212 Market Restaurant

At 212, we offer you the warmth and comfort of traditional southern hospitality, combined with a world-class culinary experience. Choose from our award-winning wine list and heavenly dessert tray to complete your experience. We also feature a brunch menu Saturdays & Sundays and live music on selected days. In 1989, when sisters Sally and Susan Moses and their mother Maggie decided to open a restaurant featuring local foods in downtown Chattanooga, their friends thought they were nuts. Although money had been raised for building of the Tennessee Aquarium, not a single private investor had stepped forward to create any new businesses downtown, which consisted mainly of abandoned warehouses and was deserted at night. There were no other businesses in the area except for a tire shop, and there was no parking. Furthermore, doubters suggested that the locals would never eat anything fancier than steak and baked potatoes. Opening the restaurant took three years. The site, a one-time Studebaker dealership, had to be rezoned from industrial to retail and required extensive remediation to clean up contamination from buried gas tanks. Finally, in February 1992, 212 Market opened its doors and became an immediate success, setting a new standard for excellence in the local restaurant business and serving exceptional food that has continued to draw crowds of Chattanoogans and tourists alike for two decades.