On our last full vacation day in Tennessee, we found ourselves looking for a ‘new to us’ place to have a late lunch. I’ve spent many vacations in eastern Tennessee throughout my life, so the Calhoun local chain, nor any of the nationwide chains would do.
I read up on a local scratch kitchen tavern in the Pigeon Forge area earlier in the week, so we decided to check it out. As we set out from Gatlinburg, we wound our way through the crowded Parkway. I thought we had missed the tavern after we passed both the Old Mill and “The Island” areas in town; however, we spotted it moments later as we continued to make our way toward Sevierville.
The parking lot was rather full, but we walked in and were only the 3rd party waiting for a seat. Ten minutes later, we were seated at our table, a long but tight booth. The table wasn’t adjustable…I was comfortable, but the seating was a little tight for my main squeeze.
Burgers seemed to be on tap, so we opted for a Billy Burger and a Smokehouse Burger. I wish I had taken photos, but we were so hungry that we dove right in before I thought of it. My husband enjoyed his smokehouse as it came. I found I dunked my Billy in some ketchup toward the end — I needed a little more sauce and the garlic aioli was a little light.
The fries served are supposed to be fresh cut, and I believe they are. They were more along the lines of shoestring style, which I enjoy. Fans of steak fries however will not be impressed, except perhaps by the heaping size of the side!
We did have to wait a bit for our food. The restaurant was filled to capacity so we suspect the kitchen was backed up. No worries, the man found some squirrel maze video to entertain us while we waited. Squirrel’s can be really smart sometimes!
Since it was the last day of our vacation, and our main meal of the day, we splurged on their White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Ice Cream. I’m still not sure what the flavor of the ice cream was….but it had these little chocolate cups that I swear had peanut butter whiskey in them. We were in Tennessee after all! The slab of bread pudding was massive, and perfectly cooked and warmed to make the ice cream all melty. Heaven on a plate!
Below is a link to their site. This is not a paid endorsement, just a review from a traveler to the area. Next time we’re in the area, the Local Goat will be on the list to visit again.
BewilderedBrownEyes 