CLOSED restaurants Archives - Page 7 of 8

Market Street Tavern-February 11, 2012 CLOSED

February 12, 2012

Market Street Tavern closed at the beginning of December 2012.

You know what my favorite type of meal in a restaurant is? The kind I don’t have to pay for. Okay, technically we paid $3.01 in tax + the tip….but that’s all. Philip’s sister gave us a gift certificate to Market Street Tavern for Christmas. I’m not sure why we just now got around to using it, but the coldest day so far this year seemed like a perfect time to park a mile away and walk in the wind tunnels between the buildings in downtown Chattanooga. I mean, doesn’t it make sense to you? Anyway….

We got there at 12:15; they open at noon on Saturdays and we were the first customers. I think that happened to us the last time we went there a couple of years ago. I guess a “tavern” is probably more crowded in the evenings. Obviously, we were seated immediately. The first thing that I noticed (as with the last time that we went there) was the one problem I have with Market Street Tavern-the decor. The space used to be an Italian restaurant (Cibo, I think) and they just kept the decor. The walls don’t bother me, and part of the restaurant has nice-looking hardwood floors, but the carpet, tables, and chairs could use an update. Still, I don’t go to restaurants for the decor, so it’s definitely not going to affect my decision to go back or not.

We ordered our waters and some fried pickles. I puffy-heart love fried pickles so I was very happy to see them on the appetizer menu. Link 41 sausage was also available but we had already ordered the fried pickles when we realized that. They took about 10 minutes and they were hooooootttttt. The fried pickles here are pickle spears, not chips….I think I’ve decided I like spears better, although they hold the heat in more so they are definitely more risky to eat. I definitely burned my mouth! Oh well-my fault! They were battered, not breaded, which I loved, and served with ranch dressing for dipping. There were 6 spears….and we ate them all. Mmmmm.

I couldn’t decide between the Tavern pizza (herbed flatbread with artichokes and sundried tomatoes) or the Sequatchie Cove burger, so I asked our server, Kate, which she would recommend. She recommended the burger, so I ordered it, medium, with sauteed mushrooms and Swiss cheese. For my side, I chose chips; they are housemade. If they had been packaged chips, I would have opted for fries. In case you don’t know, Sequatchie Cove is a local farm that sells grass-fed beef; yea for local! The burger is served on a Niedlov’s bun. I definitely was not disappointed by this burger. It was so juicy that the bottom of the bun was drenched, but the bread was sturdy enough that it still held together. As you see in the photo, the burgers are served with lettuce, tomato, and onion. I left the onion on for the pic, but removed it immediately after, of course. The burger was perfectly cooked, and since it was local, grassfed beef from a source that I know and trust, I was fine with eating it pink. Delicious! The handcut chips were great too, and if I hadn’t eaten 3 fried pickle spears, I would have cleaned my plate.

Philip decided to order shrimp and grits. Ever since the first time we ate at Food Works, he has been on a mission to find a restaurant that serves shrimp and grits as good as theirs. Up to this point, he has been unsuccessful….but he actually liked Market Street Tavern’s shrimp and grits better. I was beside myself. The shrimp and grits here consisted of three fried grit cakes (he felt they could have served two and it would have been plenty of food), country ham, sauteed shrimp, brown butter sauce, and scallions. The country ham and the brown butter sauce give a deep, smoky, rich flavor, and the grit cake (as opposed to just a big bowl of grits) lends structure and texture. Amazing. We considered dessert, but we were way too stuffed for one of their gigantic cupcakes made by Belle’s Cupcakes, and since I was planning to bake a cake to blog, it seemed like overkill to get one to go. Next time!

I didn’t know this, but I guess Market Street Tavern and Tremont Tavern are owned by the same person or people. I guess that makes sense…..especially since the burger was so good. I haven’t tried Tremont yet, but I actually have a Living Social deal for there, so it will be coming soon. I have heard that their burgers are among the best in town….but that’s another post.

This was definitely a great dining experience for us. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend Market Street Tavern. They are located at 850 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-634-0260. Their website is http://marketstreettavern.com; you can follow them on Twitter or “like” them on Facebook. I am including photos of their menu; not great photos but they’ll give you an idea of the offerings.

9/16/12: Over the summer, Market Street Tavern moved across the street to 809 Market Street. Of course, the restaurant has a more updated look, and the menu has gotten an update as well. I hope to write an updated post about them soon!

China King Hixson-February 4, 2012 (CLOSED)

February 5, 2012

Note: China King Hixson closed sometime in the later half of 2013. Somehow I totally missed this until a reader pointed it out to me! There’s now a Workout 24/7 there. Shows you how much attention I pay, since I grocery shop in the Publix plaza at least once a week!

All right, I railed against going to this place for quite some time. Call me a snob, I don’t care. I just have this “thing” about hole-in-the-wall Chinese places….I’m suspicious. I can’t help it. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, and sometimes I’m not. There’s one very close to my house that we went to once and my eggroll had some sort of mysterious fluorescent pink meat in it. Never again.

Anyway, Philip went to a different hole-in-the-wall Chinese place in East Brainerd with a friend last week and loved it, so he wanted to try this one. One of my friends and her husband really like it and go there frequently, so I figured it was worth a shot. When we were racking our brains trying to think of something to eat on Saturday night, Philip suggested we go. So we did.

It was around 7:30 when we got there. There was one couple that was actually eating in the restaurant, and 4 or 5 people waiting for orders (2 more came in to pick up while we were there). The decoration was sparse, as you would probably expect, and they did have the required slightly creepy looking photos of different meals that are available hanging about the counter, like a menu. The menu is huge, but that’s generally pretty standard at a Chinese restaurant…..122 menu items plus “Chef’s Specialties”, “Special Combination Plates”, and lunch specials. Since we are partial to fried rice, we went for the special combination plates, which included the meat, pork fried rice, and an eggroll for $6.95. Philip got sweet and sour chicken, and I got sesame chicken. I won’t go into too much detail about what is available…it’s again pretty much the standard Chinese restaurant menu…plus you can check out the menu at the bottom of the post.

Philip took the first bite of the eggrolls….he’s a little bit braver than I am. Okay, he’s a lot braver than I am. Anyway, there was no pink mystery meat in the center of the eggrolls, just cabbage. We were in business. Since we had about 15 minutes from the time we got our food to the time we were actually eating it, it wasn’t overwhelmingly hot….just perfect. I’d be willing to be you’d burn your mouth eating one in the restaurant, though!

Interestingly, the sesame chicken smelled super-garlicky. It didn’t taste super-garlicky, though, so that was good. It was sweet, not overly sticky, and not spicy like you occasionally find (General Tso’s would be considered the spicy version of sesame chicken). I had two random pieces of broccoli, which I got a good laugh from. Philip’s sweet & sour was pretty much the average sweet & sour….not too much breading and not too greasy; that was a plus. The rice was fine, maybe not as sticky as I really like my fried rice to be. That’s the problem with making things at home…you end up liking what you make more than what you get at restaurants. I guess that’s why so many restaurants are terribly disappointing to me. Still, I didn’t have to cook this, and it’s nice to have the night off from time to time. There were not a ton of veggies in the rice…a few carrots, onions, and peas-but interestingly there was actually a fair amount of diced pork, which tasted pretty good. Can someone explain to me why the rice at some Chinese restaurants is yellow? Some, not all. I would love to know.

In the end, we had enough left over to have it for lunch today as well. Again, that’s always nice, and it makes me feel less guilty about the amount that I spend when I go to a restaurant. Of course, there were the requisite fortune cookies at the end of the meal, and our fortunes were so boring that I don’t remotely remember what mine said. I think Philip’s said something about going fishing. I was more intrigued by the one that Philip picked up off of the table where we were waiting….it said something about modifying your plans. But I digress.

Okay, in the end….China King is not the ultimate be all and end all of Chinese restaurants. It was decent food, though, and inexpensive, at least when you consider that we got two meals from it. I doubt will eat there often, but I am sure we will eat there again. Perfectly acceptable for a no-cook Saturday night.

China King is located at 5922 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343 (in the Publix complex, between El Metate and BiBa’s). You can reach them at 423-842-0666.

Urban Spoon-January 28, 2012 CLOSED

January 30, 2012

3/31/13 During a trip to the North Shore this weekend we saw that Urban Spoon has closed.

Saturday Philip and I decided to venture down to the North Shore to try out The Urban Spoon. The Urban Spoon is a little hole in the wall in the former location of Chattanooga Sandwich Company. I had heard great things about their Sunday breakfast buffet, so I checked out their online menu and it seemed to fit the bill of the type of food we were in the mood for that day.

I was worried that it may be crowded and we would have to wait for a long time, especially since we were pretty much starving. No worries…we were seated immediately. I took quick note of the specials on the blackboard when we walked in-a smoked salmon salad, cottage pie and mixed green salad, and “chicken pot pie” soup before I checked out the menu, which included a soup/salad section, an entree section (including sandwiches), and a dessert section.

Philip decided to try a cup of the Suck Creek stew. The menu description reads, “Smoked sausage, chicken, black-eyed peas, onions, and smoked ham hock. Can you say….suck-u-l-e-n-t!” It was indeed tasty-nice and smoky. I only took one bite, so I didn’t taste the spiciness, but Philip told me that it was spicy, presumably from the smoked sausage. When the soup came out, a couple of cornbread muffins accompanied it. I’m not going to lie to you here-the cornbread was good, but it wasn’t “my kind” of cornbread. It was sweet, and I prefer my cornbread “unsweet”. It was also a little drier than what I make. I ate my muffin, but, my friends, it just wasn’t as good as my own. I’m a little biased!

For his entree, Philip chose the Georgia Pecan-Crusted Chicken, described in the menu like this, “This dish became famous when we were the wedding caterers from hell! Fresh sautéed chicken breast smothered in seasoned pecans and baked to delightful tenderness. Served with wild rice pilaf, sweet gingered carrots, and drizzled with Honey Mustard.” Amazing is all I can say. The pecans were deliciously toasted and completely coating the chicken, making it as crispy as if it had been fried, and the honey mustard lent a perfect and not overpowering sweetness to the chicken. The rice was perfectly seasoned and made me a little jealous. I haven’t perfected a great non-fried rice recipe. I must figure out their secret. The gingered carrots were indeed sweet and gingery, but not too much so. Ginger can be a very strong spice if overdone, and this was not. This dish was pretty much perfect.

I decided on the cottage pie special with vidalia onion dressing for my salad. In case you don’t know what cottage pie is, it’s shepherd’s pie made with ground beef (and if you don’t know what shepherd’s pie is, it’s a thick stew made with ground lamb and vegetables and baked under a mashed potato “crust”). Some people and restaurants make their stew tomato-ey and others make it more gravyish. I personally make mine gravyish, and I was glad that The Urban Spoon did so as well. I did think that the stew was just a tiny bit saltier than I would have made it, but it was still delicious, with green beans, corn, peas, and onions mixed in. The mashed potatoes tasted great on the pie as well as by themselves. The salad was made with mixed greens, a tomato wedge, a red onion slice (which I removed, of course, after taking the photo), a big slice of pickled beet (which I ate even though I think beets smell like dirt-look at me trying new things!), and a pimento-stuffed green olive. I chose the vidalia dressing over ranch and raspberry vinaigrette since it was “different”. I’d only had vidalia dressing once, at another local restaurant which is well-known for theirs, and didn’t like it. That was not the case here. The dressing was great. The meal overall was great!

By the way, aside from one slightly eye-jarring wall, the decor inside of The Urban Spoon is nice, spare but not lacking, with paintings of local scenes (I assume by local artists) hanging on the wall (and available for purchase!). As you walk by, you can see into the kitchen, which is always nice. I was very pleased with this experience, and I will definitely be back, hopefully on a Sunday morning next time!

The Urban Spoon is located on Chattanooga’s North Shore at 207 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can reach them at 423-710-3252. Check out their website, http://www.urbanspoonchattanooga.com, and their Facebook page.

Hillbilly’s-December 22, 2011 (CLOSED)

December 26, 2011

December 16, 2012: Hillbilly’s is closed. They’ve actually been closed for a few months now, and I thought I had either updated this post to reflect that or deleted it….but apparently I was wrong. The former location is now “Hixson Pike Diner”, which opened last month. If it lasts I’ll give it a try one of these days!

Okay, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that when a restaurant named “Hillbilly’s” opened at the former location of Backyard Burgers in Hixson, I had myself a good laugh. Not too sure about that name, and the location just didn’t seem great to me. Not too much action in that area, you know? Anyway, a few months back a friend posted on Facebook that he was at Hillbilly’s, so I asked him what he thought about it. By this time, it had been around for some time-and had even changed locations-so I was beginning to wonder if maybe it wasn’t so bad. My friend, whose opinion I trust when it comes to food, told me, “It’s not Southern Star, but it’s good.” Fair enough. No offense, Hillbilly’s, but it really is tough to beat the Star. So, at that point it was decided that we needed to give Hillbilly’s a try.

The time came last Thursday when we couldn’t make a decision about where to eat lunch. Hillbilly’s was there, it wasn’t crowded, it just made sense. When we walked in, we were immediately greeted by a very friendly server who told us to have a seat and immediately took our drink orders (water) which he quickly brought out in gigantic Mason jars. He told us about the day’s specials-chicken and dumplings and chicken and dressing-which come with two sides and tea. There were other specials on the menu-each day has three or four specials. There’s a massive sandwich menu, including a burger called a quadruple heart attack-three burger patties sandwiched between four grilled cheese sandwiches for $14.75 (or was it $14.95?). Anyway, there was a (rather small) guy there when we got there who actually finished one. What???? Wow.

I pondered ordering a burger for no other reason but that Hillbilly’s sign boasts that they have the best burgers in town…but unless a burger is a restaurant’s specialty, I usually don’t order them on the first try. I like to feel out a restaurant before jumping into the burger world. I decided instead to order one of the specials: a fried chicken breast with green beans, mashed potatoes, and a biscuit. Philip decided on Grandma’s meatloaf with fried okra, mashed potatoes, and cornbread. I went ahead and decided to get the tea that came with the special (Philip passed on it) and thought that their sweet tea was fantastic. These days, I don’t order anything other than water very often, but sweet tea is so easy to mess up. The worst is when a restaurant serves Nestea. This was definitely brewed tea with just the right amount of sweetness. Score!

When our food came, the portion sizes were large but not outrageous. The gravy was brown gravy, which I was just a tiny bit disappointed with-I was hoping for cream gravy. Oh well. I had heard that the mashed potatoes were instant here, but they had lumps and skins in them, and I have yet to encounter a mashed potato with lumps and skins. They were not the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had, but they were fine. The green beans were very tasty, slow cooked and seasoned just right. The chicken was great! It was hot, fresh, and had a nice crispy crust on it. By the way, it was a boneless breast. I know there’s a lot of debate about whether it’s okay to serve fried chicken boneless, but it definitely cuts down on the work you have to do to eat it! My only disappointments were that the biscuit was not homemade, and it was served with “whipped spread”, not butter. You know how I feel about margarine!

Fried Boneless Chicken Breast, Mashed Potatoes (Gravy on the Side), Green Beans, and a Biscuit

Philip was very happy with his meatloaf, which was not chunky (big score!) and had a ketchup sauce (but it wasn’t as good as my meatloaf, which is really tough to beat!). I tasted it and it was really good. He also had the mashed potatoes, and his assessment of it was about the same as mine-good, not the best he’d ever had. He did really like the fried okra, which didn’t have a super-thick breading “jacket” on it and was crispy but not greasy. He also really liked the cornbread, which has been the subject of much debate. The cornbread is more like a cornbread pancake-a Johnnycake if you will-as opposed to the traditional squares of cornbread we’re used to in the South. It was sweet, but not overly so.

Grandma's Meatloaf with Fried Okra, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, and Cornbread

Okay, so as my friend said, Hillbilly’s is not Southern Star, but it’s good southern food from a friendly staff for a decent price. There’s definitely a decent amount of food and a good variety offered. Definitely give it a try if you are looking for southern food in an unassuming atmosphere!

Hillbilly’s is located at 4047 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343 (in the old Huddle House building in the Lupton City area). You can reach them at 423-877-4457. Unfortunately, they don’t have a website or Facebook page, and I was unable to find their hours online (and forgot to look while I was there!). I am pretty sure they are open seven days a week, though.

Nana’s Frozen Custard-September 23, 2011

October 18, 2011

April 2014: After they winter “break” and opening for one Saturday afternoon/evening, Nana’s sadly announced that they would not reopen the store again due to rising costs and a decrease in sales. I. Am. Devastated. However, the Nana’s truck will still be serving delicious frozen custard around town. Follow them on Facebook to find out where they’ll be.

Nana’s Frozen Custard, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. (1) Cold; (2) Creamy; (3) Thick; (4) Amazing flavors; (5) Interesting menu; (6) Close to home. As my friend Chastity says, Nana’s pretty much ruins every other ice cream place. It’s just the best! In case you were wondering, yes, there is a difference between ice cream and frozen custard. Ice cream is made from a base of milk and/or cream, and frozen custard includes eggs to increase. I prefer custard. Nana’s Frozen Custard, to be exact.

You may have noticed that I am posting this a little late. Yep, our last trip to Nana’s was on 9/23. I took pictures but I guess in the busy-ness of work and finishing up my class, I just forgot to post about it. Now, I’m having another Nana’s craving, which made me remember that I needed to do my post.

We aren’t big sweets-eaters around here. It isn’t that we don’t like them, it’s just that I prefer to make things from scratch, so sweets are not always readily available. Ice cream is no exception; from time to time, I will buy some at the grocery store, but it usually results in either the ice cream going bad after we’ve eaten a couple of servings, or us totally eating way too much ice cream in order to avoid the ice cream going bad. Neither is a good thing. Thus, even though it is less cost-effective, we generally buy our ice cream from an ice cream shop. It feels more like a treat that way, anyway. So, Nana’s is a fairly frequent (once every month or two) treat for us.

Nana’s is a walk-up ice cream (excuse me, custard) stand with several picnic tables. They also have a drive-thru window. You can choose a standard, like a cup or cone with varying amounts of any flavor of Nana’s custard, a malt, a shake, a float, a sundae, or a “shiver”, which is similar to a Blizzard…or you can choose a treat off of their extensive original menu. The creations on their menu have interesting names like “Apple Pie Blossom” (a big scoop of vanilla custard melting over apples wrapped in a flaky crust, complimented by warm caramel sauce and brown sugar, “Happy Birthday to You” (Celebration! Cake flavored custard glowing with blue marshmallow frosting and confetti sprinkles, “Frozen Hot Chocolate” (hot cocoa mix blended with vanilla custard, topped by a swirl of marshmallow embedded whipped creme and chocolate sprinkles), and “Chester Frosty” (vanilla custard floating in blue marshmallow creme and Gummi fish, topped with Lifesavers swim “rings” and sprinkled with sandy brown sugar). I always look at the menu and deliberate between the Apple Pie Blossom and Strawberry Shortcake (vanilla custard surrounded by moist pieces of cake, swimming in sweet sliced strawberries and topped with whipped creme), but I always end up getting a cup of custard. Ultimately, I guess I just feel that there is no reason to sully the perfection of Nana’s custard with toppings and mix-ins. There are also a few “food” items on the menu, such as hot dogs, chili, and Frito pie.

The menu of custard flavors available changes on a regular basis. Some flavors are available seasonally (I’m pretty sure I’ve seen pumpkin on the menu, for example). I am not sure if the other flavors change daily, weekly, or what. I assume there is some sort of schedule on which the flavors are available, and, of course, the standards like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry are always an option. I pretty much rotate through three flavors: mint chocolate chip, lemon, and birthday cake. On this particular night, I had birthday cake. Now, I love birthday cake ice cream. Mayfield’s has a great version, as does Ben & Jerry’s….but Nana’s is the best. I mean, the best. It has actual smashed-up cake in it. I haven’t asked for confirmation on this (I’ll have to next time I’m there) but I think it is Federal Bake Shop cake. At least it tastes like it is. I haven’t done a Federal Bake Shop post yet…..but tasting like it has Federal Bake Shop cake in it is a very good thing. It’s always difficult for me to decide which route to go, though. I love every flavor I’ve tried.

Medium birthday cake ice cream. Yes, we took these pictures on the bench of one of the picnic tables.

Philip always, I repeat always gets the chocolate malt. According to him, Nana’s and Kay’s Kastle are the only places that know how to mix a malt. Usually, the malt powder is clumpy or all stuck at the bottom. At Nana’s, though, the malts are always perfect. Perfectly blended, with just the right amount of malt powder. The malts are the perfect thickness, topped with whipped cream and a malted milk ball (which, oddly enough, Philip hates, even though he loves malts). He is never disappointed (well, except for the time that the “new guy” mixed his malt. But those things happen sometimes).

“Regular” size chocolate malt (as opposed to large)

Let me just lay this out here, though. Nana’s ain’t cheap. It usually costs around $8-$10 for Philip and me to go there, depending on whether I am being prudent and eating a small custard or being “decadent” and eating a medium. I have accepted the expense, though. There’s no waste, and it’s the best ice cream….er, custard….in town. I’m willing to spend a few bucks from time to time to have the best.

There is one downside, though. I don’t post negative reviews about food, because I figure that maybe it’s just me and everyone has their own tastes….but I’m going to comment on the service. I am not crazy about the customer service. I am not the only one that feels this way….when I told people that I was doing a Nana’s post, other people commented that while they loved Nana’s custard, their service needed some work. Nana’s is staffed mainly by teenagers, and it just seems to me that unless good customer service is really stressed to teenagers, they will not deliver. It’s not that they are unfriendly, they just don’t seem too excited to have to open the window and talk to customers. Last time we went, we could see the girl mentally drawing straws to decide who was going to wait on us. Once they open the window, they’re fine….not enthusiastic, but friendly enough. Since they aren’t rude, and the custard is out-of-this-world, I am willing to let it slide….but Nana’s, if you guys are reading this…kick it up a notch!

Nana’s Frozen Custard is located at 6707 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-842-3003. Check out their website or check them out on Facebook or Twitter.

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