The south end of downtown Chattanooga is getting three new restaurants. Nick & Norman’s will be opening in the Chattanooga Choo Choo complex at 1386 Market St. Construction is just wrapping up and city inspectors have approved the business for opening. The restaurant will be serving wine and liquor and, with approval for both a consumer and carry-out beer permit at the meeting of the Chattanooga Beer Board Thursday morning, will also be selling beer.
The Flaming Rooster will be opening at 1900 Broad St., next door to Koch’s Bakery.
Owner Edward Wickley told the board that he has had the license to sell Nashville style chicken and fish for three years. There was a safety issue with the previous location and Mr. Wickley closed it four or five months ago before moving to Broad Street. This is a family-oriented restaurant, not a bar, with the current capacity of 45 people. The beer permit that he received on Thursday will allow the restaurant to serve beer with the hot chicken. The beer license is for both consumer and carry-out that will allow beer to be sold with the food when take-out orders are picked up.
Pizza Bros., 1817 Broad St., a large restaurant with approximately a 100-person capacity, is locating in a warehouse space just across Broad Street from The Flaming Rooster. The old warehouse will hold not only the pizza restaurant but also a barber shop and a food market. This restaurant will be selling liquor in addition to beer, so all servers will be trained with the requirements from the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC).
Whole Foods Market, 1814 Gunbarrel Road, will be opening in the space previously occupied by Earth Fare. The grocery store will be selling beer with the approval on Thursday for the consumer and carry-out beer permit. Wine will also be sold and so any employee selling alcohol will be TABC certified.
Beginning in January, anyone selling beer in a business that receives a new beer license will be required to have professional training in beer sales. Beer Board Member Christopher Keene asked when a list of approved trainers will be released. Assistant City Attorney Melinda Foster replied that an application for anyone interested in being a trainer has been created and approved by the beer board. She said that requirements and a framework which the trainers must adhere to have been sent out. At this time, she said, no responses have been received and just one person has shown an interest. Mr. Keene said that training might have to be done by TABC trainers because that course meets the beer board training requirements.
The beer board members also function as the Chattanooga Wrecker Board. At the Nov. 19 meeting of the Beer/Wrecker Board, Eric Yates, owner of Guy Yates Wrecker and Garage Service, 1725 Chickamauga Loop faced violations of the city’s wrecker code. Officer John Collins, inspector with the Chattanooga Police Department, told the board on Thursday, that Mr. Yates has sent pictures that document corrections which have been made in the past two weeks, that puts his business in full compliance with the city’s requirements. A sign with the name of the business is now hung on the fence in a visible location, pictures were sent showing parked vehicles being stored in the parking lot, that have been towed from the city’s rotation. The business will be moving by the first of the year to a new location, but Mr. Yates has a month to month lease if the new site is not ready in time. Any violations from the last meeting have been dropped.