bars/pubs Archives - Page 5 of 6

Sing It or Wing It-January 19, 2012

January 21, 2013

I’m not really one for resolutions, but I told Philip the other day that I thought it would be a good idea to see how far into the year we could get doing blog posts on restaurants featured in our Adventures in Dining coupon book. Adventures in Dining features buy one get one free coupons for restaurants in the Chattanooga area. I paid $35 for it (from a friend’s daughter who was selling them for Chattanooga Girls’ Choir) and we’ll recoup that amount within three or four meals. Not a bad deal. Not bad at all. I could definitely go for some savings.

Our first Adventures in Dining meal was New York Pizza Department, which was more of a coincidence than anything else since people had been telling me and telling me that we needed to blog about it, so it was just serendipitous that there was a coupon. Meant to be, perhaps. I sat down with the book the other night and folded down the corners of the restaurants I really, really wanted to try. Some of them we’ve already blogged about (Sluggo’s, Good Dog….) but I ended up with twenty-three folded-down pages and several more that I need to research on UrbanSpoon. Now, the book will be our guide. When Philip asked me where we were going yesterday, I waved the book at him. The book has the answer.

We ended up driving toward downtown so it made sense to consider restaurants downtown. Philip thought that Sekisui sounded good but it turns out they aren’t open for lunch on the weekends. I was craving a burger anyway (Sekisui has one on their menu but who really wants to order a burger there?) since I haven’t had one since before my surgery, so at least a month (I know, crazy, right?). Sooooo…Pickle Barrel or Sing It or Wing It? Sing It or Wing It won (I love Pickle Barrel, or at least I did the last time I ate there, which was probably in college, but since it’s 21 or over I’m thinking a warm day when we can sit outside is probably the best time to go….).

When Sing It or Wing It opened by Chili’s on Market Street I was a little skeptical. A karaoke joint that serves wings? Sounds pretty limiting to me. They’ve been open for nearly three years and seem to be going strong, so I guess I stand corrected. One of my friends goes there during the day with her friends and her young children….it’s a family friendly environment (though 21 and over after 9 p.m.) and her children enjoy singing kids’ songs. She had told me that she actually really liked their food, so I was inspired to check it out.

When we arrived there was only one other table occupied. I guess 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon is not the busiest time for a karaoke restaurant…no big surprise there. There was one server, Scarlet, working, serving tables and tending bar. She immediately greeted us and told us to sit wherever we’d like, then brought us menus and asked if we needed a karaoke book (a very thick notebook of their song choices). We did not (while Philip may be a great singer he is not a karaoke fan) but she brought us one to look through and explained the menu to us. All of the menu items are named after singers/musicians and usually have some sort of correlation to the artist (e.g. the Philly cheesesteak is called the “Elaborate Elton”…you know, Philadelphia Freedom? The menu items are cooked to order with fresh ingredients, some locally sourced, and the menu was obviously someone’s labor of love. Spend a few minutes reading it. It clearly took a lot of time, thought, and effort.

Yes, the name of the restaurant is Sing It or Wing It. They offer six varieties of wings: mild, medium, hot, barbecue, teriyaki, and lemon pepper. The wings are smoked then grilled, not fried as you would usually find. However, while I like wings I rarely order them in restaurants and definitely don’t consider myself a connoisseur, so we decided to order “Pickler’s (as in Kelly) Pickles” instead. Here, I learned a valuable lesson: when you use a photo editing app on your iPhone, take the photo with your camera then load it to the app. VSCOcam pooped out while I was editing the photo of the pickles…so you get a photo of our almost empty plate. This is pathetic, people. There were a lot of pickles on that plate. The batter was a little salty for my taste, but you see that didn’t stop me from eating them, so they were definitely good. The sauce was a chipotle ranch dressing, tasty but not all that spicy. I’d order these again, but Philip didn’t like them as much as I did so that’s probably not going to happen.

While I spent several minutes perusing the menu, I pretty much knew going in that I was going to order a burger. I considered the Bold Bonnie (Raitt) burger but decided to order the Bruce (Springsteen) Buster instead. The Bruce Buster is a half-pound Angus burger with Swiss cheese and sautéed mushrooms served with fries ($7.99). I decided to add bacon for $0.75. The burger came with lettuce, tomato, and red onion (which, of course, I promptly removed) and I got my fries Cajun-seasoned. The burger was very tasty and drippy. I would have liked to have had more mushrooms on it (yes, I realize this would have made it more drippy, but a drippy burger is not a bad thing). The bacon was delicious. The fries were very seasoned and a little spicier than I would have liked. Next time I go I’ll order regular fries…they were good but I just couldn’t eat too many of them (because I’m a pansy).

Philip decided to get the Elaborate Elton (named after none other than Sir Elton John, of course), which is a classic cheesesteak with sautéed onions and peppers and cheese sauce (love a cheesesteak with cheese sauce instead of slices!). He got regular fries. The fries were hot and crispy (though I could not immediately deduce if they were housemade or not) and the cheese sauce seemed to be mixed in with the chopped steak. The whole steak/cheese sauce/onion & pepper mixture was just a little spicy, which was pretty interesting. I might try this myself at some point in time. Our total, minus one sandwich thanks to our coupon, was about $16.00, give or take a little change.

Like I said, the menu here is creative and well thought-out. Since it is a karaoke bar, there is a large appetizer menu….and I’m all about appetizers, so I like that. Next time I’d like to try the Skynyrd Pretzels-soft pretzels covered with parmesan cheese and served with marinara sauce-or maybe the Go-Go bites-broccoli cheddar nuggets. I also thought that the Chicken Martina (McBride)-a chicken breast topped with barbecue sauce, bacon, and Swiss cheese-sounded lovely, and I’d be interested to sample their smoked pulled pork sandwich, called “Sensational Scotty” for American Idol Scotty McCreary (by the way, Lauren Alaina sang karaoke here, if you’re an Idol fan-I’m not). There are some interesting, unique menu items, like the Godfather (a bologna burger that Philip almost ordered) and the Diffie Delight (a sloppy Joe). They also have a selection of salads, a kids menu (with names after your favorite teenyboppers), and several desserts (I wish I’d seen the Handsome Harry-named after Harry Connick, Jr.-beignets! Woohoo! Next time.).

It’s doubtful that I’m going to be headed to Sing It or Wing It for dinner because crowds of people just aren’t my thing….but I’ll definitely go back for lunch. I recommend that you try it out, and if you are in to karaoke, be sure to warm up your voice before you go! Sing It or Wing It is located at 410 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (next door to Chili’s). They are open Tuesday through Sunday with lunch starting at 11 a.m. (a closing time is not listed on their website, but since they are a “bar” I would guess till the wee hours of the morning). They also serve Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Karaoke is available anytime that they are open. You can call them at 423-757-WING. Check out their website, singitorwingit.org, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.

The Palms at Hamilton-September 29, 2012

October 1, 2012

Saturday I felt like we went all over the world in one day. We had dinner with some friends Friday night (at a local restaurant I decided NOT to blog about-wouldn’t you like to know where!) and then came straight home because we were both on the verge of crashing. Saturday, though, we did our usual traipsing around Northgate (seriously, we do that almost every Saturday, even though usually the only thing we leave with are some used CDs from FYE), then went to Books-a-Mill because I mistakenly thought that the Smitten Kitchen cookbook had been released and wanted to flip through it, then McKay (because I hadn’t been in a couple of months), then to a late lunch, then Target. All before 4 p.m.

We were getting hungry around the time that we were in the East Brainerd area at McKay (where I scored United States of Arugula and Nigella Lawson’s bio on trade credit). Surprisingly, with a million and one stores and restaurants in that area of town, there is only a tiny handful of local places. I suspect high overhead is the reason for that. There’s a Chinese place near Hurricane Creek that Philip loves, then there’s Bones Smokehouse (which I have been told I must try), and a few other places, most of which I have already reviewed…or don’t care to. Philip suggested The Palms, which I never even think about. I’d guess that it’s pretty likely that you never think about it either. The Palms is located on Shallowford, near Sonic. It used to be The Oasis. Philip once played at a songwriter night there and thought the interior was pretty nice and some of the stuff on the menu looked pretty good (albeit a bit pricey). We decided to go there.

It was about 2:15 when we arrived (they open at 2:00). The place was deserted when we walked in. An employee vacuuming in the front directed us toward the bar. We found a table and the server, Lydia, (who was also tending bar) brought us menus and took our drink order. We checked out the menu and decided to order some chili con queso for $5.95. I was actually a little confused by the menu….on the front there’s a “to start with” section on the front of the menu that includes items like a “jumbo shrimp martini” and “cast iron seared & blackened prime rib strips”. All of the items in this section are $9.95 and up. On the back of the menu, however, there was a “just use your fingers” section with more standard sides like the chili con queso that we ordered, chips and salsa ($4.95), and wings. The chips & queso came out quickly…it was pretty much a standard white queso dip with chili mixed in. It tasted pretty good but I did think that for almost $6 the portion size was very small, and the chips were definitely not as fresh as they could have been.

I knew before I even walked in the door that I wanted a burger (no matter where we went) so I had two choices: a standard burger or the mushroom, bacon, and Swiss burger. I decided on the mushroom burger, which I ordered medium-well. It was pretty much a gigantic burger with sautéed mushrooms, melted Swiss, peppered bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion (which I swiftly removed after snapping the pic) on a grilled bun. Lydia brought out mayo on request. The burger was good, cooked just like I asked. The mushrooms were well-cooked and at least tasted like they were cooked from fresh (you know, canned mushrooms just always taste bad). I really feel like lettuce, tomato, onions, pickle, etc. are unnecessary on a mushroom-Swiss burger, but whatever. It was fine. I liked the burger but it wasn’t anything “special”. The steak fries served on the side were pretty good but obviously made from frozen. Unfortunately, this is the rule, not the exception. Philip and I had a discussion as we were eating about fries and why more restaurants don’t make them from fresh. We concluded that not only is it more work, but people have become so conditioned to frozen fries (which are precooked and sprayed with some sort of starchy something that makes them cook up super-crispy) that they usually don’t like house-cut fries. Another reason to feel sad for our society. I love handcut fries and I wish everyone did, because my fry-eating experience would certainly be enhanced.

Philip considered the Baja fish tacos but ultimately decided to order the Reuben. He was a little nervous about it, as he always is when he orders a Reuben at a place he hasn’t eaten before. In case you don’t know, a Reuben is corned beef brisket, melted Swiss, Russian or Thousand Island dressing, and sauerkraut served on grilled rye bread. This particular sandwich was served on marble (rye & pumpernickel) bread. I’m guessing the corned beef was deli-cut (as I am quite certain they are not brining and slicing their own) and the sauerkraut (basically lacto-fermented cabbage) was not extremely strong. You should be proud of me…I am a little scared of sauerkraut but I tasted the sandwich (sauerkraut and other fermented foods are actually very good for you). It was good and there was no reason to be afraid! The grilled bread was not extremely greasy. Overall it was a pretty good sandwich, although I’d be willing to be it wouldn’t hold up against River Street Deli’s Reuben (I’d almost put money on it).

The interior here is nice, with dark wood and dark carpeting, and it’s very clean and well-kept. It is a 21-and-over joint, so unfortunately smoking is allowed (and there were 2 patrons smoking at the bar while we were there) so that’s definitely a con for us. The sandwiches, fajitas, and most of the fish and chicken dishes are fairly reasonably priced, but their steaks and salads are as pricey as if not more so than some of Chattanooga’s nicest upscale restaurants (salads are $7.95 and steaks are priced up to $32.95). I appreciate the fact that they support local music, and they have a pretty expensive drink menu (although, interestingly, only bottled beers-no draught). They serve brunch on Sundays, which I’d be interested to try (honestly, I judge restaurants much more harshly on their breakfast/brunch items than their lunch and dinner items. Frozen biscuits? Sorry, try again!) and have different “specials” (ladies’ night, date night, seafood night, etc.) every night. I wouldn’t call it my favorite restaurant (but then, it’s really a bar….), but if you have thought about checking them out, it’s worth a try.

The Palms is located at 6925 Shallowford Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421. You can call them at 423-499-5055. Check out their website at http://thepalmsathamilton.com/. You can also find them on Facebook.

Chattavore “On the Road”-Smoky Mountain Brewery, Gatlinburg-June 4, 2012

June 8, 2012

Pretty sure I’ve mentioned before my love for Groupon and LivingSocial. This time, they provided us with a stellar deal at the Glenstone Lodge in Gatlinburg-a half-price room! Now, say what you want about Gatlinburg…I know it’s incredibly cheesy (we’ll call it “kitschy”) but (a) it’s close to home; (b) it’s familiar so there’s no trying to figure out where everything is, what there is to do, etc.; (c) we park our car at the hotel and walk everywhere except when we drive into Sevierville to go to the (d) Tanger outlet mall. Plus, we love all of the Copper Cellar restaurants up there, so it gives us the opportunity to eat there. Last time we went, I blogged about Calhoun’s, so this time we were actually planning to eat lunch at Cherokee Grill and do a blog post about it…until we got there and discovered that they don’t open until 4 p.m. Smoky Mountain Brewery it is!

Since it was a Monday and a little later in the afternoon (2ish) there was no crowd and we were seated immediately. Our server, whose name I didn’t catch (I hate it when I do that) was extremely friendly and quickly took our drink order. We perused the menu for a few minutes before I settled on the Philly Cheesesteak with fries. The bread for their sandwiches is baked daily, on the premises I assume since they have a wood-burning stove in which they cook pizza (I haven’t tried their pizzas but they look amazing). The cheesesteak was huge with thinly sliced strips of steak, sautéed onions, green peppers, and cheese sauce. The freshly baked sandwich roll was soft but at the same time crispy around the edges from having been placed on the grill. The juice from the meat soaked into the bread perfectly to create a little bit of sogginess, but not in a bad way….in certain sandwiches, this is actually a positive in my opinion, and this was definitely one of those cases. While the fries were decent, there was no real standout feature of them that made me jump up and down.

Philip decided on the Ole Smoky Burger, basically a bacon cheeseburger with barbecue sauce…only he had them take off the sauce. This actually cost less than if he had ordered the regular cheeseburger and had them add bacon. Of course, the burger came with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion, with mayo and mustard on request (they brought the bottles to the table). Again, the fries were fine but nothing to write home about, but the burger was great. The meat tasted very fresh and the grilled flavor was perfect. The burger has cheddar cheese on it, which is my personal favorite for burgers. This cheese was really sharp and paired nicely with the salty, smoky bacon…which, of course, makes everything better. The bread was fresh and soft. Highly recommend this one!

One of the true selling points of Smoky Mountain Brewery (and really all of the Copper Cellar restaurants by association) is, well…the brewery. They serve seven micro brewed beers year-round with a rotating selection of seasonal beers. I will be honest, I am not clear on whether or not there is actually a microbrewery in this location….the website expressly states that there are microbrewery operations inside the Turkey Creek (Knoxville) and Pigeon Forge locations. You can order the beers in a pint or 2-pint glass or try 5-ounce samples, and you can also purchase growlers and kegs. Their beers run the gamut from American-style lagers to porters to wheat beers, pale ales, and bocks. Just as I am a huge believer in small-batch bread, cheese, etc., I am a huge believer in micro brewed beers. Quality comes in small batches.

So…if you are ever in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, or Maryville area and are looking for a great but quick sandwich or pizza (or even a larger meal, as they do serve steaks, chicken, etc.) or are looking for a great glass of micro brewed beer, I would say that Smoky Mountain Brewery is your place. The Gatlinburg store is located at 1004 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. You can call them at 865-436-4200. Check out their website at http://www.coppercellar.com/Restaurant-SmokyMountainBrewery.html. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Hair of the Dog-April 28, 2012

April 29, 2012

So, I’ve completed the trifecta. Hair of the Dog is owned by the same people who own The Honest Pint and Terminal BrewHouse, two of my very favorite dining spots in Chattanooga. Since Hair of the Dog is a bar….errr, pub (i.e. a smoky environment) we have been waiting for warm weather so that we could dine al fresco (there’s no non-smoking section as there is in The Honest Pint). Yesterday was a beautiful day and it was perfect for sitting on the deck. We’ve been to Hair of the Dog before, a couple of different times, but we’ve only eaten appetizers and both of those visits were long before the Chattavore days.

Since we love the other two spots so much, we were pretty excited about Hair of the Dog, especially since I read on the Main Street Farmers Market website the other day that the bartender was experimenting with locally grown/produced food in the menu specials, and I was actually in line behind her on Wednesday when she was picking up produce at the Fall Creek Farms stall. On the Hair of the Dog website there were several weekly specials listed featuring local food, but we didn’t see this until after our visit (otherwise we would have asked about them) and there was no mention of them from our server or on the chalkboard outside listing the beer specials. Of course, by Saturday afternoon they could have been fresh out of these items….we’ll have to ask next time!

On one of our past visits, we had soft pretzels with beer and cheese soup for dipping; on another, Philip ate some Reuben rolls (just as they sound….eggroll wrappers stuffed with corned beef, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing). This time, we decided to order chips, drowned in beer cheese soup. You can also get them plain, wet (covered in white gravy), or overloaded (wet, drowned, and topped with bacon). We were thinking actual chips, but they turned out to be fries. I guess we should have been thinking in more of an “across the pond” mode, since this is a pub, after all, but we weren’t. If we had known they were fries we would have gotten them wet! Anyway…the beer and cheese soup is interesting, with chunks of carrots and celery in a mild and not super-liquidy cheese soup. Appetizers don’t usually come with chunks of veggies, so these are healthy, right? Anyway, the fries are hand cut and not super-crispy. So drippy and messy….but that’s okay! I really liked them but was secretly wishing for bacon.

I toyed with the idea of getting a burger, but that wasn’t really what I wanted. I looked over the menu about fifteen times and finally decided to try out the fish & chips, an item I rarely order….but it seemed appropriate. The funny part of this is that when I ordered it I knew that the “chips” coming with the fish were fries, but still hadn’t made the connection that the “chips” coming in my appetizer were not potato chips. So anyway…I ended up with double fries! Good thing I adore fries, right? They were really good plain with some malt vinegar sprinkled on top, and also dipped in ketchup. I could eat fries every day, do you understand???? The fish was great too…three pieces of cod in a very crispy but not greasy batter. I love fish & chips because (a) it’s fried; (b) it’s crunchy; and (c) it tastes great with malt vinegar. My college roommate and I used to go to Captain D’s (I’m so ashamed!) on a regular basis to eat pieces of fish completely soaked in malt vinegar (we called it “eating a little food with our fat”). This fish was definitely not Captain D’s….I would definitely order it again! The tartar sauce was pretty much amazing…clearly housemade. It wasn’t goopy and it had big chunks of pickle in it. The fries also tasted great with the tartar sauce. Win!

Philip decided on the Winner, Winner, Chicken-Fried Chicken Dinner, a gigantic butterflied boneless chicken breast, breaded and fried and served with white gravy on top. He ordered hash brown casserole and broccoli with almonds as his sides. The chicken breast, as I mentioned before (and as you can see below) was extremely large and very crispy but extremely juicy and well-seasoned. The gravy was good but according to Philip not as good as mine (he’s a little spoiled, you see…besides, mine’s made with bacon grease-hard to beat!). The hash brown casserole was also good, crispy, cheesy, and creamy, all important hash brown casserole characteristics. The broccoli was fresh and well cooked, but he did feel like it needed a little salt. Overall definitely a blogworthy meal….

Hair of the Dog is nice, casual environment with a tasty pub menu. Remember that it’s a 21 and over establishment, and if you don’t like smoke, go on a warm day so you can sit outside. Support your local farmers and ask about their local specials! Hair of the Dog Pub is located at 334 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-265-4615. Check out their website, http://www.hairofthedogpub.net, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter. Oh, and tell them Chattavore sent you!

I Love Honest Pint-April 22, 2012

April 24, 2012

Sunday we decided at the last second to have lunch out (don’t ask….more planning issues. Blast!). Philip suggested The Honest Pint, and you know I was game. I’ll never turn down a visit to the Pint. I’m not going to go through all of the details about The Honest Pint…you can read those in my original post…but just thought I’d share about what we tried on this experience.

As I mentioned in my last Honest Pint post, they serve a Saturday and Sunday brunch from 11-3. When we walked up, we were greeted by this sign:

Philip asked our server (darn if I didn’t forget her name-I’m usually so good at remembering!) about the chicken and waffles, which he was very tempted to order….it’s a panko-breaded, boneless fried chicken breast served with a waffle that contains bacon. Um, yeah. He was very tempted to get it until he asked the make-it-or-break-it question: is the syrup real maple syrup? She seemed pretty taken aback by that question and was surprised that pancake syrup would be a dealbreaker. Turns out the syrup was a blend of buffalo sauce and pancake syrup. The buffalo flavor covered the artificial flavor of the syrup a little but it definitely wasn’t enough. Use real maple syrup, people! It’s the only way to go. We of course ordered our usual pommes tots (tots fried in duck fat!) while we decided what entrees to order. You may think that tots fried in duck fat sound bizarre, but they are not, my friends….they are not.

So, Philip ordered the chorizo hash, with housemade chorizo, potatoes, red onion, red pepper, and a fried egg on top. The chorizo was not as spicy as what he has become accustomed to ordering off the menu at Delia’s, but it did have a good, well-seasoned flavor. The eggs were nicely cooked with a little runny yolk….and I appreciated that the eggs were fried, not scrambled (like in their corned beef hash) because you know that’s how I do hash. Still, Philip said that while he liked the chorizo hash, he preferred the corned beef hash.

Actually, the angle behind going to The Pint was so I could try a burger (Philip had tried one before, I had not). I decided on the This Burger is the Jam burger, cooked to medium because I like to live dangerously, and chips. The burger had caramelized onions, blue cheese, and bacon jam (word to your mom!). I loved that the edges of the burger were “irregular” so you knew that it was hand-patted, and it was perfectly cooked and oh so drippy. The blue cheese was very pungent and the bacon jam lent the perfect combination of savory and sweet. I did, however, feel that the onions could have been a little more caramelized (to me, caramelized onions should be caramel-colored, not white) although these were cooked enough that I was able to eat them (raw or barely cooked onions are on my bad list). If I were making this burger at home, I would have paired the bacon jam with cheddar…I felt that the blue cheese overpowered the bacon jam a little. Still, a good burger. And the chips, as always, were to die for.

So, you may have figured out that we love The Honest Pint. The menu is unique while still offering “something for everyone”, and the atmosphere is casual and relaxed. If you haven’t already, you should try it! The Honest Pint is located at 35 Patten Parkway, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-468-4192. Check out their website, http://thehonestpint.com, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter (@thehonestpint).

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