Celebrating 10 Years in the Scenic City
The Scenic City. Gig City. Hill City. River City. No matter what you call it, Chattanoogans can all agree on one thing to call our beautiful city…
Home.
That’s what Puckett’s Restaurant has called Chattanooga for the past 10 years—home. We’re excited to celebrate this milestone with the community! Without you and your support, we wouldn’t have made it this far, and for that we say, “Thank you!”
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, though. We’re going to throw it back to 2015—when we first took the leap from Middle Tennessee to East Tennessee. At the time, we only had three Puckett’s locations: Franklin, Nashville, and Columbia. Our owner, Andy Marshall, had been eyeing Chattanooga as a possible location for several years:
“Chattanooga had been on our dream board for multiple years. It’s always been a special place for me and my family, so when the opportunity came to open a location here, we didn’t think twice about it.”
When TGI Friday’s at the Tennessee Aquarium plaza closed, Andy knew the time had come to expand outside of Middle Tennessee.
But why Chattanooga? What would drive the Marshalls to open a restaurant that specializes in Memphis-style BBQ and Southern comfort food two hours away from their home base in Franklin? The answer is multilayered. Andy said:
“Chattanooga has always been special to our family. When the kids were young, we’d do family vacations here. Then as they got older, we came here for soccer and track events. After opening our first Puckett’s in 1998, it just made sense that we’d eventually want to have a location here.”
Claire Crowell, President of A. Marshall Hospitality and Andy’s oldest daughter, said of the draw to Chattanooga:
“It’s the call of the mountains. I grew up coming to Chattanooga for various reasons—family fun, school sports, easy getaways from Nashville. We got to see the city start to grow and change, more independent places opening, and loved the culture that was developing.”
It was the combination of the right place, right time, and right people that helped the dream of a Puckett’s Restaurant in Chattanooga become a reality. Andy knew that opening a location away from Middle Tennessee would require a strong team, and he had two of the best people to help lead the charge—Max Stephenson and Cliff Marshall.
Max and Andy had worked together for over 10 years leading up to the Chattanooga opening. Max had worked in Franklin as a general manager and helped open the Nashville location alongside Claire (who served as the general manager for several years). Andy knew it would be a big ask to have Max move to Chattanooga, manage the store, and help it succeed. Thankfully, Max was on board and ready for the adventure.
The other piece of the puzzle was Cliff, Andy’s son. Cliff, like his family, loved Chattanooga and was eager to be in the city. Even though he was only with the Chattanooga team for a couple of short years, he helped bring the family touch to the restaurant.
Cliff and Max moved on to their next ventures as Puckett’s continued to grow and gain a stronger footing in the Chattanooga area. A key piece of the continued success of Puckett’s over these 10 years comes from the support of the community. Partnerships with local organizations and businesses have helped build Puckett's legacy. Whether it’s a nurses’ appreciation breakfast, Puckett’s Love summer meal program, competing in the annual Margarita Festival, hosting recruit dinners for UTC, running a concession stand at CFC games, or donating to a charity fundraiser, Puckett’s Chattanooga continues to find ways to put the community first and show appreciation to the wonderful people of this city.
Through it all—a global pandemic, parking rate increases, construction galore—Chattanoogans have supported Puckett’s, and Puckett’s has supported Chattanoogans.
As the month of September continues to march on, Puckett’s is excited to keep celebrating our community. By working with some of our longstanding partners—Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga, Northside Neighborhood House, Greater Chattanooga Hospitality Association, Rock City, Ruby Falls, and the Tennessee Aquarium—we’re excited to bring you a new dessert, new drink specials, family-friendly events, giveaways, and more! Stop in and join the celebrations. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Here’s to you, Scenic City—may you bless us with another 10 years, and more!
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Written by: Graci Burnett
Marketing Manager, A. Marshall Hospitality
Graci has been part of the AMH family since 2015, and when she’s not keeping the marketing train chugging along, you might find her out on a hike soaking in mountain views, cheering on the Vols (GBO!), catching a live music festival or spending time with her family.