Chattanooga’s Food Scene

My husband, son and I were on our way home from the Georgia mountains this past weekend, when we decided to stop in Chattanooga for lunch. I have not visited Chattanooga since I was in high school. A lot has changed. As we were driving through, I was surfing the internet for the best lunch spot. Several came up but Main Street Meats sounded the best. It is a butcher shop as well as a restaurant. The small menu made it easy to choose. We went with the burger, reuben, brussel sprouts and potato salad. A burger that has caramelized onions, you just can’t go wrong. After one bite, this burger climbed to the top of my favorite burger list. The sweetness from the onions with the tang from the gruyere cheese was the perfect pairing. Most importantly, the burger patty was flavorful and tender. Ryan order it medium. I think this is the best way to order a burger. Just saying! 🙂

I ordered the pastrami reuben. It was delicious as well. The best part was of course the meat and then their homemade pickles.

The crazy part was that the real star of the menu was the potato salad. When the waiter asked what I wanted for my side, he suggested the potato salad. I thought sure. I was expecting a good potato salad but what I got was amazing! Cubed russet potatoes are blanched and then deep fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Then they are tossed in a dressing of mayonnaise, mustard seed, bacon and green onions. The best part was that the potatoes held their crispiness even though coated in the dressing. Best potato salad EVER!

Next, we took a stroll up the street to the old train station which is now Songbirds.

It is an event site for live music. We walked through the building to reach the old Choo Choo hotel.

The architecture was amazing. The hotel is no longer. But what resides in the Choo Choo now is the Frothy Monkey coffee shop and Stir restaurant.

We are familiar with Frothy Monkey because of their various locations throughout Nashville. 

This location became my new favorite. The space was a mix of architecture, modern and industrial. It’s a beauty! The coffee at Frothy Monkey never disappoints. It was a rather warm day so Ryan and I decided to get iced coffees. I adventured out from the regular iced latte to their spring special, garden party latte. It is usually served hot with frothed milk but I asked for mine iced. Y’all it was so good. The floral notes from the earl grey (lavender) simple syrup made it. Then the sweetness from their homemade caramel was the icing on the cake. I would highly recommend for you to try it.

If you are visiting Chattanooga for the first time, here are some other recommendations for places to eat.

Garden and Gun- Eat Like A Local

Garden and Gun- Chattanooga

Southern Living- Best Lunch Spots

Southern Living- Best Dinner Spots

I’ve heard great things about Stir, Beast + Barrel, Taco Mamacita, and Aretha Frankenstein’s.