While it’s amazing to see the brunch scene takeover all the major and capital cities of the United States, it’s also wonderful to know that there are local brunch spots sprouting throughout smaller or growing cities, such as Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Let Me Introduce Myself...
I’m Mishy Russell, a poet/author, writer/blogger, and truly, all-around creative who is a resident of Chattanooga, Tennessee. For the next several weeks, I’ll be highlighting local brunch spots within my city, and giving my personal experiences and reviews of these lovely places.
This week, my boyfriend Cadarius and I had Sunday brunch at a local restaurant called Syrup and Eggs (I love how “brunch-y” their name is!).
Atmosphere
Syrup and Eggs is connected to The Dwell Hotel, a popular inn known for its creative interior design, from the lounge area to the bathroom to the hotel rooms themselves! We had the privilege of getting to see some of this lovely scenery while we waited to be seated.
As most consistent brunch-ers know, there will most likely be a wait to be seated for brunch, especially on a Sunday when you decide not to get there as soon as they open. Our wait time wasn’t too bad – it would be a good forty minutes before we could be seated. We weren’t upset about it though; we knew we could enjoy the beautiful weather, admire the beautiful designs within the hotel, take photos and videos, and just enjoy each other’s company.
The lounge area was sort of dark, and filled with tables and chairs for waiting guests, but it was completely full by the time we arrived, so we got some coffee and water from their full espresso and cocktail bar, and sat in the hotel lounge area (which we were asked to move from since we weren’t hotel guests. Whoops!), then decided to sit outside to wait for our table.
Since it was a beautiful day outside, we (really, I) decided it was a great time to do a BRUNCH FIT CHECK!
Top: "Meant to Be - White" from FashionNova
Jeans: Wild Fable Women's High Rise Distressed Dad Jeans
Belt: H&M
Shoes: Mossimo Cork Wedges in black
Service
*Disclaimer: Not every single brunch trip can go smoothly, and while I don’t want to affect someone’s decision about eating somewhere, I do want to be honest about these brunch experiences by giving the pros and cons. Just because something didn’t go well during my brunch time, doesn’t mean it won’t go well for you!
Admittedly, there were a couple of cons during this experience. My boyfriend had to continuously check in with the host to be sure that we were not getting skipped in line for our table, and he admitted to me that he’d seen the list, and our names had been+ skipped over a couple of times. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, and say that maybe they couldn’t find us because we were always being told to move from certain areas of the hotel or porch area, but it was still inconvenient. Since they know that their wait time can be a bit long, I wish they had more outdoor and indoor seating for customers waiting.
Once we were seated and ordered our drinks (pineapple juice mimosas), we ran into another problem: there were tons of gnats flying around near our table and the corner table next to us. I thought there were only a few, and that we could manage, but after one landed in my coffee and another in my mimosa, we immediately asked the host to move us. After a few minutes, we were moved to an outside table on the porch, and there, our brunch could continue.
While the host did move us fairly quickly due to the gnats, the real service star was our server Heather, who accommodated us with such patience as she replenished our drinks, took our orders, and checked on us occasionally throughout our meal. She even took a picture with me when I asked!
Food
Now, onto the main course: the food! Syrup and Eggs is definitely an appropriate name for this place since their menu offered many different pancake choices and egg options. There were also different breakfast sandwiches and even options that leaned more towards the “lunch” part of brunch, such as their “Chattanooga Cheese Burger” and their Cuban Sandwich. All their sides were breakfast items (sausage, bacon, simple potatoes), and they encouraged you to make your own plate using these items as well! They pride themselves in using “high-quality, sustainable, local ingredients” to create their food.
I ordered one vanilla pancake with chocolate chips, two over-easy eggs, and three slices of bacon. My boyfriend ordered the cinnamon roll pancake with scrambled eggs and bacon.
The pancake was a decent size, and the bacon and eggs were a nice, savory portion to have to balance out the pancake’s sweetness. As for the mimosas we got, I couldn’t really taste the pineapple juice; it tasted like straight champagne to me, but hey, I’m not mad about that!
Experience Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I give my Syrup and Eggs experience 4 stars! Overall, it was good! The food and service were both great, the atmosphere was so creative and amazing, I just wish that there was a better waiting system, that we didn’t have to move around so much during our wait, and that the gnats didn't exist so we could stay where we were originally seated inside with the vibes!
Brunch Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Again, don’t let the negative parts of my experience stop you from trying out Syrup and Eggs whenever you’re in Chattanooga, Tennessee! I still recommend it as a 5-star, must-try brunch spot!
I hope you enjoyed reading about my time at Syrup and Eggs! You can visit their website at https://www.syrupandeggs.net and follow them on Instagram: @syrupandeggs