downtown Chattanooga restaurants Archives - Page 3 of 20

Mt. Vernon Restaurant (St. Elmo)

August 3, 2016

Mt. Vernon restaurant has been around in Downtown Chattanooga for the last 61 years, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere any time soon.

Last week, I met up with Sean Phipps of Nooga.com and Date Night Dining fame for a a joint restaurant review. Why it has taken us this long to join forces, I am not sure. I would say that am also not sure why it has taken me this long to visit Mt. Vernon restaurant – it’s been around forever – but that would be a lie. Several years back (like, before the blog) I went there and remember being underwhelmed. I don’t remember why. I just remember being kind of “meh” about the whole thing. I’ve been meaning to go, though, to try out the famous Mt. Vernon amaretto cream pie, so it was one of the ideas I threw out to Sean and that was the one he chose.

We arrived at Mt. Vernon restaurant at around noon on Wednesday. The fact that they have a parking lot is a nice reprieve from the grind of attempting to find a place to park at any of the places in the heart of downtown. Despite the bustling lunch crowd (seriously, there were a LOT of people in there), we were seated immediately. Our server, Maureen, greeted us immediately and took our drink order. She was super friendly and helpful, a plucky lady who has worked there for a long time. Sean decided on the peach iced tea, a house specialty, while I got water. He ordered his tea unsweetened, as Maureen told him that the peach syrup was probably enough sweetness, and he agreed after he tasted it.

We were given two menus: a specials menu and a regular menu. Maureen recommended the fried chicken and the almond-crusted haddock. I had not heard anything about Mount Vernon restaurant’s almond-crusted haddock, but I had heard wonderful things about their potato-crusted haddock, so I ordered the haddock. For $14.95, I got two pieces of haddock covered with a creamy lemon sauce with two sides. For my sides, I chose the squash casserole and the cucumber and tomato salad, which was one of Moe’s recommendations. The funny thing is, one of my friends was sitting at the table across from us and she ordered exactly the same thing. We did not coordinate that at all!

Mt. Vernon restaurant’s almond-crusted haddock was nicely coated and sautéed until lightly crunchy. I am pretty sure it was cooked in butter. The seasoning was perfect and the fish was very tender. I loved the creamy, tangy sauce. The squash casserole was buttery and cheesy, topped with buttery crackers, just like you expect to find at any Southern potluck. The cucumber and tomato salad was nice and fresh, with an acidic hit of vinegar cut with some sugar. My only complaint was that it had big chunks of red onion, but they were large enough that I was able to easily eat around them.

Sean followed Maureen’s recommendation and ordered the fried chicken, also a special at $10.95. He decided to have his fried chicken with macaroni and cheese and pinto beans. While Sean liked the fried chicken, he said it was not his favorite and he would have preferred a crispier skin/coating. The macaroni and cheese was practically dripping with cheese, and he described it in his column as “buttery and sinful”. It looked great, and I should have gotten my fork in that bowl…but I don’t know Sean that well, and I don’t go eating off the plates of new people…might make a bad impression. He liked his beans but said that there was nothing really special about them.

When Maureen came around and asked if we wanted dessert, we were ready, having pushed away our plates in time to save room for pie. I didn’t even have to think about my dessert…it was a foregone conclusion that I was going to order amaretto pie, the dessert specialty at Mount Vernon restaurant. Sean decided to order the dessert special, lemon meringue pie. I have made amaretto pie before (I’ll be sharing a recipe eventually) but my version was creamy all the way through and theirs had a custard base with a creamy top. It was almondy and delicious, and I’ll definitely be modifying my recipe to include a custard base. The meringue on Sean’s lemon meringue pie was huge. I honestly prefer a higher lemon to meringue ratio, but I did ask Sean if I could taste the pie and the lemon filling was sweet, tart, and tasty.

The total for our entrees, two slices of pie ($5 each) and a glass of tea was $43 pre-tip….not the cheapest in town but not a bad price considering the amount of food we got. The decor here, updated a few years back, is homey and a little old-fashioned (Sean likened it to “your grandmother’s house on Lookout Mountain) and the atmosphere is bustling but not loud. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. I would definitely go back to Mt. Vernon restaurant for more of that delicious haddock and amaretto pie!

If you’re looking for old-fashioned Southern cooking in St. Elmo, check out Mt. Vernon Restaurant.

Mt. Vernon Restaurant is located at 3535 Broad Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37409. They are open Monday – Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Saturday, 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. You can call them at 423-266-6591. Check out Mt. Vernon Restaurant’s website, mymtvernon.com. You can also like Mount Vernon restaurant on Facebook and follow @myvernon on Twitter.

Full Moon Chattanooga (American Burger & Bar)

July 20, 2016

Full Moon Chattanooga, AKA Full Moon American Burger & Bar, is a burger joint and bar on Chattanooga’s North Shore, near Coolidge Park.

You guys know me…I love a good burger, and any time that I see a new restaurant featuring burgers I get pretty excited. When I first saw the sign for Full Moon American Burger & Bar on the corner of Frazier Avenue and Market Street, I was intrigued; even more so when I read that it was owned by Krist Biba, owner of Hixson’s Italian restaurant, Biba’s.

Full Moon Chattanooga opened in May, but I wanted to give them a little time to work out any kinks in their service before we went in. We went for a visit late on a Saturday afternoon. Arriving at around 4 p.m., well past any lunch crowd but before the dinner rush, we were seated immediately. One server, Tyler (I think it was Tyler? Or maybe it was Taylor?) started us off with drinks and an appetizer then another server, Robert, took over from there.

Of course, the first thing that Philip noticed about Full Moon Chattanooga was the extensive line of beer taps behind the bar. In fact, he sat where he could face them. The beer list is impressive, but be warned: the Full Moon lager is not a specially brewed craft beer. It’s Keystone Light. Funny.?Anyway, Philip ordered a North Coast Scrimshaw and was happy as a lark.

There are quite a few appetizers on the menu here at Full Moon American Burger and Bar. House made kettle chips, topped with bacon & cheese…Philly cheesesteak egg rolls…pretzels or pork rinds with beer cheese…and several more. You guys know I had to go for the fried pickles, though. The fried pickles were pickle chips, breaded and fried to golden, served with horseradish sauce, for $5.95. They were tasty but maybe a little too salty. The horseradish sauce was just slightly spicy; the horseradish lent flavor but not so much heat.

The menu is further divided into salads & soups, burgers, pizzetas, sandwiches, and desserts. While I considered a Philly Cheesesteak, I ultimately decided that I came for a burger, so a burger I would get. The BBQ bacon cheeseburger sounded pretty tempting, and I had a good laugh at the Werewolf – a burger served between two grilled cheese sandwiches (I would never order that – I’d probably not be able to eat even a quarter of it!). I decided on the patty melt ($9.95), with Swiss cheese and grilled onions on grilled marble rye bread, with chips as my side.

The burger was pretty large (I could only eat half) and cooked to my specifications. The onions were a little more crunchy than I prefer for my grilled onions, but they were a little sweet and pretty tasty. The Swiss cheese was melted nicely. I would have liked for the sandwich to have a sauce (patty melts frequently have a Thousand Island-style sauce). The bread was grilled with butter and was nicely crunchy. The house cut chips were a nice thickness, very crispy with no soft or soggy chips in there, and perfectly seasoned.

Philip thought about getting the Mediterranean Links, grilled veal and beef sausages on pita bread with homemade vegetable spread, feta cheese, and onions. He decided to go for a burger too, though, so he got a classic cheeseburger ($8.95) with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and pickles, with bison instead of ground beef ($3.00 upcharge). He ordered fries as his side.

We were amused by the fact that the burgers are branded – as in, the top of the bun is seared with a branding iron. There was a proper amount of toppings on the burger – not overdone. The condiments are on the table so you add your own. The burger was nicely cooked, well seasoned, and had a good flavor to it. I am pretty sure that the fries were frozen, but they were the kind that are battered so they’re extra crispy – pretty tasty.

The prices were on par with similar restaurants. Philip got a “tall” beer, which turned out to be $8.50 (!), so don’t cringe when I tell you that our total pre-tip was $37.89 (remember we got an appetizer too). The burgers were good – not the best we’ve ever had (for that info, check out my top ten burgers list), but definitely tasty. The drink menu is good, so it’s definitely a good spot for tourists or locals alike looking for a drink spot. The atmosphere is pretty cool and our server, Robert, was very friendly and helpful.

Give Full Moon Chattanooga a try and tell me what you thought.

Full Moon American Burger and Bar is located at 61 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37405. They are open Monday – Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 12 a.m., Wednesday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. You can call them at 423-521-6666 or email them at info@fullmoon.com. You can find more information about Full Moon Chattanooga on their website, www.fullmoon.bar or their Facebook page. You can also follow them on Twitter (@fullmoonburger) or Instagram (@fullmoon.bar).

The Daily Ration (North Shore)

July 6, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Southern Star Chattanooga

June 29, 2016

Located in the heart of downtown Chattanooga, Southern Star Chattanooga serves homemade Southern comfort food in a welcoming atmosphere.

There’s something deeply comforting about a traditional Southern meat-and-three restaurant. Daily specials scrawled (okay, carefully written) on a blackboard, friendly servers, homemade desserts, and a hometown feel make a place like this inherently cozy.

Southern Star Chattanooga is just such a place, except that you might imagine the traditional Southern meat-and-three being on the main street block of a small, sleepy town. Southern Star Chattanooga is…not. Instead, it’s located in Downtown Chattanooga. Arrive much past their opening time (11:00 a.m.) and you’ll have to wait for a table (and, perhaps, a parking space). We were lucky to get there by 11:15 last Wednesday, snagging one of the coveted “Star” spaces in the parking lot and a table near a window – and a blackboard.

Southern Star Chattanooga bustles with servers in their Southern Star t-shirts and big smiles. I’ve never had bad service there, and I’ve been there a lot. Our server, Cassidy, was no different, quickly taking our drink orders, delivering our gigantic tumblers of water, and answering our questions about the menu. The menu here is small, leaving lots of room for the specials. A handful of starters, a few salads and sandwiches (including a burger that used to be a special only), and just a smattering of entrees decorate the one-page menu. If you can’t find anything there, you are probably not out of luck.

That, of course, is because of the ample options on the blackboards. Daily, two meats, several homestyle vegetables, a quiche of the day, and several dessert specials will almost certainly yield something that will make your stomach grumble. Fried chicken and meatloaf topped the special board, followed by such vegetables as mashed potatoes with (brown) gravy, fried yellow squash, garden peas, white beans, kale salad, and collard greens. The quiche of the day was broccoli cheddar, and desserts such as red velvet cake and chess pie rounded out the menu.

Philip jumped on the fried chicken bandwagon. I was disappointed for a split second. Their hand-breaded chicken tenders are amazing, so I could only assume that their fried chicken would be too. Alas, when we are doing blog posts, I try to order something different from Philip so we can give our opinion of multiple menu items.

Like I said, my disappointment lasted only for a split second, because if I didn’t get the fried chicken I knew that I was going to order the quiche and Star salad combo. I always try to find an excuse to order the Star salad, with mixed greens, bleu cheese, candied pecans, and balsamic vinaigrette. It’s so simple, but flavorful at the same time; I would venture to say that it’s one of my favorite house salads. I love to order the quiche, too. Let’s start with the fact that this is a slice of quiche that would feed a family of four. You will not leave hungry. The pastry crust is some of the best that I’ve had: tender, flaky, buttery, perfectly browned. The filling was brilliant, with a well-balanced mixture of tender broccoli, cheddar cheese, and an eggy custard that was firm (as in, not runny) but not tough.

I made Philip promise that he would let me try the fried chicken, and he agreed. It was crispy, tender and hot on the inside, and perfectly seasoned – perfectly seasoned – inside and out. For his three sides, Philip chose mashed potatoes with gravy, white beans, and fried squash. The mashed potatoes were wonderfully creamy and the gravy an excellent savory foil for the creamy, comforting texture of the potatoes. The squash was cut into thick half-moons, breaded in cornmeal and lightly fried. It was a little thicker cut than you might expect, but well-seasoned and tasty still. I didn’t try the white beans – great northern beans are too mealy for me – but Philip said they were well-cooked and seasoned and delicious.

As we got ready to leave, we asked Cassidy to bring us a box of 9 of their shortbread cookies with almond icing and a slice of red velvet cake. Southern Star Chattanooga makes all of their own desserts in-house, and it shows. The shortbread cookies are amazingly buttery, tender but with a little bit of a snap when you bite into them. The almond-flavored icing is a little crusty and gloriously “almond-y”, with the butter and almond flavor blending beautifully. The red velvet cake certainly looks the part of the Southern classic – a huge wedge of red sponge thickly spread with cream cheese frosting, lightly sprinkled with pecans. The cake was just a bit crumbly, but everything tasted wonderful.

Southern Star Chattanooga is a downtown hotspot, particularly at lunchtime. Their food is fresh and flavorful, and with the blackboard specials you could visit for weeks and never eat the same thing twice. In the heart of the city, they’re serving up Southern food, their slogan being “Put some South in your mouth.” Indeed. The prices aren’t too bad either – for our specials plus cookies and cake, our pre-tip total was just under $32. You can also get some of your favorites, such as chicken salad, pimento cheese, and entrees to take home.

If you’re looking for Southern comfort food in downtown Chattanooga, Southern Star Chattanooga is your place to find it.

Southern Star Chattanooga is located at 1300 Broad Street #300, Chattanooga, TN 37402. They are open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 9.m. (closed weekends). You can call them at 423-267-8899. You can find their menu on their website, www.southernstarrestaurant.com/downtown. The Facebook page for Southern Star Chattanooga does not appear to be active at this time.

By the way, Southern Star has a second location on Signal Mountain, which I haven’t visited yet but hope to this summer.

Two Ten Jack Chattanooga

June 15, 2016

Two Ten Jack Chattanooga is an izakaya (Japanese gastropub) and ramen house located in downtown Chattanooga’s Warehouse Row.

How many of us can honestly say that we don’t remember teenage or college days slurping 50 cent packets of ramen noodles from cheap plastic bowls, struggling to get the long strands into our mouths – perhaps even twirling them on a fork – then sipping the sodium-laden broth. I cannot count myself into that group. Determined to not ask my parents for grocery money, I probably wouldn’t have survived my college days without ramen, peanut butter, Chex Mix, and over-sweetened coffee.

Though ramen consumption is a rare occasion in my life these days, when Two Ten Jack Chattanooga opened last spring, I felt a rush of excitement. It seems irrational that it took me over a year to dine there. As silly as it is, something inside of me felt like I just wasn’t quite cool enough – I’m certainly no hipster, and it seemed, based on the hype, to be a trendy, hipster-ish sort of place, the sort of place where thirty-something educators who do most of their shopping in the business casual section at Target probably look a little out of place.

But I digress. That was a ridiculous notion. I finally got over it and Philip and I hit Two Ten Jack last week with a friend who was visiting from Nashville (where the original Two Ten Jack is located in trendy East Nashville, though he had never been). I was a little concerned about a crowd during a weeknight dinner time, but needn’t have been. A steady stream of diners came through but it was not packed.

Dimly lit with high-backed booths, Two Ten Jack Chattanooga presents a true dining “experience”. Parts of the dining room are open to the inside of the shopping area, as Two Ten Jack is located in the basement of Warehouse Row in what was formerly the food court – more specifically (and recently), Southern Burger Co. and Crave. Those dining alone or with one other can also choose a seat at the bar, and standing tables are perfect for those who are truly there for a quick drink or meal. Water, chopsticks, appetizer plates, soy sauce, and cloth napkins wait on the tables for you.

Even the menus are an experience, printed and bound into their covers with string. Because we had not dined with them before, our server, Erin, took several minutes to explain each section of the menu to us, starting with small plates (tapas-style appetizers), moving through sushi offerings (maki, nigiri, and sashimi) and salads, yakitori (skewers), and ending with ramen, with which Erin encouraged us to end our meal.

Philip and Brian quickly busied themselves with choosing beers from the list. Two Ten Jack Chattanooga boasts a full bar along with a fairly comprehensive beer list, including a good selection of local beers. Both chose the Chattanooga Brewing Company Chattahooligan lager (Philip usually does not enjoy lagers but had tried this one before and enjoyed it immensely). My focus was also singular, but not on drinks. Instead, I was concerned about the crispy Brussels ($9) on the small plates menu, which had been recommended to me numerous times. Cooked to a nearly charred crisp and tossed with a salty hit of miso vinaigrette and Rice Krispies, the Brussels did not disappoint and were a perfect opportunity to practice my chopsticks skills, since learning to use chopsticks is on my bucket list. After they had ordered their beers, Philip and Brian were able to focus on food; Philip came very close to ordering the okonomi-age ($7) with tots, pork, shrimp, and okonomi toppings, but not wanting to overdo it, he decided against it. Brian was curious about the shishito peppers ($9), tossed with figs, sticky peanuts, and honey-soy dressing, topped with katsuobushi (bonito), or dried shaved fish. Erin compared the peppers to Anaheims, typically mild but one in ten is spicy. The peppers were smoked, tender and flavorful. When the bowl was delivered to our table, we were fascinated by the way the katsuobushi was moving in reaction to the heat from the peppers, almost as if it were alive. I was most enamored with the bits of chewy fig and the peanuts that had sunk to the bottom of the bowl.

Skipping sushi, we moved on to yakitori. My eye was drawn to pork belly with mustard ponzu ($5) and asparagus-bacon with sea salt ($4), with Philip ultimately choosing the pork belly. Rich, fat rectangles of pork belly, browned and a little crispy around the outside, were skewered with two thin skewers, in a puddle of sweet and savory ponzu sauce. A bite yielded a fatty rush of porkiness, with the ponzu being the perfect complement. Brian chose the avocado yakitori ($4), an avocado half pitted, warmed, and served with its center full of the ponzu sauce, a large dab of wasabi decorating the flesh. Salty, spicy, creamy…the avocado yakitori hit several senses.

On to ramen. Once Erin mentioned tonkotsu ($14), with pork broth and a soft egg, my brain could not compute any of the other options. Luckily for me, this was a wonderful decision. My first slurp of the richly pork flavored and interestingly creamy broth was so intense that I am fairly certain my eyes rolled back into my head and I immediately made Philip taste it (he concurred). A slice of chashu – marinated, braised pork belly – decorated the edge, along with menma (fermented bamboo shoots), kikurage (or wood ear mushrooms), deeply caramelized baby Visalia onions, mayu (black garlic oil), and half of a soft-boiled egg. There were some spicy hits of ginger in there too, along with, of course, the ramen noodles. I heard Erin tell the table behind us that “the louder you slurp, the bigger the compliment to the chef.” I certainly hope that the chef heard my slurpy compliments, which I was wearing on my shirt by the time I was finished (and had to mop off the table with my napkin.

Philip and Brian were both sold on the spicy crab garlic noodles ($15), a brothless version of ramen (mazemen) tossed with crab butter, black pepper, and kokuto (brown sugar). Since there was no broth in their bowls, they did not have the same slurpability issues that I did, which means that they laughed at me and my broth-stained shirt (no regrets!). The crab butter was rich and spicy, with bits of crab in it. They were not stingy with the butter, and the kokuto added a balancing sweetness to the spiciness of the crab butter. Unlike my bowl, their ramen did not include a lot of other elements.

While mochi was available for dessert, we were in no shape for dessert after that deeply satisfying meal (though I’ll admit that I did have some homemade ice cream when I got home, but that was an hour and a half later). Philip’s and my bill (for crispy Brussels, pork belly yakitori, tonkotsu, one garlic crab noodle bowl, and a beer) was $51 – certainly a little more than we typically spend, but as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, this restaurant is intended to be an experience, and it certainly is. Erin was very helpful, spending a great deal of time educating us on the menu and making recommendations, and the surroundings are unique and beautifully designed.

Our meal at Two Ten Jack Chattanooga was one of the best that I’ve had in a long time. If you have not been there, I highly recommend you give it a try.

Two Ten Jack Chattanooga is located at 111o Market Street, Suite FC4, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (in the basement of the south building of Warehouse Row). They are open for lunch Monday – Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Saturday 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., and for dinner Monday – Friday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. They also offer a happy hour with snacks and small plates from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday – Friday and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday – Thursday.

You can call Two Ten Jack Chattanooga at 423-551-8799 or email them at chattanooga@twotenjack.com. You can find their website at twotenjack.com/chattanooga. You can like Two Ten Jack Chattanooga on Facebook and follow @TwoTenJackChatt on Twitter and @twotenjackchatt on Instagram.