The Pottery House Cafe and Grille is one of two restaurants to call the Old Mill Square home, despite the relatively small size of the square. Each serves a different crowd and a different style of food. The Cafe and Grille, for instance, offers a quick-serve menu of salads, soups and sandwiches. The food served here is a trendy take on Southern classics. While the food served at the Old Mill Restaurant is Sunday supper standards. Both are in one of the most historic districts in the Smoky Mountains. The Cafe and Grille is open for lunch and dinner with a weekend brunch available from 10 am-2 pm.
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Why is it called the Pottery House Cafe?
The restaurant is appropriately named because a potter once lived there. In 1946, according to the website, Douglas Ferguson and his wife Ruth founded Pigeon Forge Pottery. The couple built the home that is now the Pottery House Cafe, and they continued making pottery until 1999.
Pottery House Cafe brunch menu
The brunch menu is a bit more limited compared to the plethora of brunch options in Pigeon Forge. However, it still offers anything you could want for a good southern breakfast. They offer chicken and waffles, omelets, steak and eggs and French toast. My favorite brunch menu item is the Truly Southern Benedict, which comes with fresh biscuits, green tomato, country ham, poached eggs, pimiento cheese hollandaise sauce and chopped bacon. To counter all of the calories, sodium and fat served on this one plate, fresh fruit comes as a side. For breakfast, you can plan on spending about $12 per person. That is if you skip the mimosas.
Quiche Plates: The local favorite
When you go, be sure not to miss out on one of their signature items. Signature Quiche Plates happen to be a long-time local favorite at the Pottery House. The Quiche Plates come with a choice of spinach Muenster and mushroom, chicken almond or the Chef’s selection of the day. They are also served with cinnamon raisin pecan bread. Order them with a strawberry spinach salad, fresh fruit, house salad, bowl of soup or a cafe wedge salad. You surely can’t go wrong with any selection here.
Does the Old Mill Pottery House have a children’s menu?
A children’s menu is available for the little ones 12 and under. Options include items such as chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, a grilled cheese sandwich, an Old Mill corndog and hamburgers or cheeseburgers. Prices range from about $5 to 7 for children.
What to order for lunch at the Old Mill Pottery House
Lunch specials are served daily from 11 am-4 pm. The lunch specials range between about $10-14 and include items like spicy catfish, shrimp and grits, grilled salmon and pork chops. Additionally, the appetizers are great, even if their names may make out-of-towners question the taste. Lunch also features soups and sandwiches and some big city salads (baby wedge, kale and berries, and the southern green tomatoes and bacon salad).
I enjoy getting the Triple Decker Club sandwich with soup. It’s a lighter meal that will give you energy for the rest of your day of adventuring. Build-A-Combos are popular at about $10 for a salad with half of a sandwich or a cup of soup. Heartier dishes are also available at a reasonable price but keep it light or you may need an after-lunch nap.
What to order for dinner at the Pottery House Cafe
Dinner is served from 4-8:30 or until 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. A special menu, The Miller’s Selection, features dishes made with ingredients ground by the mill. Fried chicken and fried catfish are the highlights. The fried chicken livers aren’t my thing, but you do you. The Pottery House is also known for having some of the highest quality steaks and best southern catfish in the area. Other menu items for dinner include roast beef, a BBQ pork plate, alfredo and fried chicken.
Finally, don’t skimp on homemade desserts. The desserts are rich and come in hearty portions. Options include delicious classics like Coconut Cream Pie, Carrot Cake and Chocolate Pecan Pie. I like the Lemonade Pie and Peanut Butter Pie. Reese’s has nothing on the chef that makes the latter. But if you don’t feel like dessert, just wander by the Old Mill Candy Store next door and buy some homemade candy (fudge) to take home with you. For the full menu, click here.
Does Old Mill Pottery House Cafe take reservations?
Remember, hours may vary at this location. They do not take reservations, so you might plan your dining hours to coincide with off-peak eating times. The address is 3341 Old Mill Street, Pigeon Forge, TN. Parking can be very tight. Consider parking in Patriot Park and walk a few blocks from Old Mill Square.
Have you been to the Pottery House Cafe in the Smokies? What is your favorite thing to order? Let us know in the comments.
We eat at Pottery House Cafe every time we come to Pigeon Forge. Everything that we’ve ever had has been wonderful….and hot! We’ve never had food served to us as hot as Pottery House serves. My favorite thing to order is the cheese steak sandwich. So good.
I can’t believe you did a review of this restaurant, and didn’t mention their homemade bread! That is one of the best things about this place! We try to eat here at least once every time we visit the area, the food is so good!