Headed to the Great Smokies this summer, Gatlinburg perhaps? You won’t lack for places to eat.
Lots of Gatlinburg’s eateries are locally-owned, suffused with the flavor and hospitality of the Great Smokey Mountains. Here are few favorites:
Alamo Steakhouse & Saloon. This place specializes in Black Angus beef cooked over an oaken fire. No shortcuts. There’s a bodacious bar, and ample provision for kids. The kudos, both local and otherwise, just keep coming in for this restaurant.
Bear Creek Grill serves up a succulent trout dish, one of the reputed best in the southern Appalachians. The Italian fare isn’t bad either. It’s located near the entrance to Gatlinburg’s Arts and Crafts Community.
The Cabin Café is in the Arts and Crafts Community, a smallish, legitimately friendly restaurant where the food is as fresh as the staff’s outlook on life. If you’re in search of the ultimate anti-chain restaurant, a refuge from the pre-packaged, this intimately edible enclave is it.
Calhoun’s Restaurant coddles their baby back ribs lovingly. If you don’t mind getting messy (ask for plenty of napkins and ditch the necktie) Calhoun’s is the destination of choice.
The thing you need to know about Gatlinburg’s restaurants is that virtually all of them are family-friendly. If you’re in search of a child-free venue, you’re going to have to look long and hard. This stretch of the Smokies is innately romantic, but it’s also populated by squadrons of minivans.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: faungg)
