Full Moon’s Smores in a Jar is layered with gooey marshmallows on top and creamy chocolate at the bottom.If you go
› Where: Full Moon American Burger & Bar, 61 Market St.› Phone: 423-521-6666.› Website: www.fullmoon.bar.› Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Monday-Tuesday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Happy hour: 4-7 p.m. Monday-Friday.› Price range: $7.95-$12.95 burgers and sandwiches.
This mural painting of a wolf howling at the moon is the centerpiece above the bar at Full Moon American Burger & Bar on the North Shore.
Ten percent of each check from patrons who sit at the veterans table at Full Moon American Burger & Bar goes to a local veterans organization.Full Moon American Burger & Bar hasn’t been open long, just since the last week of April. But look for the new eatery to quickly make its presence known on the North Shore in a most unconventional fashion. To say it’s a howling good time would not be an overstatement.
Full Moon occupies the first-floor corner of the Bridgeview condominiums next to a SunTrust Bank branch. A gleaming silver facade modernizes the entrance, hinging the brick walls abutting North Market Street and Cherokee Boulevard on either side like a five-story belt buckle.
You wouldn’t know it by looking, but the sign over the door, depicting a howling wolf silhouetted against the moon, actually hints at what’s to come.
THE FOOD
As the name implies, Full Moon specializes in burgers and bar service. But there are plenty of options besides, including soups, salads and personal pan pizzas called pizzetas.
You can start your meal with any of 16 appetizers, ranging from pork rinds to chicken fingers. A couple of the options are synced to the Full Moon theme: Three Little Pigs, which are barbecue pork sliders, and Wolf Pack Sliders, which are three mini burgers with cheese, pickles and onions. Appetizer prices range from $5.95 for fried pickles to $22.95 for a pound of Buffalo shrimp (or get a half-pound for $11.95).
Chicken tortilla soup and homemade chili are on the menu for $5.95 each. The eight salad choices offer Caesar, Greek and taco ingredients, as well as one topped with a grilled portobello mushroom, one of several menu selections designated as a Full Moon favorite.
The five pizzeta choices, all priced at $8.95, include versions topped with veggies, barbecue chicken or lamb (Greek).
The 15 selections under the broad definition of “sandwiches” include fish tacos, chicken pita and a veggie wrap in addition to barbecue pork on a bun, a hot Italian sub and a Monte Cristo on Texas toast.
But burgers are the star here. Priced from $7.95 to $12.95, the 14 options include Greek, Mexican and Italian flavors, a Shroom Burger and a North Shore Salmon Burger, accented with shaved Parmesan cheese. For an upcharge, you can customize with bacon, caramelized onions or sauteed mushrooms, upsize to a 12-ounce patty or choose bison rather than Angus meat.
The waiters actually howl when the Werewolf Burger or Full Moon Burger is ordered. The Full Moon is named for the egg served sunny side up atop 8 ounces of Angus ground beef, bacon, pepper jack cheese and mayonnaise. The Werewolf serves up a beef patty, bacon and cheddar cheese between two grilled cheese sandwiches.
All burgers and sandwiches are served with french fries or kettle chips, and other sides, including sweet potato fries, are available.
Thought has been given to the desserts as well. They include strawberry cheesecake, fried ice cream, chocolate layer cake and tiramisu, all for $5.95. You’ll pay $7.95 for Banana Flambe.
Forty beers are on tap at Full Moon, and bottled beers are also available. One menu lists craft beers; another has all the ales, sours, wheat, ciders, wit (Belgian wheat ale), India pale ales, stouts, bocks, pilsners and lagers. The restaurant is applying for a liquor license and will serve wine and liquor soon.
THE ORDER
I was leaning toward the Full Moon Burger, but my server, Alex, recommended the extra-cheesy Werewolf Burger instead. My order was his cue to begin howling, and servers throughout the room howled, too, which is the norm for these house specialties.
The burger was mouthwatering. I finished it completely. The fries that came with it were crispy and tasty.
For dessert, Alex recommended either Smores in a Jar or the fried cheesecake. I chose the Smores in a Jar, a mix of gooey marshmallows and creamy chocolate. I finished it off with ease as well.
THE SERVICE
Alex was helpful throughout my first visit to Full Moon, especially in explaining the menu options. He brought my water out right away, and all of my food from the kitchen arrived quickly, too. Not only did Alex check on me numerous times, but two managers passed by to make sure all was well.
THE SPACE
Full Moon is spacious, and a promotional YouTube video posted online before the restaurant opened said it would offer “more bar seating than any other bar in town, not to mention the largest bar space overall.”
Twenty flat-screen TVs offer viewing from any seat. The center bar area has 30 stools. Corner booths are situated on both sides of the bar, and there are eight additional booths on either side of the room and various tables in the middle of the space.
In one area is a veterans table with emblems of various branches of the military. Ten percent of every check at that table goes to a Chattanooga veterans organization.
Above the bar is a large mural that repeats the logo from the restaurant’s sign. It was painted by Jasmine Horn, a bartender at Full Moon. The swirls in the moon put one in mind of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”
A hint of blue lighting in the restaurant will remind you of twilight outdoors, when wolves go on the prowl.
In the future, Full Moon plans to add patio seating and valet parking. Free off-street parking is available behind the restaurant.
THE VERDICT
You don’t have to travel in packs or be hungry like the wolf to enjoy Full Moon American Burger & Bar. The food is good, ordering is fun, the space is picturesque and the service is quick. It’s a fun place to dine with friends or solo at the bar.
Contact Katie Ward at 423-757-6425 or kward@timesfreepress.com.