The Fox & Parrot Tavern — Restaurant in Gatlinburg

We walked in and there were 2 tables with customers inside and 1 outside. The table outside asked for their check when the waitress came to greet us. Both tables inside had 4 customers each. There were 2 customers at the bar drinking. Our son is a type 1 diabetic and his sugar was very low, it was down to 61. We asked if we could quickly get a Coke. The waitress was polite and immediately brought it to him. About 10 minutes later she came to our table to take our order. She was the only staff member besides the cook. We ordered our drinks and food. As soon as she left the table, I took some photos of the nice view and shared them on Facebook. About 20 minutes later we received our water.

After 1.5 hours I realized no one else had gotten any food at any of the other tables and ours son's sugar was starting to get low again so I went in and asked how much longer it is going to be. We never saw the waitress between the time we received our water and the time I walked in to see how long it was going to be. She said it shouldn't be to much longer. She came out almost immediately to our table and refilled our water and apologized for the delay and explained the cook was in a bad mood. My husband asked does that mean she isn't cooking, half jokingly. She didn't respond and walked away. We were thankful for her apology but a cook being in a bad mood is not an acceptable answer for it taking 1 hour and 47 minutes for us to receive our lunch. I knew exactly how long because the photos I took were time stamped on Facebook.

We never had a staff member come off and ask if everything was ok. I posted a review on Facebook shortly after we left and got a response from the owner this morning. "The service was slow because the Tavern was packed most of the day. You could have easily waited for two hours at one of the chain restaurants downtown just to get a seat. " I responded with the same details on here and he responded with even more excuses. We were in the area for 5 days and almost every established we visited was at capacity but we never had to wait 2 hours to receive our good after we ordered it. He continued to make excuse after excuse but never once apologized for our bad experience or mentioned he would have a talk with his com about the situation.

I get it, staff is limited right now, but we received excellent service the rest of the week at every other established we visited. I am going to guess he has a hard time finding employees because he is terrible business owner. I have had my own business for 24 years and I know I will be working extra hours during my peak season. I would never leave my staff alone on a busy day during peak season. you must be responsible and take responsibility for your business knowing you are short staffed. Not only is that horrible business practice, it makes you a horrible boss. You are the owner of the establishment, it is your job to be there at 3:00 on a Saturday in your peak season.

If the owner would have come forward and apologized and explained everything in a polite way, I would be a little more understanding and not sharing our horrible experience on every review site.

For what it is worth, my husband said his fish was excellent. The chips were under cooked but nothing a little extra vinegar couldn't help. My chicken pie dough was a little undercooked but I could still eat it., and our son's meal was perfect and he said it...

This isn’t a place for weary travelers with kids dying for comfort food. They were short staffed and the owner waited on us. He clearly didn’t want to have to step out from behind the bar for anything and he seemed annoyed when we asked for napkins and condiments. The food wasn’t anything special, I guess that’s the point of English food, but nothing we ate was worth the price. The restaurant is also not very accessible and the steps leading from the parking lot were very slippery due to the rainy evening.

Edit: Please see the response from the owner or management for context. This is my response to it.

I understand that running a business in the hospitality industry is demanding, but our experience at the Fox & Parrot Tavern needs to be addressed with honesty and integrity.

We visited your establishment because it was the closest option near where we were staying off BOOGERTOWN ROAD, and we chose to support a local business instead of a chain restaurant. We value the unique charm of independent eateries, but what we encountered at your tavern was disappointing, and these are the facts.

The issue with the slippery steps wasn’t a matter of perception—it’s a fact. It was raining heavily when we arrived, and the only access to your establishment was up those steep, wet stairs. By the time your bartender mentioned the slick steps, we were already leaving. The steps were dangerously slippery, likely due to the wood treatment or a lack of cleaning, and this is something that should be urgently addressed for the safety of your customers.

Regarding the service, it is a fact that your server was visibly unwell and struggling to manage the tables on her own while the man behind the bar focused more on the television than on assisting her. As someone who has worked in food service, I can tell you that teamwork is essential, and the lack of support she received was both unprofessional and unacceptable.

When my seven-year-old accidentally spilled her drink, I went to the bar to ask for napkins. The bartender’s annoyance was clear, as though handing over paper towels was a significant inconvenience. This is not an interpretation—it’s exactly what happened. Our daughter had a cast on her left arm, making the spill unavoidable, and the bartender’s reaction was uncalled for.

As for the food, our children didn’t enjoy their meals, and my wife’s Reuben was served in chunks of fatty meat instead of slices. If this is a traditional English preparation, it’s not one we were familiar with, and after a long day of travel, it fell far short of our expectations.

We didn’t leave a review to be malicious; we shared our experience to provide honest feedback. These are the facts of what happened, and any response that attempts to deny or downplay them is simply wrong and disingenuous.

By the way, do they spell it "MacDonalds" in the UK? I noticed the different spelling and was curious if it’s a...

My friend read on Pinterest that this was one of the best places in Gatlinburg to eat. The food is the only good thing here. It was kind of far off the road, down a regular gravel drive. There are several buildings on this property: urgent care, a stitchery place, something else, and the tavern. BUT, you have to be in great shape to get to the tavern. It is up two steep flights of steps that are rickety and very dirty. I grabbed one of the spindles on the way down and it fell in on me. There was an older couple at the bar, and two employees: a younger girl and an older woman. Girl had on shirt that said support your local hookers. We were immediately greeted and asked if we were there to eat or drink. We answered both. Two menus were presented to us. NO FREE REFILLS ON MOST DRINKS. She took our drink order, but the drinks came much later. We asked for straws, but they came much later as well. Finally got our order in...tick tock...drinks are gone...nobody acknowledges us...no straws. Girl comes to refill drinks, finally brings straws...spills lemonade all over the table, says I'm in the splash zone and never cleans it up...tick tock...still waiting on food...younger couple with baby and a single man came in. Food finally came after 45ish minutes. It was phenomenal as stated previously. We got done eating...tick tock...they sat at the bar never paying attention to us...they disappeared for a little while...I finally had to get up and ask for a to-go box and our checks. She brought us one check for three people, never asked if it was split. We decided to split it three ways. She took our cards and cash....tick tock....charged us to use card reader...and literally took at least 5+ minutes to run two cards and get change for the cash. We hobbled down the steps carefully, went past the urgent care, got in our car quickly and took off. I'm not one to be paranoid, but if you're into urban legends--think Texas Chainsaw...