Chattanooga restaurants Archives - Page 2 of 2

Las Morelianas

January 21, 2016

If you don’t know that Las Morelianas is there, you might miss it. They serve great Mexican food in Hixson!

I love getting restaurant recommendations from readers. Love it! Keep them coming, you guys. It might take me a little while to get to them, but I promise that I listen when people tell me to go somewhere. A few months back, a reader sent me a message on Facebook and told me that I needed to get to Las Morelianas. When I asked him where it was, I was surprised to find out that it was in Hixson. Turns out it’s contained within the Mexican grocery store on Highway 153, near Wal-mart.

We finally made it in there this past weekend. If I hadn’t done a little reading on Yelp, I would have had no idea where to find the restaurant. If you walk in the door on the left side of the building, take a left by the cash register, then take a right, you’ll end up in the restaurant. A very friendly man greeted us and brought us menus and drinks.

The menu that I had seen online had an extremely limited selection, but the menus we were given had several pages. There are several appetizers, lunch specials, and a couple of burritos. There are a wide variety of tacos and some sandwiches (aka tortas), quesadillas, and some homemade specialties. The menu features quite a few seafood dishes and some specials, like chilaquiles and fajitas. There are also several specials listed above the counter that come with just chicken or beef and include a 16-ounce drink.

We ordered some chips and salsa, of course. How do you go to a Mexican restaurant and not eat chips and salsa? And how many of you can relate to the sentiment below? Origins of this meme unknown. The chips were very good, obviously freshly fried because there were a couple with soft spots in them. I didn’t mind that because I knew they were made there. The salsa was extremely tasty, with lots of cilantro, lime, and salt balanced with onion and garlic and tomatoes that weren’t too chunky but not too smooth either. We were also served several different smooth salsas with our meal (the orangey one was automatically brought to our table, but our server told us about the green salsa and the red, which is habanero). All three of those were too spicy for me…I am a lightweight (you guys know that) but Philip liked them all and said they were delicious.

I teetered on the edge of ordering a Milaneza torta, chicken or steak pounded thin, breaded, and fried, served on a torta roll (a special bun) ? with lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapeño, and avocado plus a side of fries. I decided ultimately that my first visit called for tacos ?, though, so I went for the carnitas (seasoned, shredded pork) and pescado (fish). The tacos are served traditional-style…two corn tortillas, chopped onions, and cilantro, plus lime wedges. Oddly, this is the only way that I can eat raw onions without feeling like I’m going to burst into tears. The carnitas were amazing…very tender, perfectly seasoned, and finely shredded. The fish was also delicious, seasoned well and shredded, topped with some tomato in addition to the onion and cilantro and served with a chipotle for drizzling.

Philip took one look at the menu and knew exactly what he was going to order: lengua tacos. Yes, that’s tongue. If you read my Taqueria Jalisco post, you know that not only is he not afraid to eat things that make other people shudder, he loves beef tongue. Honestly, while it does freak me out just a little too much to actually order it in a restaurant, I have tasted his and it really is quite good…like a very tender pot roast. He said that it was very good…I didn’t taste these so I’ll just have to take his word for it!

We also ordered some beans and rice. It was a generous portion of each, enough for us to share. The beans were well-seasoned and were mashed but not pureed to a smooth consistency like some of the refried beans that you might end up with at a Mexican restaurant. They were very good. The rice had lots of vegetables and was also well-seasoned and a nice texture. I am a weirdo, I know, but I thought the little crocks they served them in were cute as well.

After we finished eating (by the way, our pre-tip total was $16 and some change…not bad at all!), we perused the grocery store for a few minutes. There are tons of hard to find products, like dried chilies, tamarind pods, and other spices used in traditional Mexican cooking. I almost bought a bag of limon y sal (salt and lime) Fritos, after hearing Matthew and Molly talk about them on the Spilled Milk podcast, but decided to hold off until I need Fritos to go with chili or something like that since I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay out of the bag once it was opened. And…I finally found a place to get locally made tortillas and sorta rolls!

So, if you never knew that Las Morelianas existed, now you know. It’s definitely not fancy but it sure is delicious. Obviously I am not one to speak to authenticity of a Mexican joint but there were quite a few Hispanic folks dining in there so I am guessing it’s pretty legit….but they definitely have some options for the more timid gringos too. Go check it out!

Las Morelianas is located at 5622 Highway 153, Hixson, Tennessee, 37343. You can call them at (423) 877-7115. They are open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., though I am not sure if those hours are for both the grocery store and the restaurant. If anyone knows, please let me know! They do not have a website or an “official” Facebook page, but you can “like” this page on Facebook to see others’ reviews and check-ins. By the way, Las Morelianas has a 5-star rating on Yelp out of quite a few reviews.

Molcajete Mexican Restaurant

December 25, 2015

Molcajete Mexican Restaurant is a beautiful restaurant on Lee Highway in Chattanooga, Tennessee that serves delicious Mexican food!
A couple of months ago, I posted on my Facebook page asking what everyone’s favorite Mexican restaurant in the Chattanooga area was. I got a ton of responses-several of which corresponded to my personal favorite (Delia’s, DUH) but lots of which I had never heard of. You’ll forgive me if there’s a disproportionate number of Mexican restaurant reviews for the next few months, right??? I’ve got a lot of work to do!

One restaurant that several people mentioned was Molcajete. Philip actually ended up eating there a couple of weeks ago and really liked it, so we decided to go back last weekend. We went at about 1:30 or 2:00 on Saturday afternoon, and while there were quite a few people in the restaurant, we were seated immediately. Our chips and salsa were delivered quickly and our server, Grace, took our drink orders. We also ordered a small bowl of queso because why not??? I will tell you that one of my readers highly recommended the choriqueso (queso with chorizo) but I didn’t want to go that heavy plus we typically order regular queso so I wanted a point of reference.

The chips, salsa, and queso were all pretty standard Mexican restaurant versions. The chips were thin, very crispy, and not too greasy. The salsa was just slightly spicy and pretty smooth (which is how I like it-I don’t care for chunky salsa) with a decent amount of cilantro. The queso was very thin and not very spicy. ⬅️I feel like these are very bland descriptions. Everything was good, but like I said, pretty standard…so I just don’t have much to say!

I decided to order the taquitos with ground beef. Taquitos are rolled corn tortillas stuffed with meat and fried (flautas are the flour tortilla version). Their taquitos are served with guacamole salad (basically just guacamole and shredded lettuce), shredded cheese, rice, and beans. I have to admit, the taquitos were delicious. The tortillas were very crispy-impressively so-and the meat was very well seasoned. On its own, I found the guacamole to be a little too spicy (it had chunks of jalapeño in it), but scooped onto the taquitos it worked perfectly. The beans were, again, pretty standard. Not bad but not earth-shattering. The rice was well seasoned and well-cooked.

Philip decided quickly on a chimichanga (pretty much his standard order) but then noticed the chimiRica-a chimichanga filled with grilled chicken or steak, onions, chorizo, and special sauce, topped with queso sauce. He ordered the small with beef, and I’m pretty sure that if he had ordered the large we would have been in bad shape. In fact, he didn’t even finish the small! It was pretty gigantic. The meat and onions were well-cooked and the cheese sauce made it super-gooey. He didn’t really notice the special sauce, though. His one complaint was that it didn’t come with rice and beans and that, a la carte, they would have cost $4 ($1.99 each) extra. I had plenty, though, so I shared with him.

The decor at Molcajete is very nice. The servers and other staff were very friendly and the food was tasty and fresh. The menu is extensive. It’s definitely (at least mostly) Americanized Mexican food, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t taste good. They have a full bar as well. The prices were on par with other similar restaurants-our total for the queso and two entrees (we drank water) was $18.00 pre-tip. If you are in the Brainerd/Lee Highway area, give Molcajete Mexican restaurant a try!

Molcajete Mexican restaurant is located at 6231 Perimeter Drive, Suite 127, Chattanooga, Tennessee (in the same complex as Sportsman’s Warehouse and Pin Strikes). They are open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. You can call them at 423-760-8200. You can like Molcajete on Facebook.

FEED Co. Table & Tavern

August 31, 2015

The FEED Co. Table and Tavern is a fabulous restaurant on Main Street in Downtown Chattanooga serving great Southern food and other classics created by Chef Charlie Loomis.
When it was announced a while back that Dustin Choate of Tremont Tavern fame, Miguel Morales, own er of 1885, and Charlie Loomis, 1885’s chef, would be joining forces to open a new restaurant, FEED Co. Table & Tavern, in the Craftworks building on Main Street, I got awfully excited. I was a fan of Chef Loomis’s cooking at the now long-since defunct Elemental, which Loomis left to take the helm at 1885 Grill. I adore 1885’s dressed-up Southern food and the amazing atmosphere and service there. And, of course, Tremont has won me over with their amazing burgers.

I was decidedly against the idea of having a burger today. There are several places that people have suggested that we needed to go to try burgers but y’all, Ima have to pace myself. I’ve eaten a lot of burgers over the last few months. They’re one of my faves, but I didn’t want to go to any of those suggested places. Not just yet.

I made a short list of places to check out and let Philip pick. He chose Feed Co. since we went to Clyde’s a couple of weeks ago (so I could get a picture of their burger) and saw people going in. We had actually kind of forgotten until then that they were open. We parked on the street (which is free if you can find a space). If you can’t find a spot on the street, there’s a Republic lot behind Clyde’s. For lunch, you enter on the Tavern side (the Table side doesn’t open until dinnertime).

The hosts told us that the wait would be 15-20 minutes and took our phone number to text us. We had barely walked down the sidewalk to get a few shots of the outside before they texted us, though. We were seated at a bar in front of the arcade games (really!) and our server, Brian, immediately greeted us and took our drink order. They have an extensive beer list and Philip ordered a Yazoo Sly Rye Porter. They also have lots of specialty cocktails…I entertained the idea of ordering a 50 Shades of Pimm’s martini (Pimm’s No. 1, muddled strawberries, orange mint, and cucumber, fresh lemon juice, and Pure Sodaworks strawberry jalapeño soda) but ultimately decided against it.

Brian suggested the Brussels sprouts & artichoke dip, served with fresh farm bread, which did indeed sound delicious. However, I of course noticed the fried pickled green beans. So did Philip. Fried pickles are fried pickles, you guys, regardless of whether the pickles are cucumbers or green beans. So of course we ordered them. All I can say is oh.em.gee. They were fantastic, briny and tart with a light tempura-like batter, served with ranch dressing for dipping.

My eye went straight to the fish & chips as I was deciding on what I would order for my meal. I briefly entertained the idea of ordering the sloppy Joe (grass-fed sloppy joe, yellow mustard, Niedlov’s bun) because how many restaurants serve sloppy Joes?!?!?!?! In the end, though, I went with my gut instinct: CBC beer-battered cod, house cut fries, house pickles, cole slaw, and malt vinegar tartar sauce. The batter on the fish was thick and just slightly bitter with the flavor of the beer, the fish just cooked through. The fries were ultra-skinny, skin-on, and perfectly seasoned. The slaw was a little creamy, a little vinegar-y, with cabbage, carrots, red onion, and Brussels sprouts, and the tartar sauce had the unmistakeable tang of malt vinegar with chopped pickles and a little whole grain mustard. Those house pickles were pretty on point too.

Philip decided to step out of his comfort zone and go with the hempnut burger with a quinoa & hempseed patty, pickled okra, basil mayo, lettuce, tomato, and onion. He ordered tater tots as his side (other options include the fries, buttermilk whipped potatoes, french green beans, cole slaw, and vegetable succotash). The burger had an unmistakeable grilled flavor and the texture was much more “burger-like” than you might have imagined. We weren’t really sure whether the pickled okra made it into the burger somehow…Philip said he didn’t taste or notice it. Not that it mattered…he really loved the burger. The only complaint that he had was that it was a tad crumbly, but the flavor made up for it. The tater tots were pretty standard.

The atmosphere at FEED Co. Table & Tavern is fantastic. The tavern side is completely laid-back and casual with a huge patio for outdoor dining and, as I mentioned, arcade games for killing a little time (or if you just need a Dr. Mario fix. I am not kidding. Angie, we gotta go!!!). The “table” side is a little more dressed up but still completely cozy. The menu is great-inventive but not off the deep end. I would expect no less of Chef Loomis. Our service was wonderful-Brian was very friendly, attentive, and professional. The FEED Co. Table & Tavern has definitely won our seal of approval.

The FEED Co. Table & Tavern is located at 201 W. Main Street, Chattanooga, TN 37408. The food service hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and the “tavern” hours are 11 a.m.-12 a.m., Monday-Thursday, and 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday-Saturday. You can call FEED Co. at (423) 708-8500. You can check out The FEED Co. Table & Tavern’s website. You can like The FEED Co. on Facebook and follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

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