Hixson restaurants Archives - Page 5 of 7

El Sol Mexican Restaurant-March 2, 2013

March 3, 2013

Wow, is it really March? I just typed “February” into the title field for this post then realized, “Wait, it’s March!” It’s snowing here in Soddy-Daisy right now (and has been since yesterday morning) but it’s not cold enough to stick and besides, snow on the weekend is a total waste as far as teachers are concerned. No matter, though. Spring break is at the end of March! I have a full week of doing nothing planned and I can’t wait.

Anyway, I wasn’t feeling too hot yesterday (still not) and didn’t really have a restaurant in mind. I wasn’t in the mood to go much of anywhere, really, but there also wasn’t any food that I just wasn’t in the mood for. I really wanted some soup but I couldn’t think of any locally owned restaurants that claim soup as a specialty, not since Soup’s On that used to be on Broad closed (and I don’t think they were ever open on Saturdays anyway). Soup suggestions, anyone? Anyway, Philip suggested El Sol, the Mexican restaurant in the building that was formerly Hillbilly’s and before that Backyard Burgers-near Highland Plaza on Hixson Pike. Fine by me.

We were seated quickly. There was only one server working the floor, but at 1:30 in the afternoon there were only a couple of other tables occupied. He took our drink orders and suggested queso dip, which we of course accepted. He quickly brought out our waters, our queso, a basket of chips, and some salsa. The queso was standard Mexican restaurant queso…not too spicy, creamy, not too runny but not too thick. The chips and salsa were the same….the chips pretty standard, not too thick, not greasy, pretty fresh. The salsa was mild and not super-chunky, which is always a plus for me because I am not a fan of chunky salsa (for this reason I do not like salsa from a jar). Not bad but it didn’t stand out in any way from any other Mexican restaurant in the area (besides a couple that shall remain unnamed that I have not blogged about whose chips have been stale the last couple of times that I’ve been).

Again, the menu was pretty standard. There was a lunch menu on the back with lunch specials served until 3 p.m. I decided on taquitos Mexicano, which come stuffed with shredded beef or shredded chicken. I ordered one of each. Taquitos are, of course, tortillas (theirs were flour) rolled around a filling and fried. These were served with sour cream, pico de gallo, guacamole, and shredded cheddar (an unusual choice for a Mexican restaurant for sure) and refried beans and rice. I found the taquitos to be a little bit greasy but they did have a good flavor. I am not one to choose chicken over beef (ever!) but in this case I actually liked the chicken taquito better than the beef because the beef had large pieces of onion in it. The guacamole was fresh-tasting and very smooth. I really liked the rice…it was seasoned well and not clumpy. The beans were pretty standard.

Philip ordered the burrito El Sol, which contained beans and rice, lettuce, and chorizo (not listed as an option on the menu, but just ask!). It was covered with cheese sauce and salsa verde (green or tomatillo salsa). Philip is a huge fan of chorizo and has taken to ordering it at all the local Mexican restaurants. He liked their chorizo a lot-better than El Metate’s, as good as Delia’s, and not extremely greasy, which a lot of chorizo is. Overall, he really enjoyed his burrito and would order it again.

For some reason, dessert is not an item that we often order in Mexican restaurants, but their dessert menu (curiously) is at the front of the menu (not an afterthought at the end like most) and we happened to notice it. While my eye was immediately drawn to the banana chimichanga (hello, bananas Foster in a fried tortilla?!?!) Philip despises the texture of banana so that idea was out. He was all about the sopapilla, though, and when we had finished our lunch he wanted to order one. I was definitely game. Their sopapilla is basically a fried flour tortilla sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with honey, topped with whipped cream (okay, Redi-whip) and a maraschino cherry (you can also get ice cream if you like, presumably for an additional charge). Funny, I just got a new Tex-Mex cookbook (The Homesick Texan Cookbook) and the sopapilla recipe in it is not made with a flour tortilla (it’s made with fresh dough) but I’ll cut them some slack. This was pretty good, reminiscent (in my opinion) of the cinnamon “crispas” that Taco Bell used to serve in the Eighties, and that made me think of my grandmother, which is definitely a happy thing. They were good, but I want to make the real thing soon and share them with you!

Overall, I’d say that El Sol didn’t stand out as any better than the average Mexican restaurant in the Chattanooga area, but it definitely wasn’t below average. Delia’s still stands undefeated in my play book. I’d eat at El Sol again, though, and if you are thinking about going to the Taco Bell just down the street…..keep driving for a minute and pull on in to El Sol. It’s worth the extra minute’s drive.

El Sol is located at 4047 Hixson Pike, Chattanooga, TN 37415. You can call them at 423-877-2879. They do not have a website or Facebook page (at least not that I could find).

New York Pizza Department-January 5, 2013

January 6, 2013

When I was a kid I didn’t like pizza. No joke. I don’t think I was awakened to the fact that pizza was, in fact, a good thing until I was about middle-school age, when our teachers would occasionally allow us to partner up with a classmate and order from the nearby Pizza Hut for lunch. I have no idea what my aversion to pizza was-the sauce, perhaps, or the toppings that my parents ordered (supreme, usually) but I would beg for everyone’s crusts because that was the only part of the pizza I would eat. Now, I have to admit, pizza is one of my more frequent “impulse dining out” indulgences, since there is a Domino’s two miles from my house. Admittedly, Bi-lo is in the same plaza, so I should probably just go there and some mozzarella and make my own…but sometimes, I just….don’t. When you’ve had a rough day, carryout is just easier. You’ve all been there.

There aren’t an awful lot of places in this area making pizza from scratch so I was intrigued when I saw the storefront for New York Pizza Department pop up across from Wal-Mart in Hixson. I don’t remember what was there before it came in or if anything was there at all, but I remember wondering if it was to be locally owned or if it was a chain/franchise. One day last summer Philip and I were out and about and realized that we needed to eat, so we stopped there. I checked on my phone and came to the conclusion that New York Pizza Department was a chain, presumably because there were several other locations that popped up in the search engine.

Since then, several people have suggested that I blog about them, and I once told someone that I wouldn’t blog about them because they were a chain. He called me out, saying that he was pretty sure they were not a chain, so I messaged them and found out that they are indeed locally owned. The owners are originally from New York and saw a need for true New York-style pizza in this area. They decided to name the restaurant New York Pizza Department because of their family ties to first responders in the New York area and to honor those who served on 9/11 and continue to serve-in New York and around the world-as first responders, armed forces, etc. Since my dad is a firefighter and my grandfather was an officer in the Air Force, I love the nod to those who make these sacrifices for others.

Since we are still recovering from the holiday eating frenzy, we weren’t looking for a huge, rich meal. Pizza seemed a perfect answer to our burgeoning hunger, plus we had a coupon for a free entrée from our Adventures in Dining guide. We had tried to go the week before Christmas, but they were packed out with shoppers (I am not exaggerating…people were lined up to the door). They were pretty crowded when we went in…I guess we hit the last of the lunch crowd at 1:45 because I snagged the next to last table then suddenly all the tables around us were open. When you walk in, there is a wrap-around line with pizzas displayed in a case. You choose your pizza (stromboli, etc.), order, and sit down, then someone calls you to a window several minutes later to give you your order.

There’s quite a selection of pizza, but on this day the Blue Light Trooper (ahem, BLT) pizza caught my eye. If you are a regular reader you will understand why BLT pizza reeled me in (um, my love of bacon and the story in this post). The Blue Light Trooper is a slice with sauce, mozzarella, bacon, tomatoes, and lettuce/light mayo on request (which, of course, I ordered….you can’t have the “L” without lettuce!). Now, these slices are huge and I can’t imagine how someone can eat two, which is what is included in the daily lunch special (2 slices of cheese and a drink for $6.95) but the guys behind us each had 2 slices plus garlic knots, so I suppose it can be done. I did well to finish this slice. There was plenty of bacon, which was definitely a good thing, not too many, not too few slices of Roma tomatoes, chopped iceberg lettuce, and a light drizzle of mayo. The crust is thin and crunchy but chewy at the same time (not cracker-y like what you would find at Crust). Quite good.

Philip decided on the Blazin’ Brooklyn Buffalo, with tomato, mozzarella, grilled chicken, Buffalo sauce, and ranch dressing. When the slice first came out, he did not think it had enough Buffalo sauce on it…you couldn’t see the sauce, so I am not sure if it was under the cheese or not, but he didn’t taste it, so he went up and asked for more. The guy at the window generously drizzled the sauce over the top of Philip’s pizza…I mean, he covered Philip’s pizza with Buffalo sauce, which Philip declared “more like it”. He really liked the pizza but would have preferred it with blue cheese dressing since he feels that Buffalo and blue cheese are pretty much the perfect pair….and he didn’t like it as much as the first Buffalo chicken pizza he ever had, at Portland Pie Company in Portland, Maine…but I don’t think anyone is ever going to measure up to that pizza.

We also had an order of six garlic knots with a side of marinara. The marinara here is slightly spicy, a little chunky, and perfectly seasoned. Very tasty. The garlic knots were not quite as soft as they were the time we ate here before, but instead just a little bit crispy on the outside (which was still a good thing) with a nice amount of garlic butter and parmesan sprinkle on the outside. Not overpowering and not swimming in butter like the garlic knots that you order at some restaurants.

New York PIzza Department’s menu lists seventeen specialty pies plus cheese, Sicilian, and top-your-own (slices ranging from $2.75 to $4.50-I think and gigantic whole pies ranging from $14.95 for plain cheese to $25.95 for the 911, which has tons of toppings). They also offer sandwiches, calzones and strombolis, pinwheels (fillings rolled up into dough like a cinnamon roll), salad, appetizers, and desserts. Our order was $11 and some change, including our garlic knots, $0.50 for a side of marinara, 2 drinks (which was part of the coupon stipulation) and my slice. Philip’s slice (which would have been $4.50) was free with the coupon.

I have seen people argue over who has the best pizza in Chattanooga. NYPD? Crust? The Pizza Place? Lupi’s? Honestly, they all serve a different type of product, so it would really be impossible to declare a winner. I think all of the above are excellent pizza restaurants, making their products in-house, putting lots of thought into their menu, and serving up great pizza to a city that is anxious to devour locally-made products. It all comes down to taste, and I have to admit that I love them all. I love pizza. New York Pizza Department has definitely filled a niche in the Hixson area that needed to be filled and Philip and I were commenting that they probably need to expand their smallish space to accommodate their customer base which is apparently growing quite large. Good for them.

New York Pizza Department is located at 5731 Highway 154, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-531-8830. Check out their website, http://www.indoughwecrust.com/index.html and their Facebook page.

Panda Chinese Restaurant-November 29, 2012

December 2, 2012

So, I had to get my local restaurant dining out of the way early this week. Last night was the Ladies’ Christmas Dinner at my church so I knew there was no way I was eating out for lunch without having to do the rubber band trick on my pants by the end of the night (it works for non-pregnant ladies too, my friends). I decorated a table, ate some delicious brisket, and may or may not have donned a hood that made me look like a sheep, black paint on my nose, and a graduation robe as a judge in the Sheeple’s Court. But I digress.

My table….

Since it was a weeknight, there was no way we were going out of Hixson for dinner. That’s just not how we do it. We are homebodies for real, guys. We flipped through our ever-shortening list of Hixson/Soddy-Daisy choices till we landed on Panda Chinese Restaurant, across from Abba’s House and next to Sick Boys Ink (our tattoo shop of choice. I’m not kidding.). It’s not the national chain Panda Express, by the way. Panda Chinese has been around forever with its Chinese food & frozen yogurt sign, but somehow neither of us has never eaten there.

We were greeted by a very friendly lady who seated us, gave us menus, and took our drink orders. She was minding the entire dining room as well as the cash register and balanced it all pretty well. There were several other tables occupied but I definitely wouldn’t call it “crowded”. Several people came in to pick up to-go orders while we were there as well. Anyway…she delivered our waters along with plates, silverware, folded napkins, and a bowl of fried wonton strips. Help me. I could eat nothing but fried wonton strips as my meal, so I was happy. What is it about this crispy little puffy fried strips of dough? They aren’t salty or sweet or anything like that but man are they delish. Love.

As is the protocol in Chinese restaurants, the menu was gigantic. We briefly considered one of the “family meals” which included soup, eggrolls, rice (fried or steamed), and two entrees to be shared, but the entree selections were limited (sweet & sour pork and garlic chicken OR beef & broccoli and shrimp with lobster sauce) and didn’t necessarily include the things that we would have chosen to order otherwise. Instead we ordered off the menu, taking no less than ten minutes to decide what to order. We skipped the soup but each ordered an eggroll, holding our breath until I cut mine in half to see if it contained pink meat, which frightens me. Beyond belief. No pink meat, just normal-colored ground pork, cabbage, and pepper fried up in an eggroll wrapper. Simple and delicious as an eggroll should be.

I decided on the cashew beef, which drew me in with the promise of mushrooms, water chestnuts, and cashews all on one plate. Sounds good to me. The meat was thinly sliced and tender, the vegetables nicely cooked. The sauce had a gravy-like consistency and didn’t taste too salty, though I will address the seasoning in a minute. The fried rice was rather plain, just some long-grain rice fried up with some egg (no carrots, peas, etc.), but tasted pretty good. It was a huge portion so I had the leftovers for lunch on Friday and really liked it better the second time around, especially since I mixed the rice into the beef mixture instead of eating it on the side.

Philip got the sweet and sour chicken since he judges Chinese restaurants on how well they do this dish. The sauce was not as thick and corn-syrupy looking as sweet and sour sauce often is, and he didn’t think it was as sweet as what is usually served in most Chinese joints. The chicken was nicely fried, the breading not as thick and doughy as you might expect, and the vegetables crisp-tender. He really liked it, although of course anything fried is rarely better the second time around.

All in all, I would say that Panda is a pretty good Thursday night Chinese experience (by the way, the total for our meal was $21.85). I’d love to try a real authentic Chinese restaurant, though, because, let’s face it, the food that we recognize at Chinese food in no way resembles what people in China actually eat, or even what the people who own/work at these restaurants cook for themselves. Perhaps I should just go in one day and ask them to cook me what they’d consider “authentic”? Anyway, back to the seasoning issue…while I didn’t think that the food tasted overly salty, I am fairly certain there was MSG in it. You can argue with me all day long that MSG has no adverse effects, and I know that there are many who believe that and that science is rather inconclusive regarding adverse effects from MSG….but I know how my body reacts and I definitely had some bloating. I liked the flavor of the food here enough to go back, for sure….but next time I’ll ask for it without MSG.

Panda Chinese Restaurant is located at 5137 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-870-9563.

Mountain City Café-September 8, 2012

September 9, 2012

One of my earliest posts on here was about a restaurant named Wisteria Café, located in Middle Valley. It was a “Southern cooking” restaurant with some modern twists (my first meal here was a fried green tomato BLT with pimento cheese) and while the food was great there were also some clear issues. The restaurant didn’t last long, and early this year Philip and I noticed that the sign in front had changed from “Wisteria Café” to “Mountain City Café”. Not too long after it was featured in the Dining Out section of the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, touting a new owner and a new chef. We saw it again in the Dining Out section this past weekend and decided to give it a try today.

Today, the sign when we walked in said “Seat Yourself”-I am going to assume that when it is crowded (which I have heard it is at times) that you have to wait to be seated. We chose a seat near between the entrance and the kitchen and waited for the server, who quickly brought us a menu and our waters (although we did find out when we left that technically they were still serving breakfast when we arrived and we did not get a breakfast menu). The special of the day was breaded, fried pork chops (with bread and two sides) along with chili and a chicken gumbo on the soup and salad bar, which can be purchased on its own or added to any entrée.

The lunch/dinner menu is fairly small, with a few appetizers (mostly deep-fried items like pickles and chicken tenders), a few sandwiches (a burger, a tuna salad sandwich, a grilled cheese, and a few others), and some entrées. There are several “country-style” side items, like mac and cheese, fried okra, and pinto beans. I decided on the fried chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli salad. Our server gave us a bread choice of rolls, cornbread, or both. We decided on both. The rolls were yeast-style but I am pretty sure they are not made in-house…the square shape is too perfect. The cornbread came in muffin shapes. It was slightly sweet but not bad (here’s the thing, though….we’re spoiled by the cornbread I make in a cast-iron skillet replete with butter, bacon grease, and cornmeal and flour that I grind myself). I was disappointed by the “whipped spread” that was served alongside the bread instead of butter.

The chicken was a gigantic boneless chicken breast that seemed to be freshly battered and deep fried to a golden brown color. It was nicely seasoned, tender, and crunchy. I really did like the chicken a lot. The broccoli salad had cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds, pecans, raisins, and a slightly sweet mayo-based dressing. I absolutely adore broccoli salad and found the flavor of this salad to be quite good. The broccoli was cooked, which I thought to be a little odd (I use raw broccoli in my broccoli salad) but it was very tasty. The mashed potatoes were undersalted (I honestly didn’t think they tasted like they had any salt in them at all) but the texture and flavor were okay (although I make mine a little creamier). Once I added salt they were fine. I thought the brown gravy tasted like the kind that comes out of an envelope.

Philip decided on the meatloaf with fried okra and fried apples. The meatloaf had a thin layer of ketchup-based sauce on top and didn’t have a lot of big chunks (onions, peppers, etc.) in it, which is definitely a plus in our book (I don’t put “chunks” in my meatloaf). I thought the meatloaf tasted like it could have had just a touch more salt in it, but the flavor was good. This is one of the few places that we have found in Chattanooga that actually fries their okra from scratch rather than out of a freezer bag, so that was impressive. Their okra is batter-dipped and deep-fried rather than the more traditional Southern cornmeal-coated, shallow-fried okra, but it was tasty and crispy. The apples were pretty good, but Philip did suspect that they may have come from a can (the sauce was very thick and “cinnamon-y”).

We picked up a breakfast menu on the way out. They have pretty standard breakfast items-biscuit sandwiches, gravy and biscuits, meats and eggs, and pancakes. They also serve a cheese omelet and a “redneck eggs benedict” which features country ham, cheddar cheese, and cheesy hollandaise sauce. The cashier told us that breakfast is served on Saturdays until noon, although the menu says it is served all day. There were also several cakes featured on the dessert menu, which, if I am not mistaken, are made by the owner’s mother. The featured cakes were key lime, Coca-Cola, orange-pineapple, and coconut (and maybe one more we can’t remember). We considered ordering some Coca-Cola cake but were feeling a little too full for it. Next time.

This is pretty decent “Southern” cooking (though I wouldn’t consider it 100% homestyle). I am interested to try some of their other menu items (like the burgers, the chicken & dumplings, and the desserts). We’ll definitely give it another try. Next time I’d really like to make it in time for breakfast….I feel you can really judge a restaurant’s quality by how well they do basic breakfast items like eggs, biscuits, and gravy. I say….give it a try and decide for yourself!

Mountain City Café is located at 6849 Prestige Lane (just off of Boy Scout Road near the light at Middle Valley Road), Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-847-1163. They do not have a website or Facebook page at this time.

Ichiban Hixson Pike-August 19, 2012

August 26, 2012

Seriously, people. This is getting ridiculous. I am getting so desperate for material that I sat on this post for almost an entire week. I can’t wait until I get back into the “groove” of my job so that I can get back into a regular posting schedule!

Anyway, Ichiban was my birthday dinner with my family. My mom gave me that option of getting a birthday cake or going out to eat, and since I knew that there would be cake at my in-laws’ when we ate with them the same day, I opted for dinner out. We were actually supposed to go to another restaurant, but my sister called called me and told me there was an hour-and-a-half wait so we were going to Ichiban instead. Fine with me. I like Ichiban better than said other restaurant anyway. Plus it gave me blog post material….

If you’ve never been to Ichiban, it’s the whole hibachi experience with the chef that puts on a big show, tossing knives and setting things on fire. I am under no illusions that this is in any way “authentic” Japanese food, but you can’t argue that it’s fun to watch and the food tastes good. We hadn’t been in quite some time because you also get seated around a large hibachi so you often end up sitting with people you don’t know, which Philip hates, so we only go if we are with a group (which isn’t often). My family took up our entire side of the table, though, so we didn’t need to worry about that. In fact, no one else was even seated in the same room as us. Hmmmm.

When you order, you are brought a cup of chicken broth with a couple of scallions floating in it. It’s pretty bland (and not just here…universally so, at least in my experience) but for some reason I slurp it down anyway. Next, an iceberg salad with a bright orange ginger dressing. I like the dressing okay, but the whole combination is a bit watery and I despise iceberg in every form except a wedge salad. I have a great recipe for ginger dressing (which I should share sometime) that I like a lot better than this one and that has the added bonus of the fact that you can use it to top whatever greens you wish.

I decided to get the shrimp and steak combo with fried rice. Philip decided on the filet mignon, also with fried rice. As is usual for us, we asked for our steaks medium-rare. The meal is served with steamed rice, but I always add fried rice for $1.00. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone order it with just the steamed rice! I wonder how much money they make from fried rice??? Anyway, the meal also comes with mixed vegetables-onions, zucchini, and broccoli- that are cooked on the hibachi as well as very finely shredded cabbage that they only give you if you want it (I did). You get the rice first, then the vegetables, and the meat is last. Everything is doused with soy sauce and ginger sauce and cooked with oil and butter (at least I tell myself that the gigantic yellow block they use is butter, not margarine. Please don’t tell me any different. I eat there about once every 4 years and I don’t want to know.). It’s amazing how much the chef can have going on and still get every detail correct, cook the food just right, and crack jokes. Our chef asked my (picky-eater) nephew why he wasn’t eating and if he was on a diet….then he asked my mom how she liked her steak and if he could have a bite. Funny guy. He told us he had been doing the job for eight years.

Ichiban is not an inexpensive place. Meals range from about $13 (I think) to around $25 for the steak and lobster. As with many places that I’ve written about, I consider it a special occasion or once-in-a-while restaurant. Anyway, who wants to go watch that show on, say, a weekly basis (maybe my 5-year-old nephew, who had a gigantic smile on his face the entire time, although he wouldn’t let me take his picture)? Still, we got two nights worth of meals out of it. Speaking of paying…you get fortune cookies when you pay. I learned this week that fortune cookies, though mostly served at Chinese restaurants, are actually a Japanese creation.

Ichiban is located at 5035 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-875-0473. Visit their website at http://www.yourichiban.com.

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