Local weighs pros and cons of two of the most popular Pigeon Forge restaurants
It seems that in the Smokies, there’s danger in diversification. The tried-and-true traditions of successful businesses in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and beyond are found in mimicry. Imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery and the path to financial success in Sevier County. As someone keenly interested in the machinery of tourism success in the mountains for more than 30 years, it’s clear the most frequent path to success isn’t in innovation. It’s the ability to recognize which innovators are successful and how you walk a similar path. With this in mind, how do you decide between the innovator and its long line of copycats? That’s what we’re going to explore today – at least in one instance. It’s Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen vs The Old Mill restaurant.
When looking for homemade-themed dining options in Pigeon Forge, you have a variety from which to pick. Struggling to decide on where to get your Southern classics? Picking between Paula Deen and The Old Mill? We’re here to help.
IN THIS ARTICLE
The aversion to innovation
I think that if something in the Smokies is successful, copycats abound. From pancake houses to go-kart tracks to mountain coasters, success breeds imitation. It’s not that the new or unique can’t succeed, it’s just that the path of innovation is a riskier venture. What does that mean for the visitors to the area? Sometimes not much and sometimes a great deal. With each copy of an original idea, there is a chance for dilution. It also means both fewer and more options.
Are you hungry for something different? The choices are few. Hungry for some mountain-style dining like somebody’s grandma used to make? The options are nearly endless and maddeningly similar. And so you may find yourself choosing between restaurants that live – figuratively – on the same corner. They offer similar food and themes, and they both are part of a large complex designed to help part you from your hard-earned money.
The Old Mill Restaurant
First things first, there is real Smoky Mountain history here. The Old Mill began nearly 200 years ago as a functioning grist mill and has remained in operation since, though over time its purpose morphed from practical and necessary to traditional and historic. The complex – located on the Little Pigeon River – offers shopping and history and three different dining establishments. In addition to The Old Mill Restaurant, there is also a café and an ice cream shop. For today’s purposes, I’m looking strictly at The Old Mill Restaurant.
The restaurant as it exists today opened in 1993 as the Cornflour Restaurant, becoming The Old Mill Restaurant a couple of years later. I’m not here to crown The Old Mill as the inventor of classic Southern dining in the mountains. It’s not. But it’s been in the game for quite some time.
Today The Old Mill Serves “hearty Southern classics” from three different menus. It has breakfast until 11 am, lunch until 4 pm and dinner from 4 pm to close. For dinner, there’s a variety of fried options – country steak, chicken or pork chops, or Southern-style classics like chicken and dumplings, chicken pot pie, pot roast, meatloaf or other Southern family-style classics. There’s a small variety of fish and shrimp as well as a handful of grilled and vegetarian options.
The pros
If you like this style of dining, it’s good and affordable. None of the menu items exceeds $30 and all include a cup of corn chowder – which is surprisingly good if you’re not familiar – corn fritters, house side salad, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans and a choice of dessert. The From the Water and From the Grill options offer a choice of potatoes.
The theme is nice and authentic. When you’re in the mountains, you want a mountain experience and The Old Mill, and its view of the river offers just that.
It’s hearty and filling. If you’ve built up an appetite from a long day hiking the mountains – or the local shops – it’s going to help you refill and recharge. However, you might not want to plan a lot of physical activities just afterward. The Old Mill Restaurant is located at 164 Old Mill Avenue in Pigeon Forge.
The cons
Personally, I find the food a little bland, which is a frequent complaint of mine at these types of places. Grandmothers vary, of course, but mine was pretty good at things like meatloaf and chicken and dumplings and biscuits and gravy. Restaurants like this build success on pleasing the largest percentage of people they can, and it’s easier to allow customers to add salt and pepper or hot sauce at the table than dishes that some may find too flavorful.
I find the quality in homestyle or Southern classic dining to lack a little something in general. It’s not specific to this place and I recognize the necessity of operating at a profit. But as someone with genuine positive memories and affection for downhome classics like chicken and dumplings or meatloaf, I generally find the experience doesn’t quite meet my standards. Again, I realize that’s a me-thing. You can’t turn a profit selling meatloaf if you spend more making it than you can charge for it.
Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen
There have been times when I have been hard on the Family Kitchen. I think that’s because it’s got a celebrity chef’s name attached – one who is from Savannah, Georgia – the Southern food mecca. You just kind of expect a place with that backing to be above average. Located on the Island in Pigeon Forge, the Family Kitchen offers a variety of family-style dinners. The most expensive option is just under $30 per plate.
The menu is boilerplate. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Fried chicken. Pot roast. Meatloaf. Country fried steak and pork chops. The atmosphere? It’s a hard fine. It lacks the actual history of a place like The Old Mill and traffics in the facsimile of Southern culture that’s popular with many restaurants trying to live on this particular corner. It’s not bad. It’s not special. It just is.
The pros
As I said with The Old Mill, it’s a hearty filling meal. If you want something that won’t leave you hungry in an hour or two, this type of dining experience is your best option. Also, this is fully family dining, the entrees are served family style and are part of the unlimited refills.
Also, the food isn’t actively bad. It ranges in quality from fine to good. If you’re feeding a family while on a mountain vacation, there are far worse places you could dine. What should I get? The chicken is billed as the best-ever, which is overselling it, but it’s one of the better options on the menu.
The cons
Again, you wish there was a little more flavor. I’ve been to down-home restaurants in Savannah, and I know it’s unfair to expect that kind of quality to be reproduced in a place like this, but when you promised it to me, it raised expectations. The menu isn’t as robust as at The Old Mill – which does offer some more options including beef liver – which I would never order but I like to know that it’s there. Theoretically, the limited menu means the kitchen staff can focus on what it does well, but I don’t know how it works in reality. Paula Deen’s is located at 131 The Island Drive #8101 in Pigeon Forge.
Which is better?
Well, let’s start here. The internet has a clear favorite. The Old Mill rates better on both Google and Yelp. I wonder – however – how much of that is perception and how much is reality. As I mentioned, the expectations of a Paula Deen Restaurant can set it up for disappointment. Meanwhile, The Old Mill is a standalone – and has the additional feel of being authentic. It would be fun to do a Folgers Crystals-style switcheroo and see how things are rated.
Ultimately, I agree with my friends on the web. Given the choice, I would go to The Old Mill over Paula Deen’s every day and twice on Sunday. Even acknowledging conscious and unconscious biases, I think the food is objectively better. I do think the full family style at Paula Deen’s is a selling point. If you’re going to eat family style, might as well go all out, but my vote goes to The Old Mill.
It’s maybe not the blowout that some expected, but The Old Mill Restaurant takes a pretty convincing victory over Paul Deen’s. The Old Mill’s more authentic experience helps and – if we’re being frank – the food is just better. Maybe not as much better as we think, but clearly, better.
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I GO FOR DAY TRIPS TO THE SMOKIES, THE OLE MILL IS HANDS DOWN BETTER THAN PAULA DEENS…ITS GREAT AN AUETHENTIC IN THERE…LUV IT…BEEN GOIN THERE FOR 51 YEARS🧡
Last two times at the Old Mill were underwhelming. There was not the same quality as before. The Old Mill needs some more side options. Green beans and mashed potatoes only go so far. Paula Dean’s has more side options, however, it was still lacking something on our last visit. It would be nice if the Old Mill offered a half portion of the entre’ for those of us whose appetite is not what it used to be. Both are good but I would not rate one above the other.
I had Mac & cheese side at old mill last time I was there.