Beardy, Smalls, and I recently spent part of a weekend in Chattanooga. We drove up on a Friday afternoon, had dinner, spent the night at a hotel in downtown Chattanooga, and went to the Tennessee Aquarium and for a drive on Lookout Mountain Saturday. We went to Tony’s Pasta Shop and Trattoria for dinner Friday night. The restaurant is in an “arts district” on a bluff above the Tennessee River.
We arrived at Tony’s at about 6 on Friday night, and only had to wait about five minutes for a table, which isn’t bad at all. The waiting area seemed spacious, though, with lots of chairs, so if we'd had to wait, it would have been ok. I had just discovered the stamp/press/emboss your own business card machine in the lobby when the hostess let us know that our table was ready. I had to wait until we were leaving to press my own card (I like that sort of thing).
The hostess brought us a highchair right away, and we started off with Peronis (and water for Smalls, of course) and the waitress brought us bread. Beardy got a spicy beef ravioli and I got creamy basil chicken ravioli; all the entrees were about $10-$12. The kids’ menu consisted of pizza, grilled cheese, or pasta with butter, marinara sauce, or alfredo sauce. All the meals were served with fruit or fries, and the meals were all $5.75. If you ordered tea or a soft drink with the kids’ meal, the drink was included in the price, but milk was 50 cents more. Smalls got the cheese pizza with fruit and water. The fruit was fresh melon, strawberries, and grapes (yes!). The pizza was enormous (way too much for Smalls—she could have just eaten the fruit and the bread that came with our meals and been happy).
We had a good dinner. But it seems like now that Smalls is almost two, any meal that doesn’t end in tears or one of us having to take her outside is a good meal. But the noise level in Tony’s was loud enough and the atmosphere casual enough that she could have been a little fussy and no one would have noticed. We did have one incident—the waitress set our drinks down on the table within the reach of Smalls. Smalls must have been going for one in each hand, because while I watched Beardy save his from one of Smalls’ hands, mine ended up in my lap. But it’s definitely not the waitress’s fault. It’s a nice extra when they set down drinks and sizzling fajita platters away from toddlers, but ultimately, I know it’s my job to keep an eye on that sort of thing.
Toddler friendliness ratings:
Atmosphere: 4 out of 5 booster seats. No big complaints and the beer in my lap was my own fault.
Food: 4 out of 5 booster seats. I like places that have fruit as an option for a side, but I didn’t like the fact that milk cost extra, while soft drinks and tea were included.
Tony’s Pasta Shop and Trattoria, Chattanooga
Bluff View Art District, Chattanooga, Tennessee
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