4 Best Restaurants in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

The owners of this restaurant have never romanticized "the good ol' days" just for the sake of marketing, but they do capitalize on the sucess of their family recipes developed over time, perfected with effort, and prepared with fresh ingredients. Homemade apple butter, apple fritters, and fruit juleps feature here, as well as signature menu items such as the famous Southern fried chicken, chicken potpie, and chicken and dumplings. You'll feel welcome from the minute you sit down inside the Kilpatrick family home, converted to a restaurant in 1987, and it's certainly worth sticking around long enough to try some apple cobbler for dessert. Wait times can sometimes extend to an hour during busy seasons.

This is dinner theater on steroids—you, and several thousand other people, get to eat a finger-lickin' good (as in, you don't get eating utensils) four-course meal while live animals kick up the dust on the arena floor to the accompaniment of dramatic music, lighting, and pyrotechnics. The pace is quick; the service is quicker. In a sequence timed tight as traffic signals on a four-lane highway, you'll watch rodeo clowns pick on cute girls in the audience, kids chase chickens running in all different directions, knights jousting on horseback, and a chorus of glittery-costumed actors sing rousing patriotic music. Overall, it's well worth the money—and maybe a plastic spoon in your pocket, just for good measure. Vegetarian meals are available by advance request.

If your idea of homestyle Southern cooking includes entrées like chicken and dumplings, sugar-cured ham and turnip greens, or chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes, you're in the right spot. The grains and grits originate next door at the mill that has been in continuous operation since the 1830s. Think about that while you're chewing a chunk of corn bread, or watching a baseball-size scoop of ice cream melt on top of a made-from-scratch pie while listening to an old-timer pick his guitar on the porch.