In the state of Washington, a trio of veteran restaurateurs has found success in downtown locations in Tacoma and Spokane with their casual, fine dining eateries known as Wooden City.
When one of the Wooden City owners, Abe Fox, was in Nashville last year he decided to drive to Chattanooga to check out the city and immediately became convinced that the Scenic City could be their next location.
"Chattanooga is a growing city that seems to be growing in the right way, so I immediately called my partner Jon (Green) and told him we've got to come to Chattanooga," Fox said by phone.
By mid-September, Wooden City will expand across the country to open its newest restaurant and bar near the Tennessee Aquarium.
Wooden City Chattanooga will open with about 100 seats at 203 Broad Street in space once occupied by Easy Bistro before it relocated to the West Village in 2020. The building, which was originally the Hamilton County school board building, also houses Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Mellow Mushroom.
"We love downtown markets, and we think there are the best opportunities in midsize cities like Chattanooga," Fox said.
Wooden City began in downtown Tacoma, Washington, in 2018 with co-owners Fox, Green and Eddie Gulberg. A second location was added in downtown Spokane in August 2020.
Fox describes Wooden City's menu offerings as upscale American. There are traditional items such as pizza, wings and burgers, but there are also items such as wood-fired bone marrow, petrale sole, salmon toast and Hungarian wax peppers.
"We like to focus on high quality no matter what it is," Fox said.
Ten employees from the two existing Wooden City restaurants are moving to Chattanooga to help staff the newest unit, which will ultimately have about 30 employees. Wooden City Chattanooga will initially be open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. every day and will later expand its hours to add lunch.
Fox said the owners, who each began in the restaurant business working at restaurants owned by their parents, want to bring a family atmosphere to the worksite.
"We're hiring now," he said.
Wooden City is the latest among a handful of restaurants that have opened in the past year around Chattanooga's downtown waterfront as part of a restaurant riverfront revival.
Last fall, Agave & Rye opened on Chestnut Street at the Chattanooga Green just a block away, while Walk-On's sports bar opened across Broad Street earlier this year. Burger Republic opened around the corner this spring, and Real Good Smokehouse opened a block away on Market Street this summer.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340. Follow him on Twitter @dflessner1.