Gatlinburg's best eating is ranked twice on this page — a 2026 top-10 of the whole Smokies (no chains allowed: catch-your-own trout at English Mountain, the Apple Barn, a Brazilian steakhouse) and a family's years-of-filming roundup (Chesapeake's for fresh-flown seafood, PawPaw's Catfish, Trish's Mountain Diner) — then the films sit down at the institutions.

Watch: first looks

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

The 10 Best Restaurants in THE SMOKIES for 2026!

Adventure Is Out There

Adventure Is Out There's 2026 top-10 restaurants of the Smokies — a Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg countdown with no chains allowed: catch-your-own trout at English Mountain Trout Farm, the Apple Barn, a Brazilian steakhouse's salad bar and lobster soup, and the couple's long-running local favorites ranked with on-camera tastings.

Key takeaways
  • Local, non-chain picks only across the three Smoky Mountain towns
  • Catch-and-cook trout is the list's most unusual entry
  • Filmed and ranked for 2026

The BEST Restaurants In The Smokies | Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and Wears Valley

Every Day Is Saturday

Every Day Is Saturday's best-restaurants-in-the-Smokies roundup, distilled from two and a half years of filming area restaurants: Chesapeake's in Gatlinburg for fresh-flown seafood, English Mountain Trout Farm, PawPaw's Catfish Kitchen, Trish's Mountain Diner for Southern comfort food, and Big Daddy's wood-fired pizza among the family's ranked picks.

Key takeaways
  • A Tennessee family's ranked picks from years of restaurant filming
  • Chesapeake's anchors the Gatlinburg seafood slot
  • Comfort-food diners and wood-fired pizza round out the list

Cherokee Grill Gatlinburg TN | A Must-Try Smoky Mountain Steakhouse? 🥘

Friday's Forever

Friday's Forever's full visit to Cherokee Grill, Gatlinburg's premier steakhouse (celebrating 25 years): the solar crab dip, a charred bone-in ribeye cut on camera, filet mignon, house-made croutons and fresh-everything sourcing — wild-caught Alaskan salmon and local trout included — in the Calhoun's Village setting.

Key takeaways
  • Gatlinburg's upscale steakhouse pick, 25 years in
  • Bone-in ribeye and filet are the on-camera cuts
  • Everything made fresh daily, per the staff

The special occasions

Cherokee Grill, Gatlinburg's premier steakhouse at 25 years: solar crab dip, a charred bone-in ribeye cut on camera, everything fresh daily. The Greenbrier Restaurant — the former hunting lodge, NOT the park area of the same name, as its film is careful to say — is the fine-dining entry: spoon bread, dry-aged steaks, a wine lounge whose ceiling maps the national park.

The working favorites

Best Italian's renovated menu at two locations (Elks Plaza adds creekside dining), Myron Mixon's championship barbecue on the Parkway, and Howard's — a Gatlinburg institution since 1946, whose film loads as watch content because its caption track was auto-translated beyond use. Fannie Farkle's Ogle Dogs represent the sidewalk end.

Watch: more views

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

NEW Menu at Best Italian Gatlinburg | Amazing Pizza & Olive Oil Cake!

Adventure Is Out There

Adventure Is Out There's inside look at the newly renovated Best Italian in Gatlinburg — both the Parkway original and the Elks Plaza location with creekside dining — walking the new menu with the kitchen: house-made dressings, a new Caesar and shrimp appetizers, fettuccini Alfredo, spicy rigatoni and the olive-oil-cake-versus-cheesecake dessert debate.

Key takeaways
  • Two Gatlinburg locations; Elks Plaza adds creekside dining
  • Pastas and dressings are made in house
  • The renovated menu is the film's news

MYRON MIXON BARBECUE CO. | Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Every Day Is Saturday

Every Day Is Saturday's visit to Myron Mixon's barbecue restaurant in downtown Gatlinburg — the championship pitmaster's tender brisket-style cuts, jalapeño cheddar sausage and loaded baked-potato salad tasted and scored on camera — wrapped in a what's-new downtown walk past the Pancake Pantry line and Anakeesta's gondola rebuild.

Key takeaways
  • A championship BBQ name on the Gatlinburg Parkway
  • Meats are tender and not stringy, per the tasting
  • Downtown conditions filmed the same day

THE GREENBRIER RESTAURANT | Gatlinburg, Tennessee | Elevated Food & Spirit Outpost

Every Day Is Saturday

Every Day Is Saturday's dinner at The Greenbrier Restaurant — the fine-dining restaurant in a former hunting lodge (not the national-park Greenbrier area): skillet spoon bread, pistachio-cranberry goat cheese, a palate-cleanser sorbet, dry-aged steaks, a melt-in-the-mouth pork chop with risotto, and the wine lounge whose ceiling maps the national park.

Key takeaways
  • Gatlinburg's special-occasion dinner, in a former hunting lodge
  • Dry-aged beef and spoon bread are the signatures
  • The wine lounge ceiling is a map of the park

The walk

A packed Valentine's-weekend downtown walk closes the page — Mountain Mall, Aldean's rooftop, tastings — the restaurants in their street context.

Sources: the 9 videos on this page, filmed at restaurants in Gatlinburg and the Smokies.

Watch: the full set

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

A Gatlinburg Classic! We Finally Tried Howard’s Restaurant

Friday's Forever

Friday's Forever's lunch visit to Howard's Restaurant, a Gatlinburg institution since 1946 — the menu read at the door, a booth lunch and the couple's verdict on a Parkway classic. (The film is English-narrated, but its only served caption track is an auto-translation, so it loads as watch content.)

Fannie Farkle’s Ogle Dogs And Smoked Sausages

Journey With Steve and Veronica

Steve and Veronica come for the fair food in 2025: the Ogle Dogs and smoked sausages, and the smell of onions, peppers and frying corn dogs that drifts down the Parkway sidewalk and pulls people in. Their practical verdict: walk up, order at the counter, and it is made fresh fast.

Key takeaways
  • The Ogle Dog is Fannie Farkle's signature corn dog
  • The onion-and-pepper smell on the sidewalk is the advertising
  • Walk-up counter; food is made fresh and fast

Gatlinburg TN. Complete Walking Tour of Downtown, Shops, Restaurants, Attractions, and More!

Beachin with the Boones

Beachin with the Boones walks the whole downtown on a packed Valentine's weekend: the Mountain Mall, Jason Aldean's rooftop overlooking the street, tastings along the way, and their Parkway hotel as a home base.

Key takeaways
  • Valentine's weekend crowds show the Parkway at full tilt
  • Jason Aldean's rooftop overlooks the street
  • The Mountain Mall is the indoor fallback

More Gatlinburg essentials

Start from the Gatlinburg hub for the full directory, or keep exploring:

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