On the Sunday morning of our trip, our son got us up bright and early and we had a light breakfast in the hotel, and then took a relaxed and fun drive through middle Tennessee to get to Chattanooga for lunch. Instead of going the usual way (I-24), since we were a little east of Nashville on I-40, we just continued that way for 40-odd miles, and then, around Cookeville, picked up TN-111 and went south, up and down over a couple of mountains. We’d seen the southern edge of this road once before, in the summer of 2010, when we visited Fall Creek Falls State Park. It’s all very, very pretty. Continue reading “Hwy 58 BBQ, Chattanooga TN”
Category: tennessee
Snow White Drive-In, Lebanon TN
On my Nashville to-do list: visit a whole lot more hot chicken places, visit a whole lot more barbecue places, and see Brooke and Matt get married. We marked off one of the three on this trip, and slightly dented the very, very long barbecue to-do list. Continue reading “Snow White Drive-In, Lebanon TN”
Gondola Pizza House, Tullahoma TN
Well, this is faintly ridiculous. I count at least five restaurants in middle Tennessee calling themselves Gondola Pizza House, in the towns of Cookeville (which has branded itself “The Original”), Crossville, Hermitage, McMinnville, and Tullahoma. I saw the sign for the Tullahoma store online someplace and insisted that we had to detour and visit it one day. Then I learned of the other stores, and phoned them, wondering whether they were ever part of a chain. Everybody with whom I spoke insisted that they were independent and were never affiliated with each other. Continue reading “Gondola Pizza House, Tullahoma TN”
The Epicurean Restaurant, East Ridge TN
We had a couple of big disappointments on our latest trip to Chattanooga. Sure, we enjoyed shopping for books and records at Winder Binder, and had some good sodas from Pure Sodaworks – their soda fountain is now set up inside Clumpie’s Ice Cream, and their Sweet Orange flavor is one of their very best – but we were sad to see that the Coolidge Park fountains were closed for repair. The three year-old was really looking forward to playing in them. Continue reading “The Epicurean Restaurant, East Ridge TN”
The Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe, Chattanooga TN (take two)
This is Marie, contributing a Take Two on a restaurant Grant visited on his own last time. Well, he had our friend David with him, but naturally, of course, he would want his family along for the return visit. Continue reading “The Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe, Chattanooga TN (take two)”
Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Chattanooga TN
To make up for my daughter being away for a week, and, as it turned out, not having quite as perfect a vacation as she had hoped, I asked her what sort of food she’d like when we got to Chattanooga. She picked pizza, and I looked for something promising on the I-75 side of town. Having already tried everybody’s patience by turning the ninety-minute drive from Knoxville into three and change, I didn’t want to press my luck going around and north to Soddy-Daisy or someplace and suggesting that this was still technically the Chattanooga area. No, best just to find something close to the interstate and move on. Continue reading “Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Chattanooga TN”
Full Service BBQ, Maryville TN
Apology accepted, Full Service. Apology accepted.
We did pretty good for eastern Tennessee barbecue on this trip. Our third barbecue stop, and the first that our daughter was able to join us for, was at this delightful little place that opened in 2009 in the space that was once home to a Crown gas station. Caleb of Smoked Pig and Sweet Tea gave it a nice writeup a few years ago and it certainly sounded promising. Continue reading “Full Service BBQ, Maryville TN”
Marie, Let's Eat! 