With Bar Addition Completed, Canyon Grill Is Ready To Serve Alcohol

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Now that Canyon Grill has completed the addition of its new bar, it will be the first restaurant in Dade County outside of the Trenton City limits to serve liquor. Before adding liquor and cocktails, however, the team is focusing on beer and wine.

In addition to some interior renovations, Canyon Grill updated the restaurant’s back room by adding the bar, bar seating, and tall two-person tables for a relaxed setting that includes the regular full service menu offerings but also allows the restaurant to serve alcoholic beverages throughout the restaurant.

The restaurant’s owners, Johnny and Jessica Holland, explained that the staff completed training and will be starting out by serving beer and wine. Jessica said, “The majority of our staff has never served alcohol before, so we wanted them to get their feet wet with beer and wine before adding the cocktails. Some of the staff has experience serving alcohol, and we have a very knowledgeable bar manager who came from St. John’s.”

With the added drink offerings comes more responsibility for the restaurant and staff, hence the training. All employees who serve alcohol must go through background checks and pass a test.

This update at the restaurant stems back to May 2024 (and before) when the Dade County Board of Commissioners updated some of the county’s alcohol ordinances. Under the old ordinances, only restaurants within two-miles of an interstate exit could serve liquor, limiting these establishments to the Rising Fawn, Trenton, Slygo, and 299 exits.

The commission took into consideration the inequality among local businesses that this ordinance created and decided it was time to make a change.

The Hollands said, “We know many of our guests have enjoyed the BYOB program since it was established in 1996, as we have also, but we felt that this was necessary to provide something new and fresh to our community. We’d like to thank the Dade County Commission and alcohol board for allowing us to have this new opportunity. We’d also like to thank several local business owners and entrepreneurs who showed us support during the process.”

December 2024 was also an exciting month for the restaurant when it won CityScope Magazine’s Best Overall Restaurant award. Canyon Grill enjoyed the little bit of extra love and exposure through the Chattanooga magazine’s Reader’s Choice Annual Dining Awards.

The Hollands are eager for their guests to enjoy the new offerings and updated look soon. “To our guests, we want to thank each and every one of you. We appreciate the excitement and kind words you have shown us during this whole process. We continue to ask for patience and grace as we navigate this new process, and we’re excited to share this with all of you!”