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Root Kitchen and Wine Bar (***CLOSED***)

December 8, 2014

Root Kitchen & Wine Bar | chattavore

As of 9/13/16, Root Kitchen and Wine Bar is closed.
Root Kitchen and Wine Bar is a beautiful restaurant with a small but varied menu. The service was good and the food was fresh and delicious.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working hard to organize my life. Email archives, compressed photo files crammed onto my external hard drive, etc., etc. I’m trying. I am an incredibly organized person at work, but once I hit my garage all that fades away and I melt into a complete slob with no sense of household organization. I’m working on it, though. My fridge looks pretty good right now (though my pantry and deep freeze are going to have to wait until winter break) and there’s the list. See, picking a restaurant for my bi-weekly review can be a bit of a task when we aren’t really sure of all the places we need to go, so I made a list. I posted it on Facebook and my Facebook followers added to it. If you have anything to add, speak up! This week, when we consulted the list, we decided on Root Kitchen & Wine Bar.

Root Kitchen & Wine Bar | chattavore

I got an email a few months back inviting me to come in and try Root, but the email didn’t elaborate on exactly where the restaurant was located. A little investigative work revealed the Elemental had closed and Root had opened up in its place. I was a little surprised because it hadn’t been that long since we’d eaten at Elemental. Somehow I missed that they had closed. Root pretty quickly occupied the space, changing up the decor with different tables and chairs (at least I think they’re different…but I could be wrong), moving the big tractor to the back corner, adding some flowers…but the space was nice, so it didn’t need much work.

We arrived around 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and they were serving a brunch menu with starters, several breakfast specialty items, omelettes, an assortment of “Benedicts”, sandwiches, and salads. I skipped the $1.00 mimosas and stuck with water. We also skipped the starters, though the Southern nachos with Maytag blue cheese, bacon, green onions, and maple jalapeño reduction sounded pretty tasty. I struggled with whether to order the Cobb salad (herb roasted chicken, hard boiled egg, heirloom tomatoes, Maytag blue cheese, Benton’s bacon, Lee & Gordon greens, and red wine vinaigrette) and the fried green tomatoes BLT (fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese, applewood smoked bacon, Lee & Gordon lettuce, and aioli on toasted bread). When I asked our server, Erin, for her recommendation, she emphatically told me that I should get the BLT, which I ordered with parmesan-herb fries (other side options were grits, potatoes-breakfast potatoes, I assume-and root vegetable chips). The fries were delicious, hand-cut, skin on fries, perfectly cooked with chopped herbs and grated parmesan. The sandwich had a good balance of ingredients-a couple of strips of thick-cut bacon, two fried green tomatoes that were hot but not mouth-searing, a slightly spicy pimento cheese that was melty under the hot tomatoes, and buttery leaf lettuce. I didn’t detect the aioli; it just sort of blended in to the rest of the ingredients, which was fine with me because there was a lot going on in that sandwich (in a good way).

Root Kitchen & Wine Bar | chattavore

Philip quickly decided on the shrimp and grits. I was concerned that he wouldn’t like it because he is a fool for grit cakes with creamy sauce and this dish had neither. Rather, the shrimp & grits (made with Falls Mills grits and andouille pan gravy) was thick and tomatoey. The grits were spooned into the bowl and topped with a sauce made with tomatoes, sausage, and mushrooms (creminis and perhaps some shiitakes). There was a decent amount of shrimp and the dish was well-seasoned. While Philip lamented that they were not as good as his favorite, which was served at the now-defunct Market Street Tavern, he liked the shrimp and grits here a lot and would order it again. He was also very impressed by the fact that when he very much did not like the beer that he ordered, Erin brought him a different one and only charged him for one. That’s customer service, people.

Root Kitchen & Wine Bar | chattavore

Root Kitchen and Wine Bar is a beautiful restaurant with a small but varied menu. The service was good and the food was fresh and delicious. We look forward to going back to try their lunch and dinner menus.

If you happen to be on the North Shore looking for a great meal, Root Kitchen is a great place to try.

Root Kitchen and Wine Bar is located at 313 Manufacturer’s Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405. They are open Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. You can call them at 423-648-9160. You can “like” Root Kitchen and Wine Bar on Facebook and check out their website, http://www.rootkitchenandwinebar.com.

Other restaurants in this area: Chato Brasserie, Food Works

Root Kitchen & Wine Bar on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: By Location, Downtown Chattanooga, Restaurants Tagged With: CLOSED restaurants, downtown Chattanooga restaurants By Mary // Chattavore Leave a Comment

Dutch Maid Bakery & Café (****CLOSED****)

July 6, 2014

Dutch Maid Bakery & Café at Chatt-R-Bug is no longer in operation, but has been replaced by Twins Bakery & Cafe. I haven’t been yet, but you can check out Lisa Denton’s review from the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Philip and I like to go “the back way”. Actually, I’ve always preferred highways and generally take the way that’s the fastest when driving alone. Philip, on the other hand, prefers to avoid traffic as much as possible so he will sacrifice time for a back way most of the time. I’ve adopted a few of these back ways as my usual routes. One of those out of the way routes is the back way to Target in Hixson, crossing the railroad track on Old Hixson Pike (then back down behind the Hixson ballfields…but you don’t really care about that). If you turn onto Wilbanks Road just past the tracks, you’ll see a cute little store named Chatt-R-Bug. I still haven’t been in the store, but noticed recently that there were signs for “Dutch Maid Bakery and Café”. Naturally, I had to check it out.

Philip and I stopped in last week and found a tiny little space attached to the shop and a painting studio (Palette to Palate) with five tables. We were quickly greeted by a very sweet college-age girl (Abbie) and a very nice lady named Kim. Abbie brought us some menus and told us that the day’s soup was cream of mushroom and that they also had an apple pie special, then Kim brought our waters and talked to us a bit about the restaurant. Turns out everything is catered in from Dutch Maid Bakery & Café in Tracy City, Tennessee, from breads and cakes to meats, dressings, and soups. Kim brought us some samples: Kentucky Bourbon bread, maple-pecan bread, and peach moonshine bread. They were sweet, quick bread types and while they were all delicious…..peach moonshine was by far our favorite.
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The menu consisted of sandwiches-basics like chicken salad, turkey, Reuben, a BLT, and a few others-and salads, including a plate with a slice of quiche and some chicken and pasta salads. You can choose your bread and Kim told us that a lot of people like the chicken salad on the croissant, so since I was thinking about trying the chicken salad I decided to try that out along with a bowl of soup (there was a soup and half sandwich combo). I heard her telling some “regulars” who came in that the chicken salad didn’t have fruit in it that day, so I assumed that the chicken salad usually did have fruit (grapes and apples, perhaps?) in in. Instead, it had celery and onions and it was delicious. It was made with white and dark meat chicken, not too much onion, and just enough mayo to hold it together. The soup was thick and creamy with tiny pieces of mushrooms and some rice in it. It had a good mushroom flavor but since I love mushrooms I would have loved for it to have more mushroom pieces in it. The fruit I think was the tropical fruit mix that comes in a jar. It was pretty good for jarred fruit mix but of course I would have preferred fresh fruit.
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Kim also told Philip that Abbie made a mean Reuben. He decided on half a Reuben and soup. The Reuben was a triple decker with Thousand Island (not Russian) dressing and cheese melted on both layers. Philip actually took out the center slice of bread because he just didn’t want that much bread. However, he thought that the Reuben was really good, though it didn’t beat out his vote for “best Reuben in Chattanooga” (Vine Street Market). There was a good balance of ingredients-corned beef, melted Swiss, sauerkraut (very good sauerkraut), and dressing grilled on the freshly baked rye bread. Philip liked the soup a lot as well.
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There was a shelf where you could pick up some individually-wrapped treats (cookies, bars, caramel apple dumplings) and another shelf with breads, jellies, and preserves. Like I mentioned, they also had a dessert available but we decided to pass that up. I was very tempted to bring home a loaf of the “salt-rise” bread just to find out what it tasted like and had to check out the Dutch Maid Bakery & Café website after I got home to find out more about it. Turns out that the menu at the main location is a little larger than the one here (no surprise since they are making everything in house). There is no mention on the website of whether or not they do this catered-lunch model in other locations.
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This is a little out of the way but there were several people there while we were there that seemed to be on a first-name basis with the staff (of course, Kim sat down, introduced herself, and asked our names, so I guess it’s easy to get to know people that way). These were some super-friendly people and we liked the food. If you’re looking for a quiet little lunch spot with wonderful, friendly service and the promise of yummy baked goods in Hixson, Dutch Maid Bakery & Café at Chatt-R-Bug is a place worth checking out!

Dutch Maid Bakery & Café is located at 5231 Wilbanks Drive, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-842-0905. Check out Dutch Maid Bakery & Café’s website, http://www.thedutchmaid.com, and the Dutch Maid Bakery & Café Facebook page. You can find out more about Chatt-R-Bug on their website, http://www.chatt-r-bug.com or the Chatt-R-Bug Facebook page.
Dutch Maid Bakery and Cafe on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Bakeries & Coffee Shops, By Location, By Type, Hixson, Restaurants Tagged With: Bakeries, CLOSED restaurants, Hixson restaurants, sandwich/burger/hot dog restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 4 Comments

Cashew Vegan Restaurant

May 31, 2014

Cashew | Chattavore

After a hiatus from the restaurant to focus on catering, Cashew Vegan Restaurant reopened in August of 2016 due to popular demand.

Um, you guys, it has been over a month since I wrote my last review. We’ve had a lot of busy weekends lately! Summer break is here, though, so I’m hoping to get to some outside-of-Hamilton-County places that you guys have recommended to me. We contemplated a few different vacation destinations but I think we’ve settled on doing some mini-trips, some just day trips and some overnighters, to see more of this great state in which we live….but we decided to start the summer off with a trip to Cashew vegan restaurant, located in Coolidge Park.

According to Amy, the incredibly friendly hostess/cashier/server who greeted us and took our order, Cashew vegan restaurant has been around since September 2013. I have heard several wonderful things about it but because of its location-set back a little into a recessed area in the building in which it is located-I had never actually laid eyes on it. For some reason I started thinking about it recently and have been thinking about it for the last couple of weeks.
Cashew Menu | Chattavore
When we arrived, Amy immediately greeted us and we stood at the counter and perused the menu while she explained the brunch special, a burrito with black beans, tofu scramble, and roasted vegetables (served with garlicky kale and fresh fruit). The menu was divided into soups/starters, salads, kids’ plates, sides, plates, sandwiches, and drinks. Philip got water while I was drawn to the bright pink hibiscus-berry tea behind the counter. For $1.50 I decided to go for it. It was unsweetened but delicious-I love flowery drinks.
Cashew | Chattavore
Philip asked Amy for recommendations. She pointed out the polenta stacks on the starter menu as a great appetizer option, and just based on the menu description I had to agree, so I ordered it. The menu describes the polenta stacks as “rounds of organic polenta & sweet potato topped with roasted portobello mushroom, fresh tomato, and walnut-basil cream sauce drizzled with balsamic reduction” for $8.75. There were three on the plate, each topped with a gigantic basil leaf. The polenta was warm, cut into a round and stacked with all the other ingredients. The walnut-basil cream sauce was delicious and the combination of all of the ingredients was pretty much sublime, including the balsamic reduction (and I am not really a huge fan of balsamic vinegar…but it was perfect here).
Cashew | Chattavore
Amy also recommended the Thai loaded sweet potato (the menu features a selection of loaded white and sweet potatoes…I love loaded potatoes so this was perfect for me). I always feel like I should take employee recommendations unless they are for something that I just don’t like, so I decided to get this potato for $5.65. The Thai loaded sweet potato features shredded carrot, chopped cilantro, and chopped green onion with peanut sauce and sriracha. I never would have dreamt up this combination in a million years, but it was pretty much one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. The peanut sauce was amazing and paired perfectly with the sweet potato. The shredded carrot added a little crunch while the cilantro and the sriracha added a little hint of spice and flavor (though this was definitely the kind of dish that got hotter as I ate it…but it was not overpowering, and I am a spicy-food-pansy so if you don’t do spice you could definitely do this). My only regret is that I ordered the full potato-I didn’t realize how big it was. With the polenta stacks, the potato ended up being so filling that I couldn’t eat much of the second half. A half of any of the loaded potatoes is featured on the sides menu.
Cashew | Chattavore
Philip decided to go for the special, which turned out to be a pretty gigantic tortilla wrapped around roasted vegetables (including broccoli, potatoes, and onions), black beans, and scrambled tofu. It was well seasoned and the flavors went together well. He did not love the kale, but that’s just because he doesn’t love kale. It was tender but still a little firm with a mild garlic flavor and just the right amount of seasoning. The fruit was nice and fresh and there was a decent amount of it (who else hates the dreaded fruit cup with a pound of melon, half a strawberry, and two grapes?).
Cashew | Chattavore
There were quite a few desserts in the case and Philip decided that we needed to get something to bring home to pair with our Saturday afternoon coffee. There were cookies, vanilla cupcakes, gluten-free doughnuts, raw cheesecake, and Oreo brownies, but since we had a stop to make after we ate we decided to go with some desserts that weren’t too icing-y. We got a brownie and a chocolate chip-banana bread pudding. The brownie was very chocolatey with a cake texture and since it was clearly baked in a pan with individual cups for the brownies it had a great chewy texture all the way around….but the bread pudding stole the show for me. It was perfectly sweetened (as in just sweet enough) with lots of mini dark chocolate chips and sticky slices of banana mixed in. I am going to have to make this at home. It was so good.
Cashew | Chattavore
Cashew | Chattavore
We aren’t vegan but we do really like great vegan restaurants, which are definitely not abounding in Chattanooga. Cashew fits the bill with a varied and delicious menu and an extremely friendly staff (in addition to Amy, we also met the owners, Bailey and Christiana-sorry if I spelled anyone’s name incorrectly!). It’s a small but bright and inviting space with cool artwork. They are devoted to providing diners with as many local, organic, and high-quality food items as they possibly can. I want to go back ASAP!

While Cashew Vegan Restaurant no longer has regular business hours, check out their website for info about their catering and monthly 5-course dinners!

Cashew | Chattavore
Cashew Vegan Restaurant is located at 149 River Street, Chattanooga, TN. You can call them at (423) 355-5486. Check out their website or like Cashew on Facebook.

Other vegan restaurants in Chattanooga: Sluggo’s North
Other River Street restaurants: River Street Deli, OPA, Poblano’s

Cashew on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: By Location, Downtown Chattanooga, Restaurants Tagged With: CLOSED restaurants, vegan restaurants, vegetarian restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 2 Comments

The Farmer’s Daughter (****CLOSED****)

January 19, 2014

the farmer's daughter chattanooga

The Farmer’s Daughter, formerly located in River View near Downtown Chattanooga, is now closed. The Daily Ration, run by the owners of The Bitter Alibi, has moved in to take its place.

Seemingly ages ago (I think it was about 2 years in actuality), it was announced that Ann Keener, literally the farmer’s daughter (her parents farm at Sequatchie Cove) and her husband would be opening a restaurant at the former Exxon station at the corner of Hixson Pike and Tremont, across from the old Greenlife building and next door to Tremont Tavern.  It seemed to take forever, but this past October, the Farmer’s Daughter finally opened for business.  Much to my chagrin, their hours are 7-2 (which bugs me only because my opportunities to go anywhere during those hours are extremely limited).  Philip and I have been meaning to go since they opened, but every Saturday we seem to think about it at about 1:40, and I hate being the person that goes into any sort of establishment right before they close.  I think it comes from my days of working at Chuck E. Cheese’s as a teenager, when people would actually walk in the doors literally when the manager was locking the door for the night and they would inevitably stay for at least two hours (corporate policy prevented us from asking them to leave…but who keeps their kids out that late?!?!?! And I was a kid too, with homework to do and tests to pass!).

Anyway, I’m not here to vent about all those hours of lost teenage sleep.  Someone asked us last week if we’d been to The Farmer’s Daughter yet and we decided that we must purpose to go there this weekend.  So, we woke up super-early (6:40) in the morning on Saturday (actually, that wasn’t by choice, it just happened) and didn’t eat breakfast, which was really not a good decision because I was pretty much hollow by the time we got there at about 10:20.  The parking lot wasn’t super-crowded, and even though there was a short wait (as in about five minutes) for a table, the spacious atmosphere kept feelings of being cramped at bay.

Before I go any farther, let me mention that The Farmer’s Daughter is also home of Chattanooga’s newest coffee bar, Copacetic Coffee.  Copacetic is operated by my very, very favorite coffee purveyors, Velo Coffee Roasters.  They have a walk-up bar right when you walk in the door in case you want something to sip while you wait or if you just want to slip in for a coffee (and maybe some baked goods, too….there were butternut cinnamon rolls, muffins, and peanut butter cookies on the counter).  A limited menu of coffee drinks featuring Velo roasted coffee and Cruze Dairy Farm milk promises nothing but perfection, but unfortunately there was no decaf available.  Philip, sadly, can no longer have caffeine, and since I was not going to drink delicious Velo in front of him, we just had water.  Velo decaf, by the way, blows the others out of the water.

The menu at The Farmer’s Daughter is pretty tiny, which, if you have read my blog much, you know I find to actually be a strength in a restaurant.  The more items on the menu, the less time you have to focus on making sure that each item is perfect.  They feature almost exclusively locally-produced foods, including Link 41 bacon (more on this in a minute), other pork products as well as cheese from Sequatchie Cove Farm, grits from Riverview Farms, and Gregg’s Eggs.  Until 10:30, they serve breakfast, then at 10:30 they switch to brunch (on Saturday) or lunch during the week.  We got there at 10:20 so we were at that perfect nexus in time where we could order off of either menu, and while the breakfast quiche with kale, mushrooms, and cheese sounded stunning, we both ended up ordering off of the brunch menu.

Now, there was a pimento cheese sandwich (served with a choice of side) that naturally appealed to me, since pimento cheese is one of my obsessions.  I also briefly considered the power salad, which with quinoa, french lentils, roasted roots or pumpkin, marinated veggies, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, shaved parmesan, and lemon-miso dressing sounded amazing, I was in a breakfasty mood.  So….I turned my attention to deciding between grits and greens-a bowl of Riverview Farm grits with Cumberland cheese, topped with Crabtree Farm collards slow cooked with Link 41 cured bacon, and topped with a farm egg-or Mike’s potatoes-3 potato hashbrowns, served with housemade applesauce, organic sour cream, fried Sequatchie Cove ham, and an egg.  Haley, our server, told me that while the grits were great, the hash browns were pretty much fantastic and that would be her recommendation…so I got them.  She did not lie.  They were excellent, cooked to crispy perfection with just the right amount of salt and not too much grease.  The ham was wonderfully salty and delicious, and the egg was very nice too, though I was expecting (and hoping for) fried.  I loved the accompanying applesauce and sour cream, which made me feel like I was eating latkes.  The only thing that could have made this better is a biscuit!

The Farmer's Daughter, formerly located in River View near Downtown Chattanooga, is now closed. The Daily Ration, run by the owners of The Bitter Alibi, has moved in to take its place. | restaurant review from Chattavore.com

Philip was a little bit upset by the lack of bacon on the menu.  If you’ll notice, I mentioned it above in the grits & greens, but that’s the only menu item featuring the Link 41 bacon.  An off-duty employee was dining at the table next to us and told him that it has a lot to do with the sheer volume of requests for Link 41 bacon that would inevitably come if it was a regular menu item.  We don’t want Link 41 to run out of bacon!  This meant that he had to settle (I say that sarcastically) for the breakfast sausage, which was a thick, well-cooked, perfectly seasoned patty alongside his blueberry cornmeal pancakes, which he had with house made vanilla syrup and sorghum plus a sunny-side up egg (for an extra charge).  The pancakes were deliciously light and fluffy, though for some reason only the top pancake in the stack of three had blueberries.  He wasn’t too put off by that since he really only ordered those over the regular buttermilk pancakes since they came with the sausage.  The vanilla syrup was good but he really loved the sorghum, though nothing could ever replace good old maple syrup.

The Farmer's Daughter, formerly located in River View near Downtown Chattanooga, is now closed. The Daily Ration, run by the owners of The Bitter Alibi, has moved in to take its place. | restaurant review from Chattavore.com

Our bill was a little under $20 pre-tip….not a discount brunch but definitely not expensive considering the high-quality local food that we were served. Our server, Haley, was wonderful-attentive, friendly, and a little bit sarcastic in a good way (but only after we were a little sarcastic with her in jest)-we like that in a server. The atmosphere is bright, the decor beautiful because of its simplicity….and the food the same-beautiful because of its simplicity. We were impressed.

The Farmer’s Daughter is located at 1211 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37405. They are open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. You can call them at 423-355-5372. You can find The Farmer’s Daughter on Facebook or check out their website, thefarmersdaughterchattanooga.com.

Also in the Riverview area: Tremont Tavern (AKA Chattavore’s current top burger)

The Farmer's Daughter on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: By Location, Downtown Chattanooga, Restaurants Tagged With: CLOSED restaurants, downtown Chattanooga restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 8 Comments

El Kyoto Mexican and Japanese Restaurant

November 24, 2013

El Kyoto Mexican and Japanese Restaurant on Chattavore

El Kyoto, now closed, was a restaurant in Hixson, Tennessee (Lakesite) that served both Hibachi-style Japanese and Mexican food.

So, when I wrote some time back about Kyoto (then spelled Kioto) Japanese restaurant just down the street from my Lakesite-area home, I told you guys how I had to laugh just a little when I first saw it.  I was apprehensive, needlessly so since it turned out to be quite good.  So, I’ll admit that I laughed again when Philip and I were driving down Hixson Pike and saw the new sign hanging on the side of the building for El Kyoto Mexican and Japanese Restaurant.  I’m really not sure why; the owners of the restaurant are of Mexican descent, and in my opinion-and many others of which I’m aware-our other nearby Mexican option is lacking these days (I won’t name names but if you are familiar with this area you know what I’m talking about….I haven’t written about them).

Philip and I decided to go over there Tuesday night of this past week when I wasn’t really in the mood to cook and we knew that we had to squeeze in a restaurant review at some point.  It’s been a month, you guys!  I’ll be playing catch-up in my time off from work for the upcoming holidays; I have some reviews planned.  We have tended to avoid the restaurant because of the less than desirable parking right on Hixson Pike, but then we realized that they have spaces on the side of the building as well, so problem solved.  There were several other people in the restaurant but it wasn’t crowded per se so we were seated immediately.

Our server, who was very friendly (but unfortunately, I didn’t catch his name) quickly took our drink order and brought us chips and salsa, which are complimentary  upon request.  The chips were good (not as good as Delia’s, though), fresh (not stale, which, unfortunately, seems to be a problem at some other establishments of late) and warm, and the salsa was fresh-tasting, not overly chunky, and a little spicier than what you typically get.  We also ordered queso dip, which was a little thicker than that served at a lot of other Mexican restaurants, with just a tiny bit of spice.

El Kyoto Mexican and Japanese Restaurant on Chattavore

The menu of Mexican items is a lot smaller than most other local Mexican restaurants, but that is fine with me.  I got my standard-traditional Mexican tacos (known in some other restaurants as Mexico City tacos or street tacos), served on corn tortillas (doubled up!) with meat, chopped onions, and chopped cilantro.  I got one tilapia (grilled, not fried), one steak, and one al pastor (pork)-they come in an order of three.  All three were very good, though the al pastor was my favorite, just a little bit crispy, very well seasoned.  The steak was a little bit tough compared to what I’ve had at Delia’s, but the flavor was good.  The fish was nice with a light seasoning on it and cooked just right-not dried out as overcooked fish would be.

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We got a laugh out of the “100% American Chimichanga” listed on the menu, which is what Philip decided to order since that is pretty much his standard Mexican restaurant order.  He ordered it with chorizo (Mexican sausage) which he always orders it if it is available (at some restaurants it is not).  There were two chimichangas that were a little bit smaller than the usual Mexican restaurant chimichanga, with grilled peppers and onions stuffed into the tortilla with the meat (this is not the standard) and queso sauce on top.  There were refried beans on the side as well as lettuce, tomato, and sour cream.  He was disappointed that there was no guacamole on the side, though I’m sure that they would have brought him some if he had asked.  He liked the chimichanga a lot and thought that the chorizo was very good, though not the best he’d had, and not overly greasy.  He was not, however, able to eat both of the chimichangas.  It was definitely a very large portion!

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So, I guess you have probably figured out my position on El Kyoto.  Just like comparing it to Ichiban for Japanese….it’s not the best Mexican food around (in this area, Delia’s still takes that honor, and if I’m willing to drive downtown, of course, Taqueria Jalisco reigns supreme) but for a weeknight dinner when I just can’t even bring myself to think about leaving the Lakesite area, it’s definitely a worthy dinner option.  The food was not fantastic, but it was good and the prices were decent (especially since we had a buy one get one free coupon!).

El Kyoto was located at 8719 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343 (in the Lakesite/Dallas Bay area).  You can call them at (423) 521-8444.  They do not have a website or Facebook page.

More Mexican Food: Delia’s in Soddy-Daisy or Dayton, El Metate, Taqueria Jalisco, Taco Roc

El Kyoto on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Asian, By Location, By Type, Hixson, Restaurants, South of the Border (Mexican, South American, etc.) Tagged With: CLOSED restaurants, Hixson restaurants, mexican restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 1 Comment

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About Chattavore

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

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