The term and even the thought of the “blue plate special” is indeed antiquated. So much so, that more than likely if you know what “blue plate special” means without using Google or other methods of research, you’re probably old enough to have graduated before the Nixon era or still use terms like “luncheonette.”
The term was thought to have derived from food being served at diners on blue-willow-patterned porcelain plates. That’s just one of a handful of theories. The concept we know (or don’t know) today, really stuck during the Great Depression, when you could get a meat with your choice of sides for a price that wouldn’t break the bank.
This is not to be confused with The Blue Plate, a downtown Chattanooga restaurant that closed in 2019 after 15 years of business. I couldn’t blame you if you did get confused. Right now if you Google “Chattanooga blue plate” the restaurant, whose owner Rob Gentry pivoted to Hello Monty, dominates the search results.
What I’m trying to say is that the “blue plate special” is a dying breed, and Southern Star’s location on Signal Mountain is the last of the Mohicans.