Looking for a special dinner to treat your valentine? While most all restaurants will be open on Feb. 14, some will offer special dishes with a large serving of romance. And while you can certainly dine out on Valentine's Day, the dinner hour gets really crazy. Knowing this, many restaurants will offer their Valentine's specials the week before, as well as the night after. Whatever your romantic plans, restaurants around Chattanooga have you covered.
❤ Acropolis Mediterranean Grill, 2213 Hamilton Place Blvd. In addition to its regular menu, on Feb. 10-15 Acropolis will add phyllo-wrapped brie with peppered jelly and toasted pita points as an appetizer. Entree choices include peppercorn New York strip over roasted potatoes and a side of brandy-sauced asparagus; pecan-crusted North Carolina trout over Riverview Farm grits with caramelized Brussels sprouts; or seared Mediterranean sea bass over roasted fennel, tomatoes and Kalamata olives. For dessert? Flourless chocolate torte with raspberry coulis. Hours: 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Reservations: 423-899-5341, acropolisgrill.com
❤ Bode Chattanooga, 730 Chestnut St. Stop for drinks before or after your date at one of Bode's on-site dining options, Dawn and Dusk. The love-themed menus, offering sips such as pistachio-rose lattes, strawberry-dipped mochas and Stupid Cupid cocktails, are available through Feb. 14. On Feb. 11, Dusk also will have additional specials on domestic beer, wine and an exclusive Puppy Love cocktail. bode.co/downtown-chattanooga-hotel
❤ Bonefish Grill, 2115 Gunbarrel Road. Treat your perfect someone to the surf-and-turf pairing starting Thursday and continuing through Feb. 15. The restaurant is celebrating Valentine's Day with a special shrimp scampi and filet dinner featuring a wood-grilled filet mignon topped with hand-harvested Baja Bay scallops and shrimp tossed in a garlic scampi sauce and served with two sides. For dessert, plunge your fork into the luscious chocolate lava cake filled with a warm molten center and topped with fresh berries and house-made whipped cream. Reservations: 423-892-3175
❤ Bridgeman's Chophouse at the Read House, 107 W. M.L. King Blvd. In addition to its regular menu, Feb. 10-14, the Chophouse will feature an appetizer of smoked goat cheese and wild mushroom tart with winter arugula and pickled onion. Entrees include seared bigeye tuna with sesame-glazed potatoes and charred baby bok choy; and a 32-ounce Porterhouse steak for two with a choice of two sides. The night's dessert is dark chocolate pot au creme layered with white chocolate ganache and milk chocolate mousse or coconut chiffon cake with mango and kiwi coulis. Hours: 5-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Reservations: 423-643-1240, bridgemanschophouse.com
❤ Carrabba's Italian Grill, 2040 Hamilton Place Blvd. Celebrate Valentine's early this year with a four-course dinner for two along with wines from well-known vintners at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7. Arrive early, though, for happy hour if you wish. Reservations: carrabbas.com
❤ Cashew, 149 River St. This plant-based vegan cafe will serve a four-course Valentine's menu 5-9 p.m. Feb. 14. You'll start with a choice of crostini, followed by soup or salad. For the main course, you'll choose between vegetable bolognese and pesto gnocchi, capped off by a dessert option of tiramisu or caramel cheesecake. A gluten-free option is available in each course. Cost is $65 per person, with a $20 nonrefundable deposit required with your reservation. Wine, beer, cocktails and nonalcoholic beverages will be available. reservations@cashewchattanooga.com
❤ The Creag, 32 Clubhouse Lane, Rising Fawn, Ga. Celebrate Valentine's at a table above the clouds at McLemore Cove, a golf community on Lookout Mountain. The five-course meal has a menu that reflects chef Mike Price's specialty: open-fire cooking with dishes inspired by different cultures, beginning with a choice of salads, appetizers and vegetables to accompany main-course selections of seared sea bass, roasted duck breast or filet mignon. The final dessert course offers several options, so there will be one for every palate. The dinner happens Feb. 14 only. Hours: 5-9 p.m. Reservations: opentable.com
❤ The Forge, 1201 Broad St. This restaurant inside The Chattanoogan hotel offers two nights of specials. The first is a whimsical dinner, "It's Complicated: A Culinary Adventure for the Untamed Heart," 5-10 p.m. Feb. 10. The menu is filled with fun dishes such as Can't Octopi My Heart (smoked octopus and citrus salad), You Don't Carrot All (spicy carrot bisque), We Make a Great Pear (grilled New York strip with roasted pears, fingerling potatoes, Brussels sprouts and rose butter), My Butter Half (butter-poached grouper with Brussels sprouts and pomegranate slaw) and Killing Me Softly (bruleed cotton soft ricotta cheesecake with herbed blood orange compote). On Valentine's night, also 5-10 p.m., the prix-fixe menu is a four-course dinner featuring a choice of entrees: classic chateaubriand; butter-poached grouper; center-cut filet; or brown-butter gnocchi with citrus segments, thyme and whipped ricotta. Reservations: opentable.com, 423-756-3400
❤ Frothy Monkey at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, 1400 Market St. The three-course Frothy Love Dinner will be served Feb. 13-14. You can start with a cheese plate to share or salads for each of you. You'll move on to an entree choice of braised beef short ribs over mashed potatoes with buttery green beans; or grilled mahi-mahi with herbed polenta, spinach and sun-dried tomato pesto. The shared dessert is a big piece of flourless chocolate cake crowned with passion fruit mousse, passion fruit sauce and chocolate sauce. Cost is $65 per couple; add a bottle of wine for another $30. Reservations: frothymonkey.com/frothy-love-dinners, 423-680-6343
❤ Hello Monty, 306 W. Main St. This popular Southside eatery will close on Valentine's Day, but offers special additions to its menu the Saturday and Sunday before. Scallops and roasted oysters will be added to the appetizer list, and grilled filet with a Hello Monty baked potato will be another entree option. The bar will feature a special All Night cocktail that's a blend of vodka, cold brew, coffee liqueur and cognac, along with special selections of wines and champagnes. Hours: 11 a.m.-9:45 p.m. Feb. 11, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Feb. 12 (brunch served 11 a.m.-2 p.m. both days). Reservations: hellomontyonmain.com, resy.com
❤ Niedlov's Bakery and Cafe, 215 E. Main St. Celebrate your love with Niedlov's "Taste To Love" dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 14 with a special five-course menu: lemon pesto bouille; potato mille-fuille with mornay, roasted garlic and herbs; pork belly l'orange with jalapeno, cucumber and radish; an intermezzo of grapefruit and fennel granita; beef tenderloin or chicken Wellington; and a finale of raspberry mousse with chocolate, lemon and walnut. Reservations: eventbrite.com, 423-756-0303
❤ P.F. Chang's, 2110 Hamilton Place Blvd. Lovers of P.F. Chang's specialties will get their fill with a three-course meal filled with favorite selections. Dinner might start with the famous lettuce wraps, then on to the soup course. Perhaps hot-and-sour? There are five entrees from which to choose, including Oolong Chilean sea bass. And for dessert? Maybe the Great Wall of Chocolate, a decadent chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate chips. The special dinner will be offered on Valentine's Day only. Reservations: pfchangs.com, 423-242-0045
❤ Wine Down, 9447 Bradmore Lane, Ooltewah. Celebrate Valentine's a week ahead of time at Wine Down's Mollydooker Wine Dinner at 6 p.m. Feb. 7. The wine dinner menu starts with Battle Creek oysters with house-made barrel-aged hot sauce sorbet followed by a choice of entrees with accompanying sides: Ora King salmon, Jurgielewicz duck breast or prime rib-eye. For dessert? A slice of Desperation Pie with butter pecan ice cream and candied pecans. Pourings of Mollydooker Australian wines will accompany each course. Reservations: 423-531-9463, resy.com
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Contact Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com or annebraly.com.