What's New in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Getting Around, Development, & More

The Bend

The Bend, formerly home to iron and steel mills, is Chattanooga’s next great experience. The industrial site will be transformed into a vibrant community that blends commercial and residential space with entertainment and green spaces anchored by the bend in the Tennessee River. (Phase 1 Opens 2023) 

Chattanooga Airport

Chattanooga Airport  has improved its consumer experience by adding a new parking garage accommodating 1,300 more vehicles and all rental car activities and launched the CHA Art Space exhibit featuring the artwork of 18 different local and regional artists. In Summer 2022, the airport expanded its service with a nonstop route to Miami and began its $28 million expansion to add new gates, enlarge the security checkpoint, and bolster new and improved amenities for travelers to be complete in 2024. (2021-2024) 

South Broad Street District

South Broad Street District is set for a new live-work-play area. The 140-acre site will become a dynamic, new development for Chattanooga, with a new multi-use stadium to house the Chattanooga Lookouts, with supporting shops and restaurants, multi-family residential buildings, class-A office space, and public recreation areas. (Opens 2025)  

Retail

Chattanooga Electric Bike Co | Good Kinsmen | The Local Dive Retail | The Mustard Seed | Scenic City Wine | Twenty Two | Ugly Duck Vintage | Vagabond Barber Co. (Opens Spring 2023) | I Go Tokyo Boutique (New Location (Opens Spring 2023)

Neighborhoods

Northshore District (Includes Frazier Ave., 2 North Shore, Riverview) 

Food & Drink 

Albatross Golf Sim & Bar | Be Caffeinated | Big Bad Breakfast (Opens Spring 2023) | Chattanooga Seafood Co. | Cherry Street Brewing | Frazier Five & Dime | Co-op Frosé & Eatery | La Santa Mexican | Real Roots Café | Rosecomb Bar | Squirrel Rabbit Coffee Bar & Creamery | Zaya 1943 Korean Steakhouse  

Experiences 

ChattaScooter Art Tour, by Adventure Sports Innovation, utilizes electric scooters and bikes for transportation, while showing off a variety of Chattanooga’s public art displays in NorthShore, Downtown, MLK, and the Southside.  The 90-minute tour will stop at over a dozen works and highlight some of the innovative art created throughout the city, including the Faces of Frazier, Driftwood Horse, Ed Johnson Memorial, and more.  

Downtown District (Includes Riverfront, West Village, City Center) 

Food & Drink 

Attack of the Tatsu | 423 Taco | Agave & Rye | Burger Republic | Cherry Street Tavern | Culture Coffee | Dawn Cafe (inside Bode Chattanooga) | Dusk Bar (inside Bode Chattanooga) | Fonda San Jose Mexican Restaurant | Goodfellas Pizzeria | JMac’s Wine Bar | No Hard Feelings | Real Good Smokehouse | Six18 Restaurant and Lounge | Sleepyhead Coffee | Spice Trail | Up Down Coffee Bar | Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux | Wooden City

Experiences 

• Creative Discovery Museum opened its newly renovated exhibit, the TN Riverplay, in Spring 2022, which features multiple water tables, a towboat, enhancements to the three-story climbing structure, and more with a focus on Tennessee geography. In November 2022, the museum announced the opening of its new STEM Zone that focuses on creating opportunities for children to engage with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math through play. The STEM Zone gallery includes four zones: Make It Zone, Robotics Zone, Build and Test Zone, and Energy Zone. Little FarmHouse exhibit opens February 2023. 
• Tennessee Riverwalk completed its 25-mile loop connecting the city of Chattanooga from the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway to the lower Incline Railway station in St. Elmo.
• Tivoli Theatre will undergo a major renovation and expansion to turn the theatre into a performing arts center. The Tivoli Center, next door to the theatre, was acquired and will add space for more bathrooms, ADA access, and space for educational opportunities. (Opens 2023)
• Immersion Gallery, deemed one part gallery, one part theater, and one part funhouse, is a new art venue concept in Downtown Chattanooga. The concept sprung from the mind of local artist, Kevin Bate, and offers an immersive experience with interconnected, ever-changing rooms. Temporary Exhibits:

Temporary Exhibits:

• Creative Discovery Museum – Doc McStuffins: The Exhibit | Jan. 14-May 7  
• Hunter Museum of American Art - Beauford Delaney’s Metamorphosis into Freedom and Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe | Jan. 26-May 1 

Southside District (Includes Station St., Main St., Chattanooga Choo Choo) 

Food & Drink 

Amada's Tapas & Wine | Boneyard Bar | Dilemma Bar | Exile off Main Street | Flaming Rooster | Fountainhead Taproom  | Hello Monty | Mac’s Kitchen & Bar (Opens 2023) | Honey Seed | Kai Bistro (Opens 2023) | Number Ten Chattanooga  | Pizza Bros  | Shady's Corner (Opens 2023) | TailGate Brewery | Whiskey Cowgirl

Experiences 

• Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel and gardens are currently undergoing a $10+ million restoration. The renovations will feature 102 hotel rooms in the original building and 25 Pullman train car rooms. (Opens 2023)
• The Barrel House Ballroom is now open in the previous Market South food hall location. Half of the building underwent renovations to offer a 500-person indoor music venue with a balcony to host local and regional artists.  The adjacent Five Wits Brewing has been renamed to Five Wits Table and Tap to offer bar favorites for lunch and dinner, with Egg Man Bagelry featuring New York-style bagels and a full coffee operation for breakfast
• The Signal, a live music and event space, will move from its current location on Chestnut St. to the former Chattanooga Choo Choo Convention Center on the Chattanooga Choo Choo grounds. The 20,000 sq foot space will be renovated to feature a state-of-the-art concert hall and an event venue that can be utilized simultaneously or in conjunction together. (Opens April 2023) 

MLK DISTRICT (Includes MLK St., UTC area) 

Food & Drink 

The Big 9 Street Food | The Livingstone | The Greenhouse Barrel + Taproom | ODDStory Brewing Co. (New Location) | Peach Cobbler Factory | Calliope at PROOF, A Bar + Incubator | The Lantern Coffee Co. | Slim & Husky’s Pizza

Experiences 

• Bessie Smith Cultural Center completed renovations and reopened to the public in June 2021 with new exhibits incorporating technology, interactive kiosks, and a children’s education corner to allow visitors to experience the center like never before. The museum’s newest exhibit “Chattanooga’s Black Soundtrack” exhibit is now open and highlights local artists, like Kane Brown and The Impressions.

Outlying Areas (Including Hamilton Place, Lookout Mountain, East Ridge, Hixson, and more) 

Food & Drink 

7 Brew | Apna Kitchen | Blaze Pizza (Opens 2023) | Big Bad Breakfast, Pittsburg (Opens 2023) | Big Chicken (Multiple Locations; Opens 2023) | BUNZ Chattanooga Food Truck (Opens 2023) | Clever Ale House | Coqui | The Creag at McLemore  | Flora De Mel | Georgi’s Pizzeria | Giardino’s Italian Restaurant | Goodman Coffee Roasters | Irie Jamaican Cuisine | Little Coyote (Opens 2023) | Monkey Town Brewing Company | Neighbor | Osaka Sushi and Steakhouse | Oscar’s Frozen Bananas | Pizza Bros, East Ridge | Santi’s Mexican Grill and Sports Bar | Scooter’s Coffee | Spanglish Modern Mexican | Taco Mamacita, Hamilton Place (Opens 2023) | Uncle Larry's Restaurant, East Brainerd | Volcano Korean BBQ

Experiences   

• The Lodge at Fall Creek Falls State Park is an 85-room hotel just one hour from Chattanooga, featuring conference space and a full-service restaurant. The lodge sits on one of Tennessee’s largest and most visited state parks encompassing more than 29,800 acres on the Cumberland Plateau and 56 miles of trails to be explored. 
• Lodge Museum of Cast Iron is a destination for folds who love all-things cast iron and learning about America’s original cookware. The museum takes visitors through the history 
  of this incredible cookware, how it’s made, and what it means to food culture.   
• Ruby Falls opens a new café in the attraction’s historic castle. The creation of the café involved restoring the first floor of the castle to reveal the original sizable limestone fireplace anchoring the northwest interior wall. The Castle Café is now open and offers seasonal options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and lighter fare along with iced and hot coffee, rotating selection of craft beer, and hard seltzer on eight taps from Chattanooga craft breweries.
• Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum offers the Homefront Tea Room, A Tea in the Depot Experience. Tickets include a 75-minute tea seating with a full high tea and menu choices from scones, macaroons, sandwich bites, and more and a 65-minute train ride along the Missionary Ridge to follow.
• TN Wine Train, a two-hour-dining excursion, celebrates the adventures of yesteryear as you wine and dine with a three-course dinner and selected wines by Advanced Sommelier, John McCune. 
• Urban Air is an indoor trampoline and adventure park with over 55,000-sqft park features a suspended ropes course, climbing walls, slam dunk zones, a warrior course, and more. 
• Woodcock Cove is 64 acres of protected undeveloped land with climbing on high-quality orange and tan sandstone. The remote property includes a mile of sandstone cliff line, from 30-90 feet tall, forest land, streams, important wildlife habitat, and outstanding scenic views. 

Accommodations

Accommodations

Now Open 

• Aloft by Marriott | Hamilton Place 
• Baymont by Wyndham | East Ridge  
• Chattanoogan Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton | Downtown District 
• Common House  No. 3 | Southside District
• Element by Westin | Hamilton Place 
• Hotel Bo, a Days Inn by Wyndham | Downtown District
• Kinley | Southside District
• Chattanooga  Marriott  Downtown  at the Convention Center | Downtown District
• TownePlace Suites | East Ridge
• TownePlace Suites | Hixson

Opening Soon 

• Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel | Southside District (Renovations to be completed by 2023) 
• Embassy Suites | Downtown District (Opens 2023) 
• Caption by Hyatt | Southside District (Opens 2024)
• Home2 Suites by Hilton Hotel | East Ridge (Opens 2024)  
• La Quinta Inn & Suites Downtown | Downtown District (Opens 2023) 
• McLemore Resort by Hilton Curio Collection | Lookout Mountain (Opens 2024) 
• Tapestry Collection by Hilton | Downtown District (Renovations to historic building, Opens 2023)
• Treetop Hideaway | Lookout Mountain at Ruby Falls (Opens Spring 2023)

New Events

Los Trompos

Rock the Riverfront presents Los Trompos, an installation that draws its inspiration from spinning tops. The installation will feature eight “larger-than-life,” three-dimensional, woven spinning tops that come in a variety of shapes and colors. Functioning as both artwork + rotating platforms, the installation will serve as a gathering place for relaxation, social interaction, and plenty of entertainment. (Open March 17-April 16, 2023)  

Significant Anniversaries

Ruby Falls - 95th Anniversary of the discovery of the falls on Dec. 30, 2023