Southern & Barbecue Archives - Page 4 of 10

Backyard Barbecue Closed

June 29, 2015

Backyard Barbecue was a BBQ restaurant in Soddy-Daisy near the lake. We enjoyed our meal there. Unfortunately, it closed just a couple of months after this review.

There’s a little spot near Soddy Lake that’s been a produce stand for as long as I can remember. I recall going there often as a little girl with my mom as she would buy tomatoes, squash, okra…of course, she knew the owners and they knew us. Small town connections. Anyway, a few years back half of that building was occupied by a restaurant. It’s been a couple of different places, but not all that long ago a BBQ joint, Backyard Barbecue, that had been in Daisy near Wal-Mart (in the old Delia’s location) moved in.

The owner of Backyard Barbecue contacted me a while back via the blog and invited me in. I had every intention of getting there before now, but I’ll be honest…I forget about it when I’m trying to think of somewhere to go. A friend texted me a few weeks ago to tell me that she had enjoyed her meal there, and my sister texted me the same thing this past week. I didn’t have anywhere else in mind for this weekend, so Philip and I decided to head over and get some barbecue.

There were no other patrons in Backyard Barbecue when we arrived around 12:30 or 1:00 on Saturday. The owners’ daughter took our order and promised us that we wouldn’t be disappointed with our meal. The joint is owned by a husband/wife pair; the man wasn’t there when we arrived but came in while we were eating. The lady heard us tell their daughter that we hadn’t been in before and brought us samples of the baked beans and potato salad, which she said were both recipes her husband had developed, to taste.

I didn’t take pictures of the potato salad or the beans; I guess I should have. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll tell you that I wasn’t too sure about the beans. They definitely don’t look like your run-of-the-mill baked beans…they are very dark in color, contain ground meat, and look more like chili than baked beans. I was a little suspicious but needn’t have been. They were delicious! They didn’t taste like run of the mill baked beans either, but I am not really a huge fan of baked beans so that was okay with me. They were sweet, tangy, and just a little bit spicy. The potato salad was actually very similar to the loaded baked potato salad I make (spoiler alert: I already have this recipe ready to post this Wednesday. Coincidence!) with red-skinned potatoes, bacon, and green onions. It was delicious as well. Neither of us ordered beans or potato salad to go with our meals, but we definitely will next time (and you should too!).

I considered getting a sandwich but decided instead to get a platter-meat, 2 sides, a roll, and sauce. I opted for brisket with fries and fried okra. They slice or shred the meat when it is ordered as opposed to having the meat already prepped ahead, allowing the meat to be served as fresh and moist as possible. The brisket was rubbed with a delicious, slightly spicy rub that I assume is made in-house and sliced thinly with the fat cap still intact. It was moist and delicious. Instead of drizzling the sauce on my meat, I decided to dip my meat into the sauce. The sauce was housemade…it was a thin sauce, not thick and tomatoey as you typically find around here. It was sweet and tangy and a little spicy, but not too much so. The fries were skin-on and appeared handcut; they were available seasoned or plain and I went for seasoned. The seasoning was a delicious rub. The fried okra was pretty standard for a barbecue joint-pretty sure it was frozen but it wasn’t bad. The roll was also pretty nondescript. I wish I had tried the honey cornbread that was listed as an available addition.

Philip decided to get the pork shoulder platter with slaw and fried okra. He was served a generous portion of pork shoulder that had been shredded. It had plenty of “bark” (the delicious dark bits from the outside of the smoked meat) mixed in and it was moist and flavorful. The slaw was a little sweeter than we would have liked. As I mentioned before, when we go back we will order potato salad and baked beans as our sides.

As I read reviews on Tomato (formerly known as Urbanspoon), as I typically do before visiting a restaurant, I noted that a few people said it was pricey. At $24 for two platters and two waters, it might be a little pricier than most barbecue joints in town but not too much so. Some also complained about the wait time. We didn’t have to wait long but there wasn’t anyone else in there while we were waiting. Since they prep everything as it is ordered, I could see how thing might be a little slower going on a busy night. If you are in a hurry, you might want to order ahead. The food was very tasty, though, and the people were very nice, so I’d encourage you to try Backyard Barbecue out for yourself!

Backyard Barbecue is located at 11210 Dayton Pike, Soddy-Daisy, TN, 37379. You can call them at (423) 457-9547. They are open from 11-8, Tuesday-Saturday. They do not have a website, but you can like Backyard Barbecue on Facebook.

Zarzour’s Café (Downtown Chattanooga)

May 30, 2015

Zarzour’s Café is a Chattanooga classic. It’s been around since 1918 and serves delicious burgers plus meat and three and desserts!

I have been meaning to go to Zarzour’s Café since I wrote my first burger list in 2013 and a commenter declared my list invalid since I had not tried Zarzour’s, which is the oldest restaurant in Chattanooga, having opened in 1918. The problem is, they are not open on the weekend and they are only open 11-3 on weekdays. Plus, I wasn’t sure if they took credit cards (they do not) and I never have cash so I knew that visiting would take some planning ahead so I wouldn’t get caught without a way to pay. Since I’m off from work right now (woohoo summer break!) this gave me the perfect opportunity to plan ahead. We grabbed some cash and headed downtown.

We got there around 12:45 or 1 and were able to easily find parking on the street (there is a small lot next to the restaurant as well). The place is small (and smells like burgers-that is, glorious-and it was fairly crowded but there were still several tables open. We seated ourselves and perused the menu that was on the table, even though we really didn’t need to. There are a handful of items that are on the menu all the time-burgers and fries and a couple of salads-plus rotating daily specials and desserts. The specials come with two vegetables and tea or you can add a soda for an additional charge.

A server took our drink order then when she returned with our waters she took our order-two cheeseburgers, one all the way and one with no onions, plus fries. A lady (who turned out to be the owner, Shannon) was manning the flat-top griddle and the fryer behind the counter while joking around with customers and dropping a few curse words (so beware-and maybe sit in the back room-if you have ears that are sensitive to that sort of thing…I do not), and it appeared that the two servers were getting the other items from a stove in a small room in the back. Most of the people that came in while we were there ordered burgers but a few did get specials. There were several people that left while we were there who were obviously regulars and were on a first name basis with the staff. I also saw a server helping a man with a cane carry an order to his car. That’s service, guys.

Our orders came out fairly quickly, especially considering that one person was preparing all the burgers and fries. I’ll get the fries out of the way first…they were standard frozen crinkle-cut fries. Pretty good but nothing special as fries go. It doesn’t matter, though, because it’s all about the burger here. One bite and I was hooked….the meat had that crispy quality to it from being browned on the griddle, but the inside was juicy and the whole thing was perfectly seasoned…I’ll give the meat a 4 since it was cooked perfectly but I assume that it is just regular, nothing special about it ground beef. The bread gets a 5…it was a Niedlov’s bun and GAH. It was cooked to a perfect crisp on the flat-top. Toppings are a 3.5 …just the right amount of condiments (mayonnaise and mustard) so it was not dripping and the pickles, lettuce, and tomato were fine. Cheese also a 4-American cheese is just the best for melting but others contribute more to the flavor. As for structural integrity, I’ve got to give it a 5…it was darn greasy but it held together perfectly all the way to the last bite. Size is also a 5…it was not huge and I didn’t feel stuffed after eating it but I was not hungry for several hours after. Overall, this burger gets a 4.4. I feel like it needs a bonus, though, and I’m going to hold onto that for later because this burger was just so darn good (and that crispy bread tho!) that even though a lot of its components were nothing special everything together just worked so perfectly.

So I can’t tell you much about Zarzour’s other than that it’s a popular place with a salty-mouthed owner manning the griddle (which I found hilarious). And it serves amazing burgers.

I’ll have to go back to try out the specials and the desserts because those desserts sounded pretty delicious. But I know that restaurants don’t stick around for nearly 100 years if they aren’t fantastic, so they are definitely doing something right. By the way, our total was $18 even pre-tip (you put your tip in a jar on the counter). So go there!

Zarzour’s Café is located at 1627 Rossville Avenue (not Rossville Blvd.), Chattanooga, TN 37408. They are open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. You can call them at (423) 266-0424. They do not have a website, but you can like Zarzour’s Café on Facebook.

Maple Street Biscuit Company

May 18, 2015

Maple Street Biscuit Company is a popular Downtown Chattanooga breakfast and lunch spot that serves biscuits with a variety of interesting topping options.
Maple Street Biscuit Company has been around for several months (since last summer, maybe?) and several people have mentioned that we needed to go there. I love a good biscuit, so I was definitely game. The problem is that the place closes at 2 on weekdays and is closed on Sundays, and since I almost always make biscuits for breakfast on Saturday we usually aren’t in the mood for biscuits on Saturday afternoon. We decided to have pancakes this weekend instead so that we would be in a biscuit state of mind for our late lunch.

We headed to Maple Street Biscuit Company around 12:30 or 1:00. It’s located on Broad Street near Five Guys and Top It Off, so parking is limited. We parked in a Unum lot and walked down. It was still pretty busy, with the patio still full, lots of tables occupied, and a fairly long line. The first thing that we noticed was that the place was loud.

You stand in the line and give your order to the cashier, who asks you a question and your answer is what they call out to indicate that your order is ready (today it was “If you could take a road trip anywhere, where would you go?”). You get your own silverware, drinks at the fountain, etc., then find a table. When your food is up, someone stands at the counter and essentially screams your answer then you go to retrieve it. When the place is really busy (like it was while we were there) they are screaming out constantly and it is a little unnerving. One guy’s voice actually made me jump. I was not wild about this process.

The menu at Maple Street Biscuit Company includes, naturally, a wide variety of biscuit sandwiches-most, but not all, including fried chicken breast. There are biscuits with sausage gravy and also a few vegetarian options. Sides include fried green tomatoes, collard greens, five-cheese macaroni and cheese, and sweet potato fries.

As for how we liked the food…well, I made the statement that since biscuits are my specialty I was a little concerned about how this was going to go. I decided to order the Reinhold ($6), with fried chicken breast, honey mustard, and crunchy dill pickles. The honey mustard was not the creamy kind, just the honey + mustard kind (most of the sauces are made in-house), and the pickles were thickly sliced. I decided to take the top off of my biscuit and eat it on its own while eating the bottom half with a knife and fork. I thought that the bottom part, with the chicken, honey mustard, and pickles on the biscuit, was pretty tasty; the chicken was crispy and well-cooked. The biscuit had a good texture, too. However…I thought it had a bit of a doughy flavor. I think it was maybe made with shortening and I am used to an all-butter biscuit, so that may have been the flavor that I was picking up. Philip got the Sticky Maple ($7) with fried chicken, pecan wood smoked bacon, and maple syrup (real maple syrup, not maple-flavored pancake syrup) and liked it pretty well also.

As a side, we shared an order of fried green tomatoes with ranch dressing (blue cheese dressing is available as well) for $4. The basket was 4 fried green tomato slices with a cup of dressing for dipping. The tomatoes were battered in a heavily peppered batter and fried till crisp and golden brown. They were pretty tasty with a heavy spice from the pepper. The ranch dressing was just average ranch dressing but pretty good with the tomatoes.

So…did I love the place? Nah. I didn’t hate it, either, but I’m going to be honest, the screaming killed it for me; I guess we should have sat outside, but the patio was packed out when we got there. At $18.57, it was not an expensive lunch but I did think about how much less it would cost for me to make it at home (but let’s be honest, that’s the case with just about everything). The food was pretty good, so if you don’t mind a loud atmosphere, then give it a try. If loud is not your style, go when there’s open seating on the patio (a Facebook follower also said that if you sit in the back you don’t hear the loudness. It was very crowded when we were in so this was not an option for us. Others said that when you go at less busy times-such as Friday or Saturday evenings-it is not as loud.). I will say that the staff seemed very helpful and I saw one cashier leave her station to help a couple with visual impairments get their drinks and find a table.

Maple Street Biscuit Company is located at 407 Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at (423) 362-5380. They are open Monday-Thursday, 7-2, and Friday-Saturday 7-2 and 5-9. You can check out their website: Maple Street Biscuit Company and like Maple Street Biscuit Company on Facebook.

Countryside Café (Ooltewah, TN)

May 2, 2015

Countryside Café is a very popular Southern cooking restaurant in Ooltewah, Tennessee. They serve all of your Southern favorites!

I am a bit of a Type A. I have no idea if any of that comes through in my blog, but I am a classic overachieving first born Type A. Exhibit A: I haven’t missed a single day of work this year…I have managed not to get sick (no noses to wipe this year) and, as I almost always do, I have saved my personal days to the very end. This week was the week of the dreaded TCAP (state-mandated testing, for any of you who don’t live in Tennessee) and I couldn’t do very many school visits, so I decided to take a couple of days off. That gave us a chance to visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville (and a jaunt to Wish You Were Beer), finish painting our kitchen (except the trim…almost done!), and go to Countryside Café in Ooltewah.

Actually, we probably would have gone to Countryside Café this weekend even if I hadn’t taken the time off. I had excellent food catered from there years ago and have been meaning to get back since the inception of this blog…but Ooltewah is kind of a drive so I have to plan to go out there or I won’t think about it. This was a perfect opportunity! After sleeping in a little, eating breakfast, and doing the first coat of paint, it was almost 2:00 by the time we go out there. You’d imagine that on a weekday a place so far out would be dead at 2 p.m., but you’d be wrong. While we were seated immediately, there were plenty of other diners in the place. Plenty.

There are several dry erase boards stationed in different areas around the restaurant announcing the specials (meatloaf, wood-roasted chicken wings, wood-roasted chicken breast) and the desserts (too many to name, but the highlights included strawberry shortcake, Reese’s peanut butter cup cake, and chocolate chip walnut (ahem, not Derby) pie). A chalkboard on the hostess stand alerts you that the servers work as a team and that you can ask any one of them for anything that you need, and indeed this turned out to be true. Different people took our orders, filled our drinks, cleared our plates, checked up on us. It seemed to be a very efficient way of handling things!

I decided that in order to truly judge a country cooking type restaurant I needed to order sweet tea. It was quite good, pretty sweet but not cloying and just the right strength. I love sweet tea…I used to drink it all day long but somewhere in my late twenties realized I needed to replace my sweet tea with water and I’m sure my kidneys thank me for it. I decided to get the fried chicken filet with white gravy. Each meat is served with three vegetables and cornbread or a Sister Schubert’s roll unless otherwise noted. I ordered cornbread, mashed potatoes, green beans, and fried okra. The chicken was a gigantic boneless breast, breaded and fried and served smothered with peppery white gravy. It was deliciously seasoned and perfectly cooked and-this is important-there was no skin on the gravy. Gah, I hate being served gravy with a skin on it. The potatoes had a good flavor but were a little bit thicker than I prefer. The green beans were cooked until soft (true Southern style) and well-seasoned, and the okra…well, when I saw the okra the heavens opened and the angels sang. It was cornmeal dredged and pan fried, just like your momma or your granny (or I!) would cook in her Lodge skillet. Perfect.

Philip decided on the country-fried steak with white gravy (brown gravy was also a choice), mashed potatoes, white beans, and okra. The steak was well-breaded, nicely seasoned, and cooked just right and he liked the gravy as well. He agreed with me about the potatoes…good flavor but a little thick. He also did a little jig (not really) over the fried okra (it’s just so rare to find okra in a restaurant that isn’t fried!). He thought that the white beans were cooked well but a little under salted.

The cornbread muffins were also delicious. They were soft and moist and, like Southern cornbread should be, 100% savory and 0% sweet. And they were served with real butter. Amen and amen. Real butter and non-frozen fried okra alone are just about enough to make me declare this one of the best Southern cooking restaurants in which I’ve ever eaten.

We were stuffed to the gills by the time we finished our meals (not cleaned our plates…there was not way) but we couldn’t possibly leave without dessert, so we decided to get it to go. Buttermilk pie and Italian cream cake were our Friday night, um, dinner (we were nowhere near hungry enough for me to make the King Ranch casserole I’d planned to make for dinner). The Italian cream cake was a delicious, buttery yellow cake with a rich cream cheese frosting, coconut, and pecans. It was wonderful and didn’t have so much icing that it was overwhelming or caused me tooth pain (darn those sensitive teeth!). The buttermilk pie was creamy and custardy and had a beautifully crimped crust. Both were fantastic!

If you are willing to go a few minutes outside of Chattanooga to get amazing Southern food, you will not regret going to Countryside Café. The prices are reasonable (ours was $30 and some change pre-tip for 2 meat and three plates, two desserts, and a drink). They serve a wide variety of food with rotating specials and much of it is made from scratch. The desserts are out of this world! The people were friendly and the service was amazingly fast and efficient.

Countryside Café is obviously a local favorite for good reason-they’ve been around for 25 years so they must be doing something right!

Countryside Café is located at 8223 Mahan Gap Road, Ooltewah, TN 37363. You can call them at 423-344-8646. They are open Monday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m., and Sunday 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. You can check out their full menu on their website, www.countrysidecafe.net. You can also like Countryside Café on Facebook.

Purple Daisy Picnic Café (Revisit)

April 6, 2015

Purple Daisy Picnic Café is a popular restaurant near downtown Chattanooga & Lookout Mountain (St. Elmo) that serves great BBQ, Southern food, & burgers!

So, this was not supposed to be a Purple Daisy revisit post. We were actually planning to go to Zarzour’s since I’ve been told that a Chattanooga burger list is invalid if Zarzour’s is not a consideration. I tried to call them to see if they take credit cards (does anyone know the answer to this?) and got no answer…so they either were too busy to answer or they were closed for Good Friday. We decided not to take the chance and instead went to Purple Daisy. I’ve been before, but want to try the burger and the barbecue (I always order the rainbow sandwich).

The place was pretty busy right at noon but we were immediately seated at a table outside. The server took our drink order and I decided to deviate from my usual water and have fruit tea instead. The fruit tea is a blend of tea, juices, and spices. It tastes mostly like tea and pineapple juice…it’s a little tart and a little sweet and very delicious.

Since a burger was my mission, I didn’t have to think about my order at all. I decided on the single ($4.95…there’s a double for $7.95) with Cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayo, mustard, and ketchup. I decided to get hash brown casserole instead of the chips that come with the burger, because has brown casserole is a non-negotiable when I go to the Purple Daisy. It’s creamy, cheesy, and very flavorful, just like my mom makes it. The burger is charcoal grilled. It was well-cooked and tasted like a burger you’d get at a cookout. I’d rate it a 3 for meat-well-seasoned, cooked through just right, and with a nice grilled flavor. For bread, I’ll give it a 3-standard soft bun like you’d get in the bread aisle of a grocery store. For cheese, a 4…a decent amount of Cheddar, melted on top; for toppings, a 3-just the standard toppings, maybe a little too heavy on the condiments. For structural integrity, I’ll give it a 3 as well. It held together pretty well until I got to the middle, when the ample condiments started sliding around on the lettuce and tomato and it pretty much fell apart. Size? A 4.5…it was a good-sized burger, not so huge that I felt stuffed but definitely not small. Overall burger score: 3.4.

Philip decided to get the pork barbecue tacos with a side of hot slaw (extra-they don’t come with a side). The tacos came on flour tortillas with cheddar cheese, iceberg lettuce, and a little bit of original barbecue sauce plus a small cup of sour cream. The barbecue here is very good-fresh tasting, shredded (not chopped), smoky, and moist. They offer three sauces: original, sweet, and hot. Philip didn’t care for the sweet much but liked the hot and the original. The tacos overall were very tasty, simple enough to allow the flavor of the pork to shine through. The slaw? HOT. Philip isn’t very sensitive to spicy foods and he found the hot slaw very hot, seasoned with cayenne and with chopped jalapeños mixed in. Again, very fresh, very flavorful, but don’t plan on eating all of it unless you are used to eating very spicy food.

I love The Purple Daisy Picnic Café, and apparently a lot of other people do too. The place was full the whole time that we were there and people were coming in and out the whole time. The food at The Purple Daisy is very consistent. The menu is fairly limited-barbecue, burgers, deli sandwiches, hot dogs, salads, and a few other items, plus sides and a couple of desserts (Oreo dirt cake and banana pudding)-allowing them to focus on serving flavorful and fresh food. I highly recommend The Purple Daisy! By the way, our pre-tip total for one drink, a burger, pork tacos, and 2 sides was just under $20.

I highly recommend The Purple Daisy!

The Purple Daisy Picnic Café is located at 4001 St. Elmo Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37409. They are open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. You can call them at 423-822-6477. Check out The Purple Daisy Picnic Café website and like The Purple Daisy Picnic Café on Facebook. You can also follow The Purple Daisy on Twitter.

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