Whether you’ve got a family with some picky eaters (or at least diverse palettes) or your stomach’s simply growling a bit more exuberantly than usual, sometimes nothing quite hits the spot like an all-you-can-eat meal out, right? If that sort of hankering hits while you’re enjoying the many pleasures of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee—nationally famed for its Dollywood attractions as well as its close proximity to Great Smoky Mountains National Park—you’re in luck. This friendly little foothills town has a nice lineup of local restaurants with all-you-can-eat options.
Read on to learn about a few, but beware: You’re apt to get mighty hungry doing so!
Wood Grill Buffet
2301 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 429-3120
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Meat lovers in particular will appreciate dining out at the Wood Grill Buffet, which employs a 4,000-pound smoker to whip up its flavorsome goodness. Among the breakfast highlights here are customizable, special-order omelets—not a bad way to kick off your day on the stoop of the Great Smokies!
Lunchtime at the Wood Grill Buffet, meanwhile, puts a slew of regional and international flavors at your fingertips, what with the Asian, Italian, Southwest, and American bars backed up by salad, veggie, bread, and dessert spreads.
Come dinner, Wood Grill Buffet diners can tuck into everything from the rotisserie and fried chicken, oak-smoked baby-back and spare ribs, and hickory-grilled steaks to tilapia and other seafood, Italian and Southwest entrées, and potato, salad, veggie, and bread bars. The younger crowd is well covered here, too, mind you, with pizza, hot dogs, and other kid-friendly fare on offer.
Captain Jim’s Seafood Buffet
3985 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 453-0003
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All-you-can-eat crab legs are a popular accompaniment to the namesake seafood buffet at Captain Jim’s, which brings the bounty of the ocean to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. You’ll definitely want to bring your appetite here, choosing as you can among such offerings as peel-and-eat shrimp, clam strips, crab cakes, fried and raw oysters, sautéed clams, crab-stuffed flounder, baked cob, and New England-style clam chowder.
Rest assured it’s not all about the surf at Captain Jim’s Seafood Buffet! You can also savor Southern baked chicken, chuckeye roast, BBQ pork ribs, chicken tenders, hushpuppies, mac-and-cheese, and other mains and sides.
And the joys of Captain Jim’s extend beyond the buffet smorgasbord: There’s also a full-service bar here, the Captain’s Lounge, plus (rather unexpectedly) an adjoining well-stocked European specialty grocery, with everything from smoked Norwegian senga and Ukrainian salo to imported cheeses, butters, and sweets available.
Reagan’s House of Pancakes
2820 Parkway & 3516 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 428-0652
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The centerpiece of the Reagan’s House of Pancakes experience is the country-style breakfast buffet, which doesn’t fool around! Expect no shortage of flapjacks, of course, but also French toast, biscuits-and-gravy, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, grits, cinnamon rolls, and more amid the buffet bonanza. Rest assured there are plenty of toppings on hand to dress up your pancakes just the way you like them.
Besides the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, you can also just order straight-shooting plates such as waffles and omelets (plus fruit roll-ups!). And while breakfast is the main attraction at this morning and midday joint, you’ll also find a small-ish lunch menu of sandwiches and burgers on offer at Reagan’s as well.
Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen
131 The Island Drive, Suite 8101, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 366-1510
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Pigeon Forge lays claim to its own branch of Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen, set in the family-friendly dining and entertainment development called The Island. This restaurant—part of the brand of one of Southern cooking’s best-known mavens—delivers a big-time all-you-can-eat experience via what our own SmokyMountains.com Local Expert review calls “pure caloric heaven.”
The family-style breakfasts, lunches, and dinners serve up your choice of multiple fully laden dishes, ranging from Nashville Hot Chicken & Waffles, Sweet Piggies in a Blanket, and the Everyday Breakfast Casserole to chicken and dumplings, Georgia fried catfish, Southern meatloaf, and Paula Deen’s famous “Best Ever Fried Chicken.”
The sides at Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen in Pigeon Forge are nothing to sniff at either, what with options such as fried okra, collard greens, and creamed corn available.
Throw in such desserts as Banana Pudding and the supremely decadent Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, and you’ll see why your all-you-can-eat meal at The Island definitely has all your bases covered!
Mama’s Farmhouse
208 Pickel Street, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 908-4646
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More family-style, all-you-can-eat Southern cuisine at its finest awaits you at the beloved Mama’s Farmhouse, which keeps things cooking from breakfast through lunch to dinner.
Heaping helpings of such classics as country fried steak, roasted pork, meatloaf, fried chicken, and (but of course) the housemade buttermilk biscuits anchor proceedings at Mama’s Farmhouse, with sides including chicken and dumplings, fried okra, potato casserole, and mashed potatoes. Who’s hungry?
All-You-Can-Eat Your Way Through Pigeon Forge
From down-home Southern cookery to seafood sensations, Pigeon Forge hits all the right marks on the all-you-can-eat front. Good thing it’s so easy to work up a mountain-sized appetite in and around this Great Smokies hub!
