barbecue restaurants Archives - Page 2 of 4

Double Barrel BBQ (Signal Mountain)

September 28, 2015

If you’re looking for delicious barbecue on or near Signal Mountain, Double Barrel BBQ serves tasty barbecue (and great beer!) in a great atmosphere!

I recently discovered something called bullet journals and now I am obsessed (mine isn’t nearly as pretty as the one in that post, but I love the idea of keeping my calendar, notes, and lists organized as opposed to having random notebooks floating around and having to dig through them to figure out where things are. This weekend I updated my list of restaurants I need to try and posted the list on Facebook to see if anyone had anything to add. Turns out I have a lot of places to visit in Cleveland and North Georgia…those take some planning. We ended up at Double Barrel BBQ on Signal Mountain, which a friend suggested on my Facebook post (I have a handful of other places on Signal to try as well).

Double Barrel BBQ is on Taft Highway just a little past the Signal Mountain “business district” in the building that used to be Pepper Jack’s. Double Barrel started as a food truck and in August opened their static location. They are currently operating off of their food truck menu but will be expanding starting with their grand opening in October.

We were offered the options of being seated in the bar or the dining room and were seated immediately by a very friendly server. It’s a log cabin so the decor consists of lots of wood, but it’s not dark. They have lots of cool pendant lights hanging all over the dining room and interesting wall hangings. There are televisions in the dining room as well as the bar.

Our server, Tabitha, came pretty quickly to take our drink orders and brought a beer list at Philip’s request. They have a pretty impressive list of craft beers-both bottles and draft-at great prices, including some local brews from Chattanooga Brewing Company. Philip ordered a Straight to Ale Lily Flagg milk stout, which was listed on the list as a bottled beer for $2.50 but was actually on draft for $3.50 (still a pretty amazing price). He’s had that particular beer before and loved it. I, of course, stuck with water.

They have a pretty lengthy list of sides that come in a side-size portion or as an appetizer, and we decided to order some fried pickle chips, which the menu purported to be hand-bettered. We got the appetizer sized portion for $5.75…it was a pretty large portion and we probably should have stuck with the side-size portion for $2.50. Oh well. I never cry over more fried pickles. They were indeed hand-battered and were very tasty, well seasoned and with just enough batter to add crunch and flavor but not so much to mask the pickle flavor. They were served with ranch dressing which was just basic ranch dressing.

Right now the menu consists of a selection of meats and some hot dogs. I decided to get the 1/2 pound pulled pork plate for $9 (you can get a half-sized portion for half the price) with a side of fried squash, which the menu also said was hand-battered. I was a little less convinced about the squash being hand-battered than I was the pickles, since the coating was fairly thick. It tasted good, though, and was well-seasoned with Cajun seasoning. The meat was tender and smoky and was pulled and served on top of a couple of toasted dinner rolls. I had enough to bring home for lunch the next day.

Philip decided to order the 1/2 pound of brisket ($9.25), chopped (you can also order it sliced) with fried okra. The brisket was chopped into bite-size pieces and had a spicy rub on it (it was also served on top of toasted dinner rolls). The fried okra was lightly coated and was also seasoned with Cajun seasoning.

The sauces at Double Barrel are made in-house. I didn’t think to get a photo, but there was one called “Old Faithful” that was sweet and chunky…it was our least favorite. There was a molasses-based sauce that had a deep molasses flavor and a little bit of spice. The third sauce was a sweet and spicy blend, and it was very spicy.

Our total for this meal was $29.22 pre-tip, which included fried pickles, a beer, a pork plate, and a brisket plate. The service at Double Barrel BBQ was friendly and the food was tasty. I like the atmosphere in this restaurant, and it didn’t hurt that the mountain air was nice and cool and just made it nice to be up there (I love what I call “shorts and long sleeves weather”). I can’t wait to see what they unveil for their expanded menu. By the way, they also serve a breakfast buffet daily and offer growlers of beer to go. There are daily specials as well.

Double Barrel BBQ is located at 3720 Taft Highway, Signal Mountain, TN 37377. You can call them at 423-777-5491. They are open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 7 a.m.-12 a.m. Friday-Sunday. You can check out their website, www.doublebarrel.me and like Double Barrel BBQ on Facebook.

Couch’s BBQ – Ooltewah, Tennessee

September 7, 2015

Couch’s BBQ is a popular, family-owned barbecue restaurant in Ooltewah, Tennessee, near Chattanooga.

When Philip and I were trying to decide on a place to try this past weekend, I had two criteria: it needed to be somewhere that I would not regret not ordering the burger (I’m taking a month or so off from burgers after writing the list) and I didn’t want to have to walk any sort of distance to get there, as grass or ragweed or something that is blooming is killing me. That second caveat effectively killed just about any place downtown. We went to McKay’s to peruse their used books (where I found Sarah Wu‘s Fed Up with Lunch, about which I was pretty excited) then decided to head over to Couch’s Bar-B-Que in Ooltewah, just a few short miles away.

Couch’s BBQ came highly recommended, as Amanda from Dish T’Pass had told me a while back that it was her family’s go-to barbecue joint and Southern Living recently proclaimed Couch’s Bar-B-Que one of the top fifty barbecue joints in the South. Besides, it’s been around since 1946, so they are clearly doing something right.

It was around 2 when we arrived but there was still a fairly hefty lunch crowd (though we didn’t have any trouble finding a seat). A friendly server brought us our waters while we checked out the menu and we ordered fried pickles because, you know, I have a rule (i.e. if fried pickles are on the menu I’m required to order them). I was a little disappointed when they turned out to be the same frozen fried pickles we were served at Choo-Choo BBQ and Kevin Brown Burgers, but oh well. Fried pickles are like pizza…even when they aren’t great they’re still pretty good.

I considered ordering a barbecue sandwich. The sandwiches here are topped with lettuce and tomato, which I find to be an interesting concept and I’m certain one that I would enjoy. In the end, though, I decided to order the pork “Couch Potato”, which apparently is somewhat of a claim to fame for the establishment as they have several signs stating that they are the “home of the Couch Potato”. In my opinion, the potato here is a cut above most other places around town-they are crusted in salt then topped with a generous but not exorbitant amount of butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, and whatever meat you choose. They are also served with a couple of rolls (pre-packaged).

One thing about the pork here, as you may notice in the picture, is that it is not pulled or even sliced but rather shaved. According to Grant, who writes the blog Marie, Let’s Eat!, Couch’s BBQ uses uncured hams rather than the usual Boston butt (aka pork shoulder), smokes them, then shaves them on a deli slicer. It is definitely a different barbecue experience, but not different bad or even different good-just different. We liked it; the meat was flavorful (if maybe just a smidge dry) and paired well with both of the housemade sauces (signature and sweet, which had a telltale molasses hit). The fact that they make their own sauce here is a huge advantage, as I have found very few places around here that do. There is nothing that I hate more than walking into a barbecue joint and being greeted with a food service container of sauce sitting in plain view.

Philip decided to get the pork plate, which is served with three sides and rolls. He decided to get the slaw, baked beans, and fried okra. Honestly, he was fine with all of the sides but didn’t think that they were anything outstanding. The okra was the familiar frozen okra and he couldn’t really tell if the other sides were homemade or not. I will say, again, that Grant touts their hot slaw on Marie, Let’s Eat! as delicious albeit “magically weird” (actually, in his first review of the spot he says, “It has a smell-the-back-of-your-brain kick and leaves a sharp and very strong aftertaste. It is all kinds of fantastic. I have no idea what is in it. I am absolutely clueless, but they don’t list it as a side on the menu so you have to know to ask for it.”) I’m not sure if Philip forgot to ask for it or just decided against it.

If we hadn’t been so full, I would have loved to have had a slice of one of their homemade pies: coconut, pecan, buttermilk, key lime, and (I think) chocolate. We just. couldn’t. do it. So, instead, we paid our bill ($21.03 pre-tip) and headed back toward home.

Couch’s BBQ was good, but it’s quite a drive for me so I don’t think we’re going to become regulars anytime soon. As seems to be par for the course, they pay a little less attention to their sides than to their meat, which I guess makes sense for a barbecue restaurant but good grief, I just want to find a spot that fries their own okra. Still, I’d definitely go back to Couch’s Bar-B-Que, and I highly recommend the Couch potato.

Couch’s Bar-B-Que is located at 8307 Old Lee Highway, Ooltewah, TN 37363. They are open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. You can call them at 423-238-4801. You can check out Couch’s website, www.couchsbbq.org, and like Couch’s BBQ on Facebook.

Disclaimer: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link for the book Fed Up with Lunch, because I think it’s so eye-opening that you should read it if school lunches affect you in any way. If you click through and buy this book from this link, I will make a small commission. For more information, read my disclosures/privacy policy.

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.

Porkers BBQ (Downtown Chattanooga BBQ)

March 16, 2014

Porkers BBQ is a downtown Chattanooga mainstay. They’ve been around on Market Street since 1989 and are a go-to spot for Chattanooga BBQ.

Philip and I decided fourteen years ago not to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and several years back (I don’t know, at least eight or nine years) we decided not to buy Christmas or birthday gifts either. It just felt forced to us to “have” to buy each other something when we pretty much bought what we wanted anyway. Philip, however, is a master of giving me awesome things for absolutely no reason, like the Vita-Mix he walked in with one afternoon or the Shun slicer he ceremoniously presented to me after I walked in from a trip to Houston without him (because he’d actually been slated to go on a separate trip but got sidelined due to a surgery). I have walked in twice in the last couple of weeks to find a great book in my spot on the couch, purchased on trade from McKay-the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book for one, and Michael Pollan’s Cooked for the other.

In Cooked, Pollan recounts his experiences learning about cooking with different elements: fire, water, air, and earth. Cooking with fire = smoking meat, and Pollan learns about traditional Carolina barbecue from a famous pit master. Now, I realize that I am not likely to find Carolina-style barbecue in the Chattanooga area (and you better believe that one of these days I’m going to make it to one of the restaurants he mentioned), but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t make me crave some smoked meat. Seeing as how I don’t have a smoker (yet), this meant visiting a restaurant, so we decided to have some barbecue for this weeks review.

Porkers BBQ has been around on Market Street (near the Choo-Choo) since 1989 according to their menu, but I’m going to go ahead and venture a guess that the visit by President George W. Bush in 2007 is their biggest “claim to fame” (honestly, I’m not sure why presidents always eat barbecue when they visit CHA but at least W was taken to a truly local restaurant….Obama was served Sticky Fingers, which I know, I know, has local ties….but it is not a local restaurant). It’s a decent-sized establishment with black and white checkerboard floors and fifties-style booths with shiny vinyl seats. We seated ourselves and a friendly server took our drink orders while we perused the menu.

I decided to break from my usual barbecue restaurant form and order a plate instead of a potato. I really wanted smoked meat and I didn’t want anything to interfere with the flavor. The plates at Porker’s come with fries, baked beans, slaw, and Texas toast. I ordered pulled pork shoulder. The meat comes unsauced and you can sauce it yourself using the regular or hot sauce in the basket on the table. I tasted the sauce but didn’t love it and decided to eat my meat on its own. It had a nice smoke flavor with a decent amount of “bark” (the dark brown pieces from the outside of the smoked meat). I am not a huge fan of traditional barbecue sides like baked beans (beans should be salty, not sweet), slaw, and potato salad, but I did think that the baked beans were pretty good, with a stronger onion flavor than you usually find in baked beans. The dressing on the slaw was yellow so I assumed that it would taste mustardy, but it didn’t. It was pretty good, finely chopped which is how I prefer slaw (not the long shreds like you get in bagged slaw at the store). The fries were crinkle cut, from frozen no doubt, and were pretty much exactly what you’d expect from frozen crinkle cut fries…not bad but not shout-it-from-the-mountaintop awesome either.

Philip decided to get the brisket, which, not surprisingly, was a little drier than the pork but was just as delicious. It was well-seasoned, very tender, and perfectly smoky with lots of dark barky pieces. He liked the slaw and beans also. We ordered a side of fried okra because we always have to sample fried okra at any recipe. I’ll be honest with you, unless okra is breaded the way I make it at home-tossed in cornmeal and maybe a little flour-I always assume it’s frozen. Those little jackets of breading are too suspiciously thick to make me think anything else. It didn’t taste bad but I just wish everyone would just do it themselves. If the okra is fresh, not frozen I apologize…I’d just like to see more homestyle fried okra in restaurants; it’s indeed a difficult thing to find.

Chattanooga barbecue is something I honestly feel indifferent about. While I have strong feelings about who has the best burger, I could never write a top five barbecue list because I honestly like the meats at most of the barbecue restaurants I’ve tried locally, and Porkers BBQ definitely wasn’t any different. The meat was great, the sides okay. I loved the atmosphere and the service was quick and very friendly. They’re conveniently located for a downtown lunch crowd and they have a good menu selection (which includes breakfast, by the way).

I’d definitely go back to Porkers BBQ.

Porkers BBQ is located at 1251 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. They are open Monday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday-Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday 7 a.m.-5 p.m. You can call them at 423-267-2726. They don’t have a website but you can check out Porkers BBQ on Facebook.

Do you have a Chattanooga barbecue favorite? Tell me about it!

Other area restaurants: Meeting Place, Public House, Urban Stack, Blue Orleans, Southern Burger, Tupelo Honey

Choo Choo Bar-B-Que Hixson-May 4, 2013

May 5, 2013

Choo Choo Bar-B-Que is a popular barbecue joint located on Hixson Pike in Hixson, Tennessee…less than five minutes from Publix.

May the 4th did not exactly turn out how I had hoped. I have had a craving for some sort of fish or shrimp dish all week long and had hoped to find a restaurant with a decent seafood menu and spend a little time perusing antiques at the Knitting Mill. Two problems with that, though: (1) UTC’s graduation happened yesterday morning, which meant that everything downtown was bound to be ridiculously crowded; and (b) it has been raining since early Saturday morning. Raining a lot. This weekend weather is really starting to get on my nerves, truth be told. It’s been in the 70s and 80s and generally sunny or at least dry most weekdays for the past several weeks, but it has been chilly every weekend and rainy for the past two…and rain (though not chill) is in the forecast for next weekend as well. Ugh.

So, like I said, May 4th did not turn out exactly how I had hoped. If I’m being honest, I would have preferred to not leave the house at all….but I needed a blog post and I needed a birthday present for my nephew Elias, who turned six on Friday and whose birthday party is today. We headed to Toys-R-Us to pick up some karaoke supplies and made a stop-off at Books-a-Mill because I wanted to take a look at a couple of cookbooks I’m considering (surprise, surprise), then we headed back toward home while trying to think of somewhere to eat.

We’ve eaten at just about every locally-owned restaurant in this area that has been recommended. There are a couple that I won’t go to, but one of the few remaining is Choo Choo Bar-B-Que in Hixson. There actually used to be two Hixson locations-one across from Wal-Mart on 153 and the one on Hixson Pike-but the 153 location closed; the building is now located behind the Hixson Krystal and it’s named something else. I have a funny Choo Choo Bar-B-Que story, actually. What I assume was the original location used to be located on Amnicola Highway, next to the emergency animal hospital. Philip and I used to always find that hilarious-a barbecue place next door to an emergency animal hospital? Seemed a little suspect to me, and we always joked that we should take a picture and send it to Jay Leno. Also, Philip used to work in the banquets department at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo….but my sister somehow thought that he worked at Choo Choo Bar-B-Que. Funny stuff. Or maybe just to me.

Anyway, we had two $15 credits to Choo Choo Bar-B-Que that we had purchased from Double-Take Deals so it just made sense to stop there. There was only one other table occupied in the restaurant so we had our choice of tables. The menus were on the table and the server quickly took our drink order. You know I couldn’t resist the fried pickles, though the killer potato skins, with cheese and pulled pork, sounded pretty tasty. The fried pickles came out quickly, very hot (the only, only problem I have with fried pickle spears is that I always burn my mouth on them). They had a cornmeal coating that looked like it had a lot of dill in it, though there wasn’t a strong dill flavor. They were served with ranch dressing, though you can order blue cheese if you’d prefer it. I’m pretty sure it was just Sysco ranch dressing, so pretty “meh”, but the pickles were good.

There were specials listed on the wall-fried catfish and chicken & dumplings (the specials change daily and the specials for each day are actually listed on the menu) but I wanted to try the smoked meat so I didn’t really give much consideration to them. I considered a pulled pork sandwich but I have decided that if a barbecue stuffed potato (aka a killer potato) is available I am basically unable to order anything else. I ordered a potato with pulled pork. The potato was, of course, large, cut into chunks and topped with melted cheddar cheese, sour cream, and pile of pulled pork. The sauce was on the table to be applied by the diner (regular and hot, which Philip said had a little spice but wasn’t really “hot”, though I don’t always trust his opinion on that….we have very different definitions of hot). I really liked the fact that the cheese was so melty….it added a lot to the texture of the whole meal. It wasn’t overly covered with sour cream and I liked that the sour cream was drizzled rather than scooped for maximum coverage. The meat didn’t have quite as strong of a smoky flavor as I would have liked but it was pretty good, and the sauce was nice, sweet but not too sweet.

Philip also ordered his usual barbecue joint order, a pulled pork plate without Texas toast (he hates Texas toast!) with sides of okra and coleslaw, though he did consider the baked beans. Like me, he liked the pulled pork he did say that it didn’t have the “chew” he was expecting-it was a little more moist (as in wet) than the smoked pork you generally find at a barbecue place but it was still good….it wasn’t soggy, not to worry. He thought the coleslaw was just okay….he really loves the slaw at Rib & Loin and honestly I don’t know if anyone else’s mayonnaise-based slaw will ever measure up. The okra was pretty good though I am guessing because of the thick “jacket” of coating it was probably frozen, which seems to be par for the course (and since this is the South that’s a little disappointing-what does everyone have against tossing some fresh okra in cornmeal, flour, and seasonings and giving it a quick fry like my Mama does?????). Pretty good but not eye-rolling good.

While the desserts (chocolate or coconut cake, banana pudding, and strawberry shortcake) sounded tempting, we were stuffed and decided to skip it this time. Our total before tip was $18 and some change. We only used one of our credits so we’ll be going back to use the other one. I’m interested in trying their special chicken salad sandwich-made with smoked chicken-or maybe one of their burgers or barbecue quesadillas. Scrolling through their Facebook page, some of their specials looked pretty tasty too-homemade soups, homemade chicken & dressing, and the chicken and dumplings all jumped out at me. I wouldn’t say that Choo Choo Bar-B-Que is my favorite barbecue place but it’s definitely one of the closest to my house and it was definitely good barbecue. I left smelling like smoked meat and in my opinion that’s never a bad thing.

Choo Choo Bar-B-Que is located at 6410 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-843-9554. They do not have a website but you can find them on Facebook.

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