Celebrating the Unique Dining Spots in the Smokies
Mimicry in the Smokies is king. Success breeds imitation. That’s why everywhere you look, it’s pancake houses and go-kart tracks and mountain coasters as far as the eye can see. But the Smokies isn’t all about imitation. Some folks eye the landscape and decide to carve their own path. When everyone else zigs, they zag.
When everyone else thinks they have all the answers, our guys change the questions. And a lot of the time, they do so very successfully. You’ll see a lot of familiar names on this list for a couple of reasons.
First, we’re fans of the unique. We cannot live by flapjacks alone. Two, these free-thinking spirits tend to have a particular passion for their work. While they want to succeed and stay in business, it isn’t all about the Benjamins. They tend to be artists trying to find the nexus of artistic achievement and business success. With this in mind, here are some unique dining spots in the Smokies:
1. The Wild Bear Tavern
The Wild Bear – located on the far end of the parkway in Pigeon Forge – is an anomaly in the Smokies. It is one of only three German restaurants in all of East Tennessee, according to Google. Though I suspect Google is missing something down Chattanooga way. You know somebody in The Scenic City is serving up some schnitzel.
The Wild Bear Tavern – attached to the Wild Bear Inn – is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast menu isn’t that different from what you’d find in other restaurants around, though you can get bratwurst as an omelet topping. But really, it’s lunch and dinner where the Wild Bear celebrates its Bavarian roots.
Get in the mood by starting with the sausage sampler – German brätwurst and a selection of sausages served with rotkohl, sauerkraut, an assortment of dipping sauces and a Bavarian demi-loaf. For the entrée, I’m a sucker for the traditional schnitzel – pork cutlet breaded and fried. But the German pot roast or Opa’s pork shank are excellent as well. Wash it down with a Dunkel on draft. For dessert? Choose between strudel and German chocolate cake.
It will have you saying “Ya Vol.”
2. Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse Cafe
Open for breakfast and lunch, this Pigeon Forge Café isn’t unique for its menu, which is fine. It is unique for its entertainment: dozens of animatronic singing chickens with punny names like Hen Solo or Dolly Part-Hen. You’ll have a lot of meals in your life, but few will be as memorable as the time you had a Western Omelet while surrounded by robot chickens clucking “Let it Go” from Frozen.
3. The Appalachian
Is excellence unique? I think it is. There are a lot of really good fine dining experiences in the Smokies, and then there’s The Appalachian in downtown Sevierville. Their food is locally sourced and operated with a love, passion, and intentionality that you just don’t see a lot of places. The Appalachian features a menu based on what is available locally from season to season. Therefore, the menu can be adjusted to take advantage of what is working or what can be tweaked.
While some favorites tend to make the menu from one season to the next – the Roasted Quail with mushroom duxelles, pistachio, crispy grit cake and squash puree, for example – they are frequently trying something new. When I clicked on the menu for this article, they’d added Buffalo Frog Legs. And while that sounds like somebody in charge of the menu lost a bet, I’m pretty positive they’d be delicious. Finally, don’t be overly intimidated by the price. The Appalachian Burger is $21 and is fantastic.
4. PawPaw’s Catfish Kitchen
Is it weird that Cajun food is wonderful but so hard to find? There are few things in this world better than good Cajun food, but unless you live near a fairly big city, it’s hard to find – even in other parts of the South. If being a Cajun restaurant located between Pigeon Forge and Townsend isn’t unique enough, how about the fact that the proprietor learned the tricks of the trade working as a hand on a tugboat in the Gulf? Cooking red beans and rice and gumbo for a bunch of tugboat deckhands who grew up eating their grandmama’s cooking will get your culinary game up and fast.
5. LeConte Tapas & Grill
Finding Tapas in the Smokies, where the culinary scene is just now getting into the whole Taco craze, is pretty unique. LeConte Tapas and Grill brings the best flavors from this popular Spanish style of cooking to the Smokies. Tapas dining is a series of appetizer-sized dishes or little plates ordered to your heart’s content. An order of the lamb lollipops with a plate of calamari and prawns is a good start to any meal. They also offer a selection of steaks, burgers and seafood that are prepared in the “regular” portion size and not the traditional Tapas meals.
What is your top unique restaurant in the Smokies? Let us know in the comments! Are you planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains soon? Make sure to check out our coupons page before your trip!