Description: Applewood is my family's favorite choice of restaurants in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. Be prepared for a wait, but this can be minimized by avoiding dinner rush hours. This trip we had a late lunch/early dinner at about 2pm and only had to wait approximately 10 minutes to be seated.
Once seated, it seems the dinner courses never end. An apple julep starts your dining experience with apple fritters served with delicious apple butter, hot yeast rolls, soup and salad next before you. Try not to eat too many fritters, because dinner is still on the way. The menu includes lots of "Southern favorites". Our family enjoys everything from chicken and dumplings to pork chops and pork tenderloin. My personal favorite is the turkey and dressing. The vegetable side dishes are served family style. As if you could hold it, the dinner price also includes dessert, but your server knows you probably can't hold it right now, so you are given the option of carrying it with you, which is usually the choice of our group. The servers also will bring you doggy bags to clear your table of the leftover fritters, rolls and anything else left on the table.
After dinner or even while waiting to be seated, one can browse the wonderful "barn" gift shop, creamery, fudge shop, etc. on the grounds. Plan to allow yourself at least a couple of hours or more for a wonderful dining and shopping experience. You can take home apples fresh from their orchard or even some of their famous apple butter. I chose the apple/cinnamon/raisin bread, which we later snacked on in our room. Don't miss this experience on your Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge trip.
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