Ringgold’s Caffeine Addicts satisfies cravings of all kinds
Maybe it’s because I was born on Thanksgiving Day, but I love turkey. So once or twice a week, I find myself at Caffeine Addicts in Ringgold, Ga., ordering the turkey spinach lettuce wrap.
THE FOOD
As the name implies, Caffeine Addicts serves up an assortment of fresh-roasted coffees and specialty drinks, but there are plenty of sandwiches, salads, soups and desserts on the food menu.
You’ll find the basics at Caffeine Addicts, starting at $2.39 for a grilled cheese or PB&J and rising to $5.99 for a club sandwich. Between those price ranges are chicken salad, pimento cheese, tuna salad, egg salad, turkey, ham and roast beef. Your choice of breads includes croissants, onion rolls, hoagie buns and slices of white or wheat.
The turkey spinach wrap is one of three specials, alongside a small pizza topped with cheese, pepperoni, ham or bacon, and a pick-two with half a sandwich, cup of soup, small green salad or pasta salad among the options.
The dessert menu ranges from cookies to brownies to cupcakes, plus several Clumpies Ice Cream selections, including birthday cake ice cream, my favorite.
Caffeine Addicts serves
a large variety of homemade coffees that originate in Brazil, Ethiopia, Costa Rica and Guatemala, among other places. My favorite is the Colombian coffee, which I buy a pound of about once every other month. Packed in a pound-size red bag, the specialty coffee also makes a great gift.
My favorite drink to sip on at Caffeine Addicts is the hot chai tea with milk and cream on top. I also like the green tea freeze with whipped cream on top and the frozen peach lemonade.
My favorite meal is the turkey lettuce wrap served with a side of pasta salad. The wrap is stuffed with tender, flavorful turkey, rolled up with fresh tomatoes, lettuce and cheese. Don’t be put off by the spinach wrap. It’s green, but oh so good.
I always order the pasta salad as a side. It’s made with tri-color corkscrew pasta, with fresh tomatoes and black olives adding flavor.
Together, the wrap and side will fill you up just enough that you still have room for a brownie topped with a scoop of ice cream.
THE SPACE
Caffeine Addicts is inside the Ridley Building in downtown Ringgold’s historic district, within walking distance of the Catoosa County Courthouse and various businesses. It’s not uncommon to find Ringgold Art and Frame owner Raye Brooks at a table, or attorney McCracken Poston stopping in for soup or Judge Ralph Van Pelt ordering a turkey wrap.
Poston is actually the owner of the building, which old-timers will remember once housed Alvin Ridley’s television repair shop. Local history buffs may recall that Poston represented Ridley in a famous case in the late 1990s in which Ridley was acquitted in the death of his reclusive wife, Virginia.
The dining area has booths lining the wall on the right and a longer countertop perfect for typing stories or papers for school is to the left. Tables take up the middle of the space. In the front of the building is a meeting space for book clubs and Bible study groups.
The walls are filled with whimsical coffee art as well as Best of the Best awards that Caffeine Addicts has earned over the years as voted on by Chattanooga Times Free Press readers. Caffeine Addicts won first place for Best Coffee Shop in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016 and was a finalist in 2015.
THE SERVICE
Caffeine Addicts owner Jan Henry, baristas Jamie and Grace and the rest of the counter staff are always friendly, happy to make small talk and eager to bring more napkins or top off a drink. Even better for me is they sometimes have story ideas to share.
Orders are placed at the counter, and then one of the baristas will bring the food to the table. All of the workers seem to have mastered the art of service with a smile.
THE VERDICT
Caffeine Addicts is one of the best restaurants in Northwest Georgia to satisfy your hunger and sweet tooth at the same time.
But it’s not just the food and drink that keep me coming back. The people at Caffeine Addicts treat you like family, and that’s what I like best.