The Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe is an american bbq restaurant in St Elmo, Chattanooga.
Editorially verified August 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: The BBQ plate, or the Rainbow sandwich if you want the local cult order.
Tip: Closed Sunday. Order at the counter and take the side garden; it is the natural lunch stop after riding the Incline down.
Address: 4001 St Elmo Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37409
Taqueria Jalisco Ania grills tacos, tortas and fajitas served in pineapples on Rossville Avenue in Chattanooga's Southside, a family Mexican kitchen.
Order: Tacos al pastor and the fajita served in a pineapple.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. The Chatt Taste food tour routes through here for good reason; go off-peak for a table.
Ankar's Hoagies has stacked steamed hoagies and gyros for Chattanooga since 1979, a family-run counter institution still working Brainerd Road daily.
Order: The classic hoagie, steamed, with the works.
Tip: Brainerd closes at 16:00 Monday and Tuesday but runs to 20:00 the rest of the week; the Hixson Pike shop keeps longer evening hours.
Pickle Barrel has fed Chattanooga from a century-old flatiron building on Market Street since 1982, burgers and fried pickles until 03:00 nightly.
Order: The Signature burger with fried pickles, upstairs on the roof deck.
Tip: Strictly 21 and over at all times. The wedge-shaped roof deck is the best people-watching perch downtown.
Hi-Fi Clyde's mixes Tex-Mex-leaning bar food, murals and live music on West Main Street in Chattanooga's Southside, with a kitchen running to 22:00.
Order: Tacos and queso during happy hour, then hold the table for the band.
Tip: Friday and Saturday the bar pours to 01:00; weeknights it winds down at 23:00, and the kitchen holds to 22:00 every night.
Bluegrass Grill scratch-cooks breakfast on E Main Street in Chattanooga's Southside, a family diner trusted for potato cakes and homemade bread since 2007.
Order: Eggs with the potato cakes and toast from the house loaf.
Tip: Tuesday to Saturday 06:30 to 14:00 only, and the Saturday queue forms early; solo counter seats turn fastest.
Maple Street Biscuit Company layers fried chicken on flaky biscuits at 407 Broad Street in downtown Chattanooga, a Southeast biscuit-house favourite.
Order: A fried chicken biscuit with house-made pepper jelly.
Tip: Doors close at 14:00 weekdays and 15:00 weekends; it is a breakfast-and-lunch operation, not a dinner stop.
