Chattanooga, Tennessee
Our first stop on our 3 city tour was Chattanooga, TN. While driving to our hotel, we noticed that it looked like there were a lot of restaurants within walking distance of our hotel. And we were correct!
On our first evening we went to The Flying Squirrel. This restaurant was just a few blocks from The Moxy Hotel. It has outside and inside seating, an event space, and also an open air bar with seats inside looking out and vice versa. The menu is seasonal with a variety of small plates, tonight’s features and craft cocktails. The thought gone into the descriptions alone make you want to try everything on the menu. Our first choice was lamb pops (small Chops) on a bed of sweet potato grits topped with field greens. Our second choice was the Japanese salted salmon with roasted beets, fried brussels, pickled shallot, with a miso vinaigrette. The first 2 choices were very good and excellently plated. However our third choice - the gnocchi was the prize winner! I am a sucker for gnocchi to begin with but when it has beets, butternut squash, brown butter, walnuts, grana padano along with edible flowers, and is presented so beautifully, it is definitely a winner. One of the prettiest gnocchi dishes we have ever had. The cocktails all have their special spin and there was a wide variety to try. We loved this place.
On our second night we did one of our 1dish/1drink evenings so that we can try more places. Our first stop was Urban Stack which again was just a couple blocks from our hotel. At the time they were just serving a limited menu and since this was our first stop, we decided to try the Fried Bologna Sliders and their version of an Old Fashioned. I realize sliders are not for everyone, (along with bologna), but they were extremely good. Homemade peppercorn beef bologna, American cheese, pickles and dijonaisse - yum! The Old Fashioned was also made the way we like it with brandied cherries, orange and bitters. It was a great way to start the evening.
We then strolled down to our second choice - State of Confusion. This is a very large place with an event space, large inside restaurant and in between a large outside area with various option types for seating, and an open air bar which is where we sat. We started with the Draft Margarita which is their own blend of tequila, fresh lime, and Gran Gala. It was clean and refreshing. We then split their Fried Beef Tacos which went really well with the margarita. The atmosphere here was lively and I’m sure under normal conditions would be a hard place to get into on a Friday night.
Our final stop of the evening was the Wiseguy Lounge which sits under the Goodfellas Pizza restaurant. If you ever get to try a speakeasy, please do so. These are fun, hidden places with great cocktails and surprises. We ended the night with our last Old Fashioned and had a great time playing pool and darts.
The evening and stay in Chattanooga was definitely a success.
