Down-home dining, affordable splurges in Chattanooga

— -- Cost-conscious travelers can enjoy bountiful pleasure at mealtime if they choose their itinerary carefully and order smartly. To help with the planning, USA TODAY's Jerry Shriver offers a menu of suggestions.

Down-home dining: Profiles of cheap-eats classics

Sugar's Ribs 2450 15th Ave.; 423-826-1199 sugarsribs.comWhen the quality of a barbeque joint's meats is very good but not ethereal, as is the case here, it helps to have a compensating factor or two to keep folks coming through the door. At Sugar's, the saving grace is the above-the-norm side dishes ($1.50-$2.25), which include two excellent takes on cole slaw (spicy vinegar or mayo-based), flash-grilled raw onions, grilled okra and chili. They elevate the generous plates ($7.95-$23.95) of brisket, chicken and pork, which are smoked over red oak and hickory and can be squirted with a variety of sauces at the table. The other bonuses: beautiful views from a ridge-top setting, and an adorable goat herd that grazes on the hill outside.

•Top treat:Brisket plate with spicy vinegar slaw and dill potato salad, $9.95.

Zarzour's Cafe 1627 Rossville, Ave.; 423-266-0424 Multiple generations of working stiffs have sought sustenance at this bare-bones, lunch-only eatery since the end of the war — as in World War I. The Lebanese-immigrant Zarzour family opened the place in 1918 and today the founders' descendants still serve a compact menu of timeless Southern diner fare (entrees with two vegetables, cornbread and tea are $7.35-$9.50), highlighted by hand-formed hamburgers and meatloaf, slow-cooked turnip greens, creamed potatoes and cream pies. Everyone at the four-stool counter and in the two tiny dining rooms knows one another, but visitors are quickly welcomed.

•Top treat:Millionaire pie (cream cheese with nuts and fruit), $3.50.

Nikki's Drive Inn 899 Cherokee Blvd.; 423-265-9015Compared with 91-year-old Zarzour's Café across town, Nikki's is a neophyte, dating to the early 1940s. It used to be a three-meals-a-day drive-in specializing in hamburgers and simple sandwiches ($2.40-$5.15), but over the years the curb service has disappeared and platters of deep-fried seafood such as catfish, shrimp and white perch ($6.75-$23.65) and steaks and chops ($7.75-$13.35) now get equal billing. The thick-cut onion rings still rule the roost, and it's nice to see a traditional Southern pimento cheese sandwich can be had, and for just $2.90.

•Top treat:Onion rings, $3.30.

Easy Splurges: Low-cost dishes at the hot new places

212 Market 212 Market St.; 423-265-1212 212market.comBoth the heart and the execution are in the right place at this contemporary-American restaurant, founded in 1992. Maggie Moses and her two daughters bill their creation as the state's first certified green restaurant and incorporate local and regional ingredients into their fresh/seasonal menu. They don't mess much with the key components of the fish/fowl/meat entrees other than to accent them with intensely flavored sauces, and the house-made desserts are lovingly decadent.

Low-cost dinner appetizer:Crispy shrimp spring roll, $6. Others, $6.50-$15.

Low-cost dinner entrée:Spinach and walnut ravioli with red pepper coulis, $16.95. Others, $18.95-$29.95.

Worth trading down? Yes on appetizers, no on the entree. The spring roll was one of the best starters; the ravioli was not nearly as inviting as the $28.95 filet mignon with Dijon-tarragon cream.

St. John's 1278 Market St.; 423-266-4400 stjohnsrestaurant.com

Housed in a smartly renovated early-1900s hotel, St. John's is the creation of Chattanooga-born chef/owner Daniel Lindley, a vet of New York's Gramercy Tavern. He brings big-city sophistication to the fixed-price seasonal menu, using meats sourced from boutique farms, and luxury ingredients such as lobster (centerpiece of the Vidalia onion soup) and Kobe beef (marinated in ginger and accented with chipotle pepper relish).

Low-cost dinner appetizer:Fried squash blossoms, $8. Others, $8-$18.

Low-cost dinner entrée:Chicken breast with chickpea puree, roasted garlic, cippolini onions and chorizo, $22. Others, $28-$34; $64 fixed-price menu.

Worth trading down? No. Neither the poorly executed squash blossoms nor the tough chicken breast were nearly as satisfying as the $16 Vidalia onion-lobster soup or the $34 smoked venison.