tupelo honey cafe

we've tried tupelo in greenville once and decided this time to try it for brunch in chattanooga. options were interesting. husband had the sweet potato pancakes with banana pudding. they were pretty tasty but they were so big that he could only eat half. waste of food. i got the avocado toast and egg. it was decent. daughter orderedchickenand biscuits and it was ok, but way too salty. love the biscuits and jam they bring to the table. so all in all it was good but not great.

went into tupelo honey today for a salad that i have gotten a couple of times recently and really loved. the service is always terribly slow but i was craving the salad so i decided to ignore the usual slow service. this salad in the past has been around 15 dollars with a drink which isn't cheap but it's typically good. i get it today and the salad is half the size and only has half achickenbreast on it. i say something to the waiter and he says they got new bowls but it's the same size. i finish the salad which i've never done before and am still hungry. definitely not the same size. they also charged me for the goat cheese which i'm not usually charged for because all the other salads come with it. they also charged me for an extra dressing. my bill was a little over $18 dollars for a side salad with half achickenbreast. needless to say i won't be going back.

first time i ate there it was pretty good. second time i went they had changed management and the experience ended up being pretty bad. waiter would disappear 10 minutes at a time and each time he would never bring what we asked for. had the worstchickensandwich i've ever had... it was like trying to eat a piece of rubber.

nice atmosphere, poor service. after having a really bad experience when they first opened we decided to give it another try. i like the atmosphere a lot and really wanted it to be good. i got thechickenblt. the sandwhich was good, but the lettuce in it and my salad were wilted. my sister's kale salad had a lot of yellow leaves in it, too. our waitress was very friendly, but she took a long time getting the check back to me so i could leave. i have small kids who were getting antsy and my sister took them out so we wouldn't disturb people. i sat there by myself for about ten minutes before going up front to find someone to take my money. it wasn't a horrible experience, but it also wasn't busy enough to explain waiting so much. i agree with another reviewer who said the staff need better training. my waitress was really nice, just not very aware of what i needed. i think this is a cool place, so i hope it gets better.

their honey and biscuits are fantastic, and breakfast for dinner was perfect.  daniel had thechickenand biscuits, while i tried the country breakfast and jack had the kids sweet potato pancakes. my only complaint about tupelo honey is that they change their menu and don't always have the same breakfast offerings. i can always count on good honey and biscuits though!

gave it a try. it was ok but not all that. we got the pimento cheese and chips appetizer, and i got the grilledchickensandwich with sweet potato fries. the sandwich was good but my fries were cold. since i ate the yummy biscuit they brought out before the appetizer, i didn't complain about the fries being cold.
the grilledchickensandwich and the pre-dinner biscuit were the best part of our dining experience.

very good experience on saturday afternoon with my wife! we enjoyed it the food was fresh and tasty as well as plentiful portion wise. it was clean and new. the value was good. the staff was polite and informative about the menu and gave suggestions on choices. our waiter had two other servers assisting him we never had to wait very long for service. we were seated almost immediately and were pleased with that too . we started with the tupelochickenwings and they were fresh large and tasty,sweet but not spicy. we both had soup and sandwiches for our entree. i enjoyed the friedchickenblt and cheesy onion cream soup. hearty and delicious. my wife had tomato soup and the uptown grill two kinds of grilled cheese sandwich. havarti and cheddar. we will be back often i am sure of that! we plan to bring our out of town guests who visit. parking was not hard nor to difficult to find. many downtown restaurants are much harder to find accessible parking.

i went with a friend on sunday night. i had the southern friedchickensaltimbocca with country ham. it was delicious! i wish there had been just a little more mushroom sauce. the biscuits and honey were great!

i have been to tupelo twice and i have to say that both times it far exceeded my expectations. having eaten at the location in knoxville before i knew to expect a wait. good food takes time. the kitchen in this location is extremely small as well, which could account for some delays expressed in other reviews. i felt like both times i ate here the wait both for a table and for my food was entirely reasonable, and my food came out hot and fresh. both times i had the charlestonchickensandwhich.

i thought the staff seemed well versed in the specials and seasonal menu items, so i wonder if the other reviews just got a person on their first day or something.

i will definitely be back to this restaurant and tell all my friends to go check it out.

service is excellent. prompt, thorough, friendly servers. atmosphere and decor is nice. food, however, needs much improvement. for an inflated price (probably 20-30% too high for the quality), you get a dish that will have you proclaiming, "meh". especially overpriced menu items include their entree list ($14-20 for lunch) and $15 salads withchickenadded. sides such as black eyed peas taste canned; grits are overly loaded with cream. better food can be found at nearby public house, terminal brewhouse or southern star for much less dinero. the dessert menu is uninspiring as well.

had the friedchickenblt sandwich and it was amazing.
also loved their onion cheese soup!
service was good
good environment
and good value for your money

disappointing. veggie plate...sweet potato fries not near as good as urban stacks...mac&cheese not near as good as roy's grill or mt. vernon, fried green tomatoes too grainy of corn meal batter, chard/kale...even i can do better. bananna pudding...custard was awesome but the glob of dark banannas was disgusting to even look at. when a friend told me not to try the shrimp and grits (way too much goat cheese) or the tasteless pecan crustedchickeni should have just not gone!

some good parts, some meh. our group of 8 girls tried out the new location of the tupelo honey cafe in chattanooga, tn last night. for some reason, i thought it wouldn't be as classy as it is, it's really a very nice place, and while it has a laid back vibe, it's attached to a very posh boutique shopping mall. inside, the tables aren't too close together and the noise level is low, great for talking. they also have these upholstered chairs and a short bar right by the kitchen if you want to be near the action. be prepared to wait before you can see any of this however; after being told it was a 45-minute wait at 6:15, we waited a little over an hour for a table large enough, but then things really cleared out about 8:00. you can reserve a table ahead of time, but only for parties of 10 or more (and i was thinking around 7:30 that maybe we should have done that.)

our server was kind and even took the time to take a picture of us all. and the long-awaited biscuits were as good as advertised. they come with some tupelo honey and one of their branded jams, which i think was blueberry. these come complementary to the table as the bread service. i ordered a garlicchickendish and was much more enthralled with my sides than the chicken. while the peach bourbon sauce was tasty, thechickenitself was kind of tasteless. there were three small palm-size filets and i ate 1 & 1/2 of them. the mac & cheese however was decadent and the asparagus with swiss chard had a great crisp bright taste. on other plates, the fried okra was above average, the home fries off the breakfast menu (served all day) were amazing, and there were reports of good bacon, nutty friedchickenand shrimp & grits from other quarters.

i would love to come back and try other dishes--a trout with capers and some shrimp tacos sounded good. it would be a great place to visit and try out their extensive drink menu and some appetizers, and our waiter almost had us tempted with offers of root beer, cheerwine or nehi floats, and i'd bet they do a decent pecan pie and banana pudding as well, which were also options.

good flavor profile/poor service. well let me first say i arrived @ the restaurant @ 7:20 and waited until 8:10 to be seated, (after being told 30 - 40 minutes) all the while looking at 4 tables on the patio , and 3 inside open the entire time we waited. i get it, your new here with a new staff, but this was definitely a ploy to make you think it was a higher demand than supply .. and if you let your kitchen dictate your seating instead of the hostesses that's cool too ... but don't make me wait too long after i am seated to order, or eat. service was bad,slow, and just plain poor. the outdoor table was tilted and wobbly and hostess didn't want to move us to another area ( restaurant was 50% full at his point there were options but we didn't want to inconvenience her any further, so we ate at this table like we were on a boat ) server was new at serving and it showed, she was also very nervous and introverted, non attentive, and was no help at helping us decide on a dish. she took our order and then returned to the table much later apologizing that no side came with the meals we ordered. approximately 35 minutes later we got a refill on our drinks and our appetizer at the same time. food quality was good, but not worth the price honestly ! 8:45 p.m. we got our food ! friedchickenwas moist and hot, ... but gravy & biscuits were cold and plated way before thechickenthat's for sure, biscuits were as old and hard as the ones served earlier with honey (good flavor profile but served poorly, out of temp, and not fresh maybe in a steam box too long ?) this was my birthday dinner, i admit i was expecting a lot more from this place with all the accolades in asheville .. i guess it just goes to show ya , the original is always the best. i wish i had gone to champy's and got bird and brew for half the price , and same or better quality. the atmosphere was too bright, music was good, very clean, but no personality its kinda like applebee's meets mt.vernon.

went to the opening of the restaurant, and it was fantastic. we had the appalachian egg rolls, as an appetizer, and i had the nutty fried chicken, while my friend had the southern friedchickenblt. both were exceptional, big proportions were giving, and the staff was friendly. will definitely come back