Southern Comfort — Restaurant in Gatlinburg

Southern Comfort Family Restaurant – Gourmet Southern Flavor, Smoky Mountain Style

Tucked inside the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort & Water Park in Gatlinburg, Southern Comfort® Family Restaurant delivers a dining experience that lives up to its name — rich, flavorful, and full of Southern soul.

Having dined and stayed at Westgate’s Las Vegas property many times, I came in with high expectations — and this Gatlinburg gem did not disappoint.

I started with the Southern Caesar Salad — crisp romaine tossed in creamy Caesar dressing with house-made cornbread croutons and shaved Parmesan. It was a perfect Southern twist on a classic starter.

For the main course, I ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon, and it was outstanding. The 8 oz. Wild Alaskan salmon was seared to perfection and glazed with their signature Southern Comfort pecan glaze, adding a sweet and smoky finish that paired beautifully with the rich, creamy mac and cheese on the side. A serious flavor win.

To top it off, I treated myself to their Signature Smoked Old Fashioned, and it was worth every penny. Served in a smoking decanter ignited from cherry wood, with Buffalo Trace bourbon, blood orange bitters, Luxardo cherries, and an orange expression over an ice sphere — it was theatrical, aromatic, and flat-out delicious.

Jordan, our server, was friendly, professional, and incredibly attentive — she made the experience even better.

Now, for the downside — parking is a mess. With the water park and resort traffic, directions were unclear, signage was lacking, and an employee even sent us (and three other vehicles) down a tight dead-end lot that was nearly impossible to turn around in. If you go, leave extra time for parking and be prepared to navigate some confusion.

But once you're seated, the food, drinks, and service make it all worthwhile. Southern Comfort® lives up to its name and is well worth a visit — just bring your appetite and a little...

I don’t know how this place has as many stars as it does. My husband and I went last night at about 8pm. When we walked in, the host asked me if I had a mask to wear to walk to my table. I said no, so she offered me one. I put it on, but hers was down under her nose the entire time, so she might as well not have been wearing one either. Our server, Kathryn greeted us promptly with popcorn, and was very friendly throughout our entire experience. The popcorn was stale and cold though. We ordered water, a bottle of wine and fried okra as an appetizer. The okra came out almost immediately, but it was cold and kind of soggy like it had been sitting in a heating pan all day. Then we ordered our meals: my husband ordered chicken DUMPLINGS and Mac and cheese and I ordered pulled PORK and collard greens. Our food came out almost immediately, which is fine if the food was hot. The pulled pork was burnt and drenched in grease. I know pulled pork is greasy, but you could tell this had been sitting for a while. There was also bits of chicken in it... the collard greens were good but had no seasoning. It also came with what looked like hush puppies. I love hush puppies so I was happy to see that served here, but I bit into a grease ball with cinnamon? It tasted like a cinnamon donut hole but they were cold and full of oil. My husband’s chicken and dumplings didn’t have any dumplings. It more resembled chicken noodle soup without the noodles. We had also ordered a bottle of wine with the intention of sitting for a while and enjoying it, but it didn’t come out until after our food. And that was the first thing we ordered. The manager eventually came around to ask everyone how the food was, but before I could say anything, she just nodded and passed us. I expected way more from a restaurant that is...

We stayed at the Westgate resort recently and decided to give Southern Comfort a shot based on the menu options and the fact that our room was a very short walk away. We made reservations through Open Table, which I would recommend doing. There wasn’t much of a wait but it always looks consistently busy. The atmosphere is nice. The lodge setting with a fire and warm wood appointments is well done. Our server was good. Order was placed quickly and food came out after a short wait. Drinks stayed filled although we didn’t have anything from the bar so I can’t comment on that. The food was a little disappointing. We ordered queso and chips with the queso being good but forgettable. The pulled pork was western style with heavy sauce. I’m an eastern NC BBQ person so I dealt with it. The fried chicken was crispy but dry. We also ordered the Nashville hot chicken sandwich (being in TN that seemed to make sense) which was good but not that spicy. I had the red beans and rice but it was 95% beans and SAAAALTY. The Mac and cheese was okay, I liked the breadcrumbs on top and it was sufficiently cheesy. The garlic mashed potatoes were very garlicky. They live up to their name, for sure. Being this price point, I would have expected to have something for the table as a starter - biscuits or bread with spreads - but that wasn’t provided. There also weren’t many allergen alternatives. Overall, basically an average dinner experience. Nothing noteworthy or terrible. I would go higher for the rating but with the cost for this as an average meal, I had to go three stars. There aren’t many options on the resort for dinner so if you want a night out and don’t feel like driving, this is an option that might be okay if you get a good night. I don’t think you’d walk away with a...