brunch restaurants Archives

The Daily Ration (North Shore)

July 6, 2016

The Daily Ration is a new restaurant in the North Shore/River View area of Chattanooga that serves breakfast, lunch, and, on the weekends, dinner.

A few months ago, news broke that the popular breakfast/lunch spot The Farmer’s Daughter would be shutting down as the owners moved on to other things. In its place, Bitter Alibi owners Matt Skudlarek and Jason Bowers would be opening a restaurant with the same hours and similar offerings, thus furthering their quest to take over Chattanooga (just kidding!). I saw a lot of people expressing distress on social media, not so much over the coming restaurant but over the closing of one of their favorite dining destinations.

I was pretty excited, though. I love The Bitter Alibi and had a feeling that these guys would bring the same awesomeness to this location (for the record, I loved The Farmer’s Daughter, too, but had no apprehension about Matt and Jason carrying on the great food and atmosphere). It didn’t take long for them to get the place up and running, but then, The Farmer’s Daughter was a fairly new restaurant, so I guess there wasn’t a lot of work to be done, at least as far as getting the space ready for diners.

We dropped in around lunch time on a Wednesday. There were several tables occupied but we didn’t have any trouble finding a table. Menus adorn the tables and a drink menu sits right in the middle. The space is open and airy, with lots of wood and a coffee bar to serve those who come in bleary-eyed and in need of caffeine (they serve Velo coffee, so I was certainly tempted, but talked myself out of a coffee soda or iced coffee).

The Daily Ration menu is small (both in physical size and in number of offerings), with 12 breakfast items on the front and 7 sandwiches, a handful of sides, and several a la carte items on the back. The items on the menu seemed like sort of a mix of the items offered on The Bitter Alibi’s brunch menu and the items offered by The Farmer’s Daughter. Corned beef hash, ham and eggs, a DIY omelette, and avocado toast were just a few of the items available on the breakfast menu. The sandwich menu included a nod to the Bitter Alibi (The Bitter Alibi burger), a pimento cheese sandwich, a traditional Reuben, and a beet Reuben, which the lady at the table next to us was eating. It was very…beety.

The belly BLT, with tomato jam, Bibb lettuce, and aioli on a challah bun, was almost too much for me to bear, but in the end I decided to go a little less traditional and ordered the Asian breakfast bowl. At $10, the Asian breakfast bowl starts with a base of white rice. The rice is topped with glazed pork belly (you can also choose tofu), house kimchi (which I got on the side), pickles, sesame seeds, and a soft boiled egg. This was a very well balanced dish, with the sweet stickiness of the glaze on the melt-in-your-mouth pork, the intense spiciness of the kimchi, the chewy rice, and the ooziness of the egg (which was actually a hair past soft-boiled), plus the sour bite of the thinly sliced pickles, which are also house made. It’s difficult to go wrong with pork belly (I mean really!) and everything in this bowl worked fabulously together.

It’s difficult for Philip to pass up a good pancake, so as soon as he saw that their flapjacks ($7)were served with Bourbon maple syrup, his mind was made up. He added two eggs ($3), scrambled, and an order of bacon ($3) to round out his breakfast (well, brunch, since it was almost noon). The two buttermilk pancakes were huge, sprinkled with powdered sugar. They were soft, sweet but just a little salty, and tangy from the buttermilk. The maple syrup had just a hint of Bourbon flavor that amped up the interest factor a bit. The bacon was cooked well – crispy and chewy, as bacon should be – and the eggs were scrambled nicely, not overcooked or dried out.

One of Philip’s friends went with us, and he ordered Granny’s chicken salad sandwich ($10). The chicken salad is made with mayonnaise, celery, and grapes and is served with lettuce and tomato on a challah bun. Sandwiches are served with your choice of side; he chose the kale salad, which was tossed in a vinaigrette and sprinkled with tomatoes and cheese. Now, I don’t know this friend well enough to eat off of his plate like Brian who went to Two Ten Jack with us, but I did take a picture of his food and interrogate him about it in the car (that’s just what you get when you dine out with me). He said that the chicken salad had a good amount of mayonnaise – not dry but not heavy – and that the flavors were good. He told me that he really enjoyed the kale salad.

The Daily Ration is not The Farmer’s Daughter. The vibe isn’t the same, and I don’t really know how to describe how they are different. It’s not a bad thing that they are different, they’re just different. The food was just as good as any that I had at The Farmer’s Daughter. I read a couple of negative comments from Yelpers about service here (and one about butter – ha!) but you have to remember that The Daily Ration is still in its infancy and the servers are still getting their sea legs and learning the menu. Our server, Charlie, was awesome – friendly, helpful, and attentive. Our total for my breakfast bowl and Philip’s flapjacks, bacon, and eggs was $23.90 pre-tip. I would consider The Daily Ration’s prices to be on par with similar restaurants in this area of town.

If you’re looking for a new place in Chattanooga for breakfast/lunch (or dinner Thursday – Saturday) check out The Daily Ration!

The Daily Ration is located at 1220 Dartmouth Street, Chattanooga, TN 37405 (beside Tremont Tavern) and has its own parking lot. They are open for breakfast/lunch Tuesday – Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for dinner Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 5 p.m. to midnight. You can call them at 423-362-5070. You can find The Daily Ration on the internet at thedailyrationchattanooga.com. You can also like The Daily Ration on Facebook and follow @thedailyration on Instagram.

The Camp House – Downtown Chattanooga

November 2, 2015

The Camp House is a coffee shop in Downtown Chattanooga that serves breakfast and lunch on weekdays and brunch on Saturdays.

I’m not really sure why, but for some reason I have a tendency to neglect coffee shops here on the ol’ blog. It’s not that I have anything against them (I definitely don’t), it’s just that for some reason I don’t really think about them. This week, I realized that and added several local coffee shops to the “must try” list.

After examining a few menus we decided to go to The Camp House down on MLK. We’ve been to The Camp House when it was in its previous location on Main, but (1) we’d never eaten there; and (2) we’d ever been to the new (well, newER) location. They have a pretty extensive menu, serving breakfast, lunch, and, on Saturdays, brunch. I’m going to be honest, I did not realize that they only serve brunch on Saturday and I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have the items on the lunch menu I checked out (because they had several things that sounded pretty fantastic). Oh well. I sucked it up and ordered brunch with the understanding that we’ll have to go back on a week day for lunch soon (look for an update to this post).

The first thing that you notice about The Camp House is that it is really a massive space. Not surprising, as it doubles on Sundays as a chapel for Mission Chattanooga. There are cozy sofas as well as dining tables and lots of people hanging out with laptops. There is also a very large outdoor seating area. The decor is dark and muted with lots of wood, cool chandeliers, and little potted succulents on the tables.

Specials for the day were a pumpkin waffle or French toast. I debated the migas (eggs, chorizo, corn chips, salsa) and the meat and cheese waffle (melted Gruyere, strawberry jam, ham, and honey) but eventually settled on the potato cakes (potato cakes, tomato, sour cream, onions, chorizo and a fried egg). I was a little concerned because I am not always a big fan of chorizo (it can be a little overpoweringly spicy for me) but I needn’t have worried because, while it was spicy, it was not mouth-searing. It was very flavorful. The potato cakes were extremely brown and crispy, the tomatoes and sour cream a cool complement to the sausage and potatoes. The egg was perfectly over-easy with a gorgeous runny orange yolk. I decided to skip coffee in favor of water.

Philip wanted a waffle and asked for the classic waffle (with just butter and syrup) but instead he was served a Camp House waffle (granola, yogurt, strawberries, pears, and date syrup). It didn’t have date syrup on it, though…it had honey on it. And it was delicious. The vanilla flavor in the waffle was very strong and the fruit, honey, yogurt, and granola all melded together perfectly. He also ordered a scrambled egg, which was just a pretty basic folded egg. He decided to order a chai latte. The latte had a very strong cinnamon and ginger flavor (the ginger burned!) and was nice and hot (they prepped it while we waited at the counter).

Like I said, we’ll be going back as soon as we get the chance to try out their lunch menu, which is served weekdays from 11-6. The food we were served today was fresh and tasty and definitely not the “usual” brunch (at least mine wasn’t, and I did think that Philip’s waffle was pretty unique). The atmosphere is nice and mellow and relaxing as well. If you are downtown and looking for a casual coffee shop atmosphere for breakfast, lunch, or an early dinner, The Camp House is a great option!

The Camp House is located at 149 East Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402. They are open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. with breakfast served 7 a.m.-1 p.m. and lunch served 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and for brunch Saturday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. You can call them at 423-702-8081. You can also check out their website, thecamphouse.com and like The Camp House on Facebook. You can also follow @TheCampHouse on Twitter and on Instagram.

The Bitter Alibi: Brunch Edition

July 27, 2015

The Bitter Alibi opened just over a year ago and a lot has happened in a year! They’ve grown like a weed, expanding their space and adding brunch to their food offerings. I’ve got the lowdown for you!

First of all, let me say happy (belated) birthday to The Bitter Alibi. I’m sorry to be tardy to the party…I saw the post on Facebook and just forgot to say anything. You’ll forgive me, won’t you Bitter Alibi? On July 3, this hip downtown Chattanooga (former) hole in the wall turned one. They had a whole lot more than a year of serving up pints to celebrate, though.

When we visited The Bitter Alibi last July, shortly after their opening, they were located in the basement of their building and who knew what would be joining them in the upstairs space, formerly Joe Friday’s (a coffee shop that closed before I got the chance to visit). Turns out that they would be taking over that space as well, expanding from a nighttime-only bar with a little food operation (when we visited there was a guy making sandwiches in a small spot behind the bar) with a number of employees that you could count on one hand and have some fingers left over to a brunch and dinner spot complete with a full kitchen, a coffee bar and fifteen employees. Not bad for a place that a couple of guys (Matt Skudlarek, who formerly owned Pasha Coffee and Tea, and Jason Bowers) that just thought, “What if” they opened a bar in a spot they used to visit (Philip suggested getting a picture of me with Matt under the sign).

Anyway, they’ve been posting an awful lot of tempting photos of their brunch offerings on their Facebook and Instagram pages and I knew I had to get there ASAP. We decided to head over on Friday in the early afternoon. We found a metered spot on Houston Street (and discovered the meter was out of order only after we’d fed it two quarters) and headed in. The brunch operation takes place on the first floor. There were quite a few people in there but still several tables open. Matt, who knows my husband and me by-proxy, greeted us and directed us to a table , brought us waters, then took our drink orders.

Philip decided to order a Hutton & Smith vanilla stout (Hutton & Smith is a new local brewery…they opened just weeks ago and are located right down the street from The Bitter Alibi on East MLK). He thoroughly enjoyed the beer but found it a little difficult to try to take notes for writing a review while also eating lunch, so you’ll have to go and try it for yourself. I would normally just stick with water, but they were serving up Velo Coffee and it’s been toooooo long, so I decided to get an iced latte. When my latte was delivered to the table, the barista (Bradley-I believe that was his name) told me that it was made with Boneshaker espresso and that they use a smaller amount of coffee and pull it after 40 or so seconds instead of the usual 20-something (can you tell I am not familiar with the process by which espresso is brewed), contributing to a different flavor. It was perfect….I drink coffee without sugar these days and it really allows me to taste all the nuances, though unlike Philip I am not good at picking out exactly what all those nuances are.

The menu is small but varied, with traditional brunch items like French toast (tiramisu French toast, to be more precise-aptly named “The Cheat Day”-hand me my fat pants, please!) and hash, a breakfast burrito, and a kale salad as well as sandwiches-called handhelds (they’ve added a burger to the lineup). I considered ordering the Seoul Train: red potato hash, Korean pork, soft boiled egg, spinach, and sambal. However, after Matt mentioned that he would recommend The Arnold, which was the other item I had been considering, I was sold. The Arnold consisted of two slices of sourdough toast, each topped with an over-easy egg, maple espresso bacon, and a slice of flat-top griddled tomato. Avocado cream was dolloped on the side. Are you kidding. This was brunch heaven on a plate. I am now tempted to start making this at home every day of the week. The eggs were perfectly cooked…there is no bliss like a gloriously runny yolk, in my opinion. The bacon was not overwhelmingly flavored but had a nice hint of espresso and bacon blending with its salty, chewy crispness. The Niedlov’s sourdough had a great sourdough bite and the tomato was wonderfully ripe and completed the stack. The avocado cream was just the right finishing touch, with just a bit of creamy tartness to drag the toast through, blending beautifully with the runny yolks.

Philip scarcely glanced at the menu before he decided what he would be ordering: The Cumberbatch, a cheesy biscuit topped with (and essentially swimming in) chorizo gravy with cheddar and an over-easy egg. Pretty much anytime Philip encounters chorizo on a menu, he is rendered unable to order something else. It didn’t hurt that Matt mentioned that it was one of his favorite menu items as well. One bite and Philip was in love. This basically a bowl of gravy made with house chorizo, with a big ol’ cheddar biscuit plunked in the middle and a runny yolked egg on top, and who can argue with that. The gravy was creamy and just a little spicy but not mouth-searingly spicy. It wasn’t greasy at all, and grease can definitely be a big issue with chorizo-based dishes. And, of course, that runny yolk poured down over everything and completed the dish just like peanut butter completes jelly.

I am fairly certain that I could have ordered anything on the menu and I would have been happy, but I was so pleased with my choice to get The Arnold and Philip was definitely satisfied with The Cumberbatch. The total, pre-tip, was around $29, which included Philip’s beer ($5) and my iced latte ($4). Perhaps not the least expensive breakfast/brunch/lunch in town, but when I consider that it’s a small, local business supporting other small, local businesses (they try to source locally whenever possible), I’m okay with it. Besides that, the service at The Bitter Alibi was stellar and the food was impeccable. This was upscale quality food in the most unpretentious environment possible. Plus, Matt and Jason are just super nice guys!

Go show The Bitter Alibi some love!

The Bitter Alibi is located at 825 Houston Street, Chattanooga, TN, 37403. You can call them at (423) 362-5070. They are open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., Friday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Tuesday, 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. Check out their website, www.thebitteralibi.com/. You can also like The Bitter Alibi on Facebook and follow @thebitteralibi on Twitter.

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.

Bluegrass Grill-June 28, 2013

June 30, 2013

Bluegrass Grill is a breakfast/brunch/lunch hotspot located on Main Street in Downtown Chattanooga. They have great food with fantastic service!

I have been writing Chattavore for 2 years and 2 months. In that time, I’ve eaten at a lot of restaurants and done a few “repeat reviews”. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, for the sake of the longevity of Chattavore reviews) I still have quite a few restaurants to get to.

There are an awful lot of locally owned restaurants that are only open during the day (and some of those aren’t open on the weekends). These places are pretty much impossible for me to get to when I’m working, since a teacher’s lunch break is about 25 minutes (and I eat with my kids anyway, and 25 minutes is barely enough time to walk to and from my car really). So, I have to cram as many of those sorts of places as possible into my summer.

Bluegrass Grill is one of those places. They are open from 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. during the week and from 6:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. No way I would even attempt it on a Saturday, though, because I am willing to bet that there are people spilling out the doors from the minute that anyone has any business being awake on a weekend. We had heard (from a friend who raved about Bluegrass Grill) that it wasn’t too bad on a weekday if you could arrive after the breakfast crowd was gone but before the lunch crowd hit.

We arrived at a few minutes before eleven and the place was packed out. Mind you, it’s a fairly small space….but every table was taken and there was another couple waiting in front of us. It wasn’t too bad of a wait, though….we waited about ten minutes, I guess, for a seat at the bar, which I liked because I could watch how everything operated (I couldn’t see too much of what was going on in the kitchen, just a peek through the pick-up window).

At Bluegrass Grill there is no POS system where the servers are keying the orders in a fancy computer. It’s an old fashioned system where the server writes the order on a ticket and hangs it on a carousel-y thing that the cooks spin to see the tickets. Our server, Marissa, was very friendly as was Greg, a guy that was doing various tasks at the counter while we were waiting for our food whom I gathered was the son of the owners. Greg told us that Bluegrass Grill had been open for six years, which surprised us….we had no idea (I probably heard about it about two years ago). We spent a few minutes perusing our menus, which consisted of specials, hashes, biscuits, omelets, cereals, pancakes, & French toast, salads, soups, and sandwiches, potato dishes, and baked goods, as well as some specials written on a dry-erase board on the wall. The specials that day were a roasted corn salsa bisque and pastichio, basically a Greek lasagna.

Instantly I was torn between the Special #2-two eggs, any style, with choice of Applewood smoked bacon, jalapeño bacon, sausage, or ham and two of the following: breakfast potatoes, grits, biscuit, toast, or fresh fruit (for $0.75 extra) or the corned beef hash. Ultimately, I decided to go with my gut and get the special, which I ordered with eggs over medium, Applewood bacon, potatoes, and a biscuit. The biscuits are housemade, half whole wheat, and have the homemade touch of being obviously cut with a knife as opposed to a biscuit cutter, which means that the dough does not have to be handled over and over to reform it for cutting. The eggs were nicely cooked (though I would have liked the yolks just a tad runnier) and the bacon tasted great. The potatoes were red-skinned potatoes, hand-cut, boiled, then fried off till crisp, and the biscuit was nice and soft with a hearty texture similar to what I make at home (because mine are half whole-wheat too!). At first I was worried that they only had the Promise buttery spread that was at the top of the container, but Philip unearthed real butter that I spread on my biscuit and the day was saved.

I was fully expecting Philip to go with pancakes for his breakfast but he surprised me and ordered French toast instead, with an over-easy egg and bacon. The bread is homemade and you have a choice of buttermilk bread or whole-wheat; Philip chose whole-wheat. He also chose to add maple syrup for $1.50 extra rather than eat the pancake syrup that is included with the price ($1.50 seemed like a bit of a steep up charge until Greg handed Philip this pitcher that probably held about half a cup of syrup-do people actually use that much syrup? I guess we are used to carefully parsing out our liquid gold.). Funny story….we were actually impressed when we saw Joan, one of the owners, take the lid off of one of the pancake syrup pitchers and wash it. My dad refuses to eat at Waffle House (which he calls “The Awful Waffle”) because he says if you take the lid off the syrup pitcher you’ll be horrified at what you find. Philip remarked that my dad could eat at Bluegrass Grill. Like mine, Philip found his eggs to be cooked well and he liked his bacon. The scent of the batter from the French toast was really nice, and it had a good flavor. The only thing that I might change about it was the thickness of the bread-I like my French toast nice and thick. We got a laugh at the one little piece of cantaloupe that was wedged under Philip’s French toast; it looked as if it had landed there by accident, but I don’t think that it did!

Our total came to about $16 and some change before tip….not a bad price. It was definitely a good meal and I’d like to go back and try some of their Greek specials. This place has been around for quite a while and has been voted best non-chain breakfast in Chattanooga in the past (sad that they have to make a chain and a non-chain category because if they didn’t everyone would just vote for Cracker Barrel). It’s a good place to get a good breakfast, though I’m probably just going to stick to my homemade breakfasts that I can cook and eat in my robe with my gigantic cup of Velo coffee in hand on the weekends (because I make a mean breakfast, I hate crowds, and I’m a hermit).

If you, however, are looking for a great homestyle breakfast served by good, friendly people and you aren’t into making that sort of thing yourself, head on down and give Bluegrass Grill a try!

Bluegrass Grill is located at 55 East Main Street, Chattanooga, TN 37408. They are open 6:30-2:00 Tuesday-Friday and 6:30-1:00 on Saturday. There was also a sign for a Sunday brunch buffet that they just started (today!) by reservation only, though I didn’t notice a time…but you can call them for that information at 423-752-4020. Check out their website: http://bluegrassgrillchattanooga.com and “like” them on Facebook.