Ooltewah restaurants Archives

El Jinete (Ooltewah, Tennessee)

May 20, 2017

El Jinete is a Mexican restaurant in Ooltewah, Tennessee. It’s owned by the same group that owns area El Metate restaurants.

For someone who lives in Soddy-Daisy, I spend a surprising amount of time in the Ooltewah area. A lot of the kids that I see are in that part of town, so I drive through there a lot. Several months ago, I noticed a Mexican restaurant named El Jinete. I looked it up and realized that their menu was essentially the same as El Metate, one of the Mexican restaurants that Philip and I frequent on “don’t feel like cooking” nights.

Philip and I decided to go to El Jinete last weekend after he got off from work. It was about 4:15 when we got there and we were seated immediately, but there were not many tables available so we were seated at the largest booth in the house. It was pretty comical, actually. I immediately noticed that the place is quite a bit smaller than the El Metate restaurants in Hixson or Soddy-Daisy but the decor was very nice.

Naturally, the chips and salsa were immediately delivered to our table. They were definitely the same chips and salsa – crispy but sort of non-descript chips and just barely spicy salsa with a heavy hit of oregano. Our server, Dalia, quickly brought our waters, and we ordered some cheese dip (of course). The cheese dip was pretty standard – drippy American cheese dip with a little bit of jalapeño. Just what I was expecting…cheese dip is my pig-out food.

I usually just order tacos when I go to El Metate, unless I’m feeling sassy enough to get a taco salad or some nachos. On this visit, though, I decided to get the Pollo Charro ($11.99): seasoned grilled chicken breast topped with sautéed mushrooms, onions, and cheese. The pollo charro was served with flour tortillas, a side of rice, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. There were two thinly pounded grilled chicken breasts topped generously with grilled onions and mushrooms, with cheese sauce. I was honestly surprised at how delicious it was. The chicken had a great grilled flavor and the vegetables were perfect. I will definitely order this again.

Philip decided to go for his usual Mexican restaurant order: a ground beef chimichanga ($10.49). For those of you who don’t know (I’m sure that you all know), a chimichanga is basically a fried burrito. The chimichanga at El Jinete is served with cheese dip, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, and sour cream, with a side of rice and beans. Philip finished the chimichanga, which I’ll take as a sign that he enjoyed it. I mean, how can you go wrong with a meat-filled deep fried tortilla?

The total for our order: cheese dip, pollo charro, and a ground beef chimichanga – was $28.92 pre-tip. The food took a little bit longer to come out than I am accustomed to at El Metate, but it was definitely very tasty food. If you’re looking for Mexican food in the Ooltewah, Tennessee area, El Jinete is a great place to find it!

El Jinete is located is 5559 Little Debbie Parkway, Ooltewah, Tennessee, 37363. They are open Sunday – Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. You can call El Jinete at 423-713-5400. They don’t have a website, but you can find El Jinete Ooltewah on Facebook.

Wine Down Ooltewah

December 27, 2016

Wine Down is a wine bar in Ooltewah, Tennessee that also has a great beer list and fantastic lunch, dinner, and brunch menus!

I’ve been meaning to go to Wine Down for a while now. Actually, for the longest time I assumed that they didn’t really serve food, aside from some appetizers/finger food type things. I was wrong. Then, I was concerned because I, well, don’t really like wine. That was silly, because it’s totally okay to go to a wine bar and not drink wine. But…you can also ask your server to make a recommendation for something that you might like.

We decided to go to Wine Down for lunch during the week before Christmas. We were the first diners in the place, arriving a little after noon. Our server, Molly, told us to sit wherever we liked, then she filled our water glasses and reviewed the specials with us. We decided to order the deviled egg of the day – bacon and feta. Philip ordered a Dogfish Head Midas Touch for $5 (Wine Down has a pretty impressive beer list), and, on Molly’s recommendation, I ordered a glass of Caposaldo sparkling peach moscato ($8.50). And guess what? I liked it!

We were served 4 deviled egg halves ($7). They were stuffed with a filling that, in addition to the traditional mayo/mustard included feta cheese. They were topped with large chunks of thick, chewy bacon. The salty bacon and feta was the perfect foil for the creamy filling. They were delicious!

I wanted to order something fairly light and the soup and sandwich combination ($9) seemed perfect. The soup of the day was mushroom bisque, which sounded delicious. While the French dip sandwich sounded amazing, I was torn between the sun dried tomato sandwich (burrata mozzarella, spinach, and pesto on Niedlov’s ciabatta) and the grown-up grilled cheese (4 cheeses – local smoked cheddar, Irish porter, midnight moon cheese, and creamy montchevre, bacon jam, and green tomato on Texas toast. The soup was creamy but still had a little texture to it from the pureed mushrooms. The mushroom flavor was strong and satisfying, and I was surprised at the little bit of spiciness in the soup. The sandwich was buttery and crunchy, the cheeses melted perfectly. The bacon jam lent a little sweetness, and while I don’t typically like goat cheese very much, I liked the tangy pungency of the montchevre on this sandwich.

Philip decided to go for the WDO burger ($11) with Wagyu beef, Red Dragon dijon cheese, bacon jam, and caramelized onion aioli on a Niedlov’s bun. Philip chose the fries as his side (the other option was a mixed greens salad). The burger was pretty much gigantic and it was cooked perfectly. All of the flavors worked well together and Philip commented several times about how tasty the burger was. The fries were hot, crispy, and peppery.

There were a few other tables occupied by the time that we left. I have a feeling that nights and weekends are their busy time. The atmosphere at Wine Down Ooltewah was casual and relaxing and Molly was an excellent and attentive server. I was very happy with the variety of foods available (the dinner menu is different from the lunch menu) and with the quality and flavor of the food. And I found a wine that I like (baby steps)!

Wine Down Ooltewah is a great place to go for a relaxed but slightly upscale lunch or dinner, especially if you want a great glass of wine!

Wine Down Ooltewah is located at 9431 Bradmore Lane Suite 109, Ooltewah, TN, 37363 (in Cambridge Square). They are open Monday, 4-10 p.m., Tuesday – Thursday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. for brunch. You can call them at 423-531-WINE(9463). You can find out more about Wine Down Ooltewah on their website, or their Facebook page. You can also follow Wine Down on Instagram.

Ceniza Cuban Restaurant (Ooltewah, TN)

October 12, 2016

Ceniza Cuban restaurant, located in Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, TN, opened in the spring of 2016 and serves Caribbean and Southern fusion food and cocktails.

I’ve been wanting to try Ceniza Cuban restaurant (or Ceniza Caribbean & Southern Fusion) for quite some time. They opened in late spring serving Cuban and Southern fusion food, but we waited a while to try it out to give them time to work out the kinks that a new restaurant inevitably goes through. It was kind of a tough wait because I love Cuban food and obviously I love Southern food. I held out, though. I heard a lot of mixed reviews about the service and the quality of the food, so I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when we headed out.

We decided to hit up Ceniza Cuban restaurant late on a Saturday afternoon, around 4:00 p.m. We weren’t really sure where to go in; there is no signage over the entry door, which is on the back side of the building. There are two sets of double doors and on one door of the first set it says “Use other door”. That means use the other door in that pair. It will take you in to the hostess stand. The other set of double doors will lead you to the stairs that go up to their cigar lounge. At any rate, there were not a lot of people there when we arrived, so we were seated immediately. We chose to sit on the patio, but as we walked through the dining room I took note of the bright, beachy colors of the dining area and the bar.

Our server, Christina, checked in with us quickly and brought us water while we looked over the drink menu. Philip decided on a Chattanooga Brewing Company Chestnut Street Brown Ale ($6/pint), which he says is one of the best brown ales he’s ever had. I decided to have a Cuba Libre 1900s ($8): rum, Angostura bitters, Mexican Coke, and lime. I love rum and Coke, and the bitters and lime definitely finished it off perfectly. I loved the pottery cup that it was served in! We contemplated getting some tostones (fried plantains) nachos ($12) or black bean hummus ($7) but ultimately decided against it.

The menu is divided into small plates, salads, cigar box sandwiches, entrees, sides, and desserts. I didn’t have to think too hard about my order because I knew that I wanted to try their version of the Elena Ruz sandwich so that I could compare it to the one that I had at Embargo 62 and the one that I make myself. The Elena Ruz is grouped under “cigar box sandwiches”, which are literally served in a paper-lined cigar box. Served pressed on a semi-sweet roll with roasted thick-sliced turkey, cream cheese, and strawberry jam, the Elena Ruz is sweet and savory all at one. This one was just a little bit crunchy and was not messy as one might expect a sandwich with that much going on. The ingredients were well balanced and there was a good flavor to the turkey (I can have a problem with the flavor of poultry that has been cooked ahead of time). The sandwich itself was $8, which did not include a side. I added plantain chips (mariquitas) for an additional $2. It always bothers me when sandwiches do not come with a side; I would prefer that the price be $10 than to see $8 on a menu then have to pay an additional $2 for a side. Maybe that’s weird, but it’s one of my hang-ups. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed both the sandwich and the thinly sliced, slightly salty plantain chips.

Philip decided to order the CFC (Ceniza fried chicken) and Mac ($13). The chicken was a large, thinly pounded chicken breast coated in a regular better coating then dipped in coconut and fried until crispy. It was seasoned well and cooked just right – done through but not dry at all. The macaroni and cheese was creamy and cheese (of course) had little bits of roasted red pepper in it, giving it a bit of a pimento cheese flavor. It was also served with the vegetable of the day, which in that day was zucchini and yellow squash.

Despite some of the negatives that I had heard and read about Ceniza Cuban restaurant, we enjoyed our experience. The atmosphere was very nice and Christina was friendly and helpful. Our food was tasty and the prices were comparable to similar restaurants (our pre-tip total was about $37 for a beer, a cocktail, a sandwich, a side, and an entree). We will definitely return to Ceniza Cuban restaurant to try some of their other Cuban and Southern fare.

If you like Cuban and Southern food, you should definitely check out Ceniza Cuban restaurant and let me know what you think!

Ceniza Caribbean & Southern Fusion is located at 9454 Bradmore Lane, Ooltewah, TN 37363. They are open Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can call them at 423-760-4198. To learn more, check out Ceniza’s website. You can also find Ceniza Cuban restaurant on Facebook and follow @ceniza_lounge on Instagram and on Twitter.

Puleo’s Grille (Ooltewah, TN)

August 31, 2016

Puleo’s Grille is a small, regional chain (5 restaurants) based in Knoxville, TN. Their newest location is located in Ooltewah, TN.

A few months ago, Philip came home from his job at Sigler’s Craft Beer & Cigars and handed me a business card. The card was from a guy who worked at Puleo’s Grille who had come into Sigler’s looking for advice about what craft beers to include on their beer list the new location they were getting ready to open off of Exit 11 in Ooltewah. Philip had mentioned that his wife was a food blogger and the guy gave him his card.

Honestly, I thought up to that point that Puleo’s Grille was a large chain. I ate there once in Knoxville several years ago and didn’t realize that it was a very small, regional chain. The Chattanooga location is only their fifth location. They opened at the beginning of the summer, but we generally try to give places a few months to hit their stride before we go in. This past weekend, we decided that we’d given Puleo’s Grille long enough and headed to check it out.

We arrived at Puleo’s Grille around 4 p.m. on Saturday, so it was between the lunch and dinner rush and we were seated immediately. It took a few minutes for our server, Victoria, to check in with us, but I got the impression that they were having a quick server meeting in the back, as all the servers seemed to come into the dining area at once.

Victoria was very attentive after that. She got our waters (Philip also ordered a Schneider Weisse beer) and suggested the fried green tomatoes. We had been considering the fried green tomatoes and the fried pickles, and Victoria recommended the fried pickles, which are a Puleo’s Grille specialty. The fried green tomatoes are served with stone ground cheese grits and country and tasso gravy. The tomatoes themselves had a light cornmeal coating. The grits were very thick (as you can see from the fact that they stayed in the “scoop” shape) but that worked well with the tomatoes, as I was initially concerned that the grits might make the fried green tomatoes soggy. The tasso gravy was a little spicy and smoky, and the country gravy cream with just a hint of sausage. I thought it all worked really well together.

I immediately saw the fish tacos and initially thought I would order those, then I saw the fish and chips and I was torn. Then I saw the chicken penne pasta (grilled chicken, penne pasta, baby spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms in a Parmesan cream sauce) and I was really torn. I asked Victoria for her recommendation between the fish and chips and the chicken penne pasta and she told me that those were her two favorite dishes, but ultimately she would choose the fish and chips.

The fish was not your typical beer battered fish that you would expect with fish and chips. The coating was more of a light breading with the slightly pebbly texture of cornmeal. The inside of the fish was very tender and moist, and the garlicky dill caper remoulade was a nice complement. I also liked the Napa cabbage slaw, which also contained shredded carrots, diced green peppers, fried noodles, and sunflower seeds in a light vinaigrette. The fries were pretty average restaurant fries – pretty sure they were frozen. Good not great.

Philip was craving a burger, so he settled on the fairly pedestrian bacon cheeseburger, hickory grilled and topped with Applewood smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion, and also served with fries. His comment was that he probably should have gotten something else – not because the burger was bad but because it was just a basic burger, nothing special, and he probably should have gotten something more interesting for blog purposes.

By the time we left around 5:00, the crowd was picking up. In its location right by Interstate 75 and in a town that’s still relatively short on restaurants will definitely keep their business up as long as they continue to serve decent food. I didn’t find that what they were serving was really all that innovative or interesting, but it definitely tasted good and I guess that’s ultimately all that matters. Our food total was $34.93 ($9.99 for the cheeseburger, $12.99 for the fish & chips, and $8.99 for the fried green tomatoes) so right in the same ballpark as similar restaurants – chain or not. Victoria was a great server and we enjoyed talking to her, and the atmosphere is nice. We will go back.

Check out Puleo’s Grille and let me know what you think.

Puleo’s Grille is located at 6108 Artesian Circle, Chattanooga, TN (just off of exit 11). If you go to the first light past their location, you will see a sign to turn in (there’s a turn-in closer to the restaurant but it’s a little inconveniently located). They are open Sunday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. You can call them at 423-803-2271. You can check out their website, puleosgrille.com, like Puleo’s Grille Chattanooga – Ooltewah on Facebook, or follow @puleosgrille on Twitter.

Southern Burger Co.

June 8, 2016

Southern Burger Co. has been through a few incarnations-a truck, then a spot in Warehouse Row, & now a restaurant in Ooltewah. They’re a Chattavore top ten!

Southern Burger Co. has long since moved from Warehouse Row, being replaced fairly recently by Two Ten Jack (which I plan to visit soon). They’ve closed up shop on their truck too, which I hate even though admittedly I never even ordered anything from their truck (food trucks are just too hard to keep track of around here, and I hate crowds, thus preventing me from making too many visits to the communal food truck gatherings).

We’ve actually visited the Cambridge Square (Ooltewah) location of Southern Burger Co. several times, including a visit when I was prepping to write my Top Ten Burgers list, on which Southern Burger was #9 with an overall burger score of 4/5. They were also on my original Top Five list at #4. I just haven’t taken the time to write an updated post…something I’m going to start working on for lots of restaurants I’ve reviewed over the last five (!!!) years.

The place was pretty crowded when we got there around 1:00 on a Wednesday afternoon, but we elected to sit outside because it wasn’t too hot and was even a little breezy. Plus, lighting. Our server, Jonathan, was with us very quickly to take our drink order and brought Philip some beer samples while he looked over the list. He ended up ordering an Oskar Blues Beerito Mexican Lager, which he’s had before (have I mentioned that Philip is now working at Sigler’s Craft Beer? It’s his favorite job ever.).

I usually just order the Southern Burger, which is a very basic burger, with American cheese and some bacon jam added. I decided to instead go with the Raleigh burger this time; how can you argue with pimento cheese, a fried egg, and a fried green tomato on a burger? I ordered the regular fries, which are skin-on house cut fries. You guys know I can’t resist. They were actually out of tots and onion rings (they have changed their onion rings since our original visit, when they were handmade…I loved them but I think a lot of people prefer the more uniform coating of frozen onion rings. ? BTW, they no longer serve the house-made ketchup automatically with the fries, though it is available upon request. They do put it on the burgers that are topped with ketchup. I guess it was just a little too different; they have Heinz on the tables now.). The burger was great – the pimento cheese was clearly house-made with big but not intrusive chunks of pimento as well as some sliced green onions. The coating on the fried green tomato was cornmeal based and just a little spicy, and the tomato was fried till nice and tender. I would have liked my egg a little runny (the yolk was pretty well done) but I guess that would have gotten a little messy. They no longer use Bread Basket rolls, opting now instead for Niedlov’s buns, which are delicious…but I did like that the Bread Basket rolls set them apart a little bit. Oh well.

Philip contemplated the chorizo burger but decided instead for the Bison burger, with grain-finished American bison, Boursin cheese, tomato and onion jam, and topped with an onion ring (when they aren’t out of them). Bison burgers can be a little dry if not done well, but this one was not dry at all. The Boursin cheese added a great creamy element and the tomato and onion jam cut through the richness of the burger and the cheese with a slightly acidic hit. Philip decided to get the waffle-cut sweet potato fries, which are sprinkled with sugar and served with soft cinnamon butter. They are absolutely delicious and I will probably order them next time, if I can talk myself out of the regular fries (that’s not likely, actually, but I can pretend – right?).

Our order was $30.97, which included Philip’s beer – pretty much in line with other comparable joints. The service was quick and Jonathan was very friendly. The atmosphere in the patio area was quiet and lovely, though when I stood up my legs looked like the waffle fries from the texture of my chair – oops. I should have sat on the bench and let Philip sit in the chair with his longer shorts. The inside of the restaurant is decorated perfectly for a burger restaurant, though I can’t describe it off the top of my head…sorry.

Just a note – I have read some negative reviews of Southern Burger Co. on Zomato and Yelp, but there are always plenty of people in there when I go in, and I have never experienced bad food or bad service there.

Southern Burger Co. still gets my vote for one of the best burgers in Chattanooga!

Southern Burger Co. is located at 9453 Bradmore Lane Suite 101, Ooltewah, TN 37363. They are open Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can call them at 423-825-4919. Check out their website, southernburgerco.com. You can also like Southern Burger Co. on Facebook and follow @SBurgerCo on Twitter.

Original Post: January 14, 2012

Last summer, my friend Matt from Matt Eats Chatt posted about Southern Burger Co. Truck. I hadn’t heard about it, but Matt proclaimed their burger the best in Chattanooga. Since it was a truck, though, it wasn’t necessarily easy to catch them since they were usually downtown and also not out and about every day. I was dying to try it, though….so, imagine my delight when I saw on Facebook that they were soon to open a location in the food court at Warehouse Row. The new location joins the truck. It opened on January 5, and I couldn’t get there quickly enough!

First of all, let me say that it has been quite a while since I have been on that side of Warehouse Row, and their food court looks amazing! Right now, Southern Burger Co. and Petunia’s Silver Jalapeno are the only eateries that are open there, but it looks modern and beautiful and contemporary and cool, so hopefully some more great places will open up there!

It didn’t take us long to make our decisions about what to order. I went simple, choosing the Southern burger-just a basic burger with American cheese (I subbed in cheddar, though), mayo, grainy mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, and Wickle’s pickles. I ordered my burger without onions, of course, and added some Tennessee bacon jam to my burger. I ordered a combo with fries. Philip chose the jalapeno burger, which came with cheddar cheese, fresh (not pickled) jalapenos, bacon jam, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. He also got a combo, but he got onion rings (so we could try both, of course). We were a little taken aback when Christian (the “founder”, who rang us up) asked what sauce we wanted with our sides-ranch, ketchup, etc. We both ordered ketchup. It rang up to something around $20-definitely not a “fast food price”-but after I tell you about the food, you’ll understand. This is not fast food, and you can’t get food like this at chain casual dining restaurant, where you’d pay around the same (or more) for a burger and fries that contain ingredients from who-knows-where. I am willing to pay a little more for quality ingredients from a local establishment. Well worth the price.

Like I said, this is not fast food. It took around ten minutes for us to get our orders, and we were fine with that, especially once we got our food. Each of our combos came in its own separate bag:

The burgers looked delicious, and so did the hand-cut fries. I think I have probably mentioned that I love hand-cut fries! I had heard read some negative remarks about their fries being greasy on their Facebook page, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Oh, and the ketchup? Homemade. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore! It was clear that the ketchup wasn’t bottled; it was a little thinner than normal, and there was a seed in mine, and it was spicy. Yea! It was wonderful…but yes, they did have packets of Hunt’s for you ketchup purists (you know who you are!). Okay…back to the food. The fries? I loved them! They were (a) hand-cut; (b) perfectly fried-some were crispy and some weren’t. I love that!; and (c) perfectly salted. Philip and I were having a discussion about the negative fry remarks and were speculating that perhaps people’s “fry expectations” were so diluted by fast-food fries that we don’t always recognize truly great fries. Just a theory. Anyway, I was very happy with the fries! And then….there was the burger. Ah, the burger. The bun was obviously handmade-you could tell by looking at it. The burger patty was fairly thin and it was crispy around the edges but slightly pink in the middle. Now, it takes talent to do that! For those of you who are squeamish about pink beef (you know I am not) I am sure you can request that it be well done! The cheese was also slightly crispy around the edges, which I loved! I loved the kick that the grainy mustard added, and the bacon jam was the perfect finish-sweet, delicious smokiness.

Philip loved his jalapeno burger as well. As I mentioned before, the jalapenos were fresh, not pickled. They were beautifully green, as green as the lettuce leaves. The cheddar cheese and bacon jam perfectly finished the burger. I tasted it and found it to be spicy but not too much so (I’m a wuss, but I could have eaten the whole thing-I think!). They also have a habanero burger, but Philip is getting over being sick and did not think that his recovering sore throat could hack it this time-maybe next time! The onion rings were obviously handmade-thickly sliced and not coated in a heavy jacket of breading, but just a light crumbly coating. They were not stiffly fried and honestly didn’t look like much-but they were delicious. I can’t even think of a way to describe them!

Christian came out to check on us after we had a chance to taste our food. He told me that their buns come from The Bread Basket, which makes me love them even more. Now, there’s another local bakery (which shall remain nameless) that seems to be the “trendy” place to get your bread from. Not that there’s anything wrong with that-they make great products, and they’re still a local business-but I love that Southern Burger Co. is doing something a little unexpected. Their bacon comes from Benton farm, and Christian even told me the secrets to their bacon jam-but I am sworn to secrecy! Before we left, Philip proclaimed his burger the best he’d ever had. I’m inclined to agree. It was amazing. Their slogan is “Don’t just kind of take a bite.” If you try it, you won’t be able to just kind of take a bite. Go check out Southern Burger Co.!