Best Restaurants in Chattanooga

Number Ten

2nd

2nd is a contemporary American restaurant on Cowart Street in Chattanooga. Its website describes the idea as a continued homage to the American family meal, with an emphasis on quality ingredients and refined technique. According to its website, the restaurant is part of a small group of restaurants run by Chef Daniel Lindley, which also includes Alleia and 5th and Taylor. Dinner is served, and tables can be reserved through Resy. 2nd also offers private events and runs an event space called "the hall." Gift cards and a downloadable dinner menu are available on its website.

The Big Chill and Grill

The Big Chill and Grill is a bar and restaurant on Cherokee Boulevard in Chattanooga. According to its website, it has been in business since 1997. The menu pages list appetizers and salads, sandwiches, lunch entrees, kids' items, sides, desserts and brunch, along with a cocktail menu. The site highlights frozen daiquiris, handcrafted cocktails and martinis, and it offers online ordering. An events page lists recurring nights. The site mentions game-watching, karaoke, trivia, DJ parties and drag queen bingo.

Wooden City Chattanooga

Wooden City Chattanooga is a dinner spot on Broad Street downtown, pairing comforting American plates with a full bar. Its menu includes a separate dessert list, and there is a happy hour early in the evening on weeknights. Reservations are taken through Resy, and its website recommends booking ahead, though it says walk-in tables and bar seating are also available. Gift cards can be bought online. Groups can book the Pacific Room, a private dining room that holds up to about two dozen guests. Smaller parties order from the regular menu, while larger ones set a family-style menu with the restaurant ahead of time.

Carving Rock Kitchen

State of Confusion

Ceviche, wood-fired grilling and cold beer anchor the menu at State of Confusion on East Main Street. The kitchen serves lunch and dinner, a weekend brunch, and a kids menu, with craft beer and cocktails on the drink list and a weekday happy hour. For gatherings, the restaurant has The Pump House, a private event space in its own building with a dedicated bar and an open-air patio. Its team also handles off-site catering with bar service, plus boxed lunches for offices and small groups. According to its website, you can make a reservation or order online for pickup or delivery. The site also points diners to a parking lot a short walk down Main Street.

The Social

The Social is the bar side of Public House on Market Street in downtown Chattanooga. It shares a kitchen with the restaurant, and its website says guests can enjoy food from both. The drink list leans seasonal, with local beers on tap, craft cocktails and a wine list meant to have something for most tastes. Small plates round out the bar menu. Inside, brick walls and casual seating set a relaxed tone, and a TV. The website describes a design that nods to the city's industrial past and mentions live music in the space. Public House also handles catering and private events, which can be arranged through its site.

Spice Trail

Kenny's

Kenny's is a fast-casual breakfast and lunch counter on Market Street, with breakfast sandwiches and other sandwiches at the center of the menu. There is a bar where the full menu is served first come, first served, plus a shaded patio that its website describes as dog-friendly. According to its website, the restaurant does not take reservations right now and keeps an in-person waitlist. Orders can also be placed online or through DoorDash, and e-gift cards are sold on the site. For bigger plans, Kenny's lists private room reservations, after-hours space rental with a full bar, buffet catering, boxed lunches and bulk breakfast sandwiches. Groups larger than 16 are asked to send a request form ahead of time.

Little Coyote

In St. Elmo near the foot of Lookout Mountain, Little Coyote pairs wood-smoked barbecue with corn tortillas pressed in house. The website credits the concept to Chef Erik Niel and his Texas roots, and lists Main Street Meats and Easy Bistro & Bar as sister restaurants. Brisket and pork shoulder come off a wood fire pit, alongside smaller smoked cuts such as pork collar carnitas and beef chuck eye, plus house-made moles, small plates and sides like black beans and rice. Dessert is soft-serve. The bar centers on agave spirits, with more than 100 tequilas, mezcals, sotols and raicillas listed, along with Mexican and Spanish wines and a zero-proof cocktail list. According to its website, the restaurant does not take reservations and uses an online waitlist. The covered Sunporch patio can be booked for groups of up to 24, and takeout, delivery and event catering are also offered.

Feed Table and Tavern

Feed Table and Tavern is a restaurant and bar on West Main Street in Southside Chattanooga. The building is a renovated space that nods to the old Seed-Feed Supply Co., with a tavern, a dining room and a heated, covered patio. Its website describes a seasonal farm-to-table menu of lunch and dinner, plus brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. According to its website, the full bar, live music, trivia, bingo and a game room for kids are part of the mix. There is also a private dining and event space, and the restaurant offers gift cards.

Bluegrass Grill

Bluegrass Grill is a breakfast and lunch restaurant on East Main Street in Chattanooga. Its website describes it as family-run since 2007, with bread baked every day and food cooked from scratch. The regular menu leans Southern: corned beef hash, custom omelets, frittatas, buttermilk blueberry pancakes, grits and brown sugar baked French toast, plus lunch sandwiches like a double decker club. Sunday has its own brunch menu, and the website says both menus carry gluten-free and vegan choices. The restaurant does not take reservations. According to its website, diners add their names to the waitlist in person and can call ahead to ask about the wait. Online ordering with curbside pickup is available, and catering needs at least 48 hours' notice.

Overboard Bar and Grille

Overboard Bar & Grille is a casual bar and grill run by the Chattanooga Riverboat Company on Riverfront Parkway. Its website says it sits about 40 feet above the Tennessee River, with an outdoor patio and indoor couch seating. The menu centers on a build-your-own sandwich setup, with a half-pound Black Angus burger, a chicken sandwich or a veggie burger as the base. There are also drinks, flat-screen TVs, arcade games and darts. The site says it takes group bookings for events such as birthday parties and class reunions. From the patio you can watch riverboats and the city's waterfront.

Harry's American Bar & Grill

Prime cuts & a bottomless-salad deal, plus gluten-free options, mark this informal steakhouse chain.

Amada Tapas & Wine

Amada Tapas & Wine is a restaurant on Chestnut Street in Chattanooga serving Spanish-style small plates meant for sharing. Its website also lists a wine selection and seasonal cocktails. The menu includes paella made to order in a 10-inch pan with saffron-infused calasparra rice, with a traditional seafood version and a seasonally rotating one. According to its website, the restaurant was founded by a mother and daughter. Amada also offers catering and private events, hosts wine dinners and tasting events, and sells gift cards. Reservations and menus are on its website.

Bantam & Biddy

Bantam & Biddy brings its Southern, chicken-centered menu to Market Street downtown. The brand was founded by Chef Shaun Doty in Atlanta's Ansley Park neighborhood in 2012, according to its website, and also has locations in Atlanta and on Amelia Island. The Chattanooga menu leans on roasted and fried chicken: quarter and half roast chickens, bone-in fried chicken, tenders and a fried chicken and cheddar waffle. Breakfast runs into the afternoon with biscuits and gravy, pancakes, omelettes, breakfast tacos and a Southern breakfast plate, and there is shrimp and grits, salads and a list of coffee and espresso drinks too. The menu marks gluten-free and vegetarian items. This location takes online orders and offers catering for the Chattanooga area, with a separate catering menu posted on the website.

Giardino

Giardino is a small neighborhood restaurant on Westside Drive in Chattanooga, tucked along Missionary Ridge. Its website describes the cooking as Italian-inspired, with produce and proteins sourced from local farms. The restaurant says the name comes from the garden that neighbors helped plant and tend when it opened. The menu is seasonally driven, and the site pairs it with a wine and cocktail list. It lists a dinner menu, a drink menu, a gallery, and a Catering & Events section. You can book a table or order online through the website. Check its site for current serving days.