TNBear's Profile
Where to eat downtown Chattanooga..local style?
I second TreyCo regarding Champy's. I do not care for Bea's at all, the one time I ate there the chicken pieces were miniscule and not all the good.
Dinner in Chattanooga - 212 market, st. johns or canyon grill
All are good choices. If you are wine drinkers bear in mind that Canyon Grill is BYOB. 212 has an amazing wine list and is very environmentally aware.
Worst Beer Ever?
Schlitz, Olympia, Mickey's Big Mouth and anything with light or (worse yet) lite in the name.
Dogfish Head- Palo Santo Marron
A heck of a good beer.
All the fancy talk has been used up, so I'll leave it at that.
Eating in Puerto Vallarta & the surrounding areas
I will second the recommendation for El Brujo, the best ceviche I had out of many. For breakfast try Fredy Tucans on Basilo Badillio. Almost across the street is Joe Jack's Fish Shack, not a shack at all, they have some wonderful food and the mojitos are muy bien. For a more fine dining option I would recommend El Arrayan in El Centro, just north of the river. Delicious and extremely authentic.
Quick weekend in Chattanooga
Mrs. Bear and I were quite excited when we first read about Pizzeria Venti, the photographs showed big thick rectangular chunks of pizza, just like in North Beach in San Francisco. Boy were we disappointed.
Our visit was much like susan's, only it was the un-sweet tea they were out of. As you pay for your drink before you self-serve it I was out for the cost of it. Nobody offered me my money back, I was not even offered an apology. When our order was delivered to the table, after a very long wait, we wished they had been out of pizza also. It was undercooked and doughy, not very nice at all.
We ended up going to another establishment to have an edible meal served by someone who seemed to care.
I agree that Lupi's is the best bet for pizza in the Aquarium area, although Mellow Mushroom is not bad. For fine dining in the area my favorite is 212 Market. They are the first "green" restaurant in Tennessee and firm believers in the Slow Food movement. All possible menu items are locally sourced.
Taco Rico is wonderful, but a bit of a drive and located in a neighborhood thet is in "transition".
Where to eat downtown Chattanooga..local style?
Mount Vernon is nothing but heated up (usually) institutional food service fare. I would not go there again, nor ever recommend it.
For my money 212 Market is the best in town, they are the first green restaurant in the state of Tennessee and source as much as possible of their food locally. They are family owned and located near the Aquarium, they had the foresight to open there before the Aquarium was finished. They have been given the Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator for at least the last five years.
Across the river in North Chattanooga on Frasier Ave. is Terra Nostra, owned by a couple who live locally although they are both from Ecuador. Tapas style fare with both a set menu and daily specials.
Hiroshi's on Main is the benchmark for sushi in Chattanooga, and just down the street is Taco Rico which sounds Mexican but is actually Salvadorian. Their papusas are killer and the chicken tamale in a banana leaf is one of the best I've ever had.
Dining suggestions in Nashville
My wife and I ate at Flyte last summer and thought it was great.
We've been to The Loveless a couple of times and liked it. The food is not great, but I have had some of the best country ham in my life here.
TENNESSEE RESTAURANTS - Where you at?
In Chattanooga there is Seoul, they do Korean and Vietnamese food, the Korean is the thing to go with. For sushi I can recommend Hiroshi's on Main Street, very good. The Vietnamese cusine at Old Saigon in the Hixson area is quite good. Rain on Lee Highway has the best Thai in town, their sushi is also very good-the sushi chef used to be at Hiroshi's and is now part of the management at Rain.
