Calliope Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Chattanooga

I have visited Chattanooga several times over the past few months and have always wanted to try the food here. My partner and I were finally able to finally go recently. Here are the things we ordered:

FOOD:

Sabich Hummus - the flavor is great and the hummus is smooth. There is a seasoning on it that I could not discern, but it was delicious. It came with a large piece of of puff bread to dip in the hummus, and if you’re creative enough, in the other dishes too. Unfortunately, the fried eggplant was scarce, and the hard boiled egg was seemingly missing completely.

Local Mushrooms - The local mushrooms were great. They came with a green tahini that almost reminded me of a pesto. I don’t remember what they all were, but it was a variety of mushrooms including lion’s mane. It was my favorite dish of the night.

Kibbeh - This was very creative. It was kind of a lamb loaf shaped like a slice of cake, but the center portion was ground lamb. So it was loaf/ground/loaf. It came with a tasty cabbage slaw. Often, I find lamb to be really greasy, but this was not greasy in the slightest so it was easy to eat.

Burnt Carrots - I always love ordering any kind of roasted carrot that utilizes nuts to create a great flavor. These were tender and had the right amount of tahini and chermoula to flavor them.

Alabama Shrimp - They use large shrimp, so you get a great portion. I was impressed that they list how many shrimp you get on the menu, because most places don’t and you’re left guessing. These are fairly spicy, but it’s a fleeting spice; not a lingering spice. Very delicious

COCKTAILS:

Smoke on the River - This is a seasonal cocktail at the restaurant. I was drawn to it for the scotch and duck fat. To my dismay, they use so much apple brandy in the cocktail that you get zero flavor from the scotch or duck fat. The smoked part is great, but it would be a better cocktail if they just used an Islay scotch to give it the smoke and reduced the amount of apple brandy. It just tastes like you’re sharing an apple juice with your aunt who chain smokes.

Tree of Joy - I have had multiple experiences with Chattanooga 91 whiskey, and I am not sure they used very much in this cocktail. It tasted very watered down; almost like a flavored, canned, vodka seltzer.

Penicillin - It would have been better if they just told us they didn’t have the ingredients to make this cocktail. They were kind enough to take it back and make us something new though.

Old Fashioned - we ordered this in place of the penicillin. It tasted fine, but there was a bigger issue…

SERVICE:

Mo was doing a great job, working multiple tables alone. She had three tables of two and a table of six, all by herself. Working hard to get everything to the guests. When our old fashioned cocktails were made, the bartender just set them in the area from which the server would pick them up. He knew the server was busy, but chose to leave them there and have conversations with two other people who work there doing who knows what. Could have assisted his colleague and brought them to us, but didn’t.

Seems like either an understaffing or training issue.

The food was great overall, but the cocktail service could use...

The staff at Calliope are incredible— I last minute reserved a table for a large party of 14 (though sadly our 14th ended up not joining us.) We were seated sooner than expected, and our very attentive server, Bishal, made sure that we were well stocked with water and other drinks between our multiple courses.

We ordered— more or less— one of everything on the menu and shared it among the group. Everything was fantastic, and even better— the vegan & vegetarian options were plentiful, pointed out to us, and filling/varied enough that our vegan/veg party members didn’t feel like they were getting second fiddle to meat-heavy options. I think our favourite dishes were the battata harra (the spiciest thing on the menu— extremely flavourful with a fantastic texture, but mild enough that they’re definitely worth a try!) along with the Alabama shrimp (plump and gorgeous, with a sauce so good another party member started eating it with a spoon!). The hummus & labneh came with a fantastic pita, warm and fluffy— and great for sopping up leftover falafel & potato sauces. :)

As well as the food, we sampled more or less one of all the mixed drinks, along with a bottle of champagne. By and far, the Mad Monk— Calliope’s house gin & tonic— is among one of the best mixed drinks I’ve ever had. The zataar spice & lemon really elevates the entire drink. There are also THC infused drinks and non-alcoholic beverages to choose from, along with some pretty good wine. There’s definitely something other than water— still or sparkling— for everyone on the menu here.

For dessert, we had two plates of each option, along with a round of Arabic coffees. Unfortunately, I can’t find the dessert menu online to accurately name the desserts we had— other than an orange blossom & ricotta knafeh, which is definitely one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.

And— incredibly— Bishal informed us that they actually reopened the kitchen to get out last round of dinner plates (including a to-go order for our 14th member!) despite us staying past the kitchen closing. It was truly a great way to end our stay in Chattanooga for the weekend, and I highly recommend Calliope for anyone interested in great food, great drinks, and awesome staff. I definitely look forward to coming back in the future! Thank you guys so much for an unforgettable and affordable dinner experience for...

Had a reservation for an anniversary dinner. The awful service made this such a disappointment for us…

We arrived on time but had a 10 minute wait, which is fine. Returned after the wait, and then waited another 15 minutes, pretty sure they completely forgot about us, we had to remind them about our reservation and name. We got seated at probably the worst possible spot in the restaurant, low atmosphere rating because we practically sat in the entrance and didn’t see much else. After getting seated, we think we were forgotten again because we waited for about 15-20 minutes without seeing anyone or getting water, until the bartender noticed and asked if anyone had come yet. The hostess then came and took our drink order which took a long time to come because she apparently entered it in the wrong computer(?) and again, it seemed like they forgot we were there. A repeated experience throughout the night. The hostess took our food order. Finally our server came, let us add a dish to our order, only returned once to bring food, once to weirdly question me about my drink, and then later to ask if we wanted dessert. The food was good but they completely forgot to bring one of our two entrees. Unfortunately the entree they did bring was the one we were much much less excited about. At that point we were wanting to just leave so we said to forget it and take it off the tab. The dessert, while admittedly free for all guests that night, took about 30 minutes to come (once again I think we were forgotten), and was subpar. After seeing other reviews, I think ours was possibly undercooked. The wait normally wouldn’t bother me but honestly we were sat at an uncomfortably bad table and had shockingly abhorrent service for such an expensive meal. Our server finally returned to ask if we wanted the check, and it felt like she was suddenly very friendly and attentive for the first time the entire night. When we were paying and leaving…

I normally do not care about the quality of service, but I sincerely have never had such a bad experience before. I cannot believe we paid so much money for this.

The food and drinks were good, but not worth the cost, regardless of service. There are a few better options in...