Zarzour's

1627 Rossville Ave., Chattanooga, TN - (423) 266-0424

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Posted By Michael Stern on 11/28/2004 4:17:00 AM

"There is a real gastronomic jewel in Chattanooga, Tennessee," wrote tipster John Reed. "To my knowledge, it has never received the national recognition it deserves." Mr. Reed went on to describe what he called the "proverbial hole-in-the-wall" that in his opinion, offered "the finest home cooking and hospitality in the Southeast."

We were soon on our way; and once we found it, we were blowing kisses back to John Reed, wherever he may be. This is the type of place you'd never, ever find just driving along. It is in the wrong part of town, across from a junkyard and surrounded by buildings that were vacated long ago. When you get lost trying to find it – and chances are good you will – don't bother looking in the phone book to call and ask driving directions. There is no evidence of it in the Yellow Pages; its number is in residential listings, under the name of the manager's mother-in-law. And if you do finally locate the no-man's-land café, you will not be able to eat a meal unless you arrive during the fifteen hours a week that it's open for business: Monday through Friday from 11am to 2pm.

The front eating area and the kitchen are all one space, separated by a short counter with four stools. Behind the counter, manager Shannon Fuller hand-patties and grills huge, gnarled-crust, juice-dripping burgers and Mary Smith prepares meat-and-three lunches on sturdy partitioned plates. "Are you having a cheeseburger or dining off the menu today?" Shannon calls out as new customers walk in the door. The menu is small: a 5-by-7-inch piece of paper with three entrees hand-written every day above a printed list of vegetables. Entrees are such démodé items as baked spaghetti, salmon croquettes, and chicken and dumplings. Sides include turnip greens, creamed potatoes, pinto beans, butter beans, fresh corn, and black-eyed peas. The murky dark greens are especially delicious: pork-sweet, as tender as long-steamed cabbage, and heavy with tonic pot likker.

For dessert, we love millionaire pie, made by the granddaughter of the man who opened the place in 1918 and mother of the current owner. It is pineapple chunks, walnut pieces, green grapes, and mandarin orange slices suspended in a mix of frozen Cool Whip and sweetened condensed milk.

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

Cornbread	Hamburger
Millionaire Pie	Fried Chicken Livers
Baked Spaghetti	Lemon Ice Box Pie

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"You don't find baked spaghetti on too many menus any more. Zarzour's is just the way we like it: a good mix of tender noodles, crusty cheese, and gently-spiced meat sauce. In the foreground on the partitioned plate are turnip greens and butter beans: meat-and-two perfection!"
Michael Stern

"Shame on you McDonald's for even pretending that you make anything like these chicken fingers!"
Carol Bayer

"The menu on May 5, 2011."
Carol Bayer

"Zarzour's is a real find, in a part of town where you wouldn't likely be sightseeing. It has been here since 1918, when the original owner, Charlie Zarzour, lived in back and raised his kids. Today's it's still a Zarzour family operation."
Michael Stern

"Skillet-cooked cornbread comes with every meat-and-two meal."
Michael Stern

"Many of Shannon Fuller's regulars come for the excellent hamburgers (or cheeseburgers), which are formed and cooked to order."
Michael Stern

"The Zarzour's family: Joe Fuller (great-grandson of the founder), his mother, Shirley Z. Fuller (Charlie Zarzour's granddaughter), and Shannon Fuller (Joe's wife)."
Michael Stern

"For those on a high colesterol diet, this plate of fried chicken livers is just the ticket. It is delicious and utterly addictive! On its left are creamed potatoes, and up above is sprightly cole slaw."
Michael Stern

"Millionaire pie: pineapple chunks, walnut pieces, green grapes, and mandarin orange slices suspended in a mix of frozen Cool Whip and sweetened condensed milk that its maker Shirley Fuller refers to in the brand-name-familiar form, simply as "Eagle brand.""
Michael Stern

"Founder Charlie Zarzour's naturalization certificate is framed and hung on the wall in the dining room. It lists his age as sixty-five, his residence as 1627 Rossville Road (the restaurant), his hair as gray, his complexion as sallow, and his marital status as widower. His signature is in Arabic. The papers are dated "In the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-six and of our independence the one hundred and seventy-first.""
Michael Stern

"Delectable turnip greens and black-eyed peas. So good, we got some to go."
Carol Bayer