Side Walk Cafe – Gatlinburg – Corn Dog

Sidewalk Cafe - Ober Gatlinburg

The city of Gatlinburg, Tennessee is nestled at the foothills of the great Smoky Mountains. There are an endless number of restaurants to tempt your appetite. But there’s more. Take a right hand turn on Ski Mountain road and it will twist you through the mountains and take you to the top where Ober Gatlinburg stands.

At the top of the mountain sits of course many elaborate ski slopes but also a small amusement park, an ice rink, carnival games, a black bear habitat, and several food stands and restaurants.

The Side Walk Cafe over looks the ice skating rink with several retail shops dotting it’s surroundings. We had just spent several hours at the amusement park and came inside for a quick bite.

Corn Dog And Fries

Since we were there in the off season, it was not very crowded so there was no line and placed our order. I ordered the corn dog and fries. You are looking at $6 dollars of food here. The corn dog was readily available but the fries were cooking in the fryer. My order was called out in a matter of minutes.

The corn dog was standard fare as corn dogs go. Well cooked, fresh, hot, and good taste. The fries were of fresh cut variety but as you can see, not to plentiful. However, they were fresh, well cooked, and hot and tasted good. It was a good fast food meal that filled me up and got us on our way to our next Ober Gatlinburg adventure.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3.25 out of 5 shots and recommends the Side Walk Cafe in Ober Gatlinburg for lunch and dinner.

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Blaines Restaurant – Gatlinburg – Chicken Parmesan Penne

Blaine's Grill And Bar

Blaine’s Grill And Bar located in the heart of Gatlinburg has a unique restaurant atmosphere. When entering, you quickly notice it’s a multi-level restaurant with distinct sections for dining. The wood decor is very “Country Western” type. Very nice.

The hostess at the entrance radioed ahead to have us seated. after walking up two flights of stairs our table server greeted us and led us to our table.

Loaded Potato Skins

In a minute, our waitress returned and asked for our drink and appetizer order. I ordered the loaded potato skins for an appetizer. in less than 10 minutes, our appetizers were delivered. As you can see, there were plenty of them and they were loaded with bacon and cheese. The potato skins were well done, not burnt, and very good tasting. The cheese was plenty as well as the well-cooked bacon. So far, so good.

Blaine's Chicken Parmesan

For my dinner, I ordered the Chicken Parmesan Penne. I was expecting penne pasta in tomato sauce and a slab of breaded fried chicken covered with cheese and tomato sauce. I received this. I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of a slab of chicken, it was cut up into small strips and chunks and mixed with the penne and sauce. It was surprising good.

The chicken was juicy, hot, and plentiful, and smothered in a cheese and tomato sauce that was very good. The penne was well-cooked, and the aforementioned sauce was just zesty enough to bring the taste home.

The cost was very reasonable. The loaded potato skins were $5.95 and the main course was $9.95 plus diet drink. Total cost without tip was $18.00 dollars. For Gatlinburg, and for the portions served, it was a great bargain. The excellent service of the hostess and waitress only added to the good experience.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.25 out of 5 shots and recommends Blaine’s Grill And Bar of Gatlinburg for dinner.

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Texas Roadhouse Restaurant Filet Mignon- Gatlinburg

Everythings Big In Texas - Including Mistakes

The Texas Roashouse Restaurant, located on the Parkway in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is famous for its steaks and BBQ ribs. It was packed with about 75 people waiting outside for a table. It took about an hour before our beeper activated signaling our table was ready. The waitress took us to our table, took our drink orders and returned quickly and promptly took our dinner orders.

I Remember these

I have been to the Texas Roadhouse before and I remembered the rolls. Our waitress brought them to our table as we were being seated. They were hot, fresh, very good tasting especially with the cinnamon butter that came with the rolls. Clearly, Texas roadhouse knows how to do rolls.
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Texas Roadhouse Filet

I went with the advice of our waitress and went with the Filet Mignon with a loaded baked potato and steak fries. (You get two sides) After eating about 25-30 shelled peanuts supplied to our table, (There are two tin buckets on every table, one empty, one full of shelled peanuts) our dinners arrived.

As you can see, the steak looked delicious and the loaded potato and steak fries were generous. The waitress asked me to check my steak to see if it was cooked to order. I order it well done, and informed her that they could butterfly the filet if necessary. (Butterfly steak, cutting the filet in half making it easier to cook thoroughly through without burning the outer steak) It was not to my order. It was almost bloody red and I asked her to please return it and butterfly the steak and cook it to well done.

About ten minutes later our waitress returned with the filet looking exactly the same. It was not butterflied. I could see that the steak was not cooked more as the red blood was now oozing out onto the plate all over the steak fries. i sent it back once again asking that it be cooked to well done. Once again, it was returned and I could tell that the chef did not cook my filet further. In fact, it was now cold. So was the potato and fries.

At that point, I refused the steak and asked to speak to the chef. I was denied. The waitress said they were to busy and the chef was very busy and behind in his cooking. That explained everything right there. The chef never attempted to recook my steak and figured that I would accept what was served to me. I did not!

Since everyone was already finished with their dinners, I completely rejected my steak and stated I would not be paying for it. The manager agreed after coming over to my table and inspecting the steak. He apologized several times and offered any other entree for free. I declined and we left.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 0 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommend Texas Roadhouse restaurant Filet Mignon for dinner.

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Fannie Farkle’s Corn Dogs – (Ogle Dogs)

Corn Dog Heaven

I was in Gatlinburg back in November when the weather was very pleasant, temperatures in the low 70′s. As I was strolling the parkway enjoying the sunshine, I stopped in Fannie Farkle’s to have myself a giant foot long corn dog.

Dogs Cooking

The corn dogs were on display in the front window of the store. Even after seeing them, I still ventured inside to buy one. You could smell the grease outside, a large tub of cooking corn dogs. I then noticed they didn’t sell corn dogs, but Ogle Dogs. Apparently Ogle Dogs are the house favorite of Fannie farkle’s.
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To Go Please

With it being not busy, I thought I would get waited on right away. After all, there were only four people in the building. Three were already eating on the side counter and one was ordering a sausage sandwich. It took five minutes for one of the three cashiers to ask if I wanted something. (No, no, I’m just inside your corn dog building admiring the impressive art decco) A few minutes later, he wraps my corn dog up in this fancy Fannie Farke take out bag.

Foot Long Corn Dog

The cashier rang up my corn dog, the cost, $5 dollars plus tax. Yes, $5 dollars, and that was only for the corn dog, no fries, no chips, no beverage. Unwrapping the bag, I was met with this log. It smelled of old grease, and in a moment, I found that it tasted like old grease as well.

Continuing with the taste, it was well cooked, not burned, and the hot dog inside the dough was hot completely through. As corn dogs go, it was of regular tasting, but the old grease taste had a strong presence. After a few bites, the rest of the corn dog was laid to rest in the trash container outside of Fannie Farkle’s.

PS: Technically, it was a a foot long corn dog, but upon inspection, it was two regular hot dogs on the same stick. Not splitting hairs here, just reporting the findings.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 2 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommend Fannie Farkle’s Corn Dogs for dinner.

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