The Upper Bank Breathes New Life Into Old Catfish House

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Owning their own restaurant has been a dream of Lee and Ronna Whitehead for many years, and when Riverside Catfish House closed in 2022, they seized the opportunity to turn their dream into a reality. In May, their dream opened to the public in the form of The Upper Bank on Highway 41.

Whitehead (who was born and raised in Wildwood) began his restaurant career in high school. He explained, “I just kinda got into it, and I like people and love to eat. The Chili’s on Brainerd Road was my first job.” Although he tried his hand at other jobs, the restaurant business remained his favorite.

Whitehead moved to Logan’s Roadhouse where he worked alongside one of his classmates—Cal Haygood, the son of Lawton Haygood. Haygood was opening Canyon Grill on Lookout Mountain and recruited Whitehead who eventually became a kitchen manager. While kitchen manager, Whitehead trained the current owner of Canyon Grill, Johnny Holland.

Ronna (who grew up in New Salem) also worked at Canyon Grill with the front of house staff. She’s now been working for Cigna for over 20 years, and in the evenings, she heads over to The Upper Bank.

Over his years spent working for several family-owned restaurants, Whitehead worked his way up from line cook to chef, but he never attended culinary school. He learned a lot from the chefs he worked for, particularly Haygood who now owns Boathouse Rotisserie and Raw Bar, Sidetrack Restaurant, and Sugar’s Ribs.

Whitehead spent 18 years working for Aramark, providing food services at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. In this job, he gained experience with large events. The schedule allowed more family time than opening a restaurant would have, and Whitehead said, “It was worth it. Now that our kids are grown, we’re trying to do what we always wanted to do.”

Riverside Catfish House was started by Hattie Mae Massengale in the 1960s. She continued to expand the operation and ran it alongside her daughter for many years. After Massengale died, several other family members ran it for about five years before finally closing the beloved local spot.

Newspaper clippings detailing the restaurant’s history hang on the wall of The Upper Bank, with an ad touting an all-you-can-eat fried catfish special for just $5.

The Whiteheads bought the restaurant and the home next door in May 2022 and spent two years expanding the kitchen, rearranging, and remodeling. April 24 of this year was the soft opening before opening to the public in May.

The catfish house only had fryers, so Whitehead added a wood grill and sauté station. He wanted a hickory wood grill because of the unique flavor. He said, “The wood-burning grill tastes so good to me. That’s what I want to build around.” As luck would have it, a man (David Lyons) had the wood grill from Canyon Grill’s early years in storage—the very grill that Whitehead cooked on years ago.

To create the menu, Whitehead enlisted the help of his sister, Linda Davis, a culinary school graduate. They took inspiration from their favorite restaurants, including Haygood’s current operations. 

Whitehead said, “I learned a lot from Lawton: Keep it simple and good, and be consistent. We try to offer a good mix of vegetarian, vegan, and allergy sensitive options.”

Explaining how they chose flavor combinations, sauces, and seasonings, Whitehead said, “You just kinda get in the kitchen, cook it up, and keep tasting it. I think it’s about not over-seasoning and using good quality ingredients. I think that’s where people go wrong, buying cheap ingredients and over-seasoning, but you want to taste the quality of the meat or fish or vegetables.”

After using the first few weeks to nail down the basics, Whitehead now hopes to expand the menu. He explained, “Now that we can do a good job with the menu we’ve got, we’re wanting to add a lot more seafood. We’ll run weekly specials, like fresh scallops and soft-shell crab.”

His personal favorite dish is the Korean BBQ Glazed Chicken Thighs. He said, “It’s a simple dish but very flavorful. The thigh meat stays moist and picks up so much off that grill. We make the pickled vegetables in house.”

As for Ronna, she enjoys the Bread Pudding French Toast and Chicken Piccata. The piccata, Classic Seafood Cioppino (shrimp, fish, and mussels, sautéed with tomato, onion, garlic, parsley, and wine) and 14 Ounce Ribeye (made with roasted garlic butter) are among the commonly ordered items.

Even with no website, Google listing, or advertising in the first few weeks of opening, The Upper Bank drew a crowd through word of mouth. The Whiteheads focused on building the staff and producing quality dishes every time before adding a website.

However, Whitehead said, “It seems that we didn’t have to advertise. On Mother’s Day, we did 450 covers [dishes/customers served]. I think a lot of it comes from the old catfish house. People used to drive out here, and they want to see what it is now. They’re coming from places like Scottsboro, Stevenson, Soddy-Daisy, Trenton, and Fort O.”

Add to that the beautiful location and lack of Chattanooga traffic and parking fees, and Whitehead said, “I think we got a good thing going. You can get a good meal, enjoy a good view, and if you’d like a drink, we have a bar and are in the process of getting our liquor license. I think we can’t miss if we keep focusing on our food.”

The restaurant is hiring several more front of house and back of house positions. Building a staff has been a bit of a challenge, but Whitehead said, “We’ve been very fortunate with people around the area needing a job and willing to jump in and help. We’ve had friends work a shift here and there to help us out.”

Some of the staff have previous restaurant experience in Dade County, and Dade guests might also notice a large fish mural hanging in the north hallway. One of our local artists, Keeley Farmer, did the painting for the Whiteheads.

While Ronna gets to meet many of the guests, Whitehead is currently in the kitchen much of the time. He would like to have enough cooks so that he can spend more time meeting guests. “Whether it’s somebody complaining or someone telling you how good it is, you learn both ways,” he said. “We’ve met so many people around the Riverside area, and they’re so supportive. They want to see a small business in the area succeed.”

Part of the Whiteheads’ plan is to invest in employees and train up a team that can lead the restaurant when they’re away. “I want to invest in my people just like I invest in my food. I learned that at Canyon Grill,” Whitehead reflected. “When Lawton opened Canyon Grill, he went down to the Alabama truck stop that’d closed down, and he hired everybody there. He treated them well, they learned the process, and some of them are still there 30 years later.”

Noting that being small business owners is a financial challenge and demanding job, Whitehead said they knew what they were getting into. “I’ve worked for five different families and seen them do it. Three of them pretty much lived at their restaurants.” He anticipates being heavily involved in all of the operations for the next five years, but by training up managers, they will one day be able to take breaks and visit their grown children.

He described the ideal manager as “somebody you can trust, somebody you can invest in, and someone who wants quality and success just like you do.”

Other long-term goals include opening a general store next door. Whitehead said, “In the daytime, we could serve barbecue and deli sandwiches at the store, but that’s way down the road.”

Whitehead concluded, “Ronna and I always talked about opening our own restaurant, and this was the right time and opportunity. We got a couple of investors, and now our dream is coming true. It’s tough and it’s a lot of work, but it’s so rewarding.”