Everywhere I Ate in Chattanooga, Tennessee | 4 Restaurants I Would Actually Recommend

I’m a southern girl through and through, so everywhere I go, I must find good food. Chattanooga’s food scene surprised me, because well—it was actually delicious.

Before I go on about the food, it’s important to mention that if you’re staying in the downtown area, then you’re in a centralized location where it’s very easy to walk to quite a few restaurants.

I found myself in Chattanooga for the Women in Travel Summit (WITS), and one of the first things I did was build a dining itinerary around the conference sessions and activities. I was able to find my way to four different restaurants, but I can assure you there are many more worth trying. I’m going to give you an idea of each restaurant, what I ordered, and what you can do in the area surrounding each restaurant. If you like intimate and charming cities, then I believe you’ll fall in love with Chattanooga just like I did.

STIR

1444 Market St, Chattanooga, TN 37402

STIR is located at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, which is a shopping, dining, and event space, that you will likely end up visiting at some point during your stay. STIR is the first restaurant you’ll see, as it’s located at the front. They are known for oysters from their cold bar and craft cocktails, but there are plenty of other options available on the menu, keeping in mind that everything here is made from scratch.

Personally, I ordered the Wild Moon Child, which blends vodka with lime cordial, STIR’s housemade strawberry syrup, Aperol and fresh lemon juice. If you lean toward sweet and bright flavors when you order cocktails, then I would recommend this one.

I’d love to tell you I ordered oysters, but I wasn’t in the mood for them, so I went with another entree I’ve been craving recently—steak frites. I prefer mine prepared medium and it was served to me well done, but it was still satisfying.

The true star of the show, though, was the crab bisque that is combines crab, cream, sherry, basil oil, crostini, and celery leaves for one of the most perfect bowls of soup i’ve ever had. If I had to recommend one singular item from the menu, it would be this.

Before or after you finish dining, take a walk around the Choo Choo where you can take some of your best Chattanooga photos with railroad cars, hit a couple bars for drinks, or shop at Sweetly Southern, the oldest and largest gift store in the downtown area. Keep in mind that you can stay here at The Hotel Chalet as well.

Public House

1110 Market St, Chattanooga, TN 37402

At some point, I was going to find some fried chicken. When I was building my itinerary, Public House was a restaurant suggestion and when I googled, the first picture I saw featured their fried chicken and macaroni and cheese dinner, so that’s what ordered. It tasted as good as it looked.

The chicken was nice and crispy and the house hot sauce took it to the next level. I don’t always go for macaroni and cheese at restaurants, but this one was perfectly cheesy. Even with just the two items in this entree, it was very filing and I had some left to take home.

Also worth mentioning is the deviled eggs with candied bacon that I ordered as an appetizer. Deviled eggs were one of my mom’s specialties that she’d make for family gatherings. She passed her recipe on to me, and the deviled eggs at Public House reminded me of them.

Public House is located at Warehouse Row, which has a collection of shops, offices, and other restaurants, so if you’re planning to do any shopping, you may want to consider planning your visit to Public House around a trip to this former civil war site.

State of Confusion

301 E Main St, Chattanooga, TN 37408

State of Confusion has quite a bit of fanfare, and I have to say I was very surprised when I arrived, as it didn’t have the vibe I expected for how people had talked about it. I had tried a couple weeks in advance to get a reservation here, but there was no availability, so I decided to chance it on a Sunday afternoon, only to find that the restaurant was mostly empty with plenty of seating everywhere. I say this to say that if you’re unable to get a formal reservation, you might consider going anyway.

I took a seat at the bar and ordered two aguas frescas, the strawberry basil and eventually the cherry limeade, which I enjoyed in the humid, sticky weather of summer in Chattanooga.

My food choice was the Nola shrimp po’ boy, because I was in the mood for fried shrimp, but also because I was curious to see how it would compare to an actual New Orleans po’ boy. I have to say that I really enjoyed, and though nothing probably could ever really compare to an original, this one was mighty close.

This area is not a far drive from anything, so you might consider a trip to Lookout Mountain for the incline railway or Ruby Falls in one direction or a trip to the waterfront in the other direction.

Honey Seed

1705 Market St Ste 105, Chattanooga, TN 37408

Pizza is something you can find easily in nearly every city, but you can never be sure whether it’s really going to be good. The pizza at Honey Seed is thin crust and woodfired, which I happen to love. I ordered the pepperoni and sausage, added bacon, and upgraded $2 for the honey seed crust. I truthfully should have taken a picture of the plate when I was finished for proof, because there was nothing left. It was delicious and filling.

By this point, I was convinced that Chattanooga is a foodie city, because they had gotten southern food, pizza, and the steak frites, a classic french dish, right. Of course there are many more restaurants in Chattanooga than the four I’ve named, but hopefully this gives you a starting point to explore this destination’s delightful culinary scene.