Chatter Box Cafe — Restaurant in Chattanooga

I stopped by here for the first time because of the Chattanooga Burger Week promotion that happens each April. Normally, establishments create a special burger at a special price and it encourages you to try different restaurants. I was on the early side of the lunch rush, arriving about 11:15-11:20am. Looked like I was the 2nd customer of the day. As I pulled up and exited my vehicle, a nice lady explained to me their drive-thru and walk-up policies and suggested their Burger Week special.

The establishment is a smaller drive-thru building on the corner of a busy street, near a larger intersection of strip malls, grocery stores, service stations and offices. It has a stop light on the corner for easier exit from their parking lot. They have a good-sized covered eating area that would seat probably 40 people on picnic benches, and parking for maybe 20 cars. Fairly good walking access and about 2 blocks from a CARTA city bus route. Less than 1/2 mile from a I-75 freeway intersection. They keep a food truck and a smoker trailer in the parking lot along with a fenced area for supplies like smoking wood.

I ordered 1/2 rack of ribs and 2 of their Burger Week special burgers, described as follows: Freshly Ground Brisket Trimmings, seasoned with Signature SPG Bark Builder Rub and tossed in Chopped Smoked Brisket to add the smoky flavor. Finished with a slice of American Cheese, Pickles and served on a Toasted Brioche Bun! Order took about 10 minutes via the drive-through. Bill was just under $60,

Upon arriving back to my office, my wife and I opened our food. Instead of the burger week specials, we received 2 Brisket sandwiches with sides of Apple Slaw and the 1/2 rack of ribs, with about 6 cups of sauce total, also plenty of napkins and 2 disposable silverware packages. The issue was we ordered the Chattanooga Burger Week specials for $7, not the Brisket sandwiches for $12. I called right away to let them know of the error. No answer, I had to leave a voice mail.

So, since it's a 20 minute drive back to the restaurant, we ate the sandwiches, slaw and ribs. Brisket was OK, but a little undercooked so it was pretty tough to eat in a sandwich. It was also about 1/2 fat. So, we deconstructed the sandwiches, trimmed, cut into smaller pieces, and re-constructed. It was still only OK. The brisket sandwiches are just meat (maybe 1/4 lb, but about half of that was fat) and a bun. The bun *may have been brioche, but definitely not toasted. The meat was not exceptionally smoky, but had a light aroma of smoke. maybe 1/8th inch of smoke ring, did not appear to be rubbed, and a on some end pieces there was good bark, but most of the slices were only a hint of bark.

Ribs didn't have much, if any, rub. They seemed completely naked. They are served dry, which I like, but unfortunately the meat was also dry. The ribs are a decent size trimmed St Louis style rib with most of the cap cut off, making what I call a medium sized rib. A rub, or brining, could have help keep the ribs more moist.

Still waiting to hear back about the burger/sandwich switch. I would love to give this restaurant a good review, but so far that...

So disappointed - again! Had a brisket craving and thought I’d give this place another chance. At first appearance the brisket, pulled pork and potato salad all looked good. The potato salad had begun fermenting as it was smothered in “dressing”, yellow mustard and mayo. We couldn’t even eat it. It was fizzy. The pulled pork severely lacked flavor, had almost no bark, and tasted like it had been reheated in a microwave. Sadly, while the brisket looked good, the rub had way too much sugar. Brisket should never taste sweet! Besides being sweet, it hadn’t been cooked properly to render and caramelize the fat leaving it almost impossible to pass the pull test. You should never need a knife for a properly smoked brisket. While we were there, another customer was told they were out of brisket and the new one wouldn’t be out of the smoker for another 30 minutes. Even if it was ready to come off the smoker, a proper brisket should rest, wrapped in butcher paper, for at least an hour and two would be better. Just more evidence of a lack of proper cooking techniques. Lastly, behind the smoker truck was an outdoor fryer. The whole area was surrounded and covered in grease. Quality bbq, especially brisket, done right is hard to find in Chattanooga. This is not the...

My husband and I have driven by the Chatter Box many times and said, after we had already eaten somewhere else, we wished we had eaten here. Well today we ate here and I wished I had eaten somewhere else. I had the rib plate consisting of 4 bones that tasted like they hadn’t been within 10 miles of a grill or smoker, the sauce was different, didn’t taste like barbeque sauce, the fries were burnt beyond recognition and the apple honey cole slaw tasted spoiled I believe because it was prepared with vinegar or apple cider maybe👎🏽. My husband, on the other hand, had the smoked chicken, smoked Mac n cheese and fried okra which he said was very good 👍🏽. The next time we pass the Chatter Box we will have already...