Blog for Zip line Attraction in the Smoky Mountains
Located in Pigeon Forge, TN and near Gatlinburg and Sevierville.
The Flavors Of The Smokies – Part Two
By Ross Bodhi Ogle
Posted on February 16, 2021
Last week, we talked about one of everybody's favorite subjects: food. Specifically, we talked about Southern cuisine and some of the restaurants in the Smokies that specialize in it. These included the Old Mill Restaurant, Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant, Paula Deen's Family Kitchen and Aunt Granny's All-You-Care-To-Eat Buffet.
This week, we're going to profile a few other restaurants located in the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge-Sevierville areas. Some of these names may not be as familiar, but if you've got a hankering for some good ol' Southern grub, these might be the place you'll want to try on your next trip to the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
Huck Finn's Catfish
If you're a catfish fan, you'll want to skip a meal before sitting down at this Pigeon Forge restaurant. That's because you can order the catfish (and fried chicken) on an all-you-can-eat basis, and that includes sides like white beans and ham, creamy cole slaw, and made-from-scratch hush puppies. And the food's pretty good too. Readers of Tennessee Magazine voted Huck's as the Best Catfish in East Tennessee, and the restaurant's been in town for 25 years, so folks have obviously taken a liking to it. If you don't want to go the all-you-can-eat route, you can still enjoy single-serving dinners as well as entrees like Boom Boom Shrimp, fish and chips, chicken livers, rainbow trout and even frog legs and gator tail.
Mama's Farmhouse
Here's another place that serves its Southern food all-you-can-eat and family style. Lunch and dinner menus feature favorites like fried chicken, meatloaf, chicken-fried steak and turkey, and they're accompanied by side choices like mashed potatoes, chicken and dumplings, green bean casserole, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole and fried okra. Or if you happen to be starting your day off with a craving for down-home vittles, you might dig into a Southern-style breakfast including eggs, chicken tenders, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, cheese grits, hash brown casserole, pancakes, cinnamon apples and much more. Mama's Farmhouse is located in Pigeon Forge.
Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant
This regional chain of restaurants, which started out in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, has quickly become a favorite statewide thanks to its folksy atmosphere, live entertainment and menu built around Southern-cuisine staples. The Pigeon Forge location serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and you'll find a lot of classic recipes as well new twists on regional comfort foods. Look for items like pimento cheese bites, smoked meatloaf and their famous Piggy Mac, which is wood-smoked pulled pork served in an iron skillet and topped with white cheddar cheese macaroni and cheese and biscuit crumbs. It's good stuff. Also look for their shrimp and grits and barbecue-based Mojo burger.
Five Oaks Farm Kitchen
This Sevierville eatery, located across from the Tanger Outlet Center, also serves up the types of foods that the South is known for. You can start with one of their hearty soups, like chicken and dumplings or slow-cooked pintos. Or you might want something from the smoker, such as chicken, ribs, pulled pork or prime rib of beef. Their Farm Table classics include open-faced pot roast, Southern-fried tenderloin, rainbow trout, fried chicken livers, chicken pot pie and sugar-cured ham steak, just to mention a few. Of course the desserts are to die for.
Next time you zip line Tennessee here with us at Smoky Mountain Ziplines, you could keep any of these restaurants in mind as a place to dine after your outdoor adventure. We definitely recommend not filling up beforehand.
