cheese for dinner. I did not do so that day, but I plan on going back for lunch very soon and will probably be bringing home a few things from the case when I do.

Since construction has slowed on their building and they have firmly established their catering business, lunch service, and grab-and-go case, Amanda and Sarah started in May focusing on building their cooking school. They have a variety of classes on the schedule, including a grilling workshop, a kids’ camp series, and several teen classes. Their classes geared toward kids and teens are meant to be fun but also provide real, functional skills that can be applied to getting an actual meal on the table. And guess what!?! Yours truly may be teaching a food photography class soon!

Dish T’Pass has been a true labor of love for these ladies and when you talk to them about it you can sense that this place is a part of them.

It’s truly the fulfillment of their dream. From their beautiful logo and the handwritten chalkboard calendar in the kitchen to the floral table runners and the scratch-made items in the FoodLove case, Amanda and Sarah have thought out every detail of this space, this menu, this business…and it shows.

Dish T’Pass is located at 302 W. 6th Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (in the Chattanooga WorkSpace building and former location of St. Barnabas). They are located toward the back of the building on the side and have their own separate entrance as well as some parking spaces allotted for them. You can call them at 423-309-5353 or email for more info at Foodlove@dishtpass.com. You can read more about Amanda and Sarah, check out their class schedule, and find out details about their catering services, menu, and boxed lunches at their website, http://www.dishtpass.com. You can “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter and Pinterest.

Merv’s-June 5, 2013

June 9, 2013

Merv’s is a dive bar located in Red Bank, Tennessee that claims to serve the best burgers in Tennessee. Here’s what I thought.

Boy, I found out on Friday just how passionate people are about burgers. For starters, my “Chattanooga’s Top 5 Burgers According to Chattavore” post garnered me my biggest blog day thus far (and that’s in 2 years of writing this blog!). Second, I definitely stirred a few people up on Facebook. They did not agree with my opinion. That’s the beauty of blogging, though. I can write my opinion, you can write yours. Maybe I’ll change my mind, maybe not. No matter, really. Burgers are…a good thing.

The reason I start with that is because since I was student teaching in the fall of 2000 I have been hearing about the awesome burgers at Merv’s. My cooperating teacher was actually the first to tell me, and I have heard it from many, many since. The restaurant claims, in fact, to serve not just Chattanooga’s best burger but Tennessee’s best burger. As I mentioned in Friday’s post, Philip and I lived in an apartment complex on Mountain Creek Road for the first year that we were married and we never made it to Merv’s. That was a different time for me, though, and if I wanted a burger I probably went to the Burger King just a little bit farther down Mountain Creek. For shame.

My excuse for not going sometime between moving away from Mountain Creek Road in 2001 and now? I thought Merv’s was a bar and thus a smoky environment. I guess that at some point in the past this probably was the case, but (maybe because of the smoking ban that rendered the under-21 crowd unable to enter a smoking-allowed-establishment) Merv’s may be a “bar” (as in they serve beer and have darts and pool) but it is not a smoky joint. Look, they have a kids’ menu. You’re safe. I knew that if I was going to write about my opinion about Chattanooga’s top burgers, I was going to have to check out Merv’s first, so Philip and I invited one of his friends to have dinner with us at Merv’s.

First impressions? The parking lot kind of sucks. All of the spaces were full when we got there and there were actually two cars that had created their own spaces at the end. We could have made another space by the telephone pole but instead we parked kind of caddy-cornered across the street in the parking lot of the former Food Lion. I’m all about far-away parking. It’s exercise you don’t really have to think about. There are booths and tables inside, plus a bar (of course) and televisions playing various sports channels. It’s a pretty big place, sparsely decorated, with a jukebox and a crowd of people who are obviously regulars. I actually saw the servers hug a couple of people as they were leaving. One server took our drink order, but then she ended up behind the bar (and eventually in the kitchen, I think) and another very friendly girl whose name I regret I didn’t get brought our drinks out.

The menu consisted of several fried appetizers, several sandwiches (including a BLT with eight-that’s right, eight-strips of bacon), plate dinners, salads, and, of course, the burgers. I really wanted to try the fried pickles (which a friend had told me were good) but at $6.95 they cost as much as the burgers, so no…..There really was no question about what we were going to have. We went for burgers, and burgers we would have. We asked the server for recommendations about the burgers, and she recommended the bacon cheeseburger hands down. That’s what all three of us ordered (mine without onions, of course). We considered the onion rings, but since she told us that they were frozen, not homemade like the fries are, we decided to go with fries instead. She promised the large basket would be plenty for all three of us. Just as an aside…they also make homemade chips….but have bags of Lay’s and other packaged chips on a shelf behind the bar. Why someone would buy bagged chips when homemade are available is beyond me. Anyway….

It took maybe a little longer than we expected for the burgers to come out, but not really a long time. No big deal. They came out with a cup of ketchup on the side of each. The burgers were large but not the biggest I’ve seen and served on a standard sesame seed bun. Nothing fancy here. They were topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayo, mustard, and ketchup. The burgers were cooked through without being overdone, juicy and just verging on greasy but not overwhelmingly so. While I consider a Tubby’s burger a 10-napkin burger, this was more of a 4-napkin burger….but that’s not a bad thing, because sometimes it can get a little ridiculous. The bun was grilled, giving it a crunchy edge, which I liked but Philip thought that was the only problem (but he just doesn’t like grilled bread or buns)-so if you don’t like grilled bread/buns, be sure to ask them not to grill yours. She wasn’t lying about the basket of fries being large….it was a large basket of fries and between me and two grown men we still had at least one or two servings left in the basket when we were done. I liked the fries, which had the skin left on. They were cooked well but not overly crisp, which is just how I like my skin-on fries. I did not feel that they were very greasy. I did, however, think they could have used a little more salt.

Merv’s is a dive, but it’s not scary or shady at all. The burgers are great. I’d be interested to try some of their other menu items but I seriously doubt I could ever bring myself to order anything else. The prices are about average. The beer list leaves something to be desired if you aren’t into cheap beer…they did have Sam Adams, Yuengling, Killian’s, and Shock Top….but other than that it was your standards…Bud, High Life, etc. We split the fries with our friend and the total for Philip’s and my meal was around $17 before tip. Not a bad price, since we were just discussing the other day that unless we go to a fast food place we generally expect to pay at least $30 once the tip is factored in. If you are looking for a good burger and fries at a decent price in the Red Bank/Signal Mountain Road area, Merv’s is a great choice (and let’s be honest, if Sofa King wants their food to be competitive with Merv’s and Tubby’s that close by, they need to step up their game)!

Merv’s is located at 713 Mountain Creek Road, Chattanooga (Red Bank), TN 37405. You can call them at 423-877-0221. They have a website (which is really just a menu with contact info and a map): http://www.mervsofchatt.com/Mervs_Restaurant_Chattanooga_TN.html. There are links on the website to Facebook and Twitter, but the Facebook link just takes you to the homepage and they only have one tweet…so right now I would really bother with the social media.

Update 2/14: Merv’s flooded not too terribly long after this post went up last summer. They were closed for remodeling for a very long time, with rumors floating around that they were permanently closed (I saw this on Urbanspoon, of all places!). Good news! The rumors were false. As of last week, Merv’s is reopened for business!

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