When visiting Gatlinburg, there are so many restaurants to try! On my recent trip, I was honestly a little overwhelmed when researching where to eat. We ended up waiting and choosing several restaurants to eat at while we were in Gatlinburg versus choosing in advance. Some of my favorite restaurants were all apart of the same family of restaurants!
Johnson Family of Restaurants
Big Daddy’s Pizzeria:
Big Daddy’s Pizzeria has three different locations. We went to the one in Sevierville when we visited, but they also have one in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Having one in all of these locations makes it easy to go to no matter where you are in the Great Smoky Mountains.
When we visited Big Daddy’s Pizzeria, we had been hiking that day and we were hungry! Because of this, we decided to get an appetizer as well as our pizzas. We were debating between the spinach and artichoke dip or the Dough Daddy’s which are their yeast rolls. Our waitress was very helpful and let us know that we could make the spinach artichoke dip as the sauce for our pizza if we desired. With that information, we decided on the dough daddies for the appetizer and I added the spinach artichoke dip as my base on my pizza.
My husband got the BBQ 4 U pizza which had two types of cheeses, chicken, bacon, red onions, and red peppers. My pizza came with the artichoke dip as the sauce and then I added onions, pepperoni, and green peppers. We both enjoyed our pizza and we also had great service, which is always a plus! There are so many unique options to try here like brown sugar on top of your pizza or a sausage crust! If you are visiting the Great Smoky Mountains, you need to check out Big Daddy’s Pizzeria.
Check them out here:
https://www.bigdaddyspizzeria.net
Mama’s Fried Chicken
After having a great meal at Big Daddy’s Pizzeria, we were excited to try Mama’s Fried Chicken since they are part of the same restaurant group. We ended up taking the Gatlinburg Trolley to get to this restaurant, but during the time we went, there was a large parking lot that was not very full. When we go next time, we will take our car to avoid the extra time it takes on the Trolley.
Be warned that the meals here are HUGE! I ordered the chicken strips with fries and coleslaw and it also came with a biscuit. They also let me try multiple sauces with my meal. My husband got a leg and a thigh meal with chicken & dumplins, and Mac & cheese with a biscuit. This meal was SO GOOD. The chicken was well seasoned and delicious and the French fries had an amazing flavor as well. I also saw that they are now serving breakfast on the weekends and I wish we had been able to sample it. I am sure it would have been tasty. We will definitely be going back when we visit the Great Smoky Mountains again!
Check them out here:
https://www.mamaschickenkitchen.com
J.O.E. and Pop’s Sub Shoppe
While we did not order any food from this store, it is connected with Mama’s Fried Chicken. It is essentially two restaurants in one. You order at the same counter and the seating area is the same, but they have completely different menus. The beauty of this concept is the fact that you can bring a group or family here and there are many options for people to choose from to eat. I recommend adding this to your list of restaurants to try.
Check them out here:
Mama’s Farmhouse
This restaurant is similar to Mama’s Fried Chicken but it is served Family Style. Because of this, your group will have to decide together on what food you want at your table. The Farmhouse is also more expensive than Mama’s Fried Chicken as it is all you can eat. If you are checking out this restaurant, be sure to look ahead at what days they offer the different meats on their menu and plan accordingly based on what you would like to order. They serve Breakfast, lunch, and dinner at this restaurant so you have plenty of opportunities to try it out.
Check them out here:
https://www.mamasfarmhouse.com
Bennet’s Pit BBQ
Bennet’s is another restaurant that we were hoping to try but we were unable to fit it into our schedule. With it being part of the Johnson family of restaurants, it has to be good! This one is also conveniently located in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. They have all the menu items you would expect from a BBQ restaurant as well as some unique finds like Honey BBQ Jalapeño Sausage and cheese squares (Deep fried cheese served with chili and sour cream). This one is definitely on our list for our next trip.
Check them out here:
https://www.bennetts-bbq.com/menus?menu=lunch-menu
The Johnson family of restaurants also have two other stores, Alamo Steakhouse and Mad Dog Creamery, with locations in both Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
Anakeesta Restaurants
Anakeesta is like a mini city on top of a mountain in downtown Gatlinburg. If you have the opportunity, I recommend visiting Anakeesta and exploring all they have to offer! You can check out my article here on our visit to Anakeesta: https://suitcasesandsalt.com/14-reasons-why-you-cant-skip-anakeesta/
If you do find yourself at the top of Anakeesta, here are some of the restaurants you can try.
Clifftop Restaurant
This is the top restaurant I wanted to try when we visited. It is a sit down restaurant where you will be served by a waiter and they serve modern American food. Check out their menu here: https://anakeesta.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025_Clifftop_Menu_Online.pdf. The beauty of this restaurant is you are able to put your name on the list and then can continue exploring Anakeesta while you wait for your table.
We unfortunately got caught up with activities and did not get our name on the list until later than we were hoping. They ended up not taking many names after ours as they were not going to be able to serve anyone else before they closed. I recommend getting your name on the list early if you can. The wait was going to be over an hour for us so we went and explored a few things. While exploring we decided to go to the Smokehouse restaurant instead. If you plan on going here, make sure you eat earlier or get your name on the list before the dinner rush!
I also love that they have an allergen menu on their website so it makes it easy to prepare in advance if this is needed for you!
Smokehouse Restaurant
When we passed this restaurant during our visit, it was constantly busy. It did finally slow down towards closing time, so we decided to give it a try. The view from this restaurant is incredible!! You can sit either inside (somewhat still open air but more protected) or outside. They do have heaters outside if you go during a cooler season.
My husband ordered the two meat plate and I got the pulled pork sandwich with fries. The meal was very good but be prepared that it is more on the expensive side. The views though make it worth the price! Check out their menu here: https://anakeesta.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025_Smokehouse_Menu_Online.pdf
There are several other restaurants that are available on Anakeesta but they are more of a grab and go type environment. The benefit of this area though is there are incredible views all over the park and you can enjoy your meal with beautiful scenery no matter where you decide to grab food. Check out all of the dining options here: https://anakeesta.com/magical-firefly-village/
Howard’s
Howards is the oldest restaurant in Gatlinburg. This peaked my interest when we were looking for somewhere to eat. We went during a non peak time and we were easily able to get a seat. The host asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside, but it was a cold day so we decided on inside. When another group came in, they were offered the same thing but mentioned how there are heaters outside and most people were choosing to sit outside. I think we may have made the wrong seating choice. While we did not get to see it, there is some water that runs by the restaurant that you get to enjoy when you are sitting outside.
Our waitress did a great job of being attentive to our needs. At the beginning of our meal, a photographer came around and took our picture. They offer you a free post card to take home with you as well! You also have the option to buy some photos if you would like.
After our photo, we ordered our appetizer. We got the spinach con queso dip. It was really good! For our meal, my husband ordered steak and I ordered the steak burger. While the steak burger was not my favorite, we both enjoyed our time at Howard’s. The service was good as was the food. I can see why it has been around for so long!
Doughnut Friar –
The Doughnut Friar is located at the Village shops in downtown Gatlinburg. This quaint little store is found closer to the middle of the shops. They open at 5am so if you are an early riser, you can get doughnuts! Just know that they do have different varieties available at different times. When we went, I saw a sign posted that showed what times different doughnuts would be ready by each day. I got a cake doughnut and a cinnamon sugar doughnut. They were both really good! My husband also enjoyed the doughnuts he got. My one regret is that I did not try the cinnamon bread! I have heard it is amazing but it gives me something to look forward to next time we go. Doughnut Friar will definitely be on our list of where to eat when we go back!
Check them out here:
https://www.facebook.com/TheDonutFriar
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Along with all the restaurants listed above there are several others that are on our list for next time! Pizza Rio is a Brazilian Pizza restaurant. It seemed so unique and I hope we get to go there on our next trip. I also want to go to a pancake restaurant (or 2!). We heard a lot about how popular the pancake restaurants here were but we did not have the opportunity to try one on this trip.
There are so many restaurants in Gatlinburg! I can not wait to go back for so many reasons but trying out more restaurants and going back to some of our favorites is definitely on my list. I hope you get to try out some of these fun and delicious restaurants on your next trip!
Looking for restaurants in Pigeon Forge? Check out the Old Mill – https://suitcasesandsalt.com/check-out-why-i-would-go-back-to-the-old-mill-in-pigeon-forge-tn/
Visiting Gatlinburg? Check out 16 things that we did in the area! – https://suitcasesandsalt.com/16-activities-you-need-to-check-out-at-the-great-smoky-mountains-national-park/
Visiting St. Louis? Check out this guide on restaurants in the city – https://pepperandpassports.com/11-restaurants-in-and-around-st-louis-missouri/
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