The Brass Register was the happening place in Chattanooga. In your article, you neglected to really touch on its history and flavor.
The BR was opened by Paul Boehm with his brothers being stockholders. I am no longer in the area, so I can only assume and hope that the brothers are still there, since they were prominent lawyers and doctors in Chattanooga.
The restaurant had its heydey when Paul was the owner. He opened the Gazebo next door, probably Chattanooga's first fine dining restaurant, and, yes, people did go to the BR to have dinner. They also went there for the best Happy Hour in town and the live entertainment on the weekends. Only after Paul sold the restaurant did its reputation start to decline.
The outside of the restaurant is missing the patio that was attached previously and the register is not the correct brass register. It was not just the mushrooms, but the Sheperds Pie, the Chef Salad, the Burgers, the cheesecake and more that brought people in the door. The red velvet sofas, Overland, Cheeco, the old Brass Register Jeep, the catering ...there was so much. More than anything, it was the atmosphere created by the patrons and the employees.
It truly was a place where everyone knew your name. Many college students financed their way through college while employeed as bartenders, waiters and cooks.
The BR was ahead of its time. You felt like you had a little taste of the outside world in a closed-up city. Paul deserves the credit for creating and giving this moment in time to Chattanooga.
Sandra Prescott
sandrasisland@yahoo.com