The Fat Bear Family Tavern — Restaurant in Pigeon Forge

Understaffed, mediocre microwaved food took forever, confused on "family envronoment" - vulgar rap music on radio, no highchairs or crayons for kids.

We saw the reviews and decided to stop by for a family dinner. We waited for about 3-5 minutes up front, with multiple employees walking by and talking to each other, without acknowledging us. They clearly did not have host/hostess. The restaurant was not full but had two large parties.

Our server was very nice. They didn't have any highchairs available. They said they would clean them and bring one over, which never happened. They either did not have crayons for kids, or didn't bring them.

The appetizers were good. Corn fritters and monkey bread. The entrees took maybe 30/45 minutes or more to come out, and 10/15 mins longer for my wife's, as they miscooked her order. So we had some anxious kids waiting for a long time for food. Not great for a family. My chicken tenders had soggy breading. They may have microwaved it. My wife's "ol smokey" was smaller than a breakfast burrito for $18. The home fries on the side were soggy, and clearly microwaved. She didn't have time to finish, as our kids patience had ran out after an hour and a half. She had to ask for a box as soon as they brought it out.

The icing on the cake was the bizarre radio station they had playing, at one point the rap song "take off all your clothes". I'm not sure the owner of the "family" tavern has experience with an actual family, or family dining. More high chairs, faster service, kid cups and spoons, appropriate music, all would have been more indicative of a "family" environment.

We are tourists, so we won't be coming back anyway, but I definitely apologized to my wife for picking this place. It's fine for a group of adults if you don't mind waiting 45 minutes for food. If I were local, I might give them another chance after year or so if they can get their stuff together. The appetizers were solid, but the entrees were overpriced and not cooked well or microwaved. Vulgar rap music is not what I would consider appropriate for children. I'd recommend removing "family" from the name - Fat Bear Tavern would be much more...

Unfortunately, we were severely disappointed in our experience. We came from out of town and we love to eat at local places we don't have back home. We ordered pickup so we could get our food and head back to our cabin rental because we had been driving all day and just wanted to be in! We got food for 4 people and headed to pick it up. I went in and they were pretty busy, a lot of people were crowded around the door. I wasn't fully sure where to go but after some people got seated, I saw the receptionist stand. I went up and worker was close but they were helping 2 ladies. I waited as this worker went back and forth to get a couple items for these ladies. While I was waiting, 3 other workers came up to or around the hostess stand but nobody made eye contact with me or even acknowledged my existence. Finally an older man came up and asked if I was waiting for something, I said yeah I just want to pick something up. The worker that was closest to me the whole time helping the 2 ladies looked back at me, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. I was so sad because I had never been there, there was no clear direction telling you where to go for pickup or online orders, and I didn't need to be served right away, but to even be acknowledged...a simple "Hey! We'll be right with you.", would have made a world of difference. The food was okay, pretty basic, but the sour attitude of the staff made the food taste a...

Wanted a neat place to eat at for lunch that wasn't too expensive. Saw the good ratings for this restaurant. A little disappointed when we pulled up as it was in a strip mall. Went inside and still disappointed. Not much atmosphere. Tables, booths, a bar and several wall mounted televisions- all on sports but one. It was on SpongeBob. The food was okay. I had a chicken tender wrap and fries. $12.99. The fries were obviously pre frozen crinkle cut. My husband had a grilled cheese and fries. Nothing special about it either. It looked like a grilled cheese I made at home. No garnish or decorative attempts with the food. The food was okay, but for the small lunch crowd, it took too long to get our food. Then when we checked out, the printed receipt had a different name than the restaurant. My opinion is that this used to be another restaurant that changed its name to draw in more tourism. But for the price ,$13.99 for grilled cheese and fries, there should have been much more garnishes or food with the meals,( pickle, lettuce, red onion or others) to dress up the food, and much more atmosphere. I wish we had gone...