A local offers his advice on the best and worst dishes at Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen in Pigeon Forge, TN
Over the years, I have at times been hard on Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen. But in fairness, the eatery is battling expectations vs reality. While having the Deen name atop the restaurant is certainly a draw, it also leads to raised hopes. After all, a celebrity chef with roots in the spectacular culinary scene of South Georgia would take pride in delivering well-prepared dishes brimming with flavor, variety and downhome roots.
However, a restaurant that size in that location has to work for a variety of pallets. Not everyone wants the same level of spice. And while you can add hot sauce to your catfish or more salt and pepper to your grits, once those things are in, they can’t be taken out. In other words, in places like the Family Kitchen, the meatloaf may feature a little more loaf and a little less meat than in places that can charge more for it.
IN THIS ARTICLE
The family-style dining model
Paula Deen’s is a family-style dining model. I’m not a restauranteur, but decades of dining and covering the business make it pretty obvious that for family or down-home style to work, you’ve got to keep costs down. Still, I want to be clear. The dining experience at the Family Kitchen isn’t bad. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it good either. It’s fine. It’s a nice once-in-a-while type experience for the family. And so, as I move forward with our best of and worst of list, just keep in mind the highs are not all that high, and the lows are not all that low.
The top 3 choices:
1. The biscuits
Deen gets to keep her Southerner credit here. The biscuits are buttery, garlicky and also just delicious. No notes. The biscuits are almost worth the visit alone.
2. Best Ever Southern Fried Chicken
Their fried chicken is crisp and perfectly cooked. Having tried fried chicken across the South, I think there are some who want a little more spice and flavor in the breading, but to me, it was as expected. If everything on the menu was as good as the fried chicken, the restaurant would rate a little higher overall. Honestly, any of the fried stuff is gonna do you well at the Family Kitchen. It’s a style of cooking that fits the form, and it is generally well executed.
3. Country scramble with sausage gravy
I like my sausage gravy to have a hearty kick to it. However, most restaurants don’t serve it that way. Here, on this country scramble where it can pick up and enhance flavors, I find the perfect application of what I consider typical restaurant-style Southern sausage gravy. The scramble contains eggs, bacon, potatoes, onions, green peppers and cheddar cheese. It’s a good, hearty breakfast.
The worst 3 choices:
4. Alrighty Then Scrambled Eggs
There’s nothing in particular wrong with these scrambled eggs, but there’s not a lot right either. In baseball, they’ve come up with a stat called WAR – Wins Above Replacement. The idea is to use statistics to figure out where a player ranks against the absolute median player at that position that year. If breakfast dining was comparable to baseball statistics, these eggs would be the absolute median.
5. Chicken and dumplings
There is a possibility that I am docking the Family Kitchen here unfairly. While I can adjust most of my expectations for a family-style restaurant, I am a dumpling snob. I can’t lower my expectations. These dumplings – and almost all dumplings at any family-style restaurant I’ve been to – are lacking. You wouldn’t think that making plenty of light, fluffy dumplings would be cost-prohibitive, but apparently, they are. What we end up with are stringy chicken bits, lots of sauce and a handful of noodle-y, disappointing dumplings.
6. Spare ribs
I think this is mostly a function of affordability. Look, it’s pork in a tangy barbecue sauce. I’m never going to turn my nose up at that. But the quality of the ribs and even really the cook on them just isn’t what you want. I would personally pass on the Family Kitchen ribs and order one of the fried items as an entrée. For example, instead of the ribs, get the chicken, fish, pork chop or steak. They’re all better executions. I don’t blame anyone. It’s just a tall order in this atmosphere. Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen is located at 131 The Island Dr, Pigeon Forge.
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