Crystelle Creek Restaurant — Restaurant in Gatlinburg

GO HERE!! COME CHECK THIS PLACE OUT!!

I only say that as i don’t live here and went here on a whim. If I was a local, I’d try and keep this place a secret so I could keep it all to myself. 😂

This is a long winded, detailed review. Long story short, I wish I could rate this place higher then 5 stars. It was that good.

I don’t know how this place is rated only 4.3 stars when you got ol red rated at 4.1 and this place absolutely smokes that place.

Me and my wife were out here on our honey moon and found this spot one evening. Our server was Josh and it was a little later in the evening. From the time I pulled up, we fell in love with the place. It was set back off the road, and sets over a pond which they pump the water up onto the roof and it trickles down the roof back into the pond but it gives it quite the nice effect. We were lucky enough to get sat up against the windows so that was our view from the inside as well, which couldn’t have been better to us. There is a lower parking lot for those who are older/handicapped that don’t want to park in the upper lot and walk down. Definitely plenty of free parking.

—Appetizers—

we got the catfish bites, cheese curds and garlic knots as appetizers, and I can’t rave about this place enough. I’d drive 8 hours back here for this place and wish I could have them pack it up and bring the restaurant back home with us. Josh stayed on top of things and made sure we didn’t want for anything. I’m not normally a fan of garlic knots, but these were amazing. They came with marinara sauce, but my wife couldn’t make up her mind if she wanted the sauce or not as the garlic knots were so good on their own. The marinara sauce should be on the menu by itself. We could eat that by itself with a spoon. It’s amazing. Only ever found one other spot that has marinara sauce that good where I wanted to eat it plain. Then there was the cheese curds. Normally I’m not a fan. My wife is. These had a little bit of spice to them and were cooked perfectly, also came with marinara sauce so double win there. Absolutely recommend them as well. The catfish nuggets were perfect. No hard crunchies, perfectly cooked and tasty. My wife doesn’t like catfish and she liked them more then she did the cheese curds. Her favorite of the 3 was the garlic knots, then catfish then cheese curds, but all 3 were 5/5 in my opinion and I’m glad we tried all 3 of them as they nailed it.

—Entrees—

I got the dry aged steak with side salad and sweet potato fries. The steak was cooked perfectly. I cook a mean steak and this steak placed did it just like I wanted and had better cross marks that I haven’t mastered yet 😂 but I’d go here before I go back to Ruth Chris steak house. It was so tender and flavorful. The sweet potato fries were waffle cut and were better than any other waffle fries I’ve had. Side salad was good, had the fancier style lettuce in it. Only thing I would have added was egg and not many places have egg in their salads.

My wife got the dry rubbed ribs, Mac n cheese and sweet potato fries. Her fries were hot and fresh like mine, we’re both glad the bbq sauce came on the side and the ribs didn’t need it at all. I grudgingly say they do better ribs than I do on the smoker. Twist and pull the bones right off the meat, you could eat the bone and marrow inside if you felt so inclined. She did a few bites just to show me how she perfect they were for her. Some argue ribs need to have a little bite to pull it off the bone, that’s not my opinion. If I can do the twist and pull the bone out, you nailed it. Flavor wise, they were on point. I like a place that doesn’t cover their food in sauce so you can taste the food. If it needs sauce, it isn’t cooked right.

Cons.

-MacNcheese was good but not on the same level as the rest of the food.

-And it’s a bit weird the chairs are on wheels.

Only reason we didn’t come back while we were out here was because we wanted to try new places every day. Unfortunately, this was day 1, and everywhere else we went after this just didn’t compare to this place. Amazing...

My wife and I visited Gatlinburg and wanted to eat at a "hidden gem". We try to patronize the places off the beaten path, away from the hustle and bustle.

We chose to dine at Crystelle Creek Restaurant and upon arriving, we were immediately seated next to a window. It wasnt a bad spot, but my chair was like an old office rolling chair with wheels. Still not bad but where we were seated, there appeared to be, what I can assume, an old vent that had been blocked off with wood and my chair kept rolling into it, preventing me from moving my chair as I liked. Still, not terrible, just a minor inconvenience.

We ordered the Appalachian Smoked chicken, a salad, and a baked potato for the wife and I to share. The chicken and salad were great. The thousand island dressing is made in house and I promise you wont find better in Gatlinburg! The baked potato could use some work. Maybe season the outside of the skin with some sea salt or other seasoning before baking.

Now, the deal breaker for me, and the reason for the negative review is.... this place is potentially stealing from customers. Let me explain. If you look at my pictures, you will see what the prices are on the menu. Notice the Appalachian smoked chicken is $23? I had a glass of wine too at $6.50/ glass. Whe the bill came, as you can see, its higher than the prices listed on the menu. When I brought this to the waitress attention, she said it was "tax". I asked how this could be if there is a separate line for tax further down. Her reply then was, "its Tennessee, thats just the way it is." She also didnt get a manager or anything as requested either to try and understand.

This doesnt sit well with me. If there is a charge on the bill that isnt exactly what the menu price says, you should fix it. If you cant fix it, have an explanation for it instead of just saying, "Thats the way it is." It wasnt much higher than what the bill listed the price for, but thats not the point. If they do this on 200 different guest checks per day, how much money are they stealing from customers over the course of the year?

I would not recommend this places simply because they are messing with your money. The food is ok, but the fact they upcharge you without explanation is shady business practice and needs to stop immediately!

If management sees this and the want to provide a reasonable explanation, id be happy to update my review.

Always watch your checks people! Take pictures of the menu before they take them away and compare it with that of your bill!

Edit: Owner states its due to their point of sale system and claims the bill is higher when paying with a card vs paying cash. Many places have a policy where the price is more if you pay with a card to offset the fees of the credit card company. Here is the thing tho.... the waitress didnt know how I was paying, didnt ask if paying by cash or card, just brought me the check with the mismatching prices. Im familiar with how POS systems work, and of all the places in Gatlinburg that we have eaten at, yours was the only one different from what the menu said.

Something is seriously amiss at Crystelle Creek Restaurant. I think they are stealing from the customers.... just be warned if you choose...

I really wanted to love this place. My husband, Allan, and I wanted a nice dinner out after 3 nights in our rented cabin. I had seen this place on the way in and was excited to go, until I read the reviews. I thought, well, let's try it anyway, and so we did. Bad move. The man who seated us was lovely and friendly. We'd hoped to sit at the bar but it is small and it was full, so we took a table in the other room. I ordered the prime rib as I decided to treat myself, though again, the reviews weren't that great on this item. Well, do NOT get the prime rib! It came with a HUGE amount of fat and then gristle encircling the entire steak, even hanging off of the plate. An instant turn-off. It took me about 5 minutes just to trim the meat until it was edible. What remained was a super thin, dry, hockey puck type of meat (I do not like thick steaks, but this was THIN) which was very disappointing, fairly flavorless, tough and chewy. The baked potato was huge and not cooked through. I brought it home and cooked it for lunch the next day. The side salad was very good and it was the highlight of the meal. Pretty poor for a $35 price tag. My husband had the ribs. They were "adequate" but not appetizing to the eye. They looked as if they'd been boiled and thrown on a a plate. We'd chatted with the folks at the table near us and they'd ordered the peanut butter pie, which they raved about. It looked amazing. A nice big slice, with pretty chocolate drizzle all over it. So, we ordered a slice to go. We rarely order dessert, but this time we decided to treat ourselves. When we opened the big white to go box, there was a very tiny sliver of pie in there and no chocolate sauce or drizzle on top. It was very tasty but we felt cheated, especially since we had to share it! Our server never checked on us (I was hoping for more au jus for my steak), did not speak to us except to take our order, and looked miserable the entire time we were there. I did have a house cabernet which was good and the pour was generous. There was a light right by my head which was constantly blinking on and off the whole time we were there. We tried to tighten and/or remove the bulb without success, as staff just watched and walked by. Overall, a very disappointing waste of money. If you do go, get a salad or something really basic. Maybe a burger, however Allan's fries were underdone and mealy in our opinion, so take that into consideration. I try to only write positive reviews, but I just couldn't let this one go by. I'm giving 3 stars but that is...