Is Aunt Granny’s Worth it: An honest Review 

Does Dollywood’s All-you-care-to-eat family-style restaurant live up to the hype?

I’ve had a standoff-ish relationship with Dollywood’s signature dining experience. Yet, it is ranked by USA Today as a Top 10 theme park restaurant in the country. It’s not because I don’t like it. I get why USA Today ranked it so, though I might quibble slightly. I have a certain theme park philosophy and Aunt Granny’s doesn’t fit that concept.

What’s the philosophy? Eat quickly and lightly, ride more rides, see more shows get more done. Successful theme park days are about time allotment and going to a restaurant that frequently has a wait for a sit-down meal that could take an hour or longer is not the most efficient use of theme park time.

Also, I don’t like the idea of eating a big meal and then walking around one of the hilliest theme parks in the country to ride an impressive array of roller coasters. It’s too much.

But situationally, I really like Aunt Granny’s. What’s that situation? Post Halloween in the evening when it gets cooler. We’re not planning to ride coasters after the sun goes down in November or December. We can afford to luxuriate and then go look at some lights.

Also, Aunt Granny’s menu is holiday home cooking friendly. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and mac and cheese. It’s like getting Thanksgiving meal or Christmas dinner early and without all the work.

The argument for Aunt Granny’s

It is quite good. A lot of times restaurants doing farmhouse classics or family style dining chintz on the quality of the product so they can provide a lower cost point. An adult meal at Aunt Granny’s is $28 while a kids’ meal is $12, maybe a little more than you’d pay at some of the places on the Pigeon Forge strip, but not outrageously so. At Dollywood, where a plain hot dog goes for $12, it’s actually surprisingly reasonable.

In fact, I’m pretty sure that an entrée and drink at some of the other sit down places would have come out fairly close to our bill at Aunt Granny’s. However, I can’t be sure because Dollywood meal prices are better protected than the nuclear launch codes.

On our recent visit, we had a Thanksgiving style meal that was frankly approaching excellent. The turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and stuffing went well together with a little pot roast on the side. It was seasoned, not bland like some other family style places. The fried okra was better than what I had at Myron Mixon’s the week before.

Due to some allergy limitations and the fact that I love a good sausage, we ordered the Italian sausage and peppers – which didn’t go with the rest of the theme – but was quite flavorful. The green beans had nice chunks of ham and, again, carried plenty of flavor. In pretty much every respect, I though Aunt Granny’s lived up to its reputation.

The argument against Aunt Granny’s

I missed the buffet and carving station, which is still in place. But it is now manned by waiters who bring your choices to the table. First, adding a waiter to the process – no matter how good – makes for a little extra delay and can take away the value of an all-you-care-to-eat meal. It’s better if each person can get up and get what they want versus deciding what to order for the table and then realizing everyone wanted mac and cheese – which was very good – and a single bowl isn’t enough – if you have a larger party.

You start with three mains and four sides which is enough for a party of four, but we were a party of six. There were things some of us didn’t get to try and while we did order more of the favorites, like the mac and cheese, it would have been nice to have enough for the start. Sticking with the buffet solves all of that as each diner gets to choose what goes on their plate.

Also, and I realize this is blasphemous to say, but would it hurt them to offer chicken tenders? We got the fried chicken and it was well received but two boney wings were left on the table. The kids would have preferred tenders.

How were the desserts?

The desserts were mostly very good. The cobblers and the banana pudding were well received. But one of our kids ordered the cookies which when they appeared seemed a little Chips Ahoy!. It’s a small thing but in a theme park full of bakers, we got hard chocolate chip cookies that audibly snapped when she bit into them? Strange.

Finally, I found the psychology of the thing interesting. I found myself semi-obsessed with getting our money’s worth. It’s all-you-care-to-eat, after all and I’m a competitive guy. We can beat the house here, if we try. You’re full? Already? How about you have another helping of stuffing and gravy?

“You can’t take anything home,” is a sentence that embarrassingly came out of my mouth. I wouldn’t have said that at any other restaurant in the place.

Is Aunt Granny’s worth it?

In monetary terms? Yes, absolutely. The food is delicious and appropriate to the setting. While you can get obsessed with the slightly increased price tag, the fact that the drink is included really off-sets it as does the fact that you can eat as much as you want.

The other question though is about time and experience. Dollywood was open for 12 hours that day. We allocated 10% of our day to that meal. That’s an hour and 20 minutes we could have been watching shows or visiting shops or enjoying the Christmas lights. In warmer months of the year, we could have been riding rides. Plus, in warmer months are you really going to fill like hitting the big rides with a belly full of heavy meats, taters and gravy? You’re going to need some time to digest. That time is precious.

Choosing Aunt Granny’s may depend on your Dollywood visit goals

Ultimately, there are many ways to experience Dollywood. For some it’s an amusement park and it’s go, go, go as they ride everything they can as many times as they can. But for some, it’s a theme park and it’s about enjoying the shows and the dining and shopping. And for some, it’s a balance of them and amusement and that’s ultimately where your decision must like.

You can still eat pretty well, but lighter and more quickly at Dollywood, if you want. Or you can take your time and savor the experience. Me? I used to be an amusement guy, but I think I’m enjoying the more leisurely approach now more than I ever did.

Do you enjoy eating at Aunt Granny’s? Let us know in the comments and on the socials!