Located at The Hotel Chalet in the historic Choo Choo complex is Southside Chattanooga’s premier French-Appalachian-inspired bistro and cocktail bar, Elsie’s Daughter.
At the intersection of nostalgic French-European bistro culture, elevated cocktails, and the Scenic City’s railroad history, this quaint, vibrant restaurant is a tucked-away gem, offering incredible service, drinks, food, and a cozy, inviting, alluring aesthetic.
Elsie’s Daughter has built a reputation for pairing Southern ingredients with French-Belgian influences, offering seasonally inspired dishes, cocktails, and mocktails with an eclectic approach and a focused, intentional, high-quality menu.
Some notable starters are their Chili bacon-wrapped dates, seasonal oysters, crispy pork belly, and Flash-fried Brussels sprouts, while the entrees range from staple dishes like their Peruvian roasted chicken, bistro steak, chalet curry, and short rib ragu. Their staple dessert is their olive oil cake, served with blackberry lemon compote and pistachio crumble, though they also serve a succulent devil’s food cake and chocolate pot de creme to boot.
Equally impressive is their cocktail menu, which features some incredible seasonal selections for autumn. For fall, they are offering cocktails like Blood Moon, Last Stop, and Blackbird, while they offer nightly dessert cocktails like Midnight Express, Nana’s Foster, and Master Key. They also serve other spirits, beverages, and tasty non-alcoholic mocktails.
As of right present, they have dual happy hours, where folks can enjoy $8 classic cocktails, $6 draft beers, and $8 wines during the 3-6 p.m. happy hour, then return at night for their Late Night Happy Hour from 9-11 p.m. featuring $10 whiskey pours.
Elsie’s Daughter also serves an elegant weekend brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m.–3 p.m. featuring elevated takes on southern classics including biscuits and gravy and shrimp and grits. What is really unique about the bistro is its weekly live music offerings at the Caboose Courtyard directly across from their patio and by The Hotel Chalet’s swimming pool.
Local singer-songwriters and musicians take the stage Tuesdays through Fridays from 6–9 p.m. Their current lineup lists Tuesdays with LVNDR, Wednesdays with Brant Hall, Thursdays with Lon Eldridge, and Fridays with Clayton Davis. Then, on Mondays, they have Vinyl night from 7-10 p.m., where they play carefully curated vinyl selections while folks enjoy libations and a lovely dining experience.
There is no shortage of entertainment, culture, and incredible food and drink offerings at Elsie’s Daughter, and I had the pleasure of dining with a guest at the bistro, with it proving to be one of the better dining and hospitality experiences of my life.
As you meander through the courtyard at the Hotel Chalet, and in between the train cars at the Choo Choo, you begin seeing small quaint signs for Elsie’s Daughter, pointing you warmly in the restaurant’s direction. When approaching, you first see the white brick exterior with a single extending hand aiming you in the direction of the door, reading the restaurant’s name above it, with what appears to be a small flower above that.
Inside, the interior is full of small touches, possessing a modern vintage feel with elegant and nostalgic sensibilities. Inspiration for the design of the restaurant draws from the Beaux Arts style of Donn Barber’s Terminal, and the interior’s aesthetic is immediately warm, inviting, and familiar.
After being greeted by the generous and kind general manager of the bistro, Jordan Myers, we were taken to our seats outside on the thoughtfully designed patio, where our warm and approachable waiter, Phillip, took our drink orders and began to tell us about the menu. We ordered two mocktails: the Blood Orange Mule and the Lemon Agave Thyme Spritz.
Both mocktails were to die for and had the perfect amount of sweetness without being too bitter. We then ordered the Crispy Pork Belly, their lovely truffle Parmesan fries served with dipping sauce, and a delectable charcuterie board for the table, with two house-curated meats and cheeses, amidst a host of other accoutrements.
For our entrees, I got the highly recommended Peruvian Roasted Chicken, served with cilantro-garlic aioli, chili crunch, and street corn, while my partner got the Market Catch, featuring heirloom tomatoes, green beans, herbed corn cream, and yuzu sorghum. These dishes were both immaculate and perfectly portioned for an incredible price. We finished the evening off with the olive oil cake to go, and left with full hearts and bellies.
In speaking with Jordan Myers, the General Manager of Elsie’s Daughter, about how the restaurant got its start in November of 2023, he detailed Elsie’s Daughter being created to feel connected to Chattanooga and the history of the Choo Choo, with the bistro’s Appalachian influence being about more than just food.
“Elsie’s Daughter was created to feel connected to Chattanooga, the Choo Choo, and the history of the property, while still feeling fresh and contemporary. The name itself has a connection to the history of Terminal Station and the family of its architect, Donn Barber and wife Elsie. The Appalachian influence is really about more than just the food; it’s about local ingredients, traditional flavors, community and hospitality, and giving those things a modern point of view.”
As the restaurant continues to evolve, I asked Myers what he envisions for the bistro’s future, and he discussed building on what they’ve already been doing while taking advantage of the beautiful, expansive space at the Choo Choo, evolving seasonally while continuing to foster local collaborations.
“I think the biggest opportunity is continuing to build on what we’re already doing while giving people more reasons to come back. We’ll keep evolving the food and cocktail programs seasonally, and I’m excited about more collaborations with local chefs, farmers, artists, musicians, and other Chattanooga businesses.
There’s also a lot we can do with the Caboose and the other spaces around the property. Ultimately, I want Elsie’s to continue feeling like a place that belongs to Chattanooga. We want to be the spot where locals are proud to bring friends, visitors can discover something about the city, and people can come for good food, drinks, music, and a great night out.”
The entire experience and ambiance of Elsie’s Daughter from beginning to end is unmatched in Chattanooga for the reasonable prices and exceptional service they provide, not to mention some of the best Southern-rooted, French-Belgian-inspired cuisine, cocktails, mocktails, specials, and daily live entertainment, leaving folks excited and poised for their next visit.
As it continues to grow into a fixture at the Choo Choo complex and becomes further embedded in the heart of the Southsided community, I see Elsie’s Daughter setting the standard for how sophisticated, contemporary, and affordable dining is done in the Scenic City, with its old-world elegance meeting a modern-vintage aesthetic that sees French-Appalachian cuisine blended with regional ingredients to create a remarkable dining experience.
Elsie’s Daughter
1404 Rossville Ave, Chattanooga. Located at the Hotel Chalet.
(423) 308-2400
$20-$60.
elsiesdaughters.com
Dining and Cooking