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Gollywhoppers-April 13, 2013

April 14, 2013

Gollywhoppers was a popular sandwich shop on East Brainerd Road that has closed since this review and been replaced by Greg’s Sandwich Works.

Recently I have been trying so hard to find my own photography “style”. I have a pretty good understanding of how my camera works, lighting, etc….but propping and styling is a weakness. When I look at the photos of food bloggers and food photographers that I really admire, I notice that they seem to have a “signature”…for example, Deb of Smitten Kitchen usually photographs against her charcoalish countertop, Melissa of The Faux Martha against an all-white background (which I’ve been experimenting with), and Heidi of 101 Cookbooks has an unreal white and gray marble countertop that provides an amazing backdrop for the majority of her photo. Well, I have an unattractive laminate countertop that was installed in 1977 and my, um, “backsplash” is a painted wall. I refuse to spend a billion dollars on props and we eat everything that I cook so a lot of my photos are taken in the Corelle stoneware we bought several years back. Keepin’ it real. I want a signature of my own…something that people recognize as Chattavore just like I can immediately spot a Smitten Kitchen photo on Pinterest or wherever else. I think if I can find my own propping/styling….style I can then focus on increasing the quality of my photography.

Anyway, the hunt for a signature style led us to Southeastern Salvage on Saturday in search of tile, wood, textiles, etc. We walked away with a market basket to replace the one that I bought at Target last year that is on its last leg and one of these days one of those milk jars is just going to come bursting out. But anyway….Lee Highway is not really a road where you want to make a left turn not at a light, so we ended up turning back toward Hamilton Place as we left. If you haven’t noticed, there are not an awful lot of local restaurants around HP (I suspect that the rent is too high for most mom & pop operations) so we knew we were going to end up somewhere on Brainerd or East Brainerd Road and finally decided on Gollywhoppers.

Gollywhoppers has been around for a long time (since 1997) but because we don’t spend an awful lot of time in that part of town we’ve never eaten there. They are located in a fairly large strip mall sort of building on East Brainerd Road as it nears Brainerd. When you walk in, there are menus on the table as well as menus by the entrance so you can decide what you want to order before you walk up to the counter if you’re like me and you can’t stand to feel like the cashiers are staring at you while you try to decide what you want to order off the menu over the counter. We sat down at a table to decide what to order.

The menu includes sandwiches, of course-half sandwiches or the Gollywhopper whole sandwiches, each available on French, cracked wheat, rye, or pumpernickel bread, each baked from scratch (they also serve hamburgers and a hot dog that they claim is the best in town). They have baked potatoes, including the super-stuffed potato topped with all sorts of things, including chili and cheese as well as a barbecue stuffed potato. Their salad menu includes a taco salad, a southwest grilled chicken salad, a stuffed tomato, and their salad bar. They serve several soups including soup specials on certain days and chili, of course, which can be made into chili pie, a ubiquitous Southern dish (known in some parts of the country as Frito pie and in other parts “walking tacos”) of corn chips topped with chili, cheese, and onions-theirs also has slaw, sour cream, and jalapeƱos. They also have a handful of homemade sides: baked beans, slaw, pasta salad, and potato salad. Finally, their dessert menu includes a laundry list of made-from-scratch bars which are showcased in a case by the registers, including red velvet bars, lemon bars, peanut butter swirl bars, Special K bars…..the list goes on. You can purchase a whole (very large) bar for $3.99 or a bite-sized (more manageable for one person) bar for $0.99.

I love a good, messy, overstuffed baked potato so I seriously considered ordering the super-stuffed potato, but I really wanted to try a sandwich so I finally settled on a half pimento cheese sandwich on cracked wheat bread (I thought about French bread but wasn’t sure how “crusty” the French bread would be and pimento cheese doesn’t really pair all that well with crusty bread) with taco soup (served with crackers or cornbread….I decided on cornbread). This is served as a combo that comes with a drink, so I got sweet tea (as did Philip). By the way, when they say “sweet tea”, they mean it. We ended up cutting it with unsweetened and I added a lot of lemon (as I always do). Here’s a fun Chattavore fact…..I used to drink “sweet tea” (as everyone likes to make fun of us Southerners for saying) constantly; it was pretty much the only thing I drank. In 2006 when Philip had a surgery and had to water up to prep for anesthesia I joined him in the water deluge and we’ve never looked back. I haven’t made iced tea in years except for a party….but it’s still an occasional dining out treat if real brewed tea (not nasty Nestea) is available.

The bread is not sliced bread but rather individual rolls. Since the half sandwich is actually served on a full roll the same size that I’d serve if I was making sandwiches on rolls at home, I’m dying to see what the whole sandwich is served on and should have asked but didn’t even think about that till just now. The cracked wheat bread was fresh and soft, obviously not 100% whole wheat but the perfect texture for pimento cheese. Their pimento cheese was not a spread like I made but more drippy with whole shreds of cheese. It was clearly homemade with large chunks of pimento. Quite delicious, and I could have eaten the whole sandwich if I hadn’t forced myself to stop. The taco soup was not like any I’ve had before (the taco soup I make has beans and corn in it, this did not) but quite tasty with lots of tomatoes, ground beef, and shredded pork, shredded cheese, and crushed tortilla chips at the bottom with perfect seasoning. The cornbread was sweet and was pretty good as sweet cornbread goes, but you know I’m a savory cornbread girl. They did get points for serving it with real butter as opposed to “buttery spread”.

Gollywhoppers was a popular sandwich shop on East Brainerd Road that has closed since this review and been replaced by Greg's Sandwich Works. | restaurant review from Chattavore.com

Gollywhoppers was a popular sandwich shop on East Brainerd Road that has closed since this review and been replaced by Greg's Sandwich Works. | restaurant review from Chattavore.com

Philip decided on the Reuben, which isn’t actually listed on the menu. He was going to order corned beef with whatever on it….as he started ordering he asked the cashier what came on the corned beef sandwich and the guy told him that it was up to him unless he ordered the Reuben…so if you want a Reuben, know it’s available to you. Philip decided on that with rye bread (he was given a choice of rye or pumpernickel) with chips and a drink. They have a wide variety of chips available and Philip decided on jalapeƱo flavored. He liked the Reuben, saying it was good, not the best he’d had, but good. I tasted it….I’m not really a judge of Reubens because I don’t care much for rye bread (it’s the caraway) but I liked it. The corned beef was tasty, the bread fresh (of course), the cheese a little melty, and the dressing and the sauerkraut brought everything together just like they should on a Reuben. I need to learn to love caraway.

Gollywhoppers was a popular sandwich shop on East Brainerd Road that has closed since this review and been replaced by Greg's Sandwich Works. | restaurant review from Chattavore.com

After we ate we were a bit too full to sample any of the bars but I did look at the case just a little wistfully as we walked out. A red velvet bar with cream cheese icing would have ended my day perfectly yesterday but instead I ended up eating Ghirardelli chocolate chips out of the jar from my pantry at 9:30 last night. Oh well. Live and learn. The total for our two combos was about $19. The food was fresh and quick but not too quick, and the service was friendly. There were plenty of people in the store even at almost 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon, so GollywhoppersĀ has definitely made its mark on the area.

Gollywhoppers closed in late 2014 and has since been replaced byĀ Greg’s Sandwich Works.

Gollywhoppers is located at 6337 East Brainerd Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421. You can reach them at 423-855-2001. You can also “like” them on Facebook and check out their website at http://www.gollywhopperstn.com. They are open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. They also provide catering with at least 24 hours advanced notice.

Golly Whoppers on Urbanspoon

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Filed Under: By Location, By Type, Delis, Sandwiches, Burgers, & Hot Dogs, East Brainerd, Restaurants Tagged With: CLOSED restaurants, East Brainerd restaurants, sandwich/burger/hot dog restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 9 Comments

Penne alla vodka is a perfect combination of tomato sauce, rich cream, and vodka, which just enhances all of the flavors beautifully. Most of the alcohol cooks out, so you're fine to serve this to your family. They'll thank you for it! | pasta recipe from chattavore.com

Penne alla Vodka

North Chatt Cat-April 20, 2013

Comments

  1. Sharon says

    April 14, 2013 at 6:11 pm

    I love the Reubens at Golly Whoppers! So if Philip knows of a better one I truly need to know where to get it! There's is the best I've had so far. The fresh bread makes it awesome!
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      April 14, 2013 at 8:48 pm

      Sharon, I asked him where he'd had a Reuben he preferred to GollyWhoppers' and he couldn't think of any! :) He did say that he thought he'd had one he liked at the Sandwiche Shoppe, but that was two owners ago so I don't even know if they're the same now. Actually, now that I think of it, we're going to have to go now that they have new owners. Sorry, off topic! I'll let you know if he thinks of anywhere!
      Reply
      • Russell says

        October 13, 2013 at 11:38 am

        Gollywhoppers makes a fine Reuben, but it pales in comparison to the Reuben at Nick's Deli on Hixson Pike, as it is tied with the brisket from River Street Deli as the best sandwich I have had in Chattanooga.
        Reply
        • Chattavore says

          October 20, 2013 at 8:02 am

          You know, Russell, we have eaten there once-and Philip had the Reuben-and we didn't like it much at all! However, you are the third or fourth person that has raved about the food to me so perhaps they were just having a bad day. We'll have to give it another try. I'm with you about River Street Deli. I doubt anyone in town could surpass them on the sandwich front in my book. I love that place.
          Reply
  2. _emily_rose says

    April 15, 2013 at 8:58 am

    Gollywhoppers is a lunch staple for my uncle, but I've never been. (Our office is near the corner of Lee Hwy & Shallowford.) They are always busy for lunch, and he loves it. I'll have to try their pimento cheese, homemade pimento cheese can't be beat. You're right about not a lot of local places to eat around Hamilton Place, the only place I can think of is Glen Gene Deli, and Big River...if Big River counts anymore. Side note, I can't wait to see your Southeastern Salvage finds. I love that place!!
    Reply
  3. Paige says

    April 15, 2013 at 10:50 am

    The lemon squares are off the chain! :)
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      April 15, 2013 at 5:51 pm

      Paige, I love lemon squares. Next time I'll have to get one. And one of those red velvet bars. Thank God for bite-sized.
      Reply
  4. Rachel says

    April 20, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    I didn't know about Gollywhoppers until I started working at a job in the area. Now I love it. I love the mom and pop feel, I never have to wait very long, and I love the food! I've tried just about everything, several sandwiches, the chili pie, the potatoes, the salad bar, the soups. I love Fridays because it is taco soup day. You either love or hate the taco soup. I love it! (Obviously!)
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      April 20, 2013 at 8:54 pm

      I'm a taco soup fanatic, Rachel. I was so happy to see it available! I will likely try the chili pie when I return :)
      Reply

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About Chattavore

Hi, I'm Mary! Welcome to Chattavore, a destination for people who want to feed themselves and their families well every day! Life can be crazy, which means that getting dinner on the table can be a challenge (more often than not!) and my mission is to take all your favorite recipes and figure out how to serve them on a Tuesday.

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Want recipes from scratch & restaurant reviews in your inbox weekly?
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