The first thing you notice about The Pottery House Cafe is the décor. It’s unashamedly country, with dashes of country chic thrown in for good measure. There’s little chance of forgetting you’re in the midst of the Smoky Mountains as you find yourself surrounded by beautiful landscaping and friendly servers.
One of the highlights of Pottery House Cafe is the fact that many items found in (and around) the eatery – including salt shakers, plates, bowls, and even bathroom sinks – have been handcrafted by skilled area artisans.
Their impressively large menu offers something for everyone, including:
Appetizers
Country appetizers like homemade potato chips, fried chicken livers, pimento cheese cups, spinach artichoke dip, fried pickles, fried green tomatoes, and Tennessee black bean twisters.
Soups
Soups are all served with warm bread from the bakery and include tomato basil, French onion, loaded baked potato, and whatever the soup of the day may be. If you’d like, you can order your soup served in a homemade bread bowl.
Quiche and Salads
Choices include quiche and a house salad, quiche and strawberry spinach salad, quiche with fresh fruit, and quiche with a bowl of soup. When it comes to salads, longtime Pottery House Cafe favorites include spinach muenster, chicken almond, and the chef’s selection of the day.
Combos
Combos offer match-ups like soup with a country ham sandwich, soup with a chicken salad sandwich, and soup with a pimento cheese sandwich. If you’d prefer to build a combo of your own, that’s okay too. For example, you can easily make it a strawberry spinach salad and loaded baked potato. The restaurant makes it easy for you to customize.
Other Menu Items
Other options include chicken tenders, grilled chicken breast, fried catfish, grilled garden panini, shaved country ham sandwich, grilled club, cheese steak sandwich, rib-eye steak sandwich (topped with peppers, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and melted provolone cheese), roast beef sandwich, chicken salad sandwich, pulled pork barbeque sandwich, fried green tomato BLT, and a chicken quesadilla wrap. Burgers are plentiful and feature black Angus, potter’s, smokehouse, and pimento burgers.
Specialty Dishes
Specialties include the buttermilk chicken melt, spring chicken gumbo, vegetable plate, shrimp and grits, grilled salmon, praline grilled pork chops, bacon and blue chopped steak, and the Old Mill Sirloin. You can eat them as they’re served or add sautéed mushrooms, onions, peppers, or garlic for a small upcharge.
One interesting aspect of dining at The Pottery House Cafe is how many side dishes you can enjoy as an appetizer, with your meal, or as a dessert. For example, the moment you walk through the doors there is a good chance you will notice the aroma of baked apples and cinnamon. Their cinnamon apples are one of those dishes you can enjoy before, during, or after your meal. There’s also their signature jalapeno corn pudding and cinnamon raisin pecan bread – two more examples of delicious options available at any point in the meal.
Bread lovers will appreciate the fact that there are so many freshly made breads to choose from, including sourdough, honey wheat, the aforementioned cinnamon raisin pecan, multi-grain, green olive, and onion rye.
And like any restaurant built upon comfort foods, The Pottery House Cafe knows how to satisfy the dessert connoisseur in everyone. They serve favorites like homemade lemon pie, two-layer chocolate cake, two-layer carrot cake, coconut cream pie, and chocolate pecan pie (as amazing as it sounds).
The menu is large, the portions are ample, and the goal to make their customers happy is clear. This is the kind of place you only want to stop when you’re very hungry and have time to savor your meal.
Insider Tip:
If you’re visiting the area, you might want to plan a quick trip back to your accommodations to drop off leftovers. The portions are so large it is likely someone in your party will have them.