The Roaming Gnome Pub & Eatery — Restaurant in Sevierville

I would give less than one star if I could, and I never leave reviews. But it was such a horrendous experience that I had to.

If you're thinking about going here, be prepared for a real joke of an experience. Save yourself the time and your kids the uncomfortable tension. Eat in peace somewhere else!

Here's our experience : My family and I were in from out of town for a wedding. There was a Monday night game on, so as a group (several families, including 3 kids.. With their parents). The place was not very busy (a Monday night). We sat down for food and drinks. Most ordered colas. The kids in the group ordered coke and were asked to show ID. We told the waitress they were under 21 and only want cokes (confused why you would ID for a coke). We were told they had to leave by 9, it was not even 8 yet. We asked if we could discuss this with the manager as we simply wanted to watch the game as a family and it was just about to start. Being from out of town we didn't know this was a possibility when we arrived. They said no exceptions, which we understood. Well then they waited until around 8:30/8:45 to take our food orders!! The food finally arrived, a little after 9, and the owner said "scarf it down because you need to leave" to the kids. Mind you they had already been getting harassed multiple times before that by both the waitress and the owner to leave. (before 9). The staff ended up taking the kid's plates before they even finished their food!! Then said they needed to go. We informed them we were working on it but highly disapprove of how we've been treated. The owner walked over and we explained how unfriendly and unsettling our experience has been (he was half the issue himself) . The man began arguing with us, to the point where everyone in the bars attention turned to us. We said we would never be back but can't believe the horrible service. The owner then said "well why would I care what you think, you won't be back, you're from out of town". Being that this is a tourist area, that was a very interesting approach. This man should not own a business, he has notably horrible business skills. He lacks any understanding of customer service as did the waitress we had. I've never felt so unbelievably mistreated at a restaurant before. If harassing kids and families is your policy, good luck. I really don't see how this...

First time here. Good food, huge portions. Reasonable prices for pub fare. Nice selection of domestics and imports.

**If you visit this place, DO NOT use a debit card!!!! They ask for a card to put on file to start your tab. I completely understand that this is a measure to prevent customers from skipping out on their tab. I get it, no one wants to be cheated. But what they DON'T tell you, is that they will charge your card twice: the first time to confirm that your account is valid, the second to actually cover the cost of your tab. We had a split ticket, but we ended up getting charged for our half as well as for the entire party's tab. We were on vacation and had brought mostly cash with us, but they needed a card to open the tab, so my husband gave them our debit card, thinking nothing of it. Two days later, as I was going through my online bank statement and making sure all of our charges matched our account, I found that our account was overdrawn. I was baffled. I had no idea how that could possibly have happened, until I began scrolling through the transactions and found 2 separate charges from the Roaming Gnome. We called them and were told that it charges twice and that the second will drop off after 48 hours or so. We called our bank, and they agreed not to charge us an overdraft fee, but we were still showing a negative balance, so we were unable to use our debit card during the remainder of our trip. Very inconvenient! If we'd KNOWN that this was how their policy worked, we'd have used a credit card. It still remains to be seen whether the charge will, indeed, drop off. Have to wait and see, I guess. I gave this establishment 5 stars in the beginning. Now they're down to 2. If we get our refund as promised, I'll consider amending it to a 3. And that's only because the food...

UPDATE/RESPONSE: it seems like I may have made some minor errors which I would like to clarify in this update based on the owner’s response. I apologize it was not actually St. Patrick’s Day, it was Saturday March 15th on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Most of the patrons and staff were in their Saint Patrick’s Day celebration gear, as they should be on this holiday weekend. I also apologize it was not NCAA football, it was the SEC Alabama Florida basketball game. Please note that this does not change anything with respect to the food. Service was slow, hard to blame the server, he was running around all over the place and definitely seemed like the only one there who was not behind the bar. The Reuben eggrolls were doughy (definitely not paper thin as described). The nachos were great. Sometimes it’s OK to accept a not great review, not make excuses and do better. How I know how great a place is is based on is if I’m ever going back…

A somewhat mediocre bar of the beaten path. But the fact that it was St. Patrick’s Day seem like we should come here. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. The Reuben spring rolls were very doughy with very little filling that I must admit was pretty good. The nachos were great and even though you might not think to order nachos in an Irish place, do it. It took a long time for my drink to come out, and I also think that was because there was one poor server, taking care of almost all tables. It would seem to me that on St. Patrick’s Day, which is a Saturday, you may want to staff appropriately…. It helped that NCAA football was on.

Pro tip: pass on the Ruben spring rolls even though they might...