Aretha Frankenstein's

I love breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, bacon... The whole nine! Arethas is a hip restaurant in a refurbished house located in North Chattanooga. Just like its name, its a mash up of the classic and the down right strange. You walk up to a quaint little house (and I mean LITTLE... 4 tables) with skeletons, punk posters, and 70s TV show lunch boxes on the inside. Does that sound ridiculous? Well it is.

If you only get one thing off the menu, order the pancakes! They're light as a feather, about an inch and a half tall, and you can't get through more than one! Their pancakes became so popular, they even sell the batter by the box. The portions are pretty big, so I recommend sharing. I'd get one of their Omelettes like the Sodbuster (jalapenos, potatoes and cheese) and a slim stack of pancakes! Go halves with a buddy, and you have a breakFEAST!
Breakfast isn't the only meal you can eat at Aretha's, they also have a great selection of sandwiches to choose from as well. The Marilyn is a good one... They really know their vegetables! If you're a carnivore, its okay, they make delicious meaty sandwiches as well.
Man, since everything tastes so amazing, and the atmosphere is eccentric, whats the matter with this place? One thing: SERVICE. While the staff is friendly, they're also absent-minded. I was waiting on a coffee refill when the waiter walked outside to chat with his friend. He was a nice guy, but I really wanted some coffee!

I would reccomend Aretha Frankensteins to people with a word of warning: Go when you have plenty of time... Go with people you're comfortable with, because you'll be waiting a while! Eat a pancake and some potatoes!

GOOD DOG

Now, you got hot dogs, and you got hot dogs.... GOOD DOG doesn't have either of those. These puppies (excuse me) are gourmet, all natural casing 100% beef (or yummy veggie)  works of art.
For GOOD DOG, its the little things that make it great; relish, BBQ sauce, and slaw made in house. Cole slaw taste really is a personal preference, but i liked it fine... Not as good as Mom's, but nobody beats hers!
Two interesting things about GOOD DOG are the frites (pronounced "freets") dutch-style fries in a paper cone, and their condiment gallery. Each table in GOOD DOG has holes in it for you to deposite your cone while you eat your dog, and they have awesome frite sauce, a mayo based companion. The condiment gallery has sauces from all over the world for you to experiment with on your dog or frites. I recommend the wasabi ketchup.
The menu has lots of options to choose from: BBQ, Chicago, slaw, and philly... They even have salads and other things, so you don't actually have to eat a hot dog!
I liked the atmosphere: friendly, helpful, slightly hipster, and very inviting. I could see the tried and true southerner not liking GOOD DOG simply because the BBQ dog  doesn't have pulled pork on it! If you want a real Q dog, by all means go to Old Plantation, but come to GOOD DOG expecting something different.

Prices are higher than other hot dog places, and I feel thats the only let down for me.

THE TERMINAL

For me, going to The Terminal was a little bit scary! All my friends were raving about it, and I was afraid they were going to start a new religion worshipping this place.
Now I know.

The Terminal is located in South Chattanooga on the corner of Main and Market Streets. Its an historic building, and you just want to walk inside it (it looks that cool). There are three levels, all with plenty of seating, along with an outside balcony with picnic tables and a grassy yard. It was too flippin cold the day I went, so we opted for the 2nd level. Thats the best level.
The staff were very friendly and helpful since it was my first time. They knew everything about the menu and had honest answers. I went with the Macho Man: a spicy grilled chicken sandwich... Too good for words. One of my friends ordered the "Look what you did you little JERK!"  He just wanted to say it really, but the salmon did not disappoint.
Along with great food, they brew their own beer there! I only got a sample of the lager, but I liked it very much. Not too hoppy, sweet aftertaste. This blog is about food anyway, so I'll stop.

The cost was decent for the quality and quantity we received, but cheapskates would raise their eyebrows.

CRUST

(I'm new at this whole "food blog" thing, but I'll get the hang of it I promise!
Feedback is needed oh so badly!!!)

Crust is a new restaurant here in Chattanooga with two locations ( that I know of):
Red Bank and South Chattanooga. I went to the one on Broad street and I was immediately taken into some musical dreamworld fantasy. there were band and show posters everywhere, interesting art on the walls and tables, and clever menu item blips. It reminded me of Lupi's and Aretha Frankensteins at the same time. Unlike either of those places, there was a lot of space, which was a good thing since the place was packed for lunch.

The menu gave plenty of choices for the carnivore and herbivore alike, everything sounded delicious to me and I was only reading! Since I couldn't decide, I went with the lunch buffet that was an all you can eat with their house pizzas. The buffet comes with a salad that was pretty fresh.

The pizzas at Crust are St Louis style, which is: a cracker thin crust, sweet, and cut in squares. Thats my kinda pie! The sauces and dressings are all made in house from scratch; I could see tomatoes in the tomatoe sauce. Their vegetables and meats are all cooked there as well, so each time you taste their spicy chicken, just know that it was slowly marinated, certain spices were chosen, cooked there in the restaurant, and chopped up just for you!

The prices were maybe a dollar or two more than what I would like to pay, but with the service and the taste both being excellent, I think its worth it!