The Old Mill Pottery House Café — Restaurant in Pigeon Forge

My wife and I dined here on 1/20/2025. We arrived around 6:30 PM on a very chilly night (23 Degrees) and found the restaurant to be warm and inviting inside. They had a fire going in their fireplace and were playing nice relaxing music. We were in the Pigeon Forge area for the week having driven over from the Charlotte, NC area and we were looking forward to dining here as the Google reviews as well as several Vloggers on You Tube gave high praise for the food here. Perhaps we came on an off night, or maybe what we ordered wasn't the best items on the menu because both my wife and I were sorely disappointed with our main entrees. For starters we ordered the French Onion Soup. It was very rich, hot and quite delicious, albeit a bit salty. We both said that it was the best part of our meal. I ordered one of their "Cafe Specials" which was listed as "Open Faced Roast Beef" described as Tender, thinly sliced hot roast beef on sourdough bread, topped with brown gravy. Served with mashed potatoes and cinnamon apples. My description of this entree was thin slices of lukewarm tough roast beef with little flavor (Arby's Roast Beef tastes better) served over cold bread with an almost room temperature gravy on it. The mashed potatoes were barely warm, very bland, covered in the same room temperature brown gravy that had little flavor, and had a dish of so called "cinnamon Apples" that were cooked to the consistency of apple sauce. My wife ordered the Fried Green Tomato BLT which was described as Fried Green Tomatoes, applewood smoked bacon, lettuce and avocado bacon spread. Served on toasted sourdough bread with steak fries. She described the sandwhich as lukewarm, very dry with extremely hard bacon, fried green tomatoes that were obviously not freshly fried, and bread that was overly hard (toasted too much). The fries were good. The server was polite but not overly attentive as he did not check on how we liked our entree's until we were not eating anymore. He then came over and asked how everything was. I said that I was disappointed with my meal, especially the temperature of the food, and my wife let him know that she needed a refill on her drink. At this point he expressed his regret that we were not happy and he did the right thing by sending a manager over to speak with us. She was very nice, and offered to comp my meal and offered us a free dessert which we accepted and ordered a piece of "Hot Chocolate Pie" which was very good. So overall, disappointed in our entree's, but happy with the end result. We will go back again, but will order different things and will go for lunch when the food will likely be...

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 If I could give this place 6 stars and a standing ovation, I would.

Listen, we’ve been coming to the Smoky Mountains for years—long enough to know where the tourist traps are, where the decent spots hide, and most importantly, where the locals eat. So when a local says, “Go to The Pottery House Café,” you go. You don’t ask questions. You just follow the heavenly scent of carbs and dreams.

This place is basically a southern food fairy tale. Everything—and I mean everything—is homemade. I’m talking about the bread, the soups, the salad dressings, and even the plates. Yes, the literal plates. I half expected them to start making their own cutlery too, just to flex on the rest of us.

Let’s talk food. Even the humble chicken tenders here are having their main character moment. Crispy, juicy, perfectly seasoned—and that house-made honey mustard? I would drink it with a straw if society didn’t have rules.

We’ve tasted our way through the menu like it’s our full-time job (someone hire me as official menu tester, please). The shrimp & grits? A creamy Cajun love song. The short ribs over mashed potatoes? A hug in food form. The French onion and potato soup? Honestly, it could win a soup Oscar.

But here’s where I scream from the rooftops: 🥩 THE RIBEYE SANDWICH. This isn’t your average “hey-let’s-slap-some-meat-on-bread” situation. This is a thick, juicy, beautifully seasoned ribeye that clearly trained at a five-star steakhouse before deciding to chill out and get cozy in sandwich form. I get mine with Swiss cheese, grilled onions, mushrooms, a bit of mayo, and just a smidge of A1—because sometimes I like to live dangerously. But let me be clear: this sandwich does not need sauce. It is a one-way ticket to flavor town. No passport required.

Now, the real shocker: 🐔 The chicken livers. Look, I’m not a liver person. I’ve lived a whole liver-free life, and I was doing just fine. Then I tried these. What kind of wizardry is happening in that kitchen? I don’t know. But I do know I’m now a proud, slightly confused, born-again liver lover.

The atmosphere? Southern charm turned up to 11. You can sit inside among cozy pottery-filled vibes or outside in a beautiful garden next to a koi pond like you're in some Hallmark movie, only with better food.

Insider tip: Be there when they open (10:30 AM on Sundays) or prepare to wait. This place fills up fast, and for good reason. Good food, good vibes, and enough charm to make your grandma blush.

This is our Smoky Mountains ride-or-die spot. I would fight a bear for a table here. (Not a big one, but still.)

10/10....

This is a nice restaurant to visit if you're in Pigeon Forge, TN! We went last week for our summer family vacation! The staff was very courteous and our waitress was very sweet! The food was good too! I ordered the Shrimp and Grits and everything was flavorful, hot and delicious! I usually don't order a dish like that at a restaurant because so many places get it wrong that I'd rather do it myself at home..the right way! ...But this restaurant got it right! We enjoyed the vibe of the restaurant as well! It had a 1940's type of aesthetic to it...it reminded me of sitting on your screened in back porch on a hot summer day with a tall pitcher of lemonade just relaxing! They were playing Billie Holiday quite a bit at the time that we were there and that helped add to the overall ambiance! They have a bake shop on the other side where you can buy baked goods, etc. They also have a beautiful courtyard type area outside with a gazebo and a fountain! Some really great natural backdrops to take some amazing pics and it was nice to sit inside and eat while looking out of their picture window at all the beauty in the courtyard! Since it is summer, they gave us the option to eat inside or outside but it was so unbearably hot down there in early July that we chose to sit inside with the air conditioning! Driving and parking in the general area of this restaurant is pretty tight..everything is sort of piled on top of each other in this particular area so we had a bit of a hard time getting in and out because it's so congested in that part of town! Overall, we enjoyed everything...