Pat’s Place: Good Southern food on Lookout Mountain

What would Pat Greene order if she were a customer at her Lookout Mountain restaurant?

“I think I’d have a pork chop, green beans, mashed potatoes and fried squash,” she says. And for dessert? “Fried blueberry pie with ice cream. Then a cup of coffee.”

Mouthwatering? You might want to head over to Pat’s Place at the corner of state highways 136 and 189. The eatery features old-fashioned Southern cooking and an atmosphere to match. You can order a meat and three sides and top it off with a variety of homemade pies and other desserts. Or you might like some smoked wings, BBQ or a Cowboy Rib Eye. There’s plenty to choose from.

This is Greene’s second restaurant. She took a break from the food business eight years ago when her husband passed away.

But life has taken some new turns for Pat Greene. She met a special man and remarried last December, on Christmas day, and she opened her restaurant in March of this year.

“I didn’t think I’d ever marry again,” says Greene. “But God sprinkled awesome dust on Bruce Greene and dropped him into my presence.”

Greene says her husband is her sidekick, her mentor, her conversation partner, and even helps out with repairs and with the register at the restaurant when he’s not at his own job with Mayfield Dairy. “He’s totally supportive of everything I do.”

Greene’s mother-in-law, Lynne Hadvisjack, is also a blessing in her life and helps at the restaurant on weekends.

The former Pat’s General Store and Diner was known for its pies. “I had a group of cavers that used to come in, and they bought my pies to raffle off at their grotto meetings — sometimes 30 or 40 pies at a time,” says Greene.

Those same pies are available at the new Pat’s Place, along with a lot of other feel- and taste-good food. “Friday nights are catfish night,” says Greene. Two specialties are its “Buckyback” BBQ and ribs.

There’s room inside Pat’s Place for 75 customers to enjoy meals. Folks can also order family packs to go, and the restaurant’s 10 employees can cater any size event.

The first Saturday of every month is Pickers Night, when anyone who plays an instrument is invited to come jam for their and the clientele's enjoyment of the clientele. All other Saturdays are open-mic karaoke nights.