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Market Street Tavern-October 31, 2012 (***CLOSED***)

November 4, 2012

12/16/12 I am not sure what happened….but MST closed their doors on 12/1/12.  It seemed very sudden and was definitely disappointing given the quality of the food and their wonderful new location.  It made me very sad!

Philip and I have a nine-year-old Halloween tradition: stay as far away from home until the danger of trick-or-treaters has past.  I know that sounds mean, but really there’s a good reason behind it.  See, the first year that we lived in our house, we bought two gigantic bags of candy.  And had about five trick-or-treaters.  This, of course, meant that we were stuck with massive amounts of candy leftover.  We figured out that since we live very close to three large subdivisions, all the trick-or-treaters go there instead.  We decided after that to make an effort not to be home…that way, we didn’t feel the need to buy candy for the few trick-or-treaters who might be out just so we’d end up with a ton of candy that we’d then feel the need to eat.

Since we had a Living Social deal to Market Street Tavern, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to check out their new location.  If you’ll recall, we visited there in February and their shrimp & grits unseated Food Works’ as Philip’s favorite.  That was a big deal.  One of the few “negatives” that I had to throw out was the decor, leftover from the Italian restaurant that was located there prior to MST.  They have now moved across the street to the old Hardie and Caudle building, next door to Fork and Pie Bar.  Their new location is much more conducive to a “tavern” atmosphere, with dark wood floors and simple dark-top square tables.  The new location is basically one large rectangular dining room with the bar located in the front, a row of tables along one side (with booth seats running along the wall and chairs on the other side), and tables in the back.  A sign said to have a seat, so we did.  Our server, Kelsey, was with us almost immediately.

They’ve revamped (read: simplified) their menu in a way that would make Gordon Ramsay proud (if you’ve ever watched Kitchen Nightmares, you know what I’m talking about.  Do a few things and do them well.).  MST now has nightly specials, like wings and pitchers on Monday; Pimp-Your-Mac on Tuesdays (basically designing your own mac & cheese creations), which made me sad that Halloween did not fall on a Tuesday;  jazz and wine night on Wednesday (though there was no jazz when we were there because someone had broken in to the restaurant on Tuesday and Wednesday had been a bit chaotic with getting that taken care of); sliders on Thursday; and Sunday brunch; there may have been more but I don’t remember.  All the nightly themes/specials are listed on a chalkboard when you walk in the door, and there are many menu items listed on another chalkboard in the dining area.

Steak & Eggs (Sunday Brunch); courtesy of Holt Webb Photography/Market Street Tavern

Fried Green Tomatoes Benedict (Sunday brunch); courtesy of Holt Webb Photography/Market Street Tavern

Gouda Mac & Cheese (and the base for “pimp your mac”!); courtesy of Holt Webb Photography/Market Street Tavern

 As I perused the appetizer section of the menu (okay, it’s called the “snacks” section), I was really dying to try the Dixie trio: pimento cheese with bacon, roasted corn spread, and warm bleu cheese served with MST’s fabulous house-made chips.  I decided in the end, though, that I shouldn’t overdo it since I still had salted brown butter rice krispies treats at home and knew I would want one later.  That is definitely on my “to-try” list for later.  They have also replaced the fried pickle spears that I had on my last visit with fried pickle chips.

Dixie Trio (the black-eyed peas have now been replaced with bleu cheese dip); courtesy of Holt Webb Photography/Market Street Tavern

It was not easy for me to decide on an entrée.  I seriously considered ordering a pimento cheese sandwich but after sampling the little cup of pimento cheese (they actually use roasted red peppers-like I do!) decided that while it was good, I wasn’t really in the mood.  I then began teetering between the LaFrieda (Pat LaFrieda is a renowned NYC butcher) burger (chuck and short rib meat) and the fried green tomato po’boy (fried green tomatoes, Benton’s bacon, avocado, lettuce, and comeback sauce, which Kelsey described as “kind of like Zaxby’s sauce but a little spicier”).  I finally decided on the burger, which I ordered “Tavern-style”, which meant that it came with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and comeback sauce (the other “styles” are Jalapeno Jack, Bleu, BBQ Gouda, and Chipotle).  Since I am obsessed with homemade potato chips, I ordered those as my side, with a cup of comeback sauce to dip them in.  Can I just say I wasn’t disappointed with my choice?  I’ll definitely have to try the po’boy on another visit, but the burger was fantastic; cooked perfectly, cheese melted just right, great balance of veggies, delicious meat, and sauce, all piled on a Niedlov’s bun.  The comeback was very similar to Zax sauce but even better, just a tinge spicy and wonderful with the chips.  I ate the entire burger and almost all of the chips.

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Philip considered the garden burger, which is made with whole grains and is vegan (and was highly recommended by our server) and then the fried chicken (which he decided against when he found out that it is chicken tenders).  In the end, though, he ordered the shrimp and grits.  Once he decides that he really likes a menu item at a restaurant it is very difficult for him to order anything else.  The shrimp and grits were just as he remembered them-three fried grit cakes (made with local grits from Falls Mill) with shrimp and Benton’s bacon in a smoked tomato butter sauce-except that he thought there may have been a little less sauce then the last time he had them (which he did not view as a bad thing).  There was a nice ratio of shrimp to grits to sauce-not a couple of dinky shrimp plopped on a huge stack of grit cakes-but, like last time, he was not able to eat the third grit cake.  When we left, he declared that their shrimp and grits are still his favorite.

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A much better photo of the shrimp & grits; courtesy of Holt Webb Photography/Market Street Tavern

I love the new, small menu at MST.  I love that they are really focusing on interesting themed specials and doing a few things really well-and with as much local food as possible.  All of the staff was extremely friendly and Kelsey was an exceptional server.  Holt, the night manager (who also took the photos for the website) emailed me almost immediately after our visit to offer photos and any additional information to assist me with my blog post.  We really loved the new atmosphere and the openness of the new location, as opposed to the three different rooms in the old location.  All in all, this was a great experience and, like before, I highly recommend Market Street Tavern.

Market Street Tavern is located at 809 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402.  You can call them at 423-624-0260.  Find them on Facebook and Twitter or check out their website/blog at http://marketstreettavern.wordpress.com.

Market St. Tavern on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Bars, Breweries, & Pubs, By Location, By Type, Downtown Chattanooga, Restaurants Tagged With: CLOSED restaurants, downtown Chattanooga restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 5 Comments

Pasha Coffee & Tea

October 28, 2012

A couple of years ago Philip played a Monday night free show at a coffee house in St. Elmo we’d never heard of.  It was pretty new and very tiny, tucked into the corner of a building that also contained a flower shop and a restaurant.  The name of it was Pasha Coffee & Tea.  We bought a bag of their organic, fair-trade whole coffee beans.  It was a good thing.

Pasha has been on “the list” for a while but because of its location we hadn’t made it down there yet.  Last month there was a Living Social deal for $30 worth of food and drink from Pasha for $15 so I pounced on it.  I started thinking about it this week and decided that we needed to skip our normal Saturday morning breakfast at home tradition and head down to Pasha for one of their breakfast sandwiches.  We didn’t make it down there until almost noon, so we considered ordering off the non-breakfast menu, but ultimately decided to go with our first instinct (breakfast is served daily).

We decided on the hummus, pita chips, and stuffed grape leaves plate as an “appetizer” (you can also order them as separate items).  I’d tasted stuffed grape leaves at a diner several years back-0ne bite-and wasn’t too sure.  Philip had them at the home of a friend who’s mother was of Middle-Eastern descent, and he liked them.  I am not going to lie….these were different.  The flavor was good, the texture was weird.  Acquired taste, maybe? I have no idea what was stuffed in them.  Hmmm.  The hummus was good, nice and creamy, flavored with cumin, which is unique but not unheard of.  The pita chips were packaged, not that I’m complaining.  I like packaged pita chips.  I’d order the hummus and pita chips again, but probably not the grape leaves.  Maybe I’ll have to make them at home some time?

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I decided to order the eggaprese sandwich-two eggs, pesto, spinach, mozzarella, and tomatoes on a toasted everything bagel.  The combination on a breakfast sandwich was definitely intriguing.  The ingredients were nice and fresh and the sandwich came out quickly.  I liked the flavor of the pesto.  I was not terribly impressed by the eggs, though…first of all, I think the sandwich would have been fine with just one egg.  Second of all, I am pretty sure the eggs were cooked in the microwave.  I am so picky about eggs, that just didn’t do it for me.  I wish I’d just ordered the caprese sandwich.  Nice concept, though, and I’d like to try to recreate it at home.  I ordered a small frosted mint latte and it was delicious…not too sweet, not too milky, not too minty.  Just right.  Mmmm.

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Philip decided on the Janissary-two eggs, feta cheese, turkey, pesto, and cholula (spicy mayo) on a toasted everything bagel.  He felt pretty much the same way that I did about the eggs-meh-but really liked everything else about the sandwich.  I tasted it.  The cholula really did add a pretty strong hit of spiciness to the sandwich.  One bite wasn’t too much but I’m betting a whole sandwich would light my mouth on fire!  He ordered a mocha, which he felt was very chocolatey….but then, it is a mocha, right?

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We also bought a bag of Peruvian coffee beans.  The cashier told us that Pasha gets their beans from Bongo Java in Nashville.  There were brownies and muffins on the counter as well…they looked delicious but we decided against a dessert item.  Our total was around $40, which included the appetizer, two breakfast sandwiches, a small and a large coffee drink, and a bag of coffee beans (and, of course, most of that was covered by our Living Social deal).

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Pasha has an interesting selection of sandwiches-curried chicken salad, the Elena Ruiz (turkey, cream cheese, and strawberry preserves), and a spicy BLT, to name a few-and I’m definitely going to have to go back for a sandwich.  They’ve really put some thought into their menu.  I love their coffee and I love their commitment to the community and to organics and fair-trade items.  I don’t love their microwaved eggs.  Can’t win them all.  All in all, though, I really like this place.  You should try it out.

Pasha Coffee and Tea is located at 3914 St. Elmo Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37409.  You can call them at 423-475-5482.  You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Pasha Coffee & Tea on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Bakeries & Coffee Shops, By Location, By Type, Downtown Chattanooga, Restaurants Tagged With: CLOSED restaurants, coffee shops, downtown Chattanooga restaurants By Mary // Chattavore Leave a Comment

Back Inn Café-September 21, 2012

September 24, 2012

Wow.  The last few weeks have been incredibly stressful.  I can’t even describe it…you’ll just have to take my word for it.  Anyway, I have vascillated between being so tired that I can’t move off the couch and needing a change of scenery.  I have had seven crazy (in good ways and bad) weeks at work.  I have had an on-the-job injury.  I’ve had a change-of-season cold that lasted an entire week.  I’ve added an hour to my commute (that’s both ways, not an hour each way).  Some days feel like I’m in a tailspin.

Friday was one of those days.  By 10 a.m. I was utterly exhausted.  I got a text from my best friend during my “planning time” (ha!  Most of my planning has been happening after school.  Nature of the beast sometimes in preschool, unfortunately.) asking if I wanted to go to dinner with her and another friend.  My initial response was no….I needed to go home and crash.  By the time I got home Friday afternoon, though, I had changed my mind, deciding that something out of the ordinary was just what I needed.  I met them at 6:30 and we set to deciding where to go, which consisted of driving to downtown and looking around.  Finally we decided on Back Inn Café, as one of my friends had never been there.

I’ve been to Back Inn a few times, but not since I started Chattavore.  We’ve always enjoyed it.  Usually, we make a reservation because you never know when seating is going to be limited.  My philosophy is that if a restaurant takes reservations, make a reservation.  It’s definitely an easy way to avoid the waiting game, especially on a Friday or Saturday evening.  Woe to the diner who goes to a chain casual dining spot at 6:30 or 7 p.m. on a Friday.  Ugh.  Luckily, we walked right up and got seated (there were people waiting on the benches across the parking lot at Tony’s).  The hostess poured our waters and gave us our menus, including the regular menu, the gluten-free menu, and a drink menu.  Our server came to introduce himself shortly thereafter.

Back Inn’s menu is not static, but unlike some other “fine dining” restaurants in Chattanooga, it doesn’t change constantly either.  There are several items that have been on the menu for a matter of years.  I have had their New York strip (crusted with Rembrandt’s coffee) and thought that it was delicious.  I also enjoyed their grilled chicken salad (with Granny Smith apples) very much. They have several appetizers like Southern-fried frog legs, shrimp flatbread, and a volcano roll (tempura fried California roll).  There are three salads: baby lettuce, Caesar, and wedge.  We skipped the appetizers and salads, though, and went straight for the entrées (I do usually order a salad, though, and always really enjoy it).  The hostess brought out a wedge of house sundried tomato foccacia for each of us with a small cup of white bean dip, and I have to admit….I could make my entire meal from this.  It’s a perfect balance of salty cheese crusted on top and a slightly sweet tang from the sundried tomato.  Delicious.

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(Sorry for the horrible photo quality, by the way. It was dark outside and the restaurant was dimly lit. And I hate flash.)

I had a hard time deciding what I wanted.  Steaks are always good, and the chicken stuffed with spinach mousseline cream was tempting as well.  However, my decision came down to two entrées: the Jack Daniels maple glazed pork chop, a 12 ounce “cowboy cut” pork chop served with haricot verts (French green beans, not to be confused with French cut green beans) and sweet potato cakes, or the seafood gratin (and that is pronounced “gra-tehn”, not “grahtin”) with spinach ravioli, mahi-mahi, salmon, shrimp, bay (small) scallops, tomatoes, four cheeses, and mornay sauce.  Ultimately I decided on the gratin, basically because it’s different from what I would normally choose.  I am embarrassed to admit this, but I couldn’t really remember what mornay sauce was.  Turns out it’s Béchamel sauce with grated cheese mixed in.  Quite tasty.  It was similar to a cheesy alfredo, and I really enjoyed it…although I thought the dish could have been slightly less sauced.  That’s okay, though…I mean, it wasn’t like I was obligated to drink the sauce from the bowl, so I just ate what came out with the other items.  The spinach ravioli was delicious and no doubt made on the premises, and I loved the shrimp and scallops.  The fish was fine, but it just turned out I wasn’t really “in the mood” for fish.  That’s okay.  Those things happen.

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My friends were both checking out the Martin House steak, an 8 ounce filet with lump crab meat stuffing, sour cream mashed potatoes, asparagus, compound butter (butter with herbs mixed in), sweet pepper pomace (basically pulp), and chive oil.  The problem was that neither of them wanted the crab.  When they asked our server how the crab was served, he directed their attention to the gluten-free menu, which none of us had even bothered to look at.  For $2.00 less, you can actually order a “filet of beef” from the GF menu without the crab, so they both did that, one medium, one medium-well (you know me, I prefer medium-rare, but oh well!).  The filets were pretty crispy on the outside, no doubt from the sear, and the insides cooked just as they requested them.  I should have requested a bite, but I didn’t.  Judging from the fact that they both finished their plates, I’d say it was pretty tasty.  They both said that they enjoyed the steaks and one friend also commented that the asparagus was good.  They also really enjoyed the potatoes; one friend said the potatoes were her favorite part and that the pomace really added to the flavor.  I do wish that I had at least asked for the dessert menu so I could see what was available, but I didn’t.  Shoulda coulda woulda.

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Back Inn Café is not my favorite restaurant in Chattanooga, but it also is not a waste of time.  It’s a pretty good restaurant, and the prices for most items are not outrageous for an “upscale” restaurant.  The atmosphere can be casual or formal, whatever you need it to be.  I’ve never had anything that I didn’t like here, and it holds a special place in my memories because Philip and I went there on one of our first dates many, many (well, almost 14) years ago.  If you are looking for a restaurant that offers consistency and longevity, give it a try.

Back Inn Café is located at 412 E. 2nd Street, Chattanooga, TN 37403.  You can call for reservations at 423-265-5033 or 800-725-8338.  Check out their website and menus at http://bluffviewartdistrict.com/subpage.php?pageId=139.

Back Inn Cafe on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: By Type, Downtown Chattanooga, Italian & Pizza, Restaurants Tagged With: downtown Chattanooga restaurants, upscale restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 2 Comments

Meeting Place-August 18, 2012

August 19, 2012

So…..Friday was my birthday.  I am officially in the realm of “mid-thirties”.  Ouch.  Philip didn’t get home till 7:30, though, so we ended up going to Zaxby’s for dinner.  It happens (sadly).  I hadn’t really planned on going out for my “birthday dinner” on Friday night, though (I’d actually planned on cooking, but it was pretty late, I was incredibly tired, and I needed to get out anyway to make a grocery store stop).  Restaurants are always so crowded on Fridays and I am always soooooo tired.  In fact, when Philip texted me to let me know he was on his way home, I was more or less asleep.  And I didn’t even have kids in my class on Friday!  The first week of school truly wore me out.

When Philip and I were trying to decide where to go for our anniversary back in July, Meeting Place (aka St. John’s Meeting Place) was on the short list, but we ended up deciding on Alleia, which coincidentally shares a chef/owner (Daniel Lindley) with St. John’s Restaurant and Meeting Place.  So, as I was reviewing the list of downtown restaurants that we still needed to visit, Meeting Place jumped out as the place to go for  my birthday.  Philip made a reservation for 6:15 and we were on our way.

We visited St. John’s many, many years back (we’ll make our way back for the blog one of these days) and found the food to be fantastic but the service to be a little more stiff than what we were accustomed to (by the way, we were-obviously-much younger then and probably a little shell-shocked by the experience….we might feel a bit differently about it these days).  Meeting Place is much more casual, and we were immediately greeted by a very friendly hostess.  She led us to our table near the front window.  A server brought us water and we briefly perused the menu and checked out the decor while waiting for our server, Jill, to come to our table.  I loved the decor….dark (grey walls, black furniture) but not depressing.  That takes a true professional.  It was beautiful, with nice lighting that wasn’t too bright and at the same time wasn’t too dark (although it was still very bright outside so sun was still pouring into the large window in the front…I’d love to see the mood lighting in the dark).

Jill quickly came and explained the menu to us.  There is, not surprisingly, an extensive drink menu which, also not surprisingly, we barely even glanced at.  The menu is divided into “small plates” and “large plates”.  The way that Jill explained this to us is that small plates are half-entrée sized portions, perfect for sharing, and large plates are full-entrée sized portions.  Several things on the small plates menu caught my eye, especially the hot chicken biscuit and the sweet potato chips with gorgonzola custard and Benton’s bacon jam.  You know I was all about the latter, so we decided to order this to share as a starter.  Let me tell you…it was amazing.  Gorgonzola is a very strong, pungent bleu cheese, but this custard was bleu cheesy without being overpowering.  The bacon jam was perfect, alternately sweet and savory, and paired perfectly with the salty gorgonzola custard.  The chips were wonderfully crispy and there were also some lovely toasts provided.  This was a delicious small plate that I would most definitely recommend.  I almost forgot to mention…we were also brought a small portion of house-baked potato bread with sorghum butter….delicious.  Again, I loved the sweet/salty combo of the butter and the bread had a perfect texture.  Wonderful.

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For my entrée I decided on the Niman Ranch pork with fried rice and egg and sesame aioli (after very earnestly considering the Sequatchie Cove Cumberland cheese fries with braised beef cheeks.  Oh my.).  Guess what?  The menu doesn’t mention that this dish comes with a strip of crispy pork belly on the side.  Now, if you are not familiar with what pork belly is, it may sound a little suspicious to you…but bacon is made from pork belly, so don’t be scared.  This was a flawless combination of crispy and fatty, and inwardly I was laughing about how there is just something about a good restaurant that makes me feel okay about eating copious amounts of pork fat.  The square of pork shoulder was fork-tender and tossed with a light hoisin (basically, Chinese barbecue sauce) glaze.  I don’t typically enjoy hoisin sauce but this was not off-putting at all.  It was just right and delicious.  The fried basmati rice was delicious and the fried egg was done just right…..crisp around the edges with a runny yolk just right for dipping forkfuls of pork and rice into.  Yesssssss.

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Philip decided on the duck confit with a Johnny cake (basically a cornmeal pancake), maple, and blueberries.  The Johnny cake was stuffed with a maple-flavored duck confit (a dish of French origin made of salt-cured duck leg poached in duck fat) and there was also a piece of fried duck leg on the side, and there was a blueberry compote of sorts (I really don’t know if that is the best word for it, but it’s the best one I can come up with at the moment) drizzled over the Johnny cake and the plate.  The duck was tender, just slightly sweet, delicious, and the Johnny cake was also perfectly sweet (not too much so) with a wonderful texture.  The blueberries were a nice complement.  Before he ordered I was concerned that a small plate may not be enough food for him but honestly I think he had almost as much food as I did.

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There were many tempting items on the dessert menu.  I would have loved to try the carrot cake soufflé, but Philip is not a huge fan of carrot cake so I refrained (we always share dessert….it’s just not necessary to eat an entire dessert in a restaurant).  They had housemade ice creams and sorbets and of course a molten chocolate cake (with caramel ice cream) as well as a cheesecake…but our decision was between the vanilla bean crème brûlée and the Wildwood Farm blueberry trifle.  We had to consult Jill for assistance, and she strongly recommended the crème brûlée, much to Philip’s delight (it’s absolutely his favorite dessert ever).  It was a fairly large portion with a beautifully brûléed (go figure!) crust of sugar on top of the creamy vanilla custard, replete with tiny vanilla beans at the bottom of the bowl.  I love the contrast in temperatures in crème brûlée, a little warm, a little cold, and how the caramelization of the sugar topping makes it just a little bitter.  Amazing.  I heard the couple that was seated next to us discussing that they might look at the dessert menu but that there was also Ben & Jerry’s and Cold Stone Creamery to consider (they were tourists).  You better believe I was looking at them like, “Whaaaaat?”  This dessert menu shouldn’t be passed up.

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If you hadn’t figured this out before know, I would highly recommend Meeting Place.  It’s a fine dining restaurant with a casual feel (although we saw a few people come in looking like they were dressed for a cocktail party…there were others in shorts, though) and the price is not over the top-our total before tip was about $48 (for two small plates, a large plate, and dessert)-much less than Meeting Place’s more formal sister restaurant.

Meeting Place is located at 1278 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402.  You can call them at 423-266-4400.  You can also make reservations online.  They are open Monday-Thursday, 5:00-9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5:00-10:00 p.m.  You can read more about the restaurant and the menu on their website.  You can also “like” them on Facebook.

St John's Meeting Place on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: By Location, Downtown Chattanooga, Restaurants Tagged With: downtown Chattanooga restaurants, upscale restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 1 Comment

Northshore Grille-July 21, 2012 ****CLOSED****

July 22, 2012

January 19, 2014: Northshore Grille recently closed.   The space is being converted into Beast and Barrel, a family-friendly restaurant and bar owned by the group that owns The Terminal, Honest Pint, and Hair of the Dog.

We set out today with no particular restaurant in mind for our Saturday review extravaganza.  We threw out a bunch of ideas, all of which sounded good to both of us.  Finally, Philip made an executive decision and made a right turn onto Frazier rather than crossing Veteran’s Bridge.  Northshore Grille it was.

Let me go ahead and get this out of the way…their Urbanspoon rating is 37%.  I know one of my friends recently told me that she would never go there again.  I didn’t ask for details and she didn’t give them.  Honestly, I don’t understand.  We have been there several times over the years and have never had a bad experience.  The bottom line is…you have to form your own opinion.  Here’s our experience….

I really like the decor in Northshore Grille.  It’s pretty minimal…dark wood floors, dark walls, some large art pieces hanging, and gigantic windows in the bar area that open like garage doors.  It  was way too hot today for the windows to be up but on really nice days they do open them.  It’s like sitting outside…but not.

It did take a couple of minutes for us to get seated.  No host was at the station when we walked up.  A server came out carrying some drinks and seated us after he delivered the drinks.  A girl (Christy? Kristy? She said her name but I didn’t catch the spelling) brought us menus and quickly took our drink order.  She gave us a couple of minutes to review our menus and quickly took our order when we were ready.

I decided on the caprese chicken sandwich…sauteéd chicken breast with pesto, melted mozzarella, and sundried tomatoes on a ciabatta roll, with baked potato salad.  Let me tell you…I loved the potato salad, which is saying something.  Generally I despise cold potato salads (I make a great hot roasted potato salad…but that’s another post) but I decided to give it a try.  I think it was made with starchy Russet potatoes as opposed to the waxy red potatoes that you often see in potato salads.  It also had bacon in it.  It was well-seasoned and had a sour cream based sauce (rather than mayo).  The only thing I would have changed would be to add some chives or chopped green onions for another layer of flavor.  The chicken sandwich was okay…I wasn’t turning cartwheels, but I didn’t hate it either.  I did really like the roll, but I’ll be honest…I just don’t love chicken breast.  Too…..meh.  It wasn’t seasoned as much as I would have liked, and I think I would have liked it more if the tomatoes had been fresh instead of sundried.

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Philip decided on the Lotta Bacon and Cheddar Burger with fries.  It was basically just a very large (9 oz, I think) burger patty with bacon, cheddar cheese, and an onion ring (which he took off the burger…and actually, I consumed most of it.  It was good but a little greasy).  He ordered it with lettuce, tomato, and pickle.  It was a really great burger!  I tasted it and found it to be well cooked and fresh tasting.  I would have preferred a little creativity on the bun (I think it was just a packaged burger bun) but it still tasted good.  Philip felt a little guilty for eating a slab of meat topped with….meat.  But then again, we usually only eat meat on the weekend, so I guess he was just meeting his quota.  The fries are handout, skin-on.  Not super-crispy, but that’s fine by me.  I like a balance of crispy and soft in my fries, and when they are too crispy I assume they are overly processed.

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Northshore Grille used to be known (are they still?  I didn’t even look.) as “Northshore Grille Smoking Crab Shack and Cantina”.  They have crab cakes on the menu, as well as quite a few sandwiches and burgers (the Wellington, with mushrooms, Swiss, and a garlic butter sauce) sounded particularly appealing).  They also have a pretty good menu of entrèes, a particular favorite being the steak medallions and biscuits, served with white (mayonnaise-based) barbecue sauce on the side.

I don’t know.  Maybe I’ve just gone here on good days, or managed to get particularly good servers.  We really liked our server….she was very friendly and attentive.  Anyway, like I said earlier in the post, and like I’ve said a million (well, maybe not that many) times….you’ll just have to form your own opinion.  This was my experience.  I won’t bother with the caprese sandwich again, but I’ll definitely eat here again.

Northshore Grille is located at 16 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405.  You can call them at 423-757-2000.  They (surprisingly) do not have a website, but you can find them on Facebook and on Twitter (though they only have one Tweet!).

Northshore Grille on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Bars, Breweries, & Pubs, By Location, By Type, Downtown Chattanooga, Restaurants Tagged With: CLOSED restaurants, downtown Chattanooga restaurants By Mary // Chattavore Leave a 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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