Lil Black Bear Cafe — Restaurant in Pigeon Forge

This is a quaint, cozy café with a perfectly simple and delicious menu. I would call it more of a diner, which is exactly what we wanted at the time. (Note: They only serve regular coffee, so if you're going there for something fancy, it is not the place. I noticed he had to respectfully tell a couple of people that they are not a coffee shop). The biscuits and gravy were truly one of, if not the, best I've ever had. I wanted to put the gravy on everything, and that's not normally like me to do.

I believe that he said they make their own in-house chocolate cream cheese, which they pipe into their version of a Bear Claw brownie dessert on the menu. That part of the dessert itself tasted fantastic, almost like a brownie batter. I didn't know what a Bear Claw was to begin with, but he made sure to note that the one they serve is their own version and differs greatly from a regular Bear Claw. You can even get a cute shirt in different sizes saying you survived eating it! I didn't feel that we earned the right to buy that shirt, though. But it was good! They do offer several other awesome souvenirs, and for only $3.99, I was able to take home a well-made keychain to remember our trip.

I got the feeling immediately that the waiter was possibly also the owner. He seemed to take pride in the place, was friendly and quick to greet everyone, maintained good communication, and clearly very knowledgeable and well-rehearsed.

Things to note: The seating is limited. There were either 4 or 5 tables total, located on one side of the wall. Serving was quick, however, and no one seemed to wait very long at all. The water is always self-serve, easily available in the soda dispenser machine across from the tables. They do not bring a check to the table; you just come up and pay when you're ready. They do have a single stall restroom, if needed. Service is terrific; food was great; coffee was smooth. It's worth a stop if you're in the area! I'll definitely be back when I get a chance to go...

Today 11/13/2024 at approximately 11am we had shockingly pitiful experience, TRULY PITIFUL. We planned out to eat at this place days before and were so excited to eat here. We are so disappointed that this disaster of a place behaves as it does. We were a family of 6 with 2 children, 2 adults and 2 seniors and we came here to celebrate my father in law for his birthday as well as celebrating him as a WAR VETERAN THE DAY AFTER VETERANS DAY. The day we showed up they told us that they unfortunately could not take care of us. His exact words were “we could not take care of you because we close in 2 hours and it’s too many people. I recommend you go to MELS DINER where they can take care of a bigger family”.

MIND YOU, they had a total of 8 tables with 4 empty tables at that time. We then went to the sunline diner where we gladly enjoyed our food.

TO THE OWNERS, How can you allow this. How can you allow your employee to turn back families because they only want to cater to 1-2 people at a time. Additionally, with 2 hours to go, your employee couldn’t just use their imagination and pretend they were taking care of 3 individual couples (total of 6 people) which they would have gladly done instead. The logic of it all is just absurd. If this is what you want in your establishment, i wish you an easy transition after going out of business. You don’t turn away money, you FIGURE OUT a way to make it work. If it was a Party of 12 or more, maybe I can understand due to the size of the place which is the size of a storage space, but a party of 6 in a tourist location?? This is simply PURE LAZINESS, lack of customer service and a non existing desire to serve - and then they send us to another establishment.

If this is a couples spot rather than breakfast spot, you need to change your business name to “I only serve couples at the most”.

WE’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS...

Whenever I go somewhere new I try to find the little mom and pop restaurants because that's where you can find the best food. Lil Black Bear Cafe is the type of place that makes it a rule, not a suggestion. Great, unique food with a welcoming atmosphere, well worth the price.

A little place about the size of a large tool shed tucked away in a parking lot. With only four tables inside and two benches out, they make up for size of the building with gigantic personality, massive pancakes, and one of the most friendly environments I've encountered.

My girlfriend and I toiled over the menu for a while because everything sounded like it would be delicious, and we ultimately decided on their Reeses' Pancakes and Smoked Pulled Pork Bologna Sandwich.

I had been warned how large the pancakes were, but my mind wasn't prepared to believe I would be getting what I did. They are enormous, but still light and fluffy with an exterior that with that right amount of bite that is inductive of a great pancake.

I'll be honest, when I go to a restaurant I typically don't think about ordering bologna, but every now and then something speaks to you and you have to follow it... always follow it. A thick cut slice of bologna fried up just right with a hefty pile of pulled pork stacked on top. The compliment of ingredients and condiments really pulled everything together to make a sandwich that really surprised me.

It was good enough that we wanted to go back before we left, but unfortunately time didn't give us the chance.

Google brought you here because you're looking for a good place to eat, it definitely got it right this time. Get over there, it will...