Ford's Garage has opened its first Tennessee restaurant in Chattanooga, marking location No. 36 for the automotive-themed burger brand as it continues a franchise-driven push through the South, Midwest, and Northeast. The 8,000-square-foot unit seats approximately 250 guests at 2102 Hamilton Place Blvd., directly off I-75 near I-24 — a corridor that operators and franchisors consistently target for its dense retail traffic and strong out-of-state visitor draw.
The Franchise Operator
The Chattanooga location is owned and operated by TN Legends, a group of native Tennesseans with more than a century of combined restaurant and hospitality experience. Managing partner Ted Moats — a U.S. Navy veteran, Vanderbilt University graduate, and co-founder of Logan's Roadhouse — leads the partnership alongside James Blaylock, Scott Estes, and Swade Elliott, an 11-year Ford's Garage veteran. That operator profile matters: experienced multi-concept franchisees with deep regional ties and an existing understanding of the brand tend to compress the typical unit-level learning curve on labor, sourcing, and local marketing.
Menu and Concept Positioning
Ford's Garage is an Official Licensee of Ford Motor Company and roots its concept in a 1920s service station aesthetic — vintage décor, Ford memorabilia, and an energetic bar program built around local craft beer. The chef-driven menu centers on 1/2 lb. Certified Angus Beef burgers (including builds like the Estate Burger with smoked Gouda, truffle bacon aioli, and arugula on brioche), premium entrees such as Simply Grilled Salmon and Chicken Henry, and shareable appetizers including the branded Firestone Shrimp and Piston Onion Rings. Certified Angus Beef specifications signal a deliberate premium positioning that operators in the better-burger segment increasingly rely on to justify check averages against fast-casual competition.
What This Signals for Operators
Chattanooga's Hamilton Place trade area sits at the intersection of local household density and regional tourism — proximity to Lookout Mountain, Ruby Falls, and Rock City gives the unit a dual-revenue profile that single-market suburban locations rarely get. For franchisors and multi-unit operators evaluating Tennessee expansion, this opening provides a real-world proof point in a state that has seen accelerating full-service casual dining activity over the past several growth cycles.
From a brand-launch and franchise-development perspective, entering a new state with an experienced operator group — rather than a first-time franchisee — also reduces grand-opening execution risk and accelerates local media traction. Brands expanding across the South should note that Chattanooga's automotive industrial heritage, anchored by Volkswagen and supplier facilities nearby, aligns naturally with Ford's Garage's licensed brand identity in ways that generic trade-area analysis might underweight.
For operators benchmarking their own expansion sequencing, Ford's Garage's trajectory — 36 units across nine states since its 2012 Fort Myers, Fla. founding — reflects a disciplined regional rollout rather than a capital-heavy national land-grab. That pace, combined with strong franchisee profiles, is increasingly the model growth-stage emerging chains use to maintain unit-level economics while building brand equity. Operators and franchise buyers tracking the better-burger and experiential-dining segments should watch TN Legends' Chattanooga performance as a leading indicator of the brand's next Tennessee or Southeast commitments.
For more on franchise-driven brand expansion and operator intelligence from the Food & Beverage Magazine network, see our coverage of emerging brand launch strategy and multi-unit franchise operator trends.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
