Smokey Shadows Lodge & Country Dining

If you wanna know what North Carolina hospitality was like long ago, this is your place. Sure there aren’t many reviews and stories from our era but people want to keep this place their little secret. Dinner at Smokey Shadows is so good and special sometimes it’s hard to get reservations there during your trip. Yes after you enter this over 100+ year old log cabin style Lodge, admire the huge stone fireplace and quaint but comfy lobby all set up with wooden chairs, rockers and books for a late night read., then meander down the narrow hall with low ceilings and hand made wooden doors to each room and history unfolds as you read letters, postcards and autographs containing tales of other visitor’s vacations and visits written to the owners thanking them for peace, tranquility but most of all the view and the great hospitality and food. These are the real reviews and you will be very surprised by now many of them are stars, famous people, politicians.
It is a historic lodge called Smokey Shadows just above Maggie Valley, NC with a two-​story main lodge building and cabins. But this review is just about the restaurant part for now. Enjoy…
Let me to start by saying that when you travel to North Carolina you’ll see plenty of places promising good country cooking. I’m sorry to tell you that good country cookin doesn’t always mean deep fried and battered dripping with grease. Now I can eat me some country fried steak, but this place is completely different. This is true home cooked food made fresh with loving care and the best part is the hospitality and Friends you will meet and make the night you eat here. It’s a whole dinner experience, you pull up to this Lodge high in the hill, walk in and the lobby is already being set up with appetizers and wine and other beverages all brought by your co diners and new friends for the evening. Yes, you bring your own alcoholic drinks here (of course they provide the fresh ice tea and water if you’re not thirsty for anything more). The lobby is comfortable and it’s a good place to take off your coat and say hi to everyone but the best part is when you step out for the best view of the Smokies and sit on a rocking chair the long porch where everyone starts to gossip and we always make some friends even just for the night. Once dinner’s ready, you’ll be called into the dining room and don’t be surprised you’ll sit with a few people you don’t know, but the tables are large (as in both wide and deep) and it feels just like a big family dinner. The difference here is Mama’s cooking is not what you’re used to. Since it is like Mama’s cooking I can’t really tell you what the menu is going to be the night you go, so the best bet is to call ahead because she made a different homemade meal almost every time we visited. Couple things that don’t ever change besides all the old and beautiful antiques in the room you eat in, even the dishes, is how delicious and fresh everything there is. Out come huge bowls of salad and fresh bread followed by an entrée with several sides and of course always includes her famous tomato pie. I can’t describe it or how it’s made, and don’t know the recipe but it’s absolutely the best. Typically you’ll get a salad, entre, five or six sides, bread, and of course homemade dessert all included in one price. Everything is served family style on huge dishes you pass around the table just like a home made dinner at your grandmother’s house when you were a kid. It is eat all you like too and you will be full but not greased out on processed food.
I can’t really say more because this place is exactly like I’m describing it it is an experience not to be missed if you’re into anything like home cooked meals, old buildings, antiques and feeling like you just stepped into the past 70 or 80 years to have dinner.
Notes: Dinner is served at a specific time starting with the part I consider appetizers and happy hour (which is bring your own drinks and snacks, win, cheese, beer or whatever your fancy) we usually end up joining up and sharing with others. Make sure to arrive enough time ahead of dinner to enjoy this part. There aren’t multiple seatings, Just one setting a day and they don’t cook dinner every night if it’s not season so call ahead to make sure they’re open and reservations are highly recommend.
I would say this is more of an adult thing but now that I have a child of my own, heck I dealt with it and he didn’t do too bad they have a few high chairs so can accommodate at least one or two small ones. The older kids would enjoy running up and down the hill blow the porch balcony while scaring mom and dad a bit while waiting for dinner. There is no real dress code but think of how you would dress if you’re going to grandmother’s house for dinner that’s what I would wear.