Food Works closing after 18 years

Staff Photo by Dave Flessner / Shown Tuesday, the Food Works restaurant has anchored the Signal Knitting Mill antique mall in Chattanooga for the past 18 years. Food Works is permanently closing on Memorial Day weekend. Staff Photo by Dave Flessner / Shown Tuesday, the Food Works restaurant has anchored the Signal Knitting Mill antique mall in Chattanooga for the past 18 years. Food Works is permanently closing on Memorial Day weekend.

By Dave Flessner May 15, 2024 3 min read

Food Works restaurant in North Chattanooga is closing after 18 years of operation.

The popular North Shore eatery said it is not renewing its lease in the Signal Knitting Mill building on Manufacturers Road and will serve its final meals at its Sunday brunch May 26.

The restaurant opened in the spring of 2006, serving lunch, dinner and Sunday brunches, along with hosting many rehearsal dinners, weddings, baby showers, graduations and reunions. Food Works survived a fire in 2014, but in a Facebook post, the restaurant owners said they have struggled to bounce back after the pandemic.

“We have all faced heavy challenges over the last few years trying to navigate our way back to normal after the pandemic,” the owners said in a web post. “Despite our best efforts, inflated product costs and labor along with continued increasing rent rates have made it impossible for us to continue operating.”