Chatanooga is Home to Choo Choos, Barbecue, and Mezcal

Little Coyote wants to make mezcal service a part of your Tennessee experience

Mezcal service at Little Coyote Photo courtesy of Little Coyote

Tennessee is the home of the Country Music Hall of Fame, hot chicken, Tennessee whiskey, and Dolly Parton making it instantly a classic destination for food, drink, and music.

Located in the Southeast part of the state and bordering on Georgia lies Chattanooga. And, while Memphis is famous for its blues and barbecue and Nashville for its hot chicken and honkey tonks, Chattanooga is best known for its railroad.

Though the Chattanooga Choo Choo is now defunct, the Chattanooga Chalet Hotel, at the original train station, offers the chance to stay in refurbished train cars.

While in Chattanooga, James Beard-nominated chef Erik Niel wants you to think beyond Tennessee whiskey at his newly opened restaurant, Little Coyote.

The restaurant, located at the foot of Chattanooga’s famed Lookout Mountain, mixes a bunch of cultures into one beautiful plate of food. Texas barbecue marries Cuban, Caribbean, Mexican, and Southwestern influences to create a food and drink menu that offers, in a nutshell, delicious smoked meats accompanied by fresh tortillas as the tool to get the food from the plate to the palate.

And, instead of some good ‘ole Tennessee whiskey or a Jack and lemonade to wash down all this fare, you’ll find a bar program that specializes in agave-based spirits, run by bar director Garth Poe. Guests can choose their favorite from a 22-page spirits menu with the highlight being the mezcal service.

For the service, guests order one mezcal at a time, choosing from about three dozen liquids. Each mezcal is presented on a handmade wooden service board with carved indentations for salt, housemade tajin, a couple of slices of citrus (oranges, Meyer lemon, or grapefruit), and a veladora of mezcal.

When Erik and his wife, Amanda, traveled through Mexico finding inspiration for Little Coyote, they experienced their first mezcal service and knew it was the one missing piece to bring Little Coyote to life.

Beverage maven Garth Poe quickly agreed that the service ritual was an ideal way to get people to try the numerous excellent varieties of mezcal and explore the different expressions that can be smokey, sweet, or vegetal. In other words, if someone loves the intricacies of whiskey, they will also enjoy the world of mezcal.

For cocktail lovers, Little Coyote offers a list of tequila and mezcal-based favorites like a Paloma, Ranch Water, and a mezcal espresso Martini.

And, because whiskey will always be home in Tennessee, Little Coyote has a curated list of good whiskies for purists. Something for everyone.