Elvira's Cafe — Restaurant in Pigeon Forge

We passed by Elvira's Cafe coming from Cade's Cove. I read the sign out loud, then read another sign for another local store next to it, then my husband decided he was hungry and said "do you want to turn around and try the Elvira place we just passed up?!" of course the food photographer and trier of new things in me rejoiced and here we were walking in an hour before closing time. So happy we did!!! Simple casual place, not to be taken for granted as anything less than AMAZING!!! We were greeted by the nicest older gentleman and seated immediately. The place was still filled to the brimm with passers by who probably saw potential or read rave reviews just like the one I'm writing now, despite close to closing time! Drinks were taken and brought immediately as was the order. Menu is casual and moderately priced, as expected for a tourist area. There is also a chalkboard with daily specials, which are definitely not to be missed (hint: I had one!) my husband's taste is very simple: plain cheeseburger and hand cut fries. No fuss. I, on the other hand, would have tried THE WHOLE MENU!!! (I sadly didn't...). I ended up having a small cup of their daily special chicken and rice soup and the grown-up grilled cheese with Applewood smoked bacon, ham, Havarti cheese, heirloom tomatoes on brioche toast, along with a pickle spear. Do you guys know how to spell "ridiculous"?! Go ahead and do it, because that's how insanely good my grilled cheese was!!! Going back to try ANY of the sweet or savory crêpes during the rest of our stay in Tennessee!! God help me, I'll bring back extra elbees from winter vaycay... So happy we did that u-turn! Do it. Do that u-turn. Go...

Our visit started off on the wrong foot. Hostess ignored us while having a personal conversation. So much so I was able to hear she moved here from FL. I waited 5 minutes in line at the register to find out I had to go back to the lady holding a conversation. She continued the conversation until the person she was talking with acknowledged they were keeping her from her job!!!!

Finally seated and watched everyone else seated after us get waited on! Our waitress eventually comes over very apologetic the hostess never let her know she had a table! Obviously there was some issue with my husband and I. NOT what I've experienced on all my visits to the area so maybe her customer service skills are better suited for FL?!

But....our waitress apologized twice for an error she didn't commit and hustled to bring us drinks and food. She did an awesome job! Food is delicious and well worth the drive! We had breakfast. More than enough food at a reasonable price. I had the TN Haystack hubby enjoyed the biscuits with sausage gravy. So if you can get past a hostess that doesn't acknowledge you? This place is worth a try!!!

To add.....I work in customer service. I've been trained to acknowledge the customer then you can carry on your personal conversation....

Very cute and clean place. Menu was very small and that usually means they have perfected what they serve. We ordered 2 Reubens and a classic blt. A side of fried okra. And 2 sides of hashbrown casserole. The corn beef on the Reubens was a thin deli slice that they had put on the grill making it rubbery. Barely any meat on the expensive sandwich and no thousand island because " the kitchen does not do condiments". You have to put your own condiments on at the table. The blt was severely lacking as all you could taste was the lettuce. Very little tomato and flavorless bacon. The waitress was at our table 4 times. Once to take the order once to drop off drinks, once to drop off food and once to drop off bill. Had to walk over to get our own butter knife and I was met by another waitresses comment of "I saw that". I sure hope so. The okra was over fried and the hash brown casserole had hard potato pieces that could crack your teeth. The total of the entire experience with 3 drinks was $60.43 with a non cash adjustment of 3.4%. Yea I still gave a $5 tip. Total for 3 sandwiched sides and drink. $65.43....