Authored By chloe.morrison

After more than two decades, downtown’s 212 Market is now closed.

“We are very proud of what we’ve done,” owner and manager Sally Moses said Monday morning. “We feel like we’ve been a part of Chattanooga’s rebirth … [but] it’s exciting to think of somebody who might have new ideas.”

She also said that family changes played a part in the decision to close.

The Moses family is now putting the building up for lease or sale, Sally said.

This year, Mayor Andy Berke declared Feb. 12 as 212 Market Day in honor of the local restaurant that opened 25 years ago.

In February 1992, when 212 Market opened its doors, the opening of the Tennessee Aquarium was still months away and the surrounding area was devoid of the hotels and shops people are used to today.

Critics claimed that the restaurant would be too fancy for a “steak-and-potatoes” kind of town, but a line formed down the street opening night, according to a news release.

“Downtown Chattanooga is what it is today because people in our community took bold risks, and 212 Market was a bold move that everyone has thoroughly enjoyed over the last 25 years,” Kim White, president and CEO of River City Co., said in a prepared statement when the business turned 25.

The family put a statement about the closure on the business’ website.

Click here for a Date Night Dining review of 212 Market and here for an article about the business when “Tennessee Crossroads” featured it.