First, a word about our past. When we opened Flying Squirrel in 2013, downtown was something of a food-and-beverage wild west, and we felt free to do any concept we wanted. So, we opened the place we craved, but couldn’t find in Chattanooga: adventurous, fun share plates, mostly French and East Asian influence, in a sexy but super-laid-back atmosphere. We riffed off this vision for ten years while the neighborhood grew up around us.

Lately, we’ve had a powerful itch to evolve, and shake things up. We’ve been searching for the essence, the purest distillation of this concept we’ve been exploring all these years. What do we really want?

The answer, it turns out, is simple. We want Chinese food. And tiki drinks.

We are intoxicated by the flavors and the long, bizarrely intertwined histories of American Chinese food and tiki cocktails, and we’re going to dive all the way in. We intend to do justice to the cuisine, and show respect to our guests by using quality ingredients, as we always have.

This is a major change that warrants a fresh start. We will be permanently closing Flying Squirrel after service on Sunday, November 5th. Some time later, we’ll reopen our doors as a completely new concept.

Goodbye, Flying Squirrel. It’s been so real. We can’t wait for you to meet Ernest Chinese (@ernestchinesechatt).

If you didn’t know Big Ern, he was the resident cat at our sister business, The Crash Pad, from its opening in 2011 into the early days of the Squirrel. He was a true character, a fixture on the patio, and the unofficial mascot of both businesses for years. His six-toed legacy lives on.

This will be bittersweet for lots of folks. We expect feedback, and we hope it’s constructive. We’re real people making real decisions and following our hearts. We may be crazy, but we’re determined never to be bored. And we’re really psyched about what’s next.

To all the staff and guests over the last ten years, we can’t thank you enough.

Love,
Dan and Max