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Candice Neal has no problem eating lunch alone. But it would be weird to eat brunch alone, the Chattanooga-area realtor says.
When wintertime comes around and she's itching to get out of the house, Neal says she wants to have a group to meet up with over brunch. When she first moved to town after college, Neal built her social connections by hanging out with a brunch group that would meet every other weekend.
To Neal, brunch is about "camaraderie, making friends and catching up." Her husband did not want to brunch with her, Neal says with a laugh, so she decided to create the Chattanooga Brunch Club Facebook page in the fall of 2023 to find locals looking to explore the many brunch restaurants in town.
Since its establishment, the group went from a handful of people Neal knew to over 200 members from various neighborhoods and of all ages -- from post-college to retirement. In her work as a realtor, Neal often meets new Chattanooga residents looking to meet people, so she's able to parlay her professional network into her brunch bunch.
Neal hosted a brunch in January at Stir, where Neal and her friends were able to meet a few new people. The group then took a pause, but after school was back in session in August, Neal worked to revitalize the club.
Despite a lower-than-usual turnout at that August brunch, the addition of hundreds of new members throughout the year leaves Neal hopeful that attendance will increase as the meetings become more regular. Moving forward, she'd like to host one weekday brunch and one weekend brunch per month, which would allow for people who have kids in school to meet up during the week, while also giving people who only have free time on the weekend the chance to meet then. Neal has her members vote on possible dates and brainstorm locations for each meeting.
Brooklyn Ayers, Neal's sister-in-law, has driven over an hour from the Blue Ridge-Ellijay, Georgia, area to attend the brunch club. She feels that setting aside time to go to brunch and connect with people is appealing because it allows time to recharge.
"It's fun to go have brunch, meet new people, talk, have girl time and try new places," Ayers says.
Although many women have joined the club, Neal says "this isn't gonna be just a girls-only thing because guys like brunch, too."
Neal works to vary the location for each brunch so that people traveling from different neighborhoods can have the chance to eat closer to home. While the previous brunch was in downtown Chattanooga at Stir, the more recent meetup took place at Ooltewah's Mountain Oaks Manor (as a Bridgerton fan, Neal was inspired to do a tea party at that locale).
Megan Swisher is a friend of Neal's and is also part of the brunch club. Her son goes to school with Neal's son, and the boys have been friends since pre-K.
Swisher says it's hard to make friends as an adult, whether you work full-time, stay at home with kids or do a combination of both.
"Doing something like this, being able to meet new people and network is great," she says. "It's hard to meet new people as a grown-up."
Swisher went to the January meetup and spoke with a few women she hadn't met before and says she hopes to reconnect with them at future brunches. Brunch, she says, offers a hangout with less pressure than having to dress up and go to drinks or dinner. Nighttime meetups also cause issues with finding childcare.
She likes how brunch feels casual and less intimidating, and her husband is home during weekend brunch hours so she doesn't have to worry about finding someone to watch the kids.
To join the Chattanooga Brunch Club, find the page on Facebook, enter your favorite local brunch spot in the questionnaire and you're in! Neal is looking to find a brunch co-host to help her manage the group, so any Chattanoogans interested in setting up brunch club meetings can let her know on Facebook.
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