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Five things Chattanooga needs on its plate to become a foodie’s paradise

Mike Monen, center, co-owner of Community Pie, works to get orders out during the lunch-hour rush. Mike Monen, center, co-owner of Community Pie, works to get orders out during the lunch-hour rush.

By Meghan Pittman July 10, 2015 9 min read

We looked. We investigated. What's transpired over the last 15 years has been dramatic.

Chattanooga is no stranger to comparisons. Boulder of the East. Silicon of the South – we’ve got a lot in common with some of the most influential parts of our great country. Just as there are groups focused on technology and the outdoors, there’s another emergence that’s, shall we say, a little more appetizing.

With a thriving local food scene, farmers markets every day of the week all over town and a seemingly never-ending list of restaurants, coffee shops and bars opening, it’s an exciting time for the bacchanalians of Chattanooga. But surrounded by Atlanta and Nashville, does Chattanooga even have room to carve out its own piece of Southern food culture?

If you ask the key players behind Chattanooga’s restaurant scene today, yes.

But we need some help.