The Comedy Catch

Had an absolute blast tonight!!! Laughed so hard, good nachos and a good strong jack daniels whiskey sour… Yeah!

Landry was awesome. So funny. The service was good not great but good. BUT that doesn’t matter because what I went for was the comedy and what I got was tons of laughs! Thanks Comedy Catch!

I really wanted them to knock it out of the park. I went last night to the Comedy Catch for a company outing with a large group of over 100 people. This being a Tuesday night the club’s lower level was pretty much packed and the upper level filled in with some other guests as well. They have been open for a few months in this new location; so I figured that they probably had the kinks worked out by now and I was bragging to the out of town guests that were going to the show about how great it should be. We arrived around 6:30 PM everyone ordered food and drinks, and we waited for the show to start. Just moments after ordering I notice a few people getting their food. I thought «this is great, they are really on their game». (I’m proud to call Chattanooga home and love to see folks impressed by our town, so when I see restaurants, businesses, and attractions performing excellent it gives me a sense of pride) Around 7:30 the show started and the waitress asked if we had gotten our food & I said no we had not. We order a few more drinks which she brought right out and she apologized and left. 15 minutes later she brought the other guy at my table his order. Around 7:50 another waitress comes out and asks what I had ordered that some orders had gotten mixed up in the kitchen. I reorder again. At around 8:10 another waitress arrives and asks if I got my order I told her no but nevermind that that was the 4^th time I was asked for my order. She apologized and asked if I was sure, that she would have it right out. I told her that would be fine if she could actually make it happen. My original waitress comes out and apologizes and offers to comp. the food which was nice of them to do, considering if they had I would have refused the food at this point. My food arrives around 8:20 It tasted pretty good, but as I Finished my dinner and leaned back to enjoy the show a few more minutes and the comedian was saying thanks for coming out tonight! I stilled enjoyed the part of the show that I got to enjoy by not being interrupted and apologized to & having to reorder my food. I enjoyed my meal alright as well. I had to struggle to give it 3 stars, but that will change one way or the other after my next visit.
Revisited review
So I’ve been back and checked them out again. This time was much better! The burger is a really good burger. Much better than the old fare they have served in the past it seems. The mozzarella sticks (while they look to me to have been from frozen) were very good, and the chips (a little salty to me) were fresh. It was a colder night here in Chattanooga and they were just opening up so the lower level was a little cool for a bit. I went to check out the upper deck and found that it was very warm, and actually seemed to have the better view of the stage. (something to remember when ordering tickets and you have a preference to temperature). They’ve really created a venue that is going to attract even bigger named comics if folk come out to the comedy catch.

Came to see Shaun Jones, who was very funny! The openers were pretty good too. I like the new location, parking was fine if you park on the choo choo lot, and the interior has a good vibe.
The beer selection was decent & prices were normal on beer. They had a $ 5 house wine special which was nice. My friend thought her martini was a tad highly priced at $ 11. Bring the mixed drink pricing down just a little bit & I think that would help people overall feel they are getting a better value.
We had dinner too & that’s where the biggest improvement is needed. I know this is known for being a comedy club & not particularly as a restaurant, but the food selection is pretty basic & more limited than it used to be, so I think the quality on these should be high given the options. In fact If they improve this I think they could rake in a lot more money in sales.
I will only comment on the food that I ordered. I had a $ 10 burger which came with cheese of your choice & a side. I had fries, which were fine. Burger was cooked fairly well done, didn’t quite fit the bun. I was excited to see blue cheese crumbles as a cheese option but they were stingey with the cheese so it was more blue cheese scented. I also wanted lettuce only and I got 1 sliver of lettuce. It was just average.
With so many other food options around it would be a shame to see them lose sales because people would rather go eat before hand elsewhere for the same price but better quality.
Overall I’m giving 3 stars because I think they bring in good comics, but just need to work on food quality & fine tune the pricing for mixed drinks. I’ll definitely go back for the comedy, and give it another shot on the food too next time. Hoping this is just growing pains!

The saving grace for our first…& probably last… visit to Comedy Catch was Shaun Jones. He was hilarious! Well worth the $ 30 we paid to get in. The first two comedians eh not so much. The $ 5 drink min per person, first of all shouldn’t be mandatory. The majority of people are going to order something. Be nice if it was of our own free will. Second, have decent drinks if you are going to make us buy them!!! We took one sip of our $ 7 margaritas and promptly put them down & didn’t touch them again. They were awful. No exaggeration. End of the night manager/​owner? stood at back of club scowling at Shaun Jones but should of been thanking his lucky stars for having something decent about his club.

Where do I begin? Well, my Mama always said «If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.» Here’s my nice thing: the new venue at the Choo Choo is a vast improvement. However, that is the only thing that has improved.
Firstly, access to parking is horrendous. The ‘road’ is little more than an alleyway, and ‘people’ had parked along the road requiring one to weave through the space. This led to an unpaved, gravel pay lot. The Choo Choo needs to improve this quickly if they hope to draw crowds to the facility. I would recommend going in the main entrance (like going to Track 29) and park for free as close to the rail cars as possible and walk from there.
The next issue was with the ‘food’. We ordered the Meatball appetizer. For $ 5 we received exactly 5 meatballs that had been nuked to the extent that they tasted like and had the consistency of cardboard. After chocking down just one, we sent them back and ordered the Chili Cheese Fries. You would think this was something difficult to mess up, but you would be wrong. This first clue something was amiss was the shredded cheese was still in its shredded state; there was not sufficient heat to melt the cheese. Next in line was the ‘chili’, which consisted of browned ground beef and a smattering of kidney beans and NOTHING else. Not even a dash of chili powder. And then the coup de grace, at the bottom of the paper-​lined plastic bowl was a pool of the watery meat juices. Needless to say, we consumed very little of that dish and decided to give up on finding anything edible to eat.
«At least there were the drinks,» you might be thinking. Well, yes, there are drinks. The same three tired and old speciality drinks they’ve had for decades. The server was nice to ask if we wanted water also. How thoughtful, right? Yes, until you get the bill and find out the water costs $ 1 because they bring it to you in their god awful yellow plastic souvenir cup. Really?! There are no other drinks on the menu, so I ordered a martini, one of my own design consisting of equal parts of one regular 80 proof liquor and two liqueurs. They made it well, but when I got the bill, I was charged for three shots totaling $ 23.75!!! I complained to the server who sent up the bar ‘manager’, a guy in a dirty t-​shirt and ball cap. He said I ordered 3 shots so that’s what I was charged. I corrected him and said I ordered a martini. I asked if he charged $ 24 for a vodka martini. He said no, but yours had 3 liquors. I countered that it is the same volume and he reiterated ‘3 different liquors’. He finally said he would take one of the charges off, hardly a fair resolution but a firm statement that the customer is not their priority.
And finally, a comment on the interior. One would think that making a move from run down Brainerd to downtown would be the catalyst for more changes. Sadly, however, this is not the case. All the old tables and chairs also made the move. I did not see one chair that did not have black duct tape on it covering up rips in the upholstery.
In summary, it is plain to see that the owner is not concerned at all for his patrons or for making his club a place to be in he downtown area. Stay at home and watch a comedian on TV. You’ll have more fun, a better experience, and spend way less money.

Love the new location. Being downtown presents many different options for dining out. Same fun times will be had by all.