Family Style Feast in Pigeon Forge, TN

Not only are your taste buds in for a treat, but so is your nose; because the first thing that takes over at Paula Dean’s Family Kitchen is the smell of the most delicious fried chicken your senses will ever experience!

I have loved the Queen of Southern Cooking for about as long as I can remember. Her Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake was my take along recipe of choice for my Thanksgiving contribution. I mean, how can anything with pumpkin, cream cheese, and 2 sticks of butter be bad, am I right? It is just as sweet and down home as her personality, and the love she puts into her food is the same love that we all want to put into our own families. And that is the feeling that you get when you come into her Family Kitchen in Pigeon Forge, TN.

I have to admit that when I saw her name on that bright, two-story brick building, complete with rocking chairs on the porch, I might have felt a little giddy! A visit to Savannah, Georgia, complete with a dinner at The Lady and Sons has been on my bucket list for quite some time, so this was a welcome surprise that I couldn’t pass up! Ms. Paula’s fried chicken and collard greens…yes please! This gem of true southern cuisine is located at the Island at Pigeon Forge, with a lovely view of the dancing fountains from both the porch and the second story restaurant.

The host/ hostess at the door directs you to an escalator (or elevator) and it’s hard to say what awes you first in your ascent…all of the retail items spread out on the first floor from the”First Lady of Southern Cookin” or the incredible smells of biscuits and fried chicken.

Our waiter explained the menu with a smile – pick 2 meats (The Albany) or 3 meats (The Savannah) – and 4 sides and they are served family style all you “care” to eat, which is a new phrase that I learned in Pigeon Forge and have learned to love. He went off to get us glasses of sweet iced tea, the kind that you can only get south of the Mason Dixon line, while we considered our choices. What would seem like an easy task took some deliberation, because how can you choose between fried chicken and pot roast, meatloaf or spareribs! And how can you not have mac and cheese AND mashed potatoes if you’re at Paula Deen’s!

We decided to buy some time and order “Grandmama Paul’s Fried Green Tomatoes” to get us going while we decided. Our sweet tea was accompanied by cheddar biscuits so good they make you “happier than a possum eatin’ tater pie” as coined by the eloquent southern chef Jason Smith also a Food Network favorite. I think we could have been happy with just sweet tea and biscuits!

Our fried green tomatoes were delivered with a roasted pepper sauce that just didn’t stretch far enough as we were slathering it on like butter, and they were happy to bring us more. True to the menu’s description, they made our “tongues wanna slap our brains out.” But we still needed to choice our main course.

In the end, it just seemed fair to go back and forth and each choose something, because it was impossible to make a bad decision. Our meal arrived quickly and was piping hot…buttery creamed potatoes with chunks of potato (just the way we like it!), rich and cheesy mac and cheese, collard greens with just the right bite of hot sauce, corn casserole that was almost cornbread, pot roast that melted like butter in your mouth, and the most perfect fried chicken ever to grace a table. And when they ask if you want more…which DUH! of course we did…they bring you more of E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!

Did I mention that dessert is included? Well, thankfully, that part of the meal, you are allowed to take to-go. I guess they are used to people loosening their pants at the table, unable to squeeze in the tiniest spoonful of banana pudding, or in our case, seasonal apple cobbler. (which for the record, goes really well if you don’t have spoon back at the hotel so you scoop it in with a cookie. GUILTY!)

After all that food and at least 5 glasses of sweet tea – I wish I were exaggerating – we thought it would be a great idea to spend some time perusing the first floor shop and walk off some biscuits. If the idea of a country home appeals to you, particularly a country kitchen, look no further. I started making my Christmas list for Santa!

Our favorite new Paula-ism? MIND YOUR BISCUITS. We’re thinking of changing our name to No Roles, Just Mind Your Biscuits! LOL I think I wanted everything in the place that said it.

The shop is even has setup that looks just like Paula’s TV kitchen complete with life size cardboard cut out. It’s a great place to buy souvenirs to take back to your loved ones.

Everything from jams and jellies, to cookbooks and kitchen ware. And EVERYBODY loves a mug, including me, and I had to bring this little taste of the south back with me. Because what says Paula Deen more than “Hey Y’all!”

~D