Bea’s Restaurant

If you want the chance to enjoy what is maybe the best fried chicken in the USA, come to Bea’s. My folks took me there in the 50s, and the family style restaurant is still going strong serving quality food. I ate there last week while in Chattanooga on business. And had…
–fried chicken, I requested and was brought mounds of pullybones (moist and succulent)
–fresh, home made collard greens
–homemade, southern style slaw
–homemade chow chow
–cornbread muffin, crispy on the outside and warm on the inside
–homemade potato salad, just a tad… got to leave room for dessert
–home brewed iced tea
–hot peach cobbler, I asked for some with well done, crispy pieces of dough
–Fresh cup of just brewed hot coffee to drink with the cobbler
This is southern food, at its best. To be sure, there’s other food I could have also had, but I go to Bea’s for the fried chicken… not the other entrees.
If you read this review, and your mouth began to water… go to Bea’s. If hot and succulent fried chicken (white meat only), fresh collards, hot corn bread muffins, and hot. homemade peach cobbler doesn’t do it for you… I guess you should choose someplace else. But I don’t know why you would.
Bea’s is a treasure and member of a select group of restaurants that have been open over 50 years without major changes to the menu (lazy susan).
I highly recommend it.

This is a great southern country food restaurant. You sit at a lazy Susan round table that sits 8 people. I counted 21 lazy Susan round tables in here. The price for this buffet style was $ 12.50 a person. You use your hand to turn this round table that has a glass covering. It has everything you need on this lazy Susan including a pitcher of sweet tea and of course all the food that just keeps coming. They have been opened since 1950 so that’s a long time for a restaurant to be open and still in business.
If you come as a couple you will probably be seated with other people. We sat with a couple who live out in the country from Soddy Daisy, TN which isn’t too far from here. I’m glad we met them because we enjoyed talking to them. They were friendly and they stated that they were regulars.
Some of the items we had was; fried chicken, black eyed peas, baked beans, cole slaw, fried okra, potatoes, rolls, potato salad, pulled BBQ pork, corn bread and for desert we had cherry cobbler.
They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays. So, remember that. If you have a big truck like I do you can park in the back along the fence which is perfect for big vehicles.
In summary, they have been open for 66 years. You sit at a lazy Susan round table that sits 8 people. The costs is about $ 12.50 and includes desert which changes daily.

This place has been around many years and not much has changed from what I have heard from people. I have now been here several times, different days and times. If nothing else the service is very consistent.
No ordering here, come in and set at a round table with a rotating style top. They just keep bringing food until your full. I would say the top item is great fried chicken. They always have a variety of sided, bread. Also a number of pies or ice cream.
The chicken keeps me coming back but many of the sides are good, but nothing that stands out.

Jamie was our waiter and he was FANTASTIC! Great sense of humor and kept hot food coming for the 7 of us comprised of all adults! FOOD was the absolute best I’ve ever eaten and I was raised in Tennessee with good olé southern cooking! CHICKEN is to die for! I so wanted to take it with me, but it’s come and eat all you want, but no taking it with you! Loved the cherry cobbler, but excited about going back for more hopefully tomorrow since I’m in the area … wish Murfreesboro had this place, but it’s worth the drive for me! Special thanks to «Doug» and brother «Mike» who dished out harassment as well as I gave back to them! Definitely the best ‘home-​style restaurant’ I’ve been to… they’ve been there since mid-50’s and Jamie’s worked for them 22 years as did his parents! AMAZING!

Down home Southern Cooking, man o man! Words will not give the restaurant justice. This restaurant was est.1951, all you can eat Soul Food. Chicken, ribs, greens, beans, corn bread, rolls. Stew potatoes, sweet potatoes, potato salad, cole slaw, cobbler, im sure im missing stuff as well. Food is put in small dishes and you spin the table to get what you want, family style dining. Had a great waiting staff, very friendly and knowledgeable about Bea’s… A MUST TRY RESTAURANT, WHOLE IN THE WALL GREATNESS…

4 stars for the fun unique experience but the food may be 3 stars. You sit at round tables with a lazy Susan centered. It turns and brings out the country classics directly in front of you so then you serve yourself from a family style menu! No selections here… It is daily planned!
Would recommend but not for the healthy weight conscious! Loo

Stopped by today for the first time. This place came highly recommend. I can’t highly recommend it but do recommend that you at least stop in and try it.
It’s a limited buffet style with home cooking type food. You’re sitting at a table for 10 with a lazy Susan that gets filled up and you spin up what you want. There was beef stew, BBQ pulled pork, potato salad, slaw, fried chicken, cabbage, new potatoes, pinto beans & peach cobbler.
I didn’t care for the beef stew but that’s normal for me. It did have a fresh out of the can feel. For the most part everything was decent but nothing was outstanding. The fried chicken was the best part. The peach cobbler was runny but tasted fine. Nothing was terrible but nothing was outstanding.
No complaints about the service because of the lazy susan approach– that’s kept stocked so you don’t need much. Honestly I really liked the lazy susan set up.
I travel through Chattanooga pretty often and wouldn’t be against stopping by but would try something else first. Oh the $ 15/​person price is a little steep, IMO, for the food.

The place is wonderful which you do not find much anymore in a corporate world. Love stopping by when traveling.

Fantastic food… every time!

What an experience. Old school all you can eat family style southern cooking. It really is worth seeing and experiencing if you are in the area. The staff was so nice and helpful. The food was great especially the fried chicken and the pasta. Peach cobbler was outstanding.

Low-​quality, cheap food but I’m not actually «complaining» given that it cost $ 12.50. The fried chicken was NOT special in any way and had little flavor. Everything was mediocre – not bad, just not particularly good.

Moved in 2009. Everyone raved about their chicken. I love the old fashioned turn table theme. That is the unique quality of this place because I have never been to an establishment that serves like that. The sides are delicious and I LOVE their peach cobbler. Customer service is wonderful. The chicken though. Eh I am sorry to day that everytime I go, it’s dry and sweet. Never had sweet chicken til I went here and don’t care for it. I will continue to go, simply for the service and other goodies. But the 4 star is due to the chicken.

Solid-​solid-​solid buffet-​style home style meals. Fried fish was excellent, as was the fried (see a pattern, here?) Chicken. The sides of pinto beans, mac ‘n cheese, incredible cole slaw (!) potatoes made as good a home meal I’ve enjoyed since I’ve left home.
April, our server, made certain that our Lazy Susan carousel of delicious food items was never lacking, always replacing food dishes exactly when needed, as well as bringing extra ice for our teas.
I’ll admit, the thought of sitting at a table with strangers while we spun the food carousel was a bit «off-​putting» — but the conversation and comradely attitudes of our fellow diners quickly won us over to the concept. Plus, the effect of the carousel serving concept was almost cornucopia-​like: Whenever a serving dish began to run low, it ‘magically’ reappeared refilled on the next pass! Okay, the ‘magic’ was Ms April!
Bea’s is a place that (honestly) generations of locals quietly attend and support. «A word; to the wise…»
Paved parking lot, room along the back for large vehicles. Great ADA access! Senior discount for those of 60 years of age; which is just a tad ‘under’ how long Bea’s has been serving their scrumptious meals. Eat here, and drive a short distance and visit Walter A. Woods, an old-​school hardware institution.

I am 47 years old and have eaten at Bea’s all of my life. I average eating there six or seven times a year and have never been disappointed. It is the best fried chicken in the world, no other place in Chattanooga can touch their fried chicken. I have gone in there many times and set with other folks, never a problem. I love the chicken, potatoes, slaw, fried okra, BBQ, and sweet tea. The food is always warm and fresh. My whole family loves Bea’s. Mom and dad took my siblings there to eat back in the 50’s for a dollar a person, and me from the time that I was a baby. I am also a veteran and don’t know of a discount for veterans at Bea’s, I just know that you can go there for free on your birthday. The place has been there since 1950, so it ain’t fancy, but the food is excellent and you shouldn’t be disappointed, southern cooking at it’s best y’all.

I have been in the Army for 22 years and my wife is from the area. For the last 20 years, Beas had been one of the spots we would hit every time we came back to visit. Yesterday after our meal I asked the owner who was running the cashier if they had a military discount. He replied that the only discount that they had was for senior citizens. This was not a problem for me and I paid my bill and left. The customer behind me said «I don’t understand these military people asking for handouts.» To which the owner replied «I know they keep asking and I ain’t going to give it to them.» The owner apparently did not realize that my wife was still in the restaurant. I was not asking for a handout and I find it very insulting that the owner would portray our veterans as freeloaders asking for a handout.

If you like a local crowd, group seating at large tables, lazy Susans rotating food for all, fried chicken, cream potatoes, and good solid southern food selections, then this is certainly the place for y’all to come! Bring your entire family because there’ll be more food than you can possibly eat! Great place serving many generations of locals.

The only thing I found good was the fried chicken and the ckicken n dumplins. First of all the place is old as dirt nothing has ever been updated. I found it to be dirty and just prayed we wouldn’t get sick! The potato salad and cole slaw were already sitting with the potato salad already been eaten out of. Water rings stoll on the table and not cleaned well from previous diners. Something floating in the tea. The worst bbq I have ever tried, cornbread was old, greens and okra were decent. Potatoes in a thick sauce bit flavorless. Pinto beans most likely from a can. Cherry cobbler was cherrys in sauce! Bowls are replaced without asking mostly. There was a lot of food left on our table so I can’t help but wonder if all this food is wasted or reserved either way is bad!!!
Yuk yuk yuk… an experience I won’t foget! I can’t get over how this place is still in business!

BEST Fried Chicken ALL YOU CAN EAT Buffet EVER!!!
If you want to have the best traditional southern comfort food, please come here. I know most people don’t like to share a table with strangers, if that’s true, invite some friends. But the food is amazing!

Chasing the Dragon at Bea’s
When I arrived in Chattanooga 26 years ago a friend took me to Bea’s. Being broke, hungry, and unfamiliar with Chattanooga’s restaurants, I enjoyed the food. It was almost home-​cooking.
Since 1987 though, my repeat visits have never equaled that first visit in taste. I’ll admit that buffets, lazy Susan style, and eating with groups of unknown people at the table do not give me a warm fuzzy feeling. But each repeat trip over two decades (the last few at the request of friends or clients) leaves me wondering what happened.
The good flavor of the food has dropped. That can be as much the abilities of the cooks as quality of the food. In earlier times bacon grease, lard, salt, all those things that make for good southern-​style foods now seem non-​existent or incorrect. Even the taste of the much vaunted fried chicken is lacking. Whether it’s the cooking or quality doesn’t matter if the taste isn’t right.
I’m also more aware of overall cleanliness and appearances than before. There’s something about the old building and location that doesn’t sit well with me (many newer restaurants have me questioning the cleanliness as well).
My last visit cinched it. I didn’t care for the manners and food etiquette of others at the table, the food was lacking in taste, and the price was too high for the experience.
To those who enjoy Bea’s please continue to do so, but I’ve slain that dragon for good.

Bea’s is quite the experience. The food is so good!!! You HAVE to go… Especially
if you’ve never been before… Sweet yea and fried chicken and whatever other southern food you can think of!