May 12, 2011-Armando's Chester Frost

So, this was the night that I realized that, aside from a Lean Cuisine that I ate alone on my couch one night before logging in for my online class, every meal that I had eaten for a solid week (aside from my yogurt or smoothie breakfasts) had been from a restaurant.  Even lunches had been leftovers.  I had offered to cook at my parents' house, but my mom didn't have anything specific planned to cook, so she suggested Armando's.  I love Armando's but I actually called her back and asked if she wanted to come to my house....I had all the ingredients to make spaghetti carbonara and thought for sure that I might implode if I ate one more restaurant meal.  Alas, she had already asked my brother to meet us....so on I went.

Armando's at Chester Frost Park has been around for years and years.  I can remember the first time I went there with a friend in elementary school.  My family lives in deep Soddy, so this wasn't somewhere we came (we were more JJ's type people....but JJ's doesn't exist anymore!).  Interestingly, Philip and I have lived in the Dallas Bay area for nine years now, and I think we have only gone to Armando's once.  Why?  Because it's hit or miss with the crowd.  You can go there and get your food immediately, or you can go there when they are packed out with a long line at their drive-thru and wait, wait, wait.  This is certainly not a bad reflection on them.  They must be doing something right!  We just aren't much on crowds or waiting (Philip especially).

This night, however, I don't know if we just got there at a good time or if we just got lucky, but there were maybe four or five tables taken in the restaurant (of course, it's tiny, so there are probably only about 10 tables altogether) and a car or two in the drive-thru.  We walked right up and ordered, and our food was out within 10 minutes.  My mom and I ordered a cheeseburger and fries to split, and my brother ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and tater tots.

Armando's food is your basic hamburger stand kind of food....burgers, fries, onion rings, tots, chicken sandwiches, grilled cheese, now salads, and so on.  I'm pretty sure they have milkshakes, too.  I loved that there was a note on their menu board that said something along the lines of: "Don't see what you want?  Ask us.  Maybe we can make it."  Now that's keeping the people happy!  It's family-owned, and there are several Armando's locations around the Chattanooga area but they are all owned by different people and have variations on their menus.

The cheeseburger that my mom and I split was huge and half was plenty for me.  It was just basic with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, pickle.  I, of course, took the onion off because raw onions are the worst in my opinion.  The fries....they are probably frozen, I don't know, but Armando's doesn't really claim to be 100% superfresh and I'm not judging.  They were hot and pretty tasty, although fries at places like that never seem salty enough to me so I always salt them a little.  I also ate a couple of tots out of my brother's basket, and they were pretty good too, although I'm really not so much of a tots kind of girl.  He felt like there was a little too much mayo on his grilled chicken sandwich, but I probably would have been fine with the amount of mayo.  That's just a personal preference kind of thing.

I really like the food at Armando's.  It's not likely that I'm ever going to become a regular due to the reasons stated above, but it's definitely a place to go to get a tasty burger or sandwich.  They don't have a website but you can find them at 7330 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343, for dine-in and drive-thru.  Call in your orders at 423-842-0479.