SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — Tucked between rows of cast-iron skillets and canisters of nonstick cooking spray, there’s a doorway to deliciousness — an entrance to Big Bad Breakfast, an eatery located within the confines of the Lodge Factory Store and Museum of Cast Iron.
Big Bad Breakfast is the brainchild of chef John Currence, whom foodies will know as a James Beard Award-winning chef for Best Chef South and owner of City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi. In 2008, he opened his first Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford. Now, the South Pittsburg restaurant is his 15th, with the 16th property set to open in Chattanooga in late April, says managing partner and veteran restaurateur Rob Stickley.
THE MENU
Since opening in early February, Big Bad Breakfast has become the go-to place in South Pittsburg for a big, good breakfast — and lunch too. All of the dishes were created in Currence’s home kitchen or made using treasured family recipes handed down through the generations, like the sausage his granddad made in Louisiana or his grandmother’s biscuits.
Everything’s made from scratch, too, right down to the strawberry sauce you can drizzle over plate-size pancakes or savory red-eye gravy. With a touch of local sorghum added for just a smidgen of sweetness, the gravy is scrumptious spooned over the Redneck Benny, a Southern spin on Eggs Benedict.
Most dishes lean toward breakfast, but the menu offers a few later-in-the-day meals, such as shrimp and grits; shrimp or oyster po’ boys; some wraps, salads and sandwiches; and a Big Bad Burger loaded with toppings which, for a little extra, include a fried egg and/or the eatery’s amazing signature Tabasco and brown sugar cured bacon.
If you love that bacon as much as I do, take a pound home with you — or a pound of BBB sausage, coffee, Beaverdam Creek grits or a bottle of BBB hot sauce. These items and more are available at the cash register.
Photo by Anne Braly / Redneck Benny is a Southern take on a classic at Big Bad Breakfast.THE ORDER
I decided on a Bloody Mary and OJ, along with a Big Bad Biscuit Skillet and Redneck Benny.
It’s not too often I go on and on about the beverages served in restaurants, but the drinks I had at Big Bad Breakfast are worthy of more than just a footnote. The Bloody Mary is one of several cocktails suitable for the breakfast hour, and it was one of the best I’ve had, with a pleasant smoky flavor that married nicely with the Mississippi-distilled Cathead vodka. And the orange juice? Oh my. It’s freshly squeezed to order and tastes like you’ve stuck a straw in a Florida orange grove and started sucking.
Like the two other skillet meals — one meatless and the other with shrimp and andouille sausage that brings the flavors of Currence’s upbringing in Cajun country to the table — the Big Bad Breakfast Skillet is cleverly — and naturally — served in a Lodge cast-iron single-serving casserole dish. It’s loaded with potatoes, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, onions and cheese. The mother of all skillet meals, it is served bubbly hot and overloaded with tastes and textures to set your tastebuds to dancing.
The Redneck Benny is Big Bad Breakfast’s Southern take on a classic. It’s served on a big biscuit rather than English muffin with sliced ham rather than Canadian bacon and two perfectly poached eggs. You can go with tradition and have it topped with Hollandaise, or continue down the Southern path and have it doused with some made-from-scratch sausage gravy. Whichever the case, there’s a lot of wow factor going in with this dish.
Photo by Anne Braly / Big Bad Breakfast’s Bloody Marys are made with Cathead vodka from a distillery in Mississippi.THE SPACE
The restaurant has a diner feel, with a counter where you can sit and watch the action in the kitchen. Or you can take a seat at a table or booth. The restaurant seats 135. Light bars stretch across high ceilings, and garage-style doors on one wall bring in natural light.
There’s a main entrance to Big Bad Breakfast on the east side of the building, or you can gain entrance through the Lodge store. After breakfast, take a tour of the Lodge Museum of Cast Iron and see how cast iron is made, learn about the Lodge history and legacy, and also see the world’s largest cast-iron skillet. It’s an interesting experience and something you won’t find in any other Big Bad Breakfast. That’s for sure. The museum is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Central time seven days a week.
Photo by Anne Braly / The Big Bad Breakfast Skillet is one of three skillet meals served in a Lodge cast-iron casserole dish.THE SERVICE
Some restaurants continue to suffer staff shortages, but not at this Big Bad Breakfast location. It was a beehive of activity as servers and cooks worked together seamlessly to deliver plates of deliciousness to the tables.
THE VERDICT
Big Bad Breakfast is a welcome addition to South Pittsburg’s dining scene, a city that offered very few choices for an early-morning repast. When the Chattanooga restaurant opens in April around the corner from Whole Foods on Manufacturers Road, the menu will be more lunch-driven, Stickley says. Regardless of whether it’s breakfast or lunch, though, and whether you’re dining in South Pittsburg or Chattanooga, you’re guaranteed an amazing taste experience at Big Bad Breakfast.
Photo by Anne Braly / A walk through the Lodge Factory Store is one way to enter Big Bad Breakfast in South Pittsburg, Tenn.The Dish on Dining
— Where: Big Bad Breakfast, 222 E. Third St. (inside Lodge Factory Store and Museum of Cast Iron), South Pittsburg, Tenn.
— Hours: 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. CT daily
— Entree price range: $6 (biscuits and gravy) to $17 (shrimp and grits or steak and eggs)
— Alcohol: Breakfast cocktails ($7-$8)
— Phone: 423-228-5220
— Online: bigbadbreakfast.com
Contact Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com or annebraly.com.