Travel to a Southern state, and every business you visit will welcome you in as though you’re a long-lost family member. Take a stroll around the block, and it won’t be long before a stranger on the street greets you with a jovial smile. Go out to eat with your Southern friends, and watch as they pass around side dishes like family. If there is one thing that’s true about Southern culture, it’s that they love to share!
It’s no wonder Southerners really show their true colors during mealtimes. The Great Smoky Mountains are a great place to experience the best of Southern culture and food. From Tennessee barbecue to fried chicken so good your mama might’ve made it, these family restaurants in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg will give you an introductory taste of the South’s favorite dishes to share.
Corky’s Ribs & BBQ
When you’re in the mood for juicy meat that falls off the bone, sweet and vinegary sauces, and an irresistible smell like campfire, you know it’s time to make a barbecue pitstop. With over 30 years in the business of slathering meats in homemade sauce and slow-cooking them over hickory and coal, it doesn’t get more authentic than Corky’s Ribs & BBQ.
This Pigeon Forge barbecue restaurant should be a priority while you’re in town if you like Memphis-style barbecue. Of course, you must try the ribs, made with Corky’s original wet sauce, Memphis-style dry rub, or a mixture of both. If not ribs, then their pulled pork, half chicken, beef brisket, or smoked turkey make excellent options as well. They also serve massive burgers and sandwiches to satiate even the hungriest carnivore.
For a bona fide sampling of Southern flavors, get a few different sides and appetizers along with your meats. Fried okra, BBQ baked beans, mac ‘n’ cheese, fried dill pickles, and pork rinds are just a few must-try classics. Don’t worry about ordering too much at Corky’s, either. Southern delicacies like these always go fast at every family dinner!
Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen
If you’re into the culture just as much as the food, you’ll get the whole family-style dining experience at Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen. As soon as you walk in, you’ll receive a welcome so warm that you’ll feel like you’re a guest in someone’s home. Once seated, you’ll notice that the Southern side dishes keep coming and getting passed around the table. Of course, the best part is the entrées. Located close to other Pigeon Forge attractions at The Island, this restaurant concept bases its menu on the best recipes from world-renowned Southern chef and cookbook author Paula Deen.
Stop by bright and early for a breakfast of sweet piggies in a blanket (baked pastry-wrapped sausage), biscuits and sausage gravy, or ooey gooey butter pancakes. If you’d rather visit for lunch or dinner, you have to try quintessential Paula dishes like the Chicken and Dumplings, Ol’ Fashioned Southern Meatloaf, or Chicken-Fried Pork Chop. Tie it all together with butter cake, seasonal cobbler or banana pudding, and you’ll be happier than a pig in a haystack!
Mama’s Chicken Kitchen
Every Southerner will tell you that their mother’s fried chicken is the best in the world – and there certainly is something to a mother’s cooking. It’s at the heart of Southern homestyle cuisine, especially at a restaurant like Mama’s Chicken Kitchen. If you’re not from the South, you could think of the Johnson family’s great-grandmother as your foster Southern mama. After all, the recipes for the fried chicken and biscuits at Mama’s Chicken Kitchen were passed down from her.
Swing by Mama’s Chicken Kitchen in Gatlinburg on your way to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park entrance to grab an order to-go. A large family-sized bucket of fried chicken plus sides like mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, creamed corn, chicken and dumplings, and baked beans make for a mouth-watering picnic on the trails. If you prefer dining in, you’ll still get all the fried chicken you could possibly want between their chicken meals, chicken wings, and salads. You haven’t had Southern cuisine if you haven’t had fried chicken – and Mama’s Chicken Kitchen will take good care of that!
The Apple Barn
After the Apple Barn was built in 1910, the 65-acre farm grew tobacco and cattle for generations. When the Kilpatrick family decided to grow apples as well, a few trees soon turned into an entire orchard. Today, the property continues to produce apple products like cider, butter, jelly, honey, and more. With such deep roots in Appalachian agriculture, it only made sense to convert the 1920s farmhouse into a restaurant.
The Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant and Applewood Farmhouse Grill are now two of the most popular restaurants to try authentic Appalachian Southern food. Arrive first thing in the morning for a breakfast of farmhouse biscuits and gravy, Savannah pecan pancakes, or loaded country omelets. Check out the Grill for lunch or dinner for specialty favorites like Applewood Julep Grilled Chicken, country-fried steak, beef liver and onions, and Momma’s Country Meatloaf. You can’t go wrong with either restaurant, but you can go wrong if you don’t stop by the cidery for a digestif on your way out!
The Old Mill
After it was built in 1830, farmers traveled from all over the region to The Old Mill to ground their grain for cooking. It quickly became a place of community and socialization, and soon a small town grew around it. Without this stone grist mill, Pigeon Forge as we know it would not exist. The Old Mill is currently one of the oldest still operational stone grist mills in the country, and visitors from all over still come to enjoy the freshly ground grain.
Plan to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner one day at The Old Mill Restaurant if you want to taste real stone-ground grains. Your breakfast of farm-fresh eggs, pancakes and sausage gravy and biscuits comes with a side of tasty stone-ground corn grits. There are always Southern specialties on the menu for lunch or dinner, such as Southern Style Ground Round (freshly ground and grilled top round beef), fried chicken livers, and Deep South Chicken Pot Pie. As a crucial piece of Pigeon Forge history, The Old Mill is not just Southern but also a taste of authentic Appalachia.
In Conclusion
If you love learning about other cultures or you’re a diehard foodie, you’re in for a treat when you visit the Great Smoky Mountains. You won’t find a more hospitable and friendly culture than in the American South, and it shows especially in Southern homestyle comfort food. Your tour of the Smokies could involve all the pulled pork barbecue, homemade biscuits fresh from the oven, deviled eggs, fried okra, and sweet tea your heart desires!