Uncle Larry's Restaurant is a seafood restaurant in Mlk, Chattanooga.
Editorially verified August 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: The whiting sandwich, lemon-pepper style, with hot sauce.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. The MLK original is tiny; Brainerd Road and East Brainerd locations take the overflow.
Address: 736 E MLK Boulevard, Chattanooga, TN 37403
Wally's Restaurant has served Chattanooga meat-and-three plates on McCallie Avenue since 1937, from drive-in burgers to today's homecooked vegetables.
Order: Meat-and-three with whatever vegetables came in that morning.
Tip: Breakfast from 06:00 on weekdays; Saturday closes at noon and Sunday is dark. Cash-friendly, counter-fast service.
Bea's Restaurant spins all-you-can-eat Southern cooking on lazy susan tables on Dodds Avenue in Chattanooga, four generations of one family at the stove.
Order: Fried chicken and whatever vegetables land on the lazy susan.
Tip: Wednesday to Sunday 11:00 to 20:00 only. Tables are shared-spin; go hungry and let the staff keep the bowls refilled.
City Cafe Diner keeps a 388-item menu going 24 hours a day on Broad Street in downtown Chattanooga, with towering cakes and breakfast at any hour.
Order: All-day breakfast and a slice from the 90-cake case.
Tip: The only true 24-hour room downtown; it absorbs the post-bar crowd after 02:00, so daytime is the quieter visit.
The Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe plates barbecue and picnic fare at the base of Lookout Mountain in St. Elmo, Chattanooga, next to the Incline Railway.
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.
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.