Last night I finally took my wife Tara to Scottie's on the River, a fun little restaurant in a hotel overlooking the Tennessee River, just outside the busy section of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's on the south side of the river and just a few blocks downriver from the distinguished-looking Tennessee Aquarium that is an iconic landmark in this city.
We had previously thought Scottie's was a bit fancy, which probably accounts for us taking so long to check it out. We didn't think our kids would like it. Yesterday we went on a date to see the new Black Panther movie, and we decided to finally try Scottie's after the movie. It was a strange time to go there, as it turns out. Not only was it a really cold night to go to a waterfront restaurant, but it was also a Sunday night, and that's a very dead time in Chattanooga. We arrived a bit before 8 PM, and the place was nearly empty. They started closing down as we ate.
Still, we found the place charming. The food was good; not fancy at all, but worth the trip for sure. Until this year, we had always assumed that Scottie's was the fancier waterfront place in Chattanooga and that Boathouse Rotisserie & Raw Bar was less fancy. It's actually the other way around, in terms of the venue, menu, food quality, price, and atmosphere. Scottie's is in a Springhill Suites, which really should've tipped us off.
But that's not to knock Scottie's at all. If you're looking for a good meal at a fun place with a great view, this is it. We didn't have a great view since we went there on a cold night, but we could see the potential and definitely want to return in warmer weather, with the kids!
We sat next to one of a few large doors that open up like garage doors, which we were told converts the riverside room into an outdoor patio. My phone was able to capture a view from one of those doors better than my eyes could under those conditions. It's too bad we couldn't actually see this very well while we ate!
There's some variety in the food at Scottie's. I wasn't sure they could handle the fancier side of seafood well, so I went with a blackened mahi po' boy and a cup of she crab soup. Tara was in the mood for something more substantial, so she went for the stuffed shrimp. She couldn't finish it, so I had one of those shrimp. It was very different from my sandwich, but I could see myself ordering that in the future, if the mood strikes. All the food was pretty good.
We look forward to taking the whole family to Scottie's when things warm up next year.
