
On the drive to Innside Restaurant in Chattanooga
The cop was beating so hard on the window of my Econoline I was afraid he was going to shatter the glass. It was the middle of the night, pounding rain, and I was in a small, forgotten town an hour south of Knoxville, Tennessee.
It was the day after Hank Williams died.
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The nondescript exterior of Innside Restaurant in Chattanooga belies what awaits
I was planning on heading home to Texas anyway so I bumped my departure up by a day and hit Knoxville for an afternoon of eating fried baloney sandwiches, and drinking sweet tea in the old Mechanicsville neighborhood.
Hank III’s a deep cat, and I knew he wasn’t going to let the anniversary of his grandpappy’s passing get by without pulling out a heavy set of old Hank numbers.

Innside Restaurant 800 Chestnut St, Chattanooga, TN 37402
I found a gas station a few minutes east of the Interstate and had just drifted off when the lawman showed up with his nightstick. Later when I told my daddy what happened he said I was lucky. When he was a young buck, the police would routinely cave the heads in on longhaired, van-driving ruffians.
Back on the highway.

A hamburger rests on the antique griddle at Innside Restaurant in Chattanooga
They do.
I’m hunkered down at the horseshoe-shaped bar reading the Chattanooga Times Free Press when the strippers walk in. They’re raising a ruckus, flush with cash and ready to eat like starving farmhands. Innside’s a good place to do that.

The meat and three game at Innside Restaurant in Chattanooga is strong
15 years later I’m back.
I was at loose ends in New Orleans and decided some Fall color would do me good so I headed to my uncle’s place in rural Knox County, Kentucky. After a week of soaking in the foliage it was time to head home so I wheeled up onto I-75 and pointed south toward Chattanooga three hours away.
Not much has changed at Innside.

Contact Innside Restaurant at (423) 266-7687
How’s the food? I ask after a bacon cheeseburger and whether or not they cut the fries in-house. Most restaurants just bring in frozen bags of potatoes these days and Innside is no different. The burger comes smoking hot off the antique griddle and it’s a good one. A half pound or so of beef has benefited greatly from time on the old-timey flat top. Unfortunately the bun was just pulled from a bag and straight-dressed without being griddled.
Service is fine. The waitress checks after me periodically to fill up my sweet tea and make small talk. The afternoon sun is casting in on the faded old dining room giving a pleasingly mellow glow to the diner.

A roadfood favorite: Innside Restaurant in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee
Innside Restaurant
800 Chestnut St
Chattanooga, Tennessee
37402
telephone
(423) 266-7687
Love your article here, from A few years back. I’m a local and have dined at the Inside many times. One endearing feature is that the atmosphere—and the food hardly ever changes. They still have the early Seventies schtick decor. A true piece of Americana. Good to see another Hank fan too!
Innside is great. Glad to find another fan of the old joint.