Local Restaurant Review: The Great American Steak & Buffet Company in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Located on the same property as the National Parks Resort Lodge is the Great American Steak & Buffet Company of Pigeon Forge. The Great American was started back in 1995 in Knoxville, Tennessee by Steve Ellis and Guy Clark. It was bought by Western Sizzlin' corporation about a year later, and has since grown into a small franchise with 14 restaurants in 5 Southern states.

Normally, we don't eat at buffets for several reasons, but since we tend to watch our money, (and the hotel we were staying at gave us a huge discount to eat there), we figured we oughta give it a try anyway. After all, if we didn't like it, we didn't have to eat there again!

My wife and I ate one dinner and two breakfasts the past weekend (the National Parks Resort Lodge offers huge discounts for the Great American to all their weekend guests). I was immediately impressed by the large, circular archetecture of the building, very modern stucco exterior with a forest green tin roof. The large, semi-circular covered porch with its couple dozen rustic rocking chairs add a nice Appalacian touch to this place.

Entering the clean glass doors reveals a beautifully rustic motif, the interior modeled with raw timber floors and railings and walls made of river rock. Over the maitre d's podium is four flat screen televisions alternating messages about buffet items, daily specials, and local attractions.

We were seated promptly by a courteous, professional woman, who took us into the spacious, clean, and comfortable dining room. In keeping with the rustic Appalacian motif, the large, circular dining area was decorated with natural timber flooring and ceiling joists. The tables and chairs are made of charming logs and split timbers, and the walls covered with river rock and split timbers. Many large, beautiful photographs of various US national parks adorn the walls, along with over a dozen televisions (tuned mostly to either CNN or ESPN).

The staff was neat, courteous, and professional. The made sure not a single dirty plate remained on our table, nor a single beverage glass remained empty, no matter how busy they were. The Great American Buffet of Pigeon Forge obviously takes a lot of pride in hiring folks who obviously take a lot of pride in their work. Yes, I'd say the great service was probably the highlight of our dining experience with them.

During our dinner, the buffet had fried chicken, sirloin steak, ribs, chicken and dumplings, pork chops, and beef liver for the main course items. Side item offerings were sweet corn, greens, string beans, fried okra, baked and mashed potatoes, with dessert items consisting of chocolate pudding, soft serve chocolate and vanilla ice cream, apple pie, peach cobbler, and banana pudding with vanilla wafers. For the kiddies, they had hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, cheese pizza, macaroni and cheese, and french fries.

My wife had the fried chicken with mashed potatoes, corn, and greens, while I (of course) had the more kiddish fare of a slice of pizza, hot dog, hamburger, sirloin steak, and french fries. Everything we ate that afternoon was superb, and other diners commented on their selections in a most positive way. Overall, the dinner experience was well worth the $8.00 price tag (although we only paid about $3.99 per dinner with our discount).

The next two mornings we had breakfast there, and overall it was great, and again, worth the price. On the buffet that Saturday and Sunday morning were pancakes, waffles, bacon, chicken nuggets, country fried steak, scrambled eggs both plain and with cheese and Canadian bacon, sausage in both pattie and link form, bacon, peach cobbler, hash brown potatoes, ham, thick cut hickory smoked pork chops, white country gravy, chocolate pudding, apple cobbler, fried corn fritters, cold cereal, country biscuits and cornbread, and corn beef hash with toast.

A very nice touch that I have not seen anywhere else was the waffle station. Now, I tend to avoid buffet waffles and pancakes, because they tend to get cold and rubbery under the infrared lights. But the Great American in Pigeon Forge has four waffle irons at the front of the breakfast buffet, hot and ready, surrounded by a couple dozen plastic cups full of pancake batter, so diners can make their own waffles, fresh and on the spot! Why this great idea has not caught on elsewhere, I will never know, but more breakfast buffets oughta try this!

Those mornings, we tried a little of everything, and everything was great except for a few noteworthy complaints. First, the bacon was awful! It was undercooked, cold, soggy, slimy, and disgustingly transparent, not the crispy light-brown, dry consistency of thoroughly cooked bacon. And then there was the country fried steak, which was cold, hard and rubbery. Either they used poor quality beef, or they just don't know how to cook country fried steak (a dish every Southerner can cook in their sleep!).

Lastly, the white country gravy was a disappointment; bland, cold, and just plain "ech!". Maybe they were just having a couple bad mornings with these three items, but my advice to anyone going there for breakfast on the weekends is to stay away from the country gravy, the bacon, and the country fried steak!

All told, the Great American Steak & Buffet company in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee was a great dining experience for the price, and even without the discounts (adults = $8.00, Kids 4-12 = $4.00, and kids under 4 = FREE (prices subject to change. Call ahead first: (865) 429-3120)). Next time we stay in Pigeon Forge, we will eat there again at least once. My only advice to anyone eating there is to just take a good look at the offerings on the buffet, and choose your fare very wisely!