Tennessee's Cracker Barrel With Smoky Mountain Views And Appalachian Craft Shopping Is A Unique Restaurant

When you're on the road for a while, with incredible landscapes shifting past your window, small comforts like a trusty roadside Cracker Barrel can mean a lot. It gives you a chance to rest and refuel (without having to spend a fortune), and it offers a sense of home, even when you're far from it. That's especially true in the Appalachians of Tennessee, where its best mountain towns have both hiking trails and a dose of country charm. If you're traveling through the mountains of Tennessee, there's a good chance you have Pigeon Forge on your radar (or at least, may pass through). It's a town with an abundance of big-ticket attractions, not the least of which are Dollywood and America's longest zipline that soars over Tennessee's Smoky Mountains. In between these sensations, Pigeon Forge is also home to one of the most special Cracker Barrel locations in the country for you to pause and take comfort in.

Many might not know that Cracker Barrel was actually founded specifically as a roadside stop for travelers along interstates and highways, meant to evoke a sense of home and be part of the road-trip experience. Today, 40% of the chain's business still comes from travelers, according to the Cracker Barrel website. There are two Cracker Barrel locations in Pigeon Forge – one on the north side of town (Sugar Hollow) and one on the south side (Parkway) — but it's the Sugar Hollow location that gets the best reviews and has some of the most unique atmospheric touches. It has an exceptional location where the sprawling front porch looks out to the Smoky Mountains in the distance on one side, while the other side offers a surreal view of King Kong climbing a tower at the neighboring Hollywood Wax Museum.

One of the ways Cracker Barrel appeals as a roadside stop is that all of its decor is made up of authentic, locally sourced antiques, serving as a kind of little museum of the town for each location. At the Cracker Barrel in Pigeon Forge, you'll see Appalachian paintings, a banjo, and vintage farm funnels hanging on the walls, which you can admire as you wait for your food. On the menu, you'll find Cracker Barrel's standard assortment of Southern comfort food and traditional diner fare. One Google reviewer wrote, "Of all the Cracker Barrels I've visited between Maine and California, this restaurant had the best country ham with the Grandma's Sampler I've ever tasted." The gift shop here is a standout, too, with a large selection of local Appalachian crafts and handmade goods. You can find everything from pretty ceramics and woven baskets to candles and fudge.

The closest commercial airport to Pigeon Forge is the McGhee Tyson Airport outside of Knoxville, which is about a 50-minute drive from the Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel is open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., with lots of free parking space on-site. Aside from being immediately next to the Hollywood Wax Museum, the Cracker Barrel is also only a 10-minute drive to Dollywood, making it a great stop for families to wind down after a day of rides. Head out early in the morning to time your visit best to Dollywood to avoid crowds.