Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen

Good food served family style. Service was good. Price was not bad considering it was all you could eat.

The food is really good and the menu setup is actually a cool idea. The entire table orders a bunch of things and splits it, like family style. I do not recommend asking how things are made. Hearing how the tomato grits were made me think twice about coming back. Velveeta was involved. Otherwise the staff was sweet and the store is very cute.

Top notch food! Just what I expected, great home cooking. At $ 16.99 per person, it was a little steep, but the food was the best that we had all week here in the Pigeon Forge area. It was worth every penny! If we were all you can eat folks, it would have been a bargain, too.

All the food comes out family style but you choose 3 entrees and 4 sides to share with refills. The chicken was very moist and crisp. Cheesy meatloaf was very good but the spare ribs were the best thing we had sauce was sweet with tangy undertones. Only downfall was desert, stay away from the banana pudding and try one of the other options.

Not sure what people are saying when they are saying the value isn’t good. Family style with great options and all you can eat! My kind of deal! Includes dessert. It’s 21.99 for adults which I do not think is pricey as we are from the Northeast where things are crazy expensive!
Loved everything especially the pot roast believe it or not!

Overall, this was a disappointing and expensive experience. Food was not that good and this place is hella wasteful! No doggie bags allowed and they bring out these HUGE portions! Then anything you don’t eat, they throw away! Say you order chicken and are looking for leg pieces, you can’t request them. They just bring out plate after plate of chicken until you get a leg, and everything else they throw away! Total turds. Do not eat here.

Not what I was expecting. Overrated. Food was cold and very bland. Could not understand what the waitress was saying.

This edition of Excited about Eating takes a road trip to Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen, located on The Island in Pigeon Forge, TN.
This second story family restaurant has tiered seating so that everyone can take advantage of the floor to ceiling windows overlooking The Island.
Dora here. And conveniently situated over the Paula Deen retail store on the first floor. :) Normally, there’s a long wait (with call ahead option), but we visited during Storm Jonas. Not many people ventured out.
This restaurant serves their meals family style with a twist. Instead of having the menu decided by the restaurant and every table gets the same dishes, Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen gives each table three main dishes from a choice of seven and four side dishes from a choice of twelve, all you can eat.
Dora here. All you can eat of your choices. And no doggie bags. Bruiser was disappointed. :)
To start, they serve cheddar cheese biscuits and hoe cakes to start the meal, family style. The biscuits were good, soft, and tender. The hoe cakes were served with a sweet potato butter, also great. I could really taste the corn meal ingredient.
Dora here. Oh my yum! Loved, loved, LOVED the biscuits with the sweet potato butter, a fresh twist on apple butter. Not so much the hoecakes. Maybe because they look like pancakes that it’s impossible not to compare them.
For main dishes we chose Best Ever Southern Fried Chicken, Spare Ribs, and Cheesy Meatloaf. For the sides, Creamed Corn, Squash Casserole, Mac and Cheese, and Poppyseed Tossed Salad.
Of the main dishes, the southern fried chicken was perfectly fried, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, and full of favor.
Dora here. Full of flavor because they’d been dredged in hot sauce? Whatever, they were worthy of a second round.
The ribs were tender and covered in a sweet and spicy barbeque sauce that had a unique taste that we later learned was chili power. The cheesy meatloaf was covered in a thick cheese sauce, cut thick and outstanding.
Dora here. I wasn’t a fan of the ribs because of the sauce. But that meatloaf? I could actually enjoy meatloaf prepared this way.
The creamed corn was sweet, and my favorite followed by the squash casserole, which included both summer squash and zucchini with a crumb cracker topping.
Dora here. Totally unusual, but I vote the same for the sides. Of the meats, the fried chicken was my fave.
We rate this restaurant 5 forks our of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food. ~Ernie & Dora Hiers, Fiction Faith & Foodies Blog

We came for breakfast and it was our favorite breakfast during our trip.
They start by bringing you fresh squeezed orange juice and a delicious cinnamon roll.
Then you order family style… we choose bananas foster french toast (awesome), breakfast casserole, chicken/​waffles, ham, fried grits, and biscuits/​gravy.
Service was excellent and the food was fantastic!

The meal started off okay… They brought us luke warm hot cakes and biscuits, next was the entrees and sides. Like the bread, pretty much everything was luke warm except for the yams. For $ 22 a person at the very least my food should be fresh and hot. And to top it all off as I’m eating my Luke warm meal I have the hospitality team vacuuming all around my table.

Went here last night, tried to walk in at 9:05, the manager said they were closed already. I told him the website says 10, he said he knows but they’re on winter hours. Just a heads up for you late nighters like us (I was realllllly excited to eat here, and really hungry!) We ended our trip and headed back home today, so I guess it’ll have to wait until the next trip!
Also… They might have just been closing early because it was a slow night. Maybe just call before you come!

Can you say stuffed?! Originally wanted breakfast but didn’t make it in time. However I’m happy we stayed for lunch. You get lots of food for the price. We ordered the fried chicken and cheesy meatloaf which were both scrumptious. Even though it’s lots of food, leave room for dessert. That banana pudding is heavenly!

My star rating is based on food — I know there have been some whiners about quality and maybe paula deen’s did have an occasional off night but… ALL of our food was awesome.
Family style. Pricey. Extreme wait times (CALL ahead!!! You can knock off an hour!) Hoards of people. Confusing hostess system — all true. Worth it? Mostly.
Our family of 4 chose fried chicken (of course!), lasagna and fried catfish for our meats. And mac’n’cheese, creamed potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn casserole as our sides. Everything was awesome — my kids were in fried chicken heaven. (The only item we got a refill on too)
Loved the biscuits, hoe cakes and sweet potato butter!
The restaurant is beautiful with an amazing view — definitely classier and more upscale than most (self-​proclaimed!) «hillbilly» restaurants down there.
Service was friendly and fast — my only «issue» was the price. I’m not a cheap person but my family doesn’t eat enough to justify the $ 130 check. Will that stop us from returning next year? No, but can’t say that for us the «all you can consume» style of eating is «worth» it. It was DELICIOUS however and that’s why I don’t mind the $.

I had a wonderful birthday lunch there a few days ago. We ordered the fried chicken and lasagna as our main courses. The fried chicken was probably the best I’ve ever had. The lasagna was good but it’s more southern style lasagna instead of traditional Italian. Excellent Mac and cheese, creamed mashed potatoes and squash casserole. The cheesy biscuits and hoecakes are to die for! All in all, it was a great meal and I would highly recommend the place.

My husband and I ate at Paula Deen’s restaurant for breakfast a few days before Thanksgiving. We chose breakfast after looking at the menu – it had more items that appealed to us.
We knew ahead of time what to expect – the whole table picks a set number of dishes and everything is served family style, meaning you can order more of whatever you want.
We got Chicken and Waffles, Scrambled Eggs, Ooey Gooey Butter Pancakes, sausage, Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, and fruit. The chicken tender that came with the waffle was amazing and tender. The waffles were ordinary, but fine. The biscuits and gravy were excellent. The pancakes did not seem to be ooey or gooey, just plain pancakes. The fruit was mostly cantaloupe. We liked the yogurt dipping sauce that came with the fruit. The eggs were fine, but my husband thought they were underdone for his taste. The sausage was not good at all.
But our waitress was very sweet and checked on us frequently. We didn’t order seconds of anything because the first round filled us up. I have to say, the forced southern-​ness and commercialized-​ness seemed insincere.

This is better at lunch than dinner. The price will turn you off at dinner Save the money and pay 16.99 for a good family style meal. It’s basically buffet served to your table. Fried chicken is no brainer but we chose the cheesy meatloaf which was surprising just as good. The turnip greens are the bomb and creamed corn even on the sweet side is great. Black eyes and Mac n cheese were good and the cheese bread and ho cakes.
I consider the Savannah restaurant to be a 5 star all the way but some of the recipes here have been toned down. If you go for lunch I would consider it better than old mill family style. Some may disagree but either way you won’t go away hungry

Wow! We were so impressed. I’ve got to tell you, I expected an overpriced Cracker Barrel experience. While it is southern and there is a store (and the food is not cheap), the décor is top notch, the food was beyond reproach and the service was fantastic! The only down side is the music. A petty complaint, but so obviously did NOT fit; loud rock ‘n roll at a southern classy restaurant? Bad idea. (Not that we don’t like the music, just not here.) Otherwise, 5 stars.

Visited this restaurant while on vacation. Knowing there would likely be a long wait for our large group, we called early in the day to set up a reservation or call ahead. The lady who answered was friendly and we were told to call back about an hour before we wanted to eat and they would have no problem accommodating our party of 15.
So after calling back about an hour before our desired dining time, we were then told there could be additional wait time once we arrived — basically calling ahead didn’t pay any dividend! Once we arrived, somewhat irritated, we were informed there would be an ADDITIONAL 2 HOUR WAIT!
Now, we knew there would be a long wait and we were ok with that. However, we tried to call ahead and avoid some of the headache. We felt we were led on by the staff. If they had simply informed us when we first called that calling ahead didn’t necessarily help avoid long wait times, we could have planned differently! It’s not that we didn’t expect to wait, but don’t mislead your guests — just be honest with the process and people can plan around the wait times.
Once we were finally seated after waiting about 1.5 hours, our experience was fantastic. The food was good for a pre-​prepared family dining experience. Our service was very friendly, and the food was delivered quickly. The desert was just ok, but again, because of the volume of food, it is a pre-​prepared family dining restaurant.
Overall we were pleased with the food and experience. But, a little more honest communication about the process to get into the restaurant would have been very appreciated.

Expense but oh so good!
This is what I pick for my birthday lunch. After all the reviews I read on Unilocal I knew I had to go here. And I can’t wait to go back. We called ahead to shorten our wait time but they don’t do reservation.
They bring out a cheddar biscuit and hoe cake for each person and some sweet potato butter. Kyle does not like sweet potato and eat almost all of out small container.
We ordered fried chicken and the cheesy meatloaf. We each picked one. I loved the fried chicken. Supper juicy and seasoned well. We ordered more chicken! I am not a meatloaf eater so that was all Kyle.
For sides we choose the poppy-​seed salad, green beans, corn casserole and the squash casserole. The salad was just a salad, good dressing but nothing special. The green beans were great we ordered another bowl of them. The corn was dry. And the squash… wow so good! I want that recipe.
For the $ 17.99 price you also get dessert. We both got the pumpkin ooey gooey cake. I was so full that I only had a couple bits and Kyle finished for me.
I would make the 6 hour drive and spend the weekend in the Smokey’s just to eat here again!

We ate here twice in the few days we were in town. The food was top-​notch. I’m a bit dismayed by some of the negative reviews, overall the food and services was excellent.
You will need to come hungry. You get 3 meats and 4 sides for $ 21/​person, and those you select are all you can eat. There is no take-​home option, but after the first round, you can select whatever size of repeat dishes you think appropriate; this will cut down on waste.
We were not a fan of the pork chops which were covered in gravy (not mentioned on the menu); but everything else was great. The FRIED CHICKEN and CATFISH is not to be missed; some of the best I’ve ever had. For the sides, you can’t go wrong with whatever fits your personal taste; all are awesome.
If you get the mashed potatoes, I’d recommend getting a side of gravy; just makes it that much better.
One of the dessert options (the Ooey Gooey Butter Cake) is super sweet, but still probably the best of the choices. However, when we were there, they had a seasonal Pumpkin Ooey Gooey Cake. This was incredibly good, and not overly sweet. This needs to be a regular dessert option.