Questions about Gatlinburg, TN/ Pigeon Forge

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Would anyone be willing to share some info. on great restaurants and muscial shows? We will be traveling with a 9, 7, and 2 year old and possibly grandparents.

For restaurants we would be interested in:

Home style cooking
or
Fine Dining


Shows:

Country
and or
Bluegrass

Thanks,

Lori

 

[browneyes]

For shows, you might want to go to Pigeon Forge and go to the Dixie Stampede. I've never been to it, but I've heard it's a lot like the Hoop Dee Doo at WDW.

 

[Mimi Q]

We have been to the Dixie Stampede there twice. It is a lot of fun. The food is good,too. My husband even likes it- that's a high recommendation.

Check out their website:
http://www.dixiestampede.com/index.htm

 

[cherylp3]

you might want to send a PM to AngieBelle, I beleve she lived near Gatlinburg.

 

[shep]

Originally posted by cherylp3
you might want to send a PM to AngieBelle, I beleve she lived near Gatlinburg.

LarryE might be a good person to ask also..

We have been to Gatlinburg many times, but can't really recommend anything...The Dixie Stampede was pretty neat...I won tix off the radio station to go to that.. ....
We mostly go down there to enjoy the Smokey Mountains...
Now if you need any help on where to go in the Smokies feel free to PM me...I know A LOT about that..

 

[tiggersmom2]

I can't help you with shows, but I can definately help you with restaurants.


Best Steak - The Chop House in Pigeon Forge at Five Oaks
Also The Peddler in Downtown Gatlinburg


Best BBQ - Bennett's in Downtown Gatlinburg
Calhoun's in Downtown Gatlinubrg


Best Seafood - Boston Shrimp Bucket in Pigeon Forge
Lineburger's downtown Gatlinburg

Best Beer and Sandwiches - Smokey Mountain Brewery downtown
gatlinburg

Best Pizza - Godfather's in Pigeon Forge

Hope this helps!

 

[Boots]

I live about 90 minutes away from Gatlinburg and we love to eat at Calhoun's! We go to either Gatlinburg or Lenoir City to eat there about once a month. Dixie Stampede is good. There are many many good musical shows in Pigeon Forge and in Sevierville. Have a wonderful time!

 

[dorisdvu]

Dixie Stampede is a must! There is a small restaurant in Gatlinburg called The Burning Bush that is good and has various birds on display. It's kinda neat.

 

[llebrekniT]

We've been several times. There are a lot more franchise restaurants now than there used to be.

One place we must always eat is The Apple Barn. It is near the Seiverville of Pigeon Forge. It's located on an apple orchard and there are two restaurants there. We like the original one, it is down by the creek, looks like an old house. There is a nice gift shop and winery next door to the restaurant with many tasty and neat apple gifts. If you go, you must get some apple butter to take back home. It is the best in the whole wide world!

The NASCAR restaurant is not good. There is an IHOP, which we like and don't have where we live.

The Old Mill Restaurant is about mid-way of the main strip in Pigeon Forge. It is very good and is located on the creek that winds through town. Neat location.

We have never been to any live shows.

Have a great time!

 

[atlnewf]

I love the Old Mill restaurant. Haven't been to any live shows, so I can't help you there.

There are some caverns (Forbidden Caverns) outside of Pigeon Forge that your kids are likely to enjoy. There's also a trout farm enroute that has VERY good food. You "catch" your own fish, then they cook it for you. (They have other food too.)

Ashley

 

[kilee]

We've been to Gaitlinburg/Pigeon Forge twice. The most recent was this past spring. First I have to say, we rented a "luxury" cabin high a top a mountain. It was incredible. Well worth the money, and much better than the hotel we stayed in a few years ago.

I have to add another vote to the OLD MILL restuarant. The food is incredible. I have to say didn't care for the Cracker Barrell (usually like them) nor the Ponderosa (usually like them as well).

We visited the Nascar park and cafe. Found both to be overpriced. Absolutely love the "craft loop".

We did the comdey show in the barn. I can't remember the name. It didn't include dinner. It was in Pigeon Forge and it was very family oriented. It was really cute!!! There are soo many to choose from. Definetly look up Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce on the internet. They have a ton of travel info.

Also, we did Dollywood both times. I personally thought the rides were just okay. But the theme, food, and shops were great!!! The shops had incredible items for great prices!!

 

[disneyfan551]

Sorry, but the Burning Bush is being remodeled and is closed. One place I would NOT go... Open Hearth restaurant. Bad, bad, bad experience there! (our own fault though...we shouldn't have gone after 2 other couples had gone within the last month and said it was horrible... DUH!!)

 

[ScarlettO]

I loved The Apple Barn and The Mill on our last visit there.


Question......has anyone driven to Biltmore Estates from Gatlinburg...is this do-able?

 

[disneyfan551]

ScarlettO...oh yes, this is doable! It just depends what time of the year you are visiting. On a regular day, it will take you about 45m's-1hr to cross "the mountain" into NC, and it is a GORGEOUS drive!!! Once you get to Cherokee, it will take you a little less than an hour to get to the Biltmore Estate. It is truly amazing. If you're a gambler, Harrah's Cherokee Casino is very close!

A day trip to BE would really be a nice change, and something you would enjoy!

 

[believe]

Originally posted by disneyfan551
Sorry, but the Burning Bush is being remodeled and is closed. One place I would NOT go... Open Hearth restaurant. Bad, bad, bad experience there! (our own fault though...we shouldn't have gone after 2 other couples had gone within the last month and said it was horrible... DUH!!)

Open Hearth closed over a year ago...it then became O'Charleys which has now closed.

Cherokee is a beautiful waterfall called Mingo Falls which is well worth the 1/4 mile hike.

DON'T GET ON THE TROLLEY in Pigeon Forge. It takes forever to get anywhere.

 

[disneyfan551]

Unfortunately, Open Hearth is open again. It did become an O'Charley's, but "they're back... " They truly used to be one of the better restaurants in town, but I can not say that now! We ate there 2/14/04, the day my dh surprised me with a vow renewal at one of the little chapels in Gatlinburg!

There are tons of choices in the area, do NOT go to Open Hearth!!

 

[UncleKyle]

The Peddler is one of fav restaurants of all time. It's not cheap but some of the best steaks you'll ever have. Another good one is The Brass Lantern. We a couple of months ago and they had some of the best burgers and steaks I'd had in a while. For breakfast you have to eat at the Apple Barn, their Apple Muffins and Fritters are the best! Just make sure you get there early.

 

[Jockaroo]

Another vote for the Old Mill Restaurant. It is my favorite--and I'm a former East Tennessee gal. The corn chowder is heavenly!

You folks have me wanting to try the Apple Barn now though--sounds yummy.

-Jockaroo

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I love corn chowder. Mmmmmm

Lori

 

[laurie31]

We vacation in Gatlinbuirg with DH's family every winter. We love it there. Another vote for the Peddler from me (and another against Open Hearth - it used to be awesome, now we'll never go back ) but the one place we MUST go at least once and usually twice is the Apple Barn, actually called Applewood's Farmhouse Restaurant: DH would drive the 6 hours just to eat there. Yummy, yummy apple fritters and apple butter, really yummy vegetable soup that even my kids will eat, and try the Applewood Pork Loin - it melts in your mouth

http://www.applewoodfarmhouserestaurant.com/home.html

Don't miss the cages with the little birds in the back, and we also love the Apple Barn shop as well as the Christmas shop there. We also have seen Dixie Stampede 3 times and have never been disappointed. We are a group of 10: DH's parents, his brother's family (kids 16 and 12) and the four of us (kids 5 and 7). We also really enjoyed the Black Bear Jamboree and the Louise Mandrell show (www.louisemandrell.com) was very excellent (and I'm not a big country music fan - but this was so much more!). Our kids enjoyed Dollywood, but although it is clean, don't expect WDW-level attractions

Also, we really enjoyed hiking some of the easier trails in the national park together this year. Our little one is finally old enough to not want to be carried half the way and the scenery is beautiful. Even if you aren't big nature buffs, the trail to Laurel Falls is *paved* -it can't get much easier There's also horseback riding and such things and our kids like the Mine where you can find gemstones in dirt brought in from real mines. We've never found anything worthy of being made into jewelry, but it's still fun

I think no one has mentioned Ober Gatlinburg, which has an indoor ice rink in addition to snowboarding and skiing trails. The ever-present gift shops are there as well

Have fun!

Laurie