Pretty sure I’ve mentioned before my love for Groupon and LivingSocial. This time, they provided us with a stellar deal at the Glenstone Lodge in Gatlinburg-a half-price room! Now, say what you want about Gatlinburg…I know it’s incredibly cheesy (we’ll call it “kitschy”) but (a) it’s close to home; (b) it’s familiar so there’s no trying to figure out where everything is, what there is to do, etc.; (c) we park our car at the hotel and walk everywhere except when we drive into Sevierville to go to the (d) Tanger outlet mall. Plus, we love all of the Copper Cellar restaurants up there, so it gives us the opportunity to eat there. Last time we went, I blogged about Calhoun’s, so this time we were actually planning to eat lunch at Cherokee Grill and do a blog post about it…until we got there and discovered that they don’t open until 4 p.m. Smoky Mountain Brewery it is!
Since it was a Monday and a little later in the afternoon (2ish) there was no crowd and we were seated immediately. Our server, whose name I didn’t catch (I hate it when I do that) was extremely friendly and quickly took our drink order. We perused the menu for a few minutes before I settled on the Philly Cheesesteak with fries. The bread for their sandwiches is baked daily, on the premises I assume since they have a wood-burning stove in which they cook pizza (I haven’t tried their pizzas but they look amazing). The cheesesteak was huge with thinly sliced strips of steak, sautéed onions, green peppers, and cheese sauce. The freshly baked sandwich roll was soft but at the same time crispy around the edges from having been placed on the grill. The juice from the meat soaked into the bread perfectly to create a little bit of sogginess, but not in a bad way….in certain sandwiches, this is actually a positive in my opinion, and this was definitely one of those cases. While the fries were decent, there was no real standout feature of them that made me jump up and down.
Philip decided on the Ole Smoky Burger, basically a bacon cheeseburger with barbecue sauce…only he had them take off the sauce. This actually cost less than if he had ordered the regular cheeseburger and had them add bacon. Of course, the burger came with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion, with mayo and mustard on request (they brought the bottles to the table). Again, the fries were fine but nothing to write home about, but the burger was great. The meat tasted very fresh and the grilled flavor was perfect. The burger has cheddar cheese on it, which is my personal favorite for burgers. This cheese was really sharp and paired nicely with the salty, smoky bacon…which, of course, makes everything better. The bread was fresh and soft. Highly recommend this one!
One of the true selling points of Smoky Mountain Brewery (and really all of the Copper Cellar restaurants by association) is, well…the brewery. They serve seven micro brewed beers year-round with a rotating selection of seasonal beers. I will be honest, I am not clear on whether or not there is actually a microbrewery in this location….the website expressly states that there are microbrewery operations inside the Turkey Creek (Knoxville) and Pigeon Forge locations. You can order the beers in a pint or 2-pint glass or try 5-ounce samples, and you can also purchase growlers and kegs. Their beers run the gamut from American-style lagers to porters to wheat beers, pale ales, and bocks. Just as I am a huge believer in small-batch bread, cheese, etc., I am a huge believer in micro brewed beers. Quality comes in small batches.
So…if you are ever in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, or Maryville area and are looking for a great but quick sandwich or pizza (or even a larger meal, as they do serve steaks, chicken, etc.) or are looking for a great glass of micro brewed beer, I would say that Smoky Mountain Brewery is your place. The Gatlinburg store is located at 1004 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. You can call them at 865-436-4200. Check out their website at http://www.coppercellar.com/Restaurant-SmokyMountainBrewery.html. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
