chow with chaz

let’s chow

  • Chismoso’s Review

    Holy guacamole, Chismoso’s has vaulted itself to the top of my Knoxville food rankings. My beautiful girlfriend took me there for my birthday, and boy did it deliver. Like most people, I love the typical, cheaper Mexican restaurant. Give me some grilled chicken nachos and I am GOOD! This was not that. The menu is designed for shareable courses, you do not have to do that obviously, but we did. We started off with their Oxican Pimento Cheese with blue tostados. It was unlike any pimento cheese I have ever had. I honestly cannot describe it, but I can fully recommend it. We then shared two small plates. The first was a grilled squash salad…which I was less than thrilled about. It was one of the best salads I have ever had…and I’m sure much to your surprise, I love salads. They do switch up their menu and this is not currently on it, I do think it rotates back on though. We also had birria bone marrow with cheese quesadillas. This was lamb bone marrow, which I had never had. Our waitress, who was spectacular be tee dubs, recommended to open up the quesadillas while they were still hot and put the bone marrow in them. Phenomenal recommendation. I could’ve eaten 20 of these. The birria bone marrow was so succulent and the went incredibly with the fried cheese in the quesadilla. These are still on the menu and I would definitely get them again. Our last course was Mexican Fried Chicken. The chicken was fried perfectly, skin was incredibly crispy and the meat could not have been juicier. Its seasoning had the perfect amount of kick and the peanut sauce it was served on was the perfect compliment. The leftover chicken was also fantastic the next day, cold of course. This too is still on the menu.

    Our next venture to Chismoso’s, I will be trying their smashburger. We saw a few people order it, it definitely looked big enough to share. It looked absolutely divine, and it is served on a Potchke Bun. Potchke will get a write up at some point as their food is also delicious. Try their new bagel shop in Cedar Bluff, you will not be disappointed.

  • Eat Around Athens

    City number two is the city I lived in for 6 years, and one I visited last month. I was able to hit up a few of my favorites, but I will help you plan your perfect day of food and drinks in Athens.

    Athens has an incredible food and coffee scene so this one may be a bit tougher. I miss quite a few of my coffee shops, so there may be a few or’s thrown in there. I saw that Athens Bagel recently opened back, so I am starting there. I am going sausage, egg and cheese on Jalapeno cheddar. Man do I miss that bagel. The shop was closed for the last year or two I lived in Athens. You can take a short drive or a decent walk over to 1000 Faces. You cannot go wrong with any coffee there. For lunch I am going to grab a burger. In my opinion you have three options here, Clocked which is a small diner spot downtown (get the feta burger), Grindhouse (any burger is great but you have to get the blue cheese fries), or maybe my favorite in Baddies Burgers. They only have a few options but they do all of them well. Get you some pudding as well. For my afternoon coffee, I have two options as well. If you are just wanting a drip, head over to Choco Coffee on Baxter. Grab a bag of beans on the way out, you will not regret it. If you are feeling a latte (specifically a spiced chai), Jittery Joes. You can go to any, but the best atmosphere by far is the Five Points location. If it’s nice out, enjoy the patio. There is approximately 4 billion bars in Athens, but for a nice cocktail, I am going to The Place. Their upstairs bar is really neat and they make fantastic drinks. You could also swing by South Kitchen. Super cool atmosphere and they make great drinks as well. If you’re wanting to try several beers for cheap, go to Terrapin. It is $15ish for 6 pours (they are GENEROUS) and you get a glass. On our trip we had originally planned for Cali and Titos on the Eastside. I would highly recommend going there. Their sandwiches and drinks are just as good as the atmosphere, which is top notch. Understandably, it was quite a long wait, so we called an audible and went to Taste of India. I love Indian food and this one doesn’t miss. I am not sure the name of it, but the cauliflower appetizer will blow your mind. And you can never go wrong with Chicken Tikka Masala. For a post dinner drink, it is hard to beat Bar Bruno. It is a cozy little spot with a fantastic offering of Italian wine and cocktails. It also has another atmosphere that is top notch. Writing this made me realize how well Athens bars and restaurants do atmosphere. For a fairly small place, there are some incredible and unique bars and restaurants. Just beware of the “fans” that will bark at you…GO VOLS!!!

    PS. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I still don’t feel comfortable being that person taking pictures of their food.

  • Eat Around Knoxville

    I am going to do a brief series where I talk about my perfect day of eating and drinking in a few of the cities that I have spent a considerable amount of time in. We’ll start out with my current place of living, Knoxville.

    Breakfast sandwiches is something that I have found lacking in Knoxville. KBrew has a pretty decent bagel, but it is nothing mind blowing. I do prefer a savory breakfast, but because of the lack of options, I am going to recommend a sweeter stop. So first, you are going to head down North Central Street to WildLove Bakehouse. Their pastries are second to none. I prefer their apple morning bun or their citrus loaf cake. Grab one (or both) of those to go. About 3 minutes away is Partial, take your pastry there and order their drip. They rotate roasters that Shay personally picks. All are fantastic. Their latte’s are also delicious, made with homemade syrups. For lunch, we are going to head over to Bearden and stop by Holy Land Deli. Get the corned beef Reuben and fries. You will absolutely not regret it. If you would like an afternoon latte, you can head back to Partial or give Awaken in the Old City a try. It’s a super cool spot, and their strawberry latte (it either the Born in the USA or Rockin in the USA, I cant be sure) is my go to. Get dressed up and head down to the Vault on Gay Street. This is a swanky bar that is inside of an old bank vault. Their cocktails are perfection, and if you are a bourbon aficionado, they have one of the best selections in the city. This includes both allocated bottles and single barrel picks they have done. Dinner was my toughest choice as I have a couple of favorites. If you are really looking to ball out, walk over to JC Holdway from the Vault. You are going to experience the best customer service this side of Chick-fil-A. They update their menu seasonally I believe, but your server will not steer you wrong. The other option I would give you is Kaizen in the Old City. Follow them on Instagram to see their daily specials which all look so dang good. The Wagyu fried rice is my favorite. After dinner, we’re going to head back to the Old City and hit up Monkey’s Bar. If you are lucky, Monkey will be there. Monkey is the most adorable Golden Retriever. They update their cocktail menu seasonally, and you can never go wrong with one of their old fashioneds. For dessert, you may have to stand in line, but Cruze Farm soft serve will be worth it. I think some flavors change daily. You can get two flavors swirled. It is the best soft serve you will ever eat, so grab you a pint to go on the way out. I hope you enjoy this day in Knoxville. If you’re buying, come on up and we can go to any of those you’d like!

    Kaizen Wagyu Fried Rice

    Holy Land Reuben

    Partial’s 1st Birthday Affogato

  • Beard Brothers Coffee Review

    I visited a new coffee shop today; it is actually my second time but I ordered wrong and didn’t hang out the first time. Today I am at Beard Brothers Coffee in Maryville, TN. I had heard great things about them from a friend, so today I finally checked it out. When you walk in, it has the looks of an antique hunting cabin. The furniture is all antique, there are old pictures on the wall, taxidermy deer, and an assortment of other antiques. It is such a unique but also very welcoming atmosphere. The atmosphere feels especially warm as there is still snow on the ground. It truly looks like a place where you could just walk out back and roast marshmallow.

    Now the coffee. With an atmosphere like this, I would come back even if the coffee wasn’t my favorite. Did not have to worry about that though. They have an assortment of coffee and tea options with some very unique lattes. My first drink here was a Mexican Mocha which was basically a mocha with cayenne. I don’t like spicy drinks so that was on me but I panic ordered. Happens to the best of us. Today I got a black coffee. They had two roasts, a light and a medium. The barista had to brew the medium which he said was his favorite, but patients isn’t a strong suit of mine so I went with the light roast. This is the one my friend told me about anyway, so I was glad to get to try it. Holy mackerel it is delicious. I am not super good with tasting notes but I will give it the ole college try. The initial note is your typical coffee note, just that tad bit of coffee bitterness, not off putting at all. The coffee finishes with this delicious dark Hershey chocolate note that just makes me want to keep drinking it, which I will do because as I always do, I ordered too large of a drink. Hello jitters!! I’m going to come up with my rating system right now (subject to change):

    I am going to give the Atmosphere 4.85 chomps out of 5.

    I am going give the coffee 4.5 chomps.  

    That leaves Beard Brothers with a 4.68 chomps out of 5.

    I highly recommend it if you are in the Maryville area.

  • Coffee Shop Chronicles

    Coffee shops have food too so we’re going to include them on chow with chaz. Coffee shops are some of my favorite places on earth. My love story with coffee started like most…I thought it was gross. I would try my mom’s and hated it!! Eventually I matured, some would argue that, but I had my first 8 am class in college. For some reason, these were so much more difficult to wake up for than being at school by 7:45 my entire life. Anywho, I figured it was time to try that awful beverage. So I dove right in with the most intense coffee you can find, a white chocolate mocha. Holy moses this was delicious. As of writing this, it has probably been over a decade since I had one. I eventually started drinking it with cream and sugar and finally evolved into feeling as cool as possible…”room for cream and sugar?” “no thanks.”

    In college, I would do all of my schoolwork (which if you knew me, wasn’t as much as it should have been) at Milledgeville Starbucks. During grad school, hours a day were spent there. I spent much of my twenties still being drawn to Starbucks. As I developed a love for different roasts from places all over the world. This led me to trying various coffee shops around Athens and new ones whenever I visited a new city. I developed an infatuation for these places. The variety of beans matched the varieties of coffee shops there are out there. My Sunday afternoons in Athens, were always spent at one of the many coffee shops. Sometimes the local chain of Jittery Joes (caremello and spiced dirty chais!), 1000 Faces or Choco Pronto which still roast some of my favorite coffee I have ever had to Local which had the largest variety of coffee of any place I had been. It wasn’t necessarily the coffee that drew me to these places though, it was the places and the atmosphere. Anytime you walk into a place and hear “the usual?” it just makes you feel at home.

    It may seem crazy, but one of my biggest worries when I was moving from Athens to Knoxville was leaving behind those places that had grown very dear to me. I was quite worried that I wouldn’t find that in Knoxville. Again, I totally understand if that is bizarre to you, but these were my sanctuary’s. If you’re reading this, then you can probably figure out that I love to write. (You’ll see at the end that I just paused right there to take a picture for the blog…from the coffee shop in which I am writing). Theres a 98% chance that any blog of mine that you have read was written from one of these shops. If you have received a text from me just checking in, its probably because I was sitting in a coffee shop just reflecting on life. To me, these places truly become a home away from home. Back to those worries, as you could probably guess from the picture and words above, I have found those places in Knoxville. I don’t get “the usual” question but I do get “oh you’re changing it up today” or “Chaz with 1 Z”

    As I searched for my footing in this new city, Partial has become that place in the city that feels like home. At this point, I can safely say that I have been to A LOT of coffee shops, and I can also safely say this is my favorite. The shop opened not longer after I moved here. Kelsi and I tried it a few times but would go to others as well. I still venture out from time to time, Wild Love Bakehouse has incredible pastries to go with their coffee, KBrew is my Knoxville version of Jittery Joes, Seed has my favorite fancy coffee (what I call anything outside of just regular coffee) in their PB&J shaken espresso, Commonplace which is in an old bank and that makes for a really cool atmosphere, and several others throughout the city that offer tremendous drinks as well as environments. Partial is something different though. Shay and Murph have created a shop like no other. Everyone who walks in feels like family. Kelsi jokes that its our Cheers. It really does feel that way.

    That was a lot of words. If you read them all, God Bless You. I hope you find your place where everybody knows your name. New cities and life changes can be hard, but they can also be incredible. I hope yours are incredible.

  • Top 5 for 2024

    Best Restaurants I Ate at in 2024

    Starting a food blog with my inability to spell restaurants is a choice. Took multiple changes before spellcheck could even help. Anywho, I am going to attempt to rank the five best places I ate last year.

    1. Lockland Table (Nashville, TN) – It may be recency bias because I ate there most recently but holy moses was it delicious. We had somewhat late reservations but got the last order of cheddar biscuits. Would’ve doubled up if they had more. These legit melted in your mouth. So delicious. I had read their pizza’s were delicious, but as the first time there, I had to do an entrée. Your boy had the wonderful idea to get the pizza as an app as there were four of us. Other than swiping right on Kelsi, this may have been the best decision I have ever made. We got the LT Pig. All of the pork goodness on a perfectly woodfired crust. It was the absolute perfect amount for the four of us to split. Pizza app for the win! For my entrée, I ordered the 12 oz bone in pork chop. Ill copy the menu listing for the rest of the dish…”TN smoked cheddar mac and cheese, local braised greens, maple / honey black pepper glaze, TN chow chow” It was large and I ate every single bit. The crust on the outside was perfect and the meat was the most succulent. 10 out of 10 would get again.
    2. J.C. Holdway (Knoxville, TN) – this was a celebration from that best decision I made. Kelsi and I celebrated our first anniversary at JC Holdway ( they definitely thought I meant wedding and gave us free dessert). I didn’t plan on starting a food blog and this was back in September so I do not remember everything we had. I do know they had a chicken gnocchi soup (Slow Cooked Farm Egg is the name on the menu), and it was the most magical chicken noodle soup you could ever had. Imagine your grandma is a James Beard award winning chef and she makes you chicken noodle soup with gnocchi instead of noodles…that’s what this tasted like. We also had some Benton’s Bacon Bolognese…I don’t remember enough adjectives to describe it but I do know I would get it again.
    3. Herb’s and Rye (Las Vegas, NV) This will get its own post at some point, probably after I go again in June. Kelsi and I went solely for the drinks. I had read that it was one of, if not the best bar in Las Vegas. They opened at 5 and it was first come first serve at the bar. We got there at about 4:45 and got a seat at the bar when they opened. This is when we found out that it was happy hour which was half off steak. WHAT?!!? We had plans to get dinner with my parents but we had to try a steak. We were basic (and I think it was the smallest) and got the filet. Yo!!!!!! SO many fire emojis. Absolutely delicious. Ill post more about the drinks later on. But they were also amazing.
    4. Esther’s Kitchen (Las Vegas, NV) Conversations at Herbs and Rye led us to this place in the Arts District. Sidenote, if you’re in Vegas, check out the Arts District. Such a different experience than the strip or downtown, and so freaking cool. We had lunch at Esther’s as that was the only reservation we could get that late.  I had a chicken parm sandwich, which is a go to for me. If it is on a menu, there is a really good chance I am getting it. This one was fried perfectly. The sauce had the right amount of tang and the mozzarella was divine. I will also be going back here in June and will report back.
    5. Holy Land (Knoxville, TN) I debated number 5. I definitely ate this one more than any other. It is one of my go to’s in Knoxville. It will also be getting it’s own post soon and this blog is already quite long, so I will keep this short. Fresh boiled corned beef daily makes an incredible Reuben, so get it.

    We’ll see where this blog goes, but for now that was my top 5 for 2024. If you have been to any, let me know! If you have recommendation’s for your city, shout them out. Will travel for food!!