Back Inn Cafe

Food is amazing! Had the filet, and it was cooked to perfection! They have a pretty big wine list. Only wished they offered more single glass options, instead of purchasing a whole bottle.

Very, very good. One of my very favorite higher end restaurants in Tennessee. It’s luxe Southern if I had to describe the menu. Creative and elevated takes on Southern foods like shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes, etc. Very good and prompt service with a really lovely atmosphere. I really do highly recommend.

My husband and I went to Back Inn Café on a Wednesday and they were having half price wine night. They have a beautiful patio overlooking the river and we sat outside. They also have sun rooms inside if you prefer to sit inside. We have eaten here before and rated the food as good but not spectacular. Tonight though, we really enjoyed our meal. I got the scallops with a corn pico de gallo. My husband got the vegetarian dish which was even better. Of course we had to get a bottle of wine since it was half price. Sitting outside, sipping on wine, and enjoying the superb atmosphere and fantastic food was a real treat. Unfortunately we had no room for dessert. We will have to go back for dessert because there were several items which looked delicious. They are next door to a bakery and use their fresh items. The only reason I didn’t give them a five star is that the service was somewhat unorganized and slow. We didn’t really care though because we had more time to enjoy the view.

We had dinner at the Back Inn Café last evening and I have no complaints about it at all! Rance was our server and his timing was great; we lacked for nothing, but didn’t feel rushed. That is a plus for me. Being a Wednesday night, there was not a lot of business so the restaurant was quiet. The restaurant is very pretty and the view of the river is so tranquil. The food was great! I had shrimp and grits and my husband had the scallops. The food was so flavorful and well-​seasoned. Wednesday night is half-​price wine for all wines by the glass and any bottles under $ 40 so that was a nice feature. I could ramble on but let me just say this: highly recommended!

I had the stuffed quail which was outstanding. Other guests had steaks and shrimp. All enjoyed their meals. I will warn you that service is going to seem slow because the eating area is upstairs on the third floor and the kitchen is on the first, so the wait staff is constantly going up and down stairs. Our waiter may have been new because while there were specials of the day, we were never told of them. We heard them from another table. I saw something being served and asked if it was the quail. He said yes. It wasn’t. It may have been a lamb chop or pork chop, which I suspect was one of the daily specials. All in all the meal was good, service so so.

A little overpriced but the view was awesome. Food was decent and great presentation.

Had the best food, best drinks and the best waiter. This place is a 5 star. The food was amazing and the service was awesome. Thanks for a great anniversary.

Affordable price with romantic ambiance.
Food Quality is exceptional with good customer service.
I will go back!

This was our first visit to the Back Inn. It was a great experience and worth a return visit.
We had 7pm reservations and were seated promptly when we arrived. The hostess was very bubbly and polite. After being seated for a minute or two our server Denisse arrived. Very polite and and attentive. I will request her table when we come back. We sat close to the bar so I got to watch the servers interact with each other and other diners. Definitely an experienced group.
We ordered a volcano roll appetizer (3.5÷5), I got a ceaser salad (4.5÷5). My wife had the grilled grouper fish of the day which was excellent. It was like eating a lobster tail cooked perfectly. (⁵⁄₅) and I had the espresso rubbed NY strip. Excellent flavor and cooked exactly as ordered to medium rare. It was just a tiny bit tough but it tasted really good. A serrated steak knife would have worked much better than the straight blade I was given (4.75÷5).
We never felt rushed, Dennisse was very polite. Tip and all the bill came in at $ 125 which included 2 glasses of wine and 2 Maker 47’s on the rocks. No dessert. I drank mine. We look forward to returning.

Beautiful setting overlooking the river, but a little obnoxious with all the traffic right by the outdoor seating. The place had a feeling of pretentiousness and our waiter was a little stuffy and slow in returning to check on our table. My first complaint is that their signature martini was marginal at best and not even cold enough. The appetizers, crab cakes and a beet salad, were good but nothing incredible. My date ordered the fish of the day, grouper, which was overcooked and dry, on risotto. The risotto was swimming in butter and was really just rice with broth pored over. I tried the shrimp and grits and was not impressed. What could have been a great meal was mostly bacon and gravy. There were shrimp and grits, which were flavored nicely, but the bacon gravy drowned most everything out. All in all, a decent meal but in no way worth the prices charged.

Great place to have dinner especially if you are staying at the Bluff View Inn. Great views of the river are available. The ambience of the Art District makes this a romantic experience. Plan on a stroll after dinner to enjoy the area. Visit Rembrandt’s after dinner for coffee, too.

Wow this place was fabulous!!! Went there for my birthday while vacationing in Chattanooga!!! Everything was perfect! Great food, great service, great ambiance and a GREAT view!!! The manager is also super nice and very attentive, Helped us pick a great wine too!!! Don’t think twice about going… make your reservation now, You’ll be gold you did!!!

The first time my wife and I came here was 3 years ago. The restaurant has a great view, location, atmosphere, décor, etc. However, our service was terribly slow. We would wait 20+ minutes between seeing our server. The steak I got had no flavor but the rest of the meal was decent. I thought I would never return here as Chattanooga has other quality options to choose.
3 years later my wife saw they had a Groupon and decided to give it another try. We got there at 9:35 pm on a Sat. night. When we walked in nobody was around and the place seemed empty. We waited for awhile before we went to the back and found somebody that worked there. After being seated, I quickly realized we had once again scored ourselves another incredibly slow but still friendly waiter. I decided to give the steak another try and my wife got the fish due to the waiters high recommendation. We ordered the sushi rolls as appetizers (which were decent but had so much rice that it masked the flavor of the other ingredients). As the waiter was leaving I asked if we could have bread (it’s complimentary) and he said they might have some left and would try to find some which seemed odd. I got the feeling that the place was already closing up shop earlier than the stated 10pm closing.
Once we finally got our food I realized that the substitution I had requested (broccolini for asparagus) wasn’t taken care of as asparagus sat on my plate. The server never said anything about it until I pointed it out. He basically said, «Oh the kitchen closed at 9:30 and we weren’t able to do that». I wasn’t sure why the kitchen would close as they were open until 10. My steak ended up being devoid of flavor, so I had to add some salt to try to salvage whatever seasonings had been put on it. The fish was cooked good but my wife didn’t enjoy the flavor and barely touched her entrée.
As for the slow service I cannot understand why it was so slow as we were the only table we saw that the server was taking care of. Overall servers each time were friendly just really slow and not on their A game.
My decision not to return is simply because I think Chattanooga has better food options and I would give another place I haven’t tried a shot.

I spent Spring Break in Chattanooga with my girlfriend in early April, 2014. We had a number of meals out there and I have to say the Back Inn Café served us the best meal by far! We got a seat out on the patio overlooking the River. The view was spectacular. Our waiter was exceptional. He knew the menu front and back and offered a lot of details about the meals themselves. Something I always find very helpful. We had an apetizer (shrimp) and it was unbelievable. The drinks were also very good, including a very nice glass of white wine. The entrees arrived on time and were above what I expected. My girlfriend had the scallions and I had the fish of the day, which I think was grouper. It was overall an unbelievable experience. Perhaps one of the best I have had in some time. A trip to Chattanooga must include the Back Inn Café!!!

My wife and I were so excited to go here tonight. We made reservations and we were sat at the best table right in the corner of the sunroom overlooking the river. The waiter arrived right away and was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. We ordered our drinks, my wife had a signature cocktail and I asked for unsweetened tea.
The waiter came out with our drinks, but my tea was sweet rather then unsweetened, the waiter came back a couple minutes later without me even asking realizing his mistake with an unsweetened tea.
Unfortunately that was the only service we got that night. We ordered an appetizer, and my wife ordered the lobster bisque.
After about 20 minutes one appetizer came out and we ordered our meals. I chose the fish special, and my wife the seafood gratin. The soup came out about 10 minutes later. Then we didn’t see the waiter again for over 35 minutes.
The other tables around us were getting fresh baked bread from the bakery next door, and Amuse-​Bouche, which was never offered to us.
After 35 minutes when the waiter came back he apologized and said he was having difficultly with a table upstairs because the party didn’t speak English. My wife ordered a glass of wine and he brought me a tea, another sweet tea and this time he didn’t correct his mistake.
Our food came out soon after and our waiter disappeared again for another 30+ minutes. By that time we had finished our meal, and we were both without drinks. He never once checked on our meals. The tables around us were getting great service.
At the end of the meal I actually asked the waiter why we didn’t get the Amuse-​Bouche. He said that they ran out at the time he was going to bring it???
I have to give one star because we would have come back here again, and I am sure based on what we saw with the tables around us that some servers here are great, but I feel like we were gypped.
To the waiter, and I will not mention your name on this review: enjoy the $ 20 tip I left you because you certainly didn’t deserve it. You cost your employer a repeat customer.

After reading the previous review about Austin being such a good waiter, my husband and I asked specifically for him while eating here to celebrate our anniversary. We were not disappointed. Our food, wine, view, service, and experience could not have been more perfect. We will definitely be visiting again. Michael, the manager, was also very enjoyable and a pleasure to talk while we sat at the bar.

Came here with a larger group.
Service: EXCELLENT. I forget the name of the young gentleman who served us but he was very attentive and funny. He also provided great recommendations.
Wine selection: Good
Food: Good. Our group ordered shrimp and grits, both kinds of steak, flatbread, caesar salad, short ribs, fried green tomatoes, and frog legs. All were solid but nothing was «amazing.» For dessert, I believe we got one of everything. I particularly enjoyed the peanut butter pie. Scrumptious!
Ambience: Great, we were seated outside and it was a beautiful night.

One of my best friends proposed to his girlfriend on the Walnut Street Bridge via a flashmob on Sunday, June 16^th, and the parents of the bride-​to-​be hosted a luncheon immediately after the proposal at the Back Inn Café. As we had been out in the sun rehearsing and dancing for two days, we were TIRED, but excited for the new couple — and this restaurant really did their best to make us comfortable. We were in a beautiful private room overlooking the art district, they turned the air conditioning way down for us, and turned it up again once we let them know we were finally ‘cooled down’
The food was fantastic, and the servers were great — our only item of criticism was how long the food took to come out. We were a large group; however, it took almost 3.5 hours for our lunch (we did have many courses though)

I don’t even want to give this place 1 star. The experience was absolutely awful. To say I was displeased with the atmosphere and the service would be a complete and utter understatement. The restaurant is open until 10 pm; however, we were told when we called to make a reservation that they seat the last table at 8pm. When we made our reservation, we requested to be sat at a table by the windows facing the river. When we arrived, we were escorted to a table where we couldn’t even see any view of the river. Now I might understand this if there were no tables available; however, we were the last people to be sat at a table, and there were open tables with a river view. When we asked about moving to a different table, the hostess informed us that it was impossible. I guess at this place it must be considered «impossible» to move us to a table that is already empty and cleared and will remain that way until the restaurant closes.
Our server was absolutely terrible. We asked for a few minutes to look over the drink menu before ordering any appetizers, and he made a face at us and didn’t return back to our table for 20 minutes. By that time, we weren’t really interested in appetizers or cocktails. But, we ordered 2 cocktails and our main meals. Our main course arrived at the table before our cocktails did!
My boyfriend ordered the seafood lunchbox. He liked the calamari salad– and that was it. It seems like they took leftovers from their appetizers and made the lunchbox with it. Every section of the lunchbox was cold, even the deep-​fried California rolls. And there was a mystery meat section as well– neither of us could tell if it was pork or chicken or what it was, even though the menu said it was supposedly salmon.
I ordered the shrimp and grits. As I live in Atlanta and have traveled all over the south, I know me some good shrimp and grits. This was not good. It was a plate of sauce. I could barely find any shrimp or grits on my plate. I don’t think anyone should pay $ 20 for a plate of sauce.
About 5 minutes after our food was brought to the table, our server asked us if we wanted some to-​go boxes for our food. WTF? My boyfriend told him that we would like some time to enjoy our meal before being presented with to-​go boxes. Our waiter only returned to our table after that to give us the check.
In the end, some of the food issues may have been overlooked if the hostess and our server weren’t so completely rude.

Wife surprised me with a trip to check this place out as we’ve seen it numerous times and were curious.
The place looks great and has a nice feel. It gives you the fine dining feel but the crowd can lose that feel. Guys wearing ball caps in a restaurant… lame.
My wife ordered the NY strip and asked for it to be extremely well-​done and specified no pink. The steak arrived and it was black on the outside and pink on the inside like medium pink. We asked them to butterfly it, slice it, whatever you need to do. However, all they did was throw it back on the grill and when it came back it was still pinkish. If you want a quality steak prepared to your liking try Hennen’s or Bonefish.
I had the seafood pasta something or other. The spinach ravioli was decent but nothing noteworthy. The shrimp tasted like they were frozen and overall it was rather bland.
The service was fine and our waiter did what he could but it was all menu and a steak not being prepared well, we were let down. I doubt we would ever come back.