Paula Deen’s vs Mamas Farmhouse: Which Is Better, According to a Local

assortment of dishes from paula deen's restaurant compared to mama's farmhouse

Paula Deen's Family Kitchen (above) and Mama's Farmhouse are both family-style restaurants (photos by Morgan Overholt/TheSmokies.com)

Local weighs pros and cons to two popular family-style restaurants in Pigeon Forge

The wonderful world of wrestling introduced us to the concept of the Royal Rumble. In other words, a bunch of wrestlers get in the ring for a free-for-all. Allegiances form and are broken as necessary through the course of the scripted Donnybrook. At the end, the last person in the ring is the winner. I like to think of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge as a missive Royal Rumble ring where businesses with like-minded purposes battle it out for both bragging rights and the right to continue to exist. Go-kart tracks, mountain coasters, pancake houses, family-style restaurants and more are dueling in the mountains against similar competitors for the right to stay open. In this article, I will take a close look at two competitors in the family-style, down-home cooking genre, Mama’s Farmhouse and Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen.

Several restaurants are competing in the family-style Southern classics genre in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. In this article, I take a closer look between two popular restaurants in Pigeon Forge: Mama’s Farmhouse and Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen. Paula Deen’s may have a slight advantage when it comes to menu options and location, but Mama’s has a few unique selections that make it a standout as well.

Chicken and dumplings from Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen (photo by Morgan Overholt/TheSmokies.com)

Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen

This fully family-style restaurant arrived on the Island in Pigeon Forge to much fanfare. After all, the Paula Deen in the title is a celebrity chef who charmed her way to international acclaim. Being from Savannah, she would have to know her way around a good Southern recipe, right? Yes and no. While Paula Deen is a celebrity chef and – at least in theory – is an expert in Southern cuisine. Of course, the food that you get at her restaurant is not the same as you’d find at her kitchen table. After all, the is such a thing as a profit margin and you don’t get away selling all-you-can-eat classics if you’re paying top-notch prices for ingredients.

But that is hardly an issue that the Family Kitchen faces alone. The entire large-scale Southern classic industry wages a battle of quality versus cost every day. That isn’t to say you can’t get a quality meal at Paula Deen’s. Generally speaking, I’m a bigger fan of breakfast than I am the lunch or dinner, but that’s the case with all of these types of restaurants. On the dinner menu, Paul Deen’s guests can choose from two to four entrees for the meal and four of her famous sides. Entrees include the “best ever” Southern Fried Chicken (it’s good but let’s not get crazy) as well as pot roast, meatloaf, chicken and dumplings and more. Prices top out at $28.99 per person plus tax, tip and drink. It’s filling and relatively affordable. But it isn’t exactly memorable.

Paula Deen's Cobbler and Banana Pudding with Whipped Cream
Everyone gets to choose a dessert at Paula Deen’s. Pictured: Paula Deen’s Cobbler and Banana Pudding with a dollop of whipped cream (photo by Alaina O’Neal/TheSmokies.com)

The pros


There are some real hints of Deen’s history as a chef if you know where to look. The fried chicken is probably the best of the entrees, but I usually go with meatloaf or country-fried steak. It’s a solid option at a place where the sides can often outshine the main course. I’m a sucker for fried okra, and the broccoli casserole also does stand out.

The location on the Island is convenient for a lot of other activities, especially if you’re staying on the Island or at a nearby hotel. It’s nice that you can plan a night of fun and entertainment around the meal without having to worry about more traffic and parking.

I also like the desserts. In fairness to Paula, the Ooey Gooey Butter Cake is good and the seasonal cobbler is tasty, though I am a sucker for a good cobbler.

The cons


There is a real expected experience vs delivered experience issue. I suspect that Paula Deen’s name is part of what helps keep customers coming through the door, but the added weight of her celebrity affects expectations. If was Paula Johanson’s Family Kitchen, we all might give leeway a little more freely.

The food is … ok. Aside from the desserts – and maybe the fried chicken – I would be hard-pressed to say that I think anything at the Family Kitchen approaches greatness. Is that an issue? Yes and no. If you understand coming in that you’re sacrificing some quality for volume and safety – nothing is actively bad, either. Then you’ll get what you expect out of the experience and be fine. Managing expectations is part of the game. Paula Deen’s is located at 131 The Island Drive #8101 in Pigeon Forge.

Mama's Farmhouse Fried Chicken and Sides in Background
We enjoyed Mama’s fried chicken (photo by Morgan Overholt/TheSmokies.com)

Mama’s Farmhouse Kitchen

Part of the Johnson Family of Restaurants – which includes Big Daddy’s Bennett’s Pit Barbecue and Alamo Steakhouse – Mama’s is a farmhouse concept. It is a family-style restaurant as well that traffics in the same rural, Southern Style as Paula Deen’s and others.

One of the pressing concerns I have when I see a restaurant named Mama’s is if there is actually a real Mama or if it is a marketing concept. The Johnsons assure us that Mama is real – a great-grandmother who was known as Mama who cooked items as you’ll see on the restaurant’s menu. Was there really a Mama? I have to tamp down some of my natural skepticism, but I will take the Johnsons at their word. The breakfast is all-you-can-eat and offers breakfast staples as well as the delicious pinwheels – warm, soft, buttery pastry topped with cinnamon sugar – and their biscuits have been a winner of the International Biscuit Festival. Now, I didn’t go too far on a deep dive here to see just how international this festival was. It ceased operations in 2018. But I do wonder if people were traveling from like Brisbane and Argentina and the Kamchatka Peninsula to compete in a Knoxville biscuit-making competition.

The dinner menu features classics like meatloaf, fried chicken, country steak and fish. But there are a couple of more options including roasted pork, honey-glazed ham and Salisbury steak which I love but reminds me of one of my great regrets in life. On vacation in England, we went to Salisbury but I never got the steak. We went to a barbecue place and got nachos. It was a mistake of disastrous proportions.

banana pudding from mama's farmohouse
Banana pudding from Mama’s Farmhouse (photo by Morgan Overholt/TheSmokies.com)

The pros


Did you not read about the Salisbury steak? I’m pro any menu item that I could have gotten in the school cafeteria. I have a real nostalgic sweet spot for Salisbury steak, Beef Manhattan – which I did NOT get while in New York – and Chaco Tacos. Anyway, you get three entrees for your family-style dinner or two at lunch. The roasted pork may be the best thing there, but I also appreciate a good Turkey N’ Stuffing. Also at Mama’s, the chicken and dumplings is a side. At many other places, it’s a main course. That’s a game-changer.

The cons


There’s a reason a lot of these menu items double as something you’d find at a school cafeteria. They are easier to mass produce and are cost-effective. There’s a reason you’re not getting the Salisbury steak next to the Tomahawk Ribeye at your local chophouse. Still, if you’re in the mood, it can hit the spot.

While Mama’s offers eight possible entrees, only three are made daily. There’s a schedule on the menu, but you should be aware that’s subject to change. Currently, for instance, if you go on a Friday you’ll get fried chicken, fried fish and ham for dinner. The Salisbury steak and roasted pork are only options on Tuesdays and Saturdays and the turkey and stuffing is a Wednesday and Sunday deal. Fried chicken is the only entrée available every day of the week. Mama’s Farmhouse Kitchen is located at 208 Pickel Street in Pigeon Forge.

island show fountain in pigeon forge
It is possible that Paula Deen’s Island location gives the restaurant a boost (photo by Morgan Overholt/TheSmokies.com)

Which is better?

Well, I went to the internet and got a close decision. Mama’s scored a 3.9 on Yelp versus Paula Deen’s 3.7. On Google, Mama’s got a 4.3 and Paula Deen got a 4.2. If you’re asking me – and I suppose that’s the whole point of this exercise – I would prefer Paula Deen’s in a slight shocker unless maybe it was a Salisbury steak day at Mama’s. I prefer the menu design at Paula’s. You can order up to four entrees for the group. And while Mama’s does have more theoretical entrée options, not having them available every day lessens that impact. 

When you break things down, Mama’s and Paula Deen’s offer very similar experiences. The location on the Island and the less complicated menu schedule give Paula Deen’s the advantage in my book, but what do you think? Let us know in the comments which one you prefer.

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