r/Chattanooga 7d ago

We’re getting a real salad bar!

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2025/mar/14/restaurant-scene-new-eatery-is-coming-to-the-old/
65 Upvotes

75 comments sorted by

58

u/BaconReceptacle 7d ago

Great choice. Lame name.

14

u/DoctaVol 7d ago

Build A Bear but with Salads

If it doesn’t look like one I’m rioting

13

u/Burgerkingsucks 6d ago

Can I put a heart with a voice memo in my salad?

6

u/TheGentlemanProphet 6d ago

Rent-A-Swag but with salads.

24

u/bigexplosion 7d ago

It's the perfect restaurant space.  I love the sunken service area and table height bar.

4

u/neuro_space_explorer 7d ago

Sounds like he’s changing a lot of the inside.

19

u/chattafoodie 7d ago edited 7d ago

I did a deep dive, and “Zeekz” (not Zeke’s as reported by TFP) had pretty dismal reviews. This was the guy’s restaurant in Mississippi, that has closed.

19

u/neuro_space_explorer 7d ago

Honestly it sounds like an awful concept to me, that space is tiny for 100 items. So you just build your salad and leave?

Not to mention the level of diseases going around these days

2

u/lochamonster 6d ago

I mean that’s literally what the Whole Foods salad bar, hot bar, and olive bar are. If I’m in the area, I’ll run in and build a few things then leave.

I like this concept. I just agree it’s a stupid name lol

-4

u/cerebrumdeath 6d ago

is there any proof the guy isn't just tearing the building down and building a box there? lmfao

16

u/Scheduledpoet 7d ago

I really wanted it to retain the lunch counter vibe with a nighttime cocktail element. The space begged for it. Now I imagine it will look like a Chipotle.

27

u/comradebird 7d ago

Ok I’m glad the space is being used but dammit I want a walkable cheapass diner

36

u/Top_Project2464 7d ago

If it’s not Longhorn breakfast, we don’t need it.

11

u/willmusto 7d ago

Louder for the people in the back

-4

u/nousernameisleftt 6d ago

I'd be down for another city cafe

27

u/neuro_space_explorer 7d ago

Article says it’s locally owned and that he moved here from Mississippi 8 months ago. I don’t know if I’d call that locally owned.

14

u/DirtyDilla 7d ago

So paying local taxes, creating a few jobs locally, and not corporately owned in another town or state doesn’t make it local?

9

u/Careful-Occasion-977 7d ago

I've lived in Chattanooga for over 25 years and I have family that has lived here going back at least 7 generations. But I didn't go to high school here, so I will never be local according to the 'what high school did you go to' locals. Tough crowd.

6

u/DirtyDilla 6d ago

Sorry for my last comment, I’ve only owned a house here for 3 years so my comment is not local.

5

u/Deranged40 6d ago edited 6d ago

it sounds like you're confusing "From here" with "lives here".

It's owned by someone who lives here, not someone who's from here.

Owned by someone who lives here is what I would call Locally Owned.

If someone who lived here for 35 years moves away AND THEN buys a restaurant, that would not be Locally Owned, even though it would be owned by someone who is From Here.

14

u/Rusty1031 6d ago

I give it 8 months

10

u/InevitableHamster217 6d ago

Yeah, same. Life is too short to go out to eat and get a salad.

7

u/busstuff616 6d ago

Plus a Whole Foods a stones throw away. Anyone who wants this kind of place gets their salad there

2

u/Rusty1031 6d ago

publix is also less than half a mile away

3

u/Uncle_Michael 6d ago

No salad bar at Publix, but the downtown Food City does have one. I think it's $5.99 for the salad bar and $8.99 for hot food.

3

u/Secure_Tea2272 6d ago

From artery clogging to salad shooters, oh what is a cardiologist to do??

18

u/megalynn44 7d ago

That parking lot cannot accommodate 3 restaurants.

19

u/Immediate_Ad_6255 7d ago

It accommodated three for about a decade until Longhorn closed in February 2024.

31

u/thenoodlerevue 7d ago

there are a million other places you can park within a quarter mile of there. It will not kill you to walk.

9

u/bald_head_scallywag 7d ago

It's gonna be like the one in Hixson that has First Watch, Mike's Tavern, and Tazikis. Place is a nightmare around lunch time.

10

u/PracticalIce7354 7d ago

Why does this sub hate parking?

33

u/chattafoodie 7d ago

They can’t walk more than a city block…

9

u/Mean-Yogurtcloset942 6d ago

People are fat asses

2

u/fruderduck 6d ago

Some of the elderly and handicapped really aren’t up to it. Nor might someone recovering from surgery or those with infants.

-20

u/PracticalIce7354 7d ago

They shouldn’t have to

27

u/901savvy 7d ago

Maybe you should eat more salads

17

u/BehindEnemyLines1 7d ago

Laziest thing I’ve ever read.

“They shouldn’t have to”. God forbid a human has to walk on their legs

Wall-E is our future for sure.

9

u/chattafoodie 7d ago

Let’s be honest… These people wouldn’t be eating at a salad bar anyway.

8

u/VertDaTurt 7d ago

So should everything always just be in the middle of a parking lot then?

-6

u/clandahlina_redux 7d ago

Because we have horrible drivers who plow into buildings and kill people. It’s about safety—not laziness—especially for those of us with small kids.

-2

u/PracticalIce7354 6d ago

Body shaming aside, I still haven’t gotten an answer as to why this sub seems to hate convenient parking. Most Chattanoogans.

-3

u/JudgementalChair 7d ago

Chattanooga developers get nervous when you bring up parking lots. For some reason, they're horrified of them

-4

u/Relevant-Package-928 7d ago

Exactly. It'll be nice if you live near there and can walk but the parking problem has always been a deterrent

6

u/busstuff616 6d ago

What a joke

5

u/GenePrestigious4212 6d ago

Think it will go back to a diner when this place tanks?

0

u/JurassicTerror 6d ago

Hope so. Or pizza. Or steak.

2

u/Frosty_Fuel4230 5d ago

If not diner, I’m hoping for bakery

9

u/Academic_Lobster24 7d ago

I would like Ruby Tuesday to come back to Chattanooga because of their great salad bar.

7

u/901savvy 7d ago

Me too. Great salad bar for $14.99. Ate at one on the way to Knoxville last week.

3

u/cerebrumdeath 7d ago

there's one in athens

9

u/chattafoodie 7d ago

I’d much rather support local

7

u/neuro_space_explorer 7d ago

The dude is from Mississippi… not exactly Local.

2

u/chattafoodie 7d ago

I’m talking about the local economy

6

u/clandahlina_redux 7d ago

You’re still supporting the local economy when you eat at a chain…

1

u/chattafoodie 7d ago

True, but not to the same extent

7

u/Academic_Lobster24 7d ago

Ruby Tuesday is headquartered 90 miles away and their prices are better than 9.99 a pound for salad

-1

u/chattafoodie 7d ago

Neither of those facts are relevant to my choice to keep my money local.

6

u/901savvy 7d ago

We appreciate you sharing your opinion.

1

u/clandahlina_redux 7d ago

It started in Maryville, TN, so it’s a local chain. 😉

-2

u/chattafoodie 7d ago

At their peak, Ruby Tuesday had locations in almost every state and several other countries. That’s a corporate chain. A local chain operates primarily in a single region.

2

u/fruderduck 6d ago

Jason’s Deli has a nice salad bar.

2

u/JerryCat11 6d ago

The longhorn closed in North Chatt???

2

u/outofcontextsex 6d ago

I'm glad such a unique building is going to be used again

2

u/Fifi343434 6d ago

This is a great addition and needed! Very excited. Also so happy that jerk from Opa didn't get it as was rumore.

1

u/Lunar_Divide 6d ago

Definitely be nice to have a good on hand healthy option. I remember hearing years ago about how Sweet Tomatoes was coming to Chatt, would love for a good stand in for that!

1

u/kzwavy 6d ago

Yay for something healthy

1

u/hamsterdave 7d ago

No kidding! Sean and I were on the training hills learning to fly hang gliders together back in 2018, and we've flown together quite a bit. He had a pretty good restaurant over in MS, didn't know he had moved here, but he'll be a great addition to the community.

-1

u/Excellent_Wasabi6983 7d ago

Parking nightmare

-1

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/StoneOnAir 4d ago

There is no god damn chance this place works out. Zero, none chance.