Whether you’re dining with picky eaters or just craving variety, sometimes nothing satisfies like an all-you-can-eat meal. If that hunger strikes while you’re in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, you’re in luck. This charming mountain town is known for Dollywood and its easy access to Great Smoky Mountains National Park—and it also boasts some great all-you-can-eat restaurants in Pigeon Forge.
Read on to discover a few local favorites… but fair warning: they might make you seriously hungry!
Wood Grill Buffet – All You Can Eat Favorite
2301 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 429-3120
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Meat lovers in particular will appreciate dining out at the Wood Grill Buffet, which employs a 4,000-pound smoker to whip up its flavorsome goodness. Among the breakfast highlights here are customizable, special-order omelets—not a bad way to kick off your day on the stoop of the Great Smokies!
At lunchtime, the Wood Grill Buffet offers a wide variety of regional and international flavors. You’ll find Asian, Italian, Southwest, and American food stations, along with salad, veggie, bread, and dessert bars.
Dinner brings even more options. Guests can enjoy rotisserie and fried chicken, oak-smoked baby-back and spare ribs, and hickory-grilled steaks. There’s also tilapia, other seafood, and a range of Italian and Southwest entrées. Don’t forget the classic sides—potatoes, salad, veggies, and breads. Kids are well taken care of, too, with pizza, hot dogs, and other familiar favorites on the menu.
Captain Jim’s Seafood Buffet
3985 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 453-0003
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Captain Jim’s Seafood Buffet is known for its all-you-can-eat crab legs—a popular highlight of their namesake seafood spread. This spot brings ocean-fresh flavor to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Come hungry, because the buffet includes peel-and-eat shrimp, clam strips, crab cakes, fried and raw oysters, sautéed clams, crab-stuffed flounder, baked cod, and New England-style clam chowder.
But it’s not all about seafood at Captain Jim’s. You’ll also find Southern baked chicken, chuckeye roast, BBQ pork ribs, chicken tenders, hushpuppies, mac-and-cheese, and a variety of other comforting mains and sides.
The experience doesn’t end at the buffet. Captain Jim’s also features a full-service bar—The Captain’s Lounge—and, unexpectedly, a European specialty grocery next door. There, you can browse items like smoked Norwegian senga, Ukrainian salo, and imported cheeses, butters, and sweets.
Reagan’s House of Pancakes
2820 Parkway & 3516 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 428-0652
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At Reagan’s House of Pancakes, the star of the show is the country-style breakfast buffet—and it means business. You’ll find no shortage of flapjacks, along with French toast, biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, grits, cinnamon rolls, and more. There are also plenty of toppings to customize your pancakes just the way you like them.
If buffets aren’t your thing, you can order from the menu instead. Options include waffles, omelets, and even fruit roll-ups. While breakfast is the main draw here, Reagan’s also serves a small lunch menu featuring sandwiches and burgers.
Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen
131 The Island Drive, Suite 8101, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 366-1510
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Pigeon Forge is home to its own branch of Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen, located at The Island—a popular dining and entertainment hub. This spot, tied to one of the South’s most iconic chefs, offers a true all-you-can-eat experience. One of our SmokyMountains.com Local Experts even called it “pure caloric heaven.”
Family-style meals are served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You’ll choose from hearty dishes like Nashville Hot Chicken & Waffles, Sweet Piggies in a Blanket, and the Everyday Breakfast Casserole. Other favorites include chicken and dumplings, Georgia fried catfish, Southern meatloaf, and Paula Deen’s famous “Best Ever Fried Chicken.”
The sides are just as tempting, with options like fried okra, collard greens, and creamed corn.
And don’t forget dessert. From classic Banana Pudding to the rich and buttery Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, your meal at The Island will end on a high note.
Mama’s Farmhouse
208 Pickel Street, Pigeon Forge, TN
(865) 908-4646
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More family-style, all-you-can-eat Southern cuisine at its finest awaits you at the beloved Mama’s Farmhouse, which keeps things cooking from breakfast through lunch to dinner.
Heaping helpings of such classics as country fried steak, roasted pork, meatloaf, fried chicken, and (but of course) the housemade buttermilk biscuits anchor proceedings at Mama’s Farmhouse, with sides including chicken and dumplings, fried okra, potato casserole, and mashed potatoes. Who’s hungry?
All-You-Can-Eat Your Way Through Pigeon Forge
From down-home Southern cookery to seafood sensations, Pigeon Forge hits all the right marks on the all-you-can-eat front. Good thing it’s so easy to work up a mountain-sized appetite in and around this Great Smokies hub!
