As I took a nice sip of the root beer at Chattanooga’s Terminal Brewhouse, I kind of had that feeling that I sometimes get that Marie would be a little envious of me once she knew what I was drinking. The thought had occurred to me that I could very well have enjoyed six or seven more pints of their oatmeal stout – it had been a bad week, I was in a lousy mood, and the stout was very, very good – but I decided to be sensible and just follow up the beer with a house-brewed soda. It was magical. Continue reading “The Terminal Brewhouse, Chattanooga TN”
Category: tennessee
The Bar-B-Q Shop, Memphis TN
Here’s a restaurant that I genuinely waited a year to enjoy. When Marie and I went to Memphis to visit her younger sister in June of 2010 – “Never again visit Memphis in June,” I told myself, “because it’s too darn hot.” Shows how I listen. – Anne suggested that we eat at The Bar-B-Q Shop. She and her boyfriend and her housemates all agree that this is the best of Memphis’s many amazing barbecue restaurants. Unfortunately, we had Sunday free for eating out, and this is one of those aggravating places that closes on Sunday. We ended up at Jim Neely’s Interstate instead, and I had no complaints. Continue reading “The Bar-B-Q Shop, Memphis TN”
Good Dog, Chattanooga TN
In the previous chapter, I mentioned that David and the kids and I went up to Chattanooga to do a little book shopping. David was not really tempted by my suggestion of a visit to Zarzour’s Cafe, and so we went to Couch’s to try a new-to-us barbecue place. I did not want to go up there without also getting a snack from one of the city’s more popular restaurants, and so after we spent some time at McKay and at another wonderful store, The Book Company, where I found (I believe) all the remaining Harry Kemelman Rabbi novels that I have yet to read for about a buck and a quarter each, we drove downtown. Continue reading “Good Dog, Chattanooga TN”
Couch’s Barbecue, Ooltewah TN
So last week, I convinced David to leave the state. This has not happened in a while, as David doesn’t travel nearly as often as he should. It’s good for the soul, travel. My kids were on spring break and getting cabin fever and doing that really dumb thing that immature people do with money, which is to realize that they have some of it and must exchange it for something else immediately before they spontaneously combust. Continue reading “Couch’s Barbecue, Ooltewah TN”
Bradley’s BBQ, Sweetwater TN
When I learned that I’d be making a second out-of-state trip in two weeks, I was really pleased. I realized a little more than a year ago that my dream job would be driving around the country and eating. If I could get out of town with some family or friends three times a month, I’d do it. The problem – and I use that world loosely – is finding the new things that would make this adventure perpetually thrilling. Over the year or so that Marie and I have been doing this blog, we’ve been eating at known favorites less and less in favor of trying new places. There are one or two big favorites of ours in Atlanta that we haven’t revisited all year. Continue reading “Bradley’s BBQ, Sweetwater TN”
The Tomato Head, Knoxville TN
If you’ve been following our stories here, you’ve read that my son has returned to the Atlanta area and is living with us again. When we started the blog about a year ago, my son had been with his mother in Louisville, Kentucky, for about five months. We were glad to have him back for spring break last year, and for a few months in the summer, and anticipated him returning this coming fall for high school. He decided over Christmas break, a few days before my father passed, that he wanted to stay with us, and not return to Louisville. Continue reading “The Tomato Head, Knoxville TN”
Zarzour’s Cafe, Chattanooga TN
Here’s a really interesting restaurant that I supposed I would not get the chance to try. Zarzour’s Cafe opened in 1918 and has a wonderful reputation for their meat-and-three meals, but, sadly, the restaurant, for years, has only been open from 11 am to 2 in the afternoon, and only on weekdays. That’s not a very good window for out-of-town guests! Fortunately, they have elected to stay open a little bit longer each weekday – to the comparatively late hour of 3.30 – even though the kitchen itself still closes at 2. Guests in this last ninety minute window can still order some of their very famous burgers, grilled up by an exceptionally sassy lady who let us know how she drank her way out of college in Knoxville. Yes, this place is a dive in the finest possible sense of the word, and I love it absolutely. Continue reading “Zarzour’s Cafe, Chattanooga TN”
Marie, Let's Eat! 