We Ate at Pigeon Forge’s New Restaurant, The Cottage

Love classic comfort food with a modern twist? You’ll be right at home at The Cottage

I’ve been burned before. I’ve eaten at new Smoky Mountain establishments and been wowed only to return later to find the realities of maintaining a restaurant in a competitive market such as this can take a toll.

Maybe it’s the consistency that falls off. Or maybe they’ve cut back on the menu. It also can be hard to maintain staff. Of course, staying at the top of the restaurant game in the Smokies is a difficult task.

But that’s the task ahead of The Cottage, a new and shining beacon of culinary excellence on the dining scene on the heart of the Parkway in Pigeon Forge. With Chef Randall Roach’s take on elevated comfort food as an excellent starting point, it seems to me The Cottage has the potential to be among the best restaurant on the parkway, in Pigeon Forge, in Sevier County for a long time to come.

What is The Cottage?

Located in the former Red Rooster Pancake House on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge, The Cottage is a brunch restaurant serving elevated comfort food. What does that mean? Essentially, familiar southern classics with modern twists using fresh, seasonal ingredients. 

The brunch menu is available from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout the week and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekend. Though The Cottage started with a dinner service, it is now just open for breakfast and lunch. 

The restaurant is the vision of Chef Roach – who was active in the operation while we were there, consulting with the staff and working in and out of the kitchen. He’s. an Arkansas native who attended culinary school and also worked in California. Afterward, he joined the team at Blackberry Farm and Blackberry Mountains, refining his style “rooted in Southern tradition, seasonal cooking and a love for local ingredients.”

The restaurant itself is bright, airy, and refreshing. A lot of restaurants that specialize in Down Home cooking – or Southern Classics – lean on a décor that’s heavier, rooted in mountain history. The Cottage is like something out of the Southern Living Magazine shoot. There’s plenty of light, a lot of fresh greenery and a lot of space. It’s even elegant in a way – but completely inviting. I’m not an interior design guy. However, I walked in irritated – by events unrelated to the restaurant – and my mood just immediately lifted from the vibe. This is a happy place. 

And that carried over to the staff – who were working with a 40-top wedding party – as we arrived. The hostess was friendly and welcoming in a way that didn’t feel fake or perfunctory. Our waitress was funny – and a little sassy – but made a point to involve the kids in her banter, returning to the table and joking with them or teasing them each time. 

The vibes in the whole place felt genuinely immaculate. Restaurant life can be stressful and sometimes that stress can unintentionally leak out. That wasn’t the case here. It was very fresh. 

The menu and apps

The Cottage’s version of brunch has a variety of options perfect for breakfast lunch and everything in between. 

We had a hard time deciding and while I loved our apps and The Cottage Burger, we were seated near the kitchen, and I kept seeing other peoples’ meals and thinking “I’ll have to try that.” 

So, we tried two apps – the classic fried green tomatoes and the Dip Trio with hummus, dill chicken salad and pimento cheese served with fried saltines.

The fried green tomatoes were perfect, crispy and well-seasoned. You can actually get them with the pimento cheese, which I highly recommend. The hummus and pimento cheese were both excellent. The chicken salad was a little underwhelming until we dug down into the bottom where most of the dill flavor was hiding, then it was quite good as well.

Our meal

Like I said before, I enjoyed The Cottage Burger – two smash burger patties, cottage sauce, house-made pickles, cheddar cheese, fried egg, bacon, tomato, on a sesame seed bun, served with French fries.

But I saw several entrees I’ll have to come back and try – including the Short Rib and Cheese Bagel – slow-braised beef short rib, Cooper’s white american cheese, pepper relish, chipotle crema, on a toasted Potchke bagel, served with French fries.

And also, the Mushroom Gemelli Pasta – parsley, chives, crushed red pepper, butter, parmesan cheese and olive oil – which looked fantastic. Can I also say, that both the Chicken and Waffles and Sweet Tea Brined Fried Chicken also looked delicious.

The girls ordered Avocado toast – avocado, lime, cilantro, chili oil and sunny side up egg. It was served on multigrain toast. But each of them subbed scrambled eggs for the Sunny Side Up, which will explain the pictures.

My wife Leslie has her eyes set on the Shrimp and Grits for next time – blackened jumbo shrimp, cheddar grits, cherry tomatoes, scallions and andouille gravy. Sofia was already planning to try the Crispy Chicken Sandwich – fried chicken breast, house-made pickles, blackened ranch slaw, served on a sesame seed bun. It was served with french fries.

Is it worth it?

Unequivocally yes. Not only were the vibes great and the staff genuinely friendly, but the meal was also excellent. It was also reasonably priced. The burger was $15 and the hearty portion of avocado toast $13. The fried green tomatoes were $11. None of the pasta dishes were over $20. And the vast majority of the entrees – including Chili Jumbo Prawns, Grilled Prime Pork Chop an.d Herb Chicken were under $25. The fried chicken was a steal at $17. On the brunch menu, only the Shrimp & Grits and the Grilled Salmon exceeded $20. (Note: All food prices were in effect at the time of this writing)

I’ve eaten at a lot of places where the quality does not match what we had at The Cottage, but the price did.

Is The Cottage worth it? It absolutely is. We’re adding it to our family’s favorite dining experiences in the mountains.

Have you tried The Cottage yet? Let us know in the comments!