Screen Door Cafe

If I hadn’t heard the food was REALLY good here, I never would’ve tried this restaurant. The outside of the building is far from attractive. This time though… looks were deceiving. The food is INCREDIBLE!
We looked online and called in our order. I got the Screen Door burger, which has pimento cheese, bbq and fried onions on top. To me, none of these tastes could possibly go together, so I had to try it out of curiosity. It was yummy. It’s more than you can eat at one sitting… which is not a bad thing. My husband got a bbq plate with Mac and cheese and mashed potatoes… his was delicious… (I sampled it). The food must be made from scratch. its just too good not to be. On a whim he ordered two desserts… we didn’t see these options online. One piece of red velvet cake and the other was peanut butter. Again, just wonderful. The parking lot was pretty full, with cars coming and going. It really is a hidden gem.

Great lunch. Interesting burger. It looks like they are trying to do some good things in Soddy.
Go by and have a new experience.
Short review but big taste!

This place is a little hidden piece of heaven! The food is amazing and freshly prepared. You can expect a little wait but it’s well worth it. The most amazing shrimp and grits I have ever had. And the collard greens are to die for. My husband and I have been there several times and will be back. The chef/​owners are very friendly as well as the staff.

This is the best hidden location in Soddy-​Daisy Tennessee. I live a half mile from the restaurant and I go there all the time there are times you have to wait but it’s because people are just finding out about it and they’re being bombarded the food is always excellent the staff is very kind and courteous the owner always comes to our table to thank us for coming in in to see how everything is they have the best shrimp and grits that I have ever had and I’m from the Savannah area. They cook Low Country Cuisine since they are from Charleston South Carolina. You need to come and try it for yourself. Don’t be in a hurry just enjoy you can also bring a bottle of wine and pay a small corking fees enjoy this little spot and have a blessed day.

This place is definitely a hidden gem. My wife, son, and I went on a Friday afternoon. We had some minor reservations, but this place blew away our expectations. It may not look like much, and it’s surely reasonable to not expect much from a restaurant in this area, but the staff was very nice and friendly, including the owner. Everyone took time to talk with us and compliment our little one and let us deliberate on food options. The food itself was the real selling point though. Everything we had was phenomenal. Gabriel (owner) explained that they put a LOT of focus on doing everything themselves. That made-​from-​scratch vibe really shines through, especially with the meats. My wife had the «Rueben» sandwich with mac n’ cheese and potato salad. The corned beef was, if I’m not mistaken, smoked then braised. I’m not sure if I can ever recall having smoked corned beef before, but it’s awesome! The smoking really lends significantly more depth of flavor. Meanwhile, the braising helps tone it down a notch, so that the smoky aspect doesn’t just kill the rest of its salty deliciousness. I had the Screen Door Burger with fries. The Screen Door Burger really struck me as an excellent way to sample several things — a burger with pimento cheese, barbecue pork, and fried onions on it. I might have had to unhinge my jaw a bit to tackle that thing, but the foodgasm eye-​rolls that I’m pretty sure occurred once I did should go to show that it was totally worth it. You can definitely tell that they grind their own beef and the barbecue was so stupid good that I’m pretty certain that’s what I’m going for next time. And there will definitely be a next time. Hopefully many next times. This is a tad out of the way for us, but we would love to make it a regular stop. I highly recommend that you give it a shot, if’n you should find yourself in the vicinity. Also, save room for dessert! The peanut butter pie was ridiculous, and I hear tell that the cake selection is mighty fine as well.

We got there at noon on Saturday and there was plenty of seating! By 12:30 it was packed without a seat. And I understand why! Excellent food at a reasonable price! The bbq pork was smoky and had a kick of spice. Nice! The coleslaw was light in mayo and was perfect. Potato salad was excellent with red potatoes and green onions. The fries green tomatoes had the best batter and homemade pimento cheese on top! Will definitely be back!

Living just outside of Chattanooga in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee means that my dining out choices are limited unless I want to drive in to Chattanooga. It’s not that long of a drive, but still I get excited when I discover a restaurant out my way. So, it was with high hopes that we went to Screen Door Café on a Saturday evening.
I wish I could say that I could post a glowing review, but unfortunately I can not. We got there on a Saturday evening at 6 o’clock and had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. Since the restaurant is just one long-​ish room, you sit in a little chair just inside the door to wait. While waiting I noticed several tables without their food. They weren’t really talking just gazing longingly at the door to the kitchen. That was not a good sign. They had that look of people wondering where the heck their food was.
We had time to peruse the menu while waiting and while at our table. It took our waitress quite a bit of time to see that we were seated, even though you could stand just about anywhere in the restaurant and see every table. She finally came over, apologized and took our drink orders. We were ready to order food, but she left quickly without asking us. Then, in a move I’ve never seen before, she literally flew by our table, dropped our drinks off and headed away. No chance for us to order! She then went to stand by the register and play with someone’s baby, wipe off the drinks dispenser. Pretty much anything but take our order. I watched a table that was seated after us get their order taken, and still we waited. Finally she came over and took our order. She did not notice that my water glass was empty.
Then we waited again. After about 20 minutes, she came by to tell us it might be a while because they had a bunch of orders, again not noticing my water. We looked around. There was only one other table waiting on food, the table that was seated after us. I assumed it must have been a massive to go order. The table seated after us received their food and still we waited. I was so angry. If she had taken our order when she was supposed to we would have probably had our food by now. As I watched the other table eat, I just got more and more angry.
Someone came in and picked up their to go order. It looks like it was about 5 dinners. That must have been their bunch of orders. Finally after a 45 minute wait, she brought out dinner and told us that it was worth the wait! The table that was seated after us had already finished eating! I wasn’t even speaking to her at this point (childish, but it made me feel better). When she saw me take out my camera and notebook, her whole demeanor changed. Suddenly she was all chatty. She topped my water glass 3 times and told me how the meatloaf was her favorite. Too little too late.
The sad part is that the food was wonderful. The meatloaf was nice and browned on the outside and moist on the inside. The potatoes were great and the onion gravy was delicious.
A gentleman who was seated about 10 minutes before we got our food, got his food at the same time as us. So, I think whether or not you are a happy customer depends when your order is placed in the system. It doesn’t seem like they can keep up with a steady stream of orders, or more than one or two tables placing an order at the same time.

Wow, what a sight to behold at the Screen Door Café, though this is a pretty typical and usual occurrence. The service consists of about 2 – 3 frenzied waitresses juggling their ACTUAL job of being a waitress and their coercive position of child caretaker for the owners. The child looks to be maybe 2 years of age, and she is either screeching, getting into everything in the dining area, unrolling silverware, or strapped onto a waitresses back (as was the case this particular day) in a carrier while the poor woman runs around with trays of hot food without so much as a complaint. Well, I’m complaining on behalf of all the staff at The Screen Door Café, this is NOT how you treat your workers, and this is NOT how you treat your child. The owners need to explore childcare options because it is absolutely absurd how much the wait staff seem to be shouldering. I know that having a drooling child crawling all over the floor and touching everything has to also be some sort of OSHA or health code violation of some kind, and the owners should thank their lucky stars no one has called it in yet, but I am certain it is only a matter of time before someone does. The meal (shrimp and grits) was very good and flavorful, but cannot begin to make up for the lack of professionalism and order I saw in the case of the child, and let me reiterate, this is not the first time I have seen this situation here, not even close. Good food, but please stop torturing your child and wait staff with her presence in an altogether inappropriate environment all day. You’re stressing everyone out, including the patrons that enjoy your food.

Started with the fried green tomatoes with the spectacular homemade pimento cheese which paired together perfectly. My main was the fried catfish coated with cornmeal and scratch made tartar sauce. Sides of perfect mashed potatoes and deliciously savory collard greens topped it off.
For dessert was fresh ground coffee, homemade pecan pie with the butteriest crust I’ve ever had as well as mouth-​watering carrot cake. Everything I had was absolutely delicious and would recommend it to anyone. Not pretentious, very easy going, and worth every penny for the taste!

We went for lunch on 12÷31÷15. We had to wait over 10 minutes for a table due to all of them being full with people or dirty dishes. When we were finally asked for our orders, our waitress would wait until after we chose items to tell us they were out of it. This continued 4 more times. If a restaurant is out of anything, they should tell you upfront, when they give you the menu, not after you’ve tried to order several items only to be told they are out of it, or it’s (sausage) frozen and it will be hours before it will be ready. The wait staff were obviously overwhelmed and understaffed (one was heard telling another customer this). The sign on the door says to be patient because it will take at least 30 minutes before your food will arrive. Some friends who had already ordered before we even got there, still hadn’t been served their food when we left. Granted we were there about 45 minutes total due to trying to place our order and them going back and forth to find out they were out of a lot of items. We spoke to who we think was the manager about being out of so much food. When asked what they did have, he rudely snapped that they had «Nothing!» On that note, we left and won’t find it necessary to make the trip way out there again. With such poor service and the manager’s attitude, you decide for yourself if you want to chance The Screen Door Café.

Went in Dec 31^st for lunch after reading a positive review in Times Free Press.
Then entire staff seemed overwhelmed by having a full house. After a wait, we were seated, and after some time took our orders. After a long wait, the waitress came out and told one of our party that they were out of his selection, and brought the menu for another selection. He finally had to go up to the counter to place another order, and they told him they were out of at least four of the menu items listed. One of the wait staff was overheard saying they needed more help. The manager/​owner came out from the kitchen, and was totally rude to him. We decided at that stage to leave. Will be difficult to make the drive to give it another try. Very unprofessionally run.

Awful experience. Went in for lunch, and they were out of soup, out of shrimp, out of BBQ, out of sausage, out of chicken livers, out of corned beef (for Reuben), so I can’t rate the food. I can rate the service. There wasn’t any. Just a terrible attitude from the server & the manager. Don’t waste your time. It’s a hole-​in-​the-​wall, anyway. Terrible!

Had to try this little joint since it is the closest restaurant to the house. This is a perfect place to get away from the madness of Chattanooga and have some good food with great people. I had the privilege of being the first customer to try the Soul Rolls and while they may not be for every one, I absolutely loved them. The BBQ sandwich was great just as it comes out and the fries were perfect. The owners are personable and the wait staff was attentive and so friendly. This is a great addition to Soddy Daisy.