Howard's Restaurant, Gatlinburg, Tennessee Restaurant Details

Food:

This is a great place. It's an older place with many, many years service and much history that creates an atmosphere not found in that many places these days. It's an original that has survived time when so many others didn't. It's where your grandparents dined when they visited Gatlinburg decades ago. It's an honor to have a meal and sit there in that rustic place. You can just feel the history and people of the past in the walls and decor. In West Knoxville, we used to have a place called Frontier House that was very much like Howard's. With great food, it was old and rustic just like Howard's and Frontier House was a piece of local history until some fool tore it down. Many people were just crushed by that. It was such a great loss to the area and I greatly miss having lunch and spending time there. Maybe this is why I so appreciate the survival of a place like Howard's. The food is exceptional, just like food always was before we started mass producing it. And like Frontier House, Howard's is not just about the food--it's about the atmosphere and the history and being a survivor of an era long gone. Please take the time to stop by there if you're in Gatlinburg.

Food:

Overpriced for the service and facilities. The place didn't feel clean and needs updating. This is a bar that serves decent food during the day. Don't get me wrong...the food is pretty good.

Food:

We chose to eat here our very first night on vacation. The patio atmosphere was very nice, but that is the only positive thing I have to say. We were greeted by our male server and he told us that they have the best bloody Mary's in town...so of course we got one, it was alright. I ordered the ribeye steak sandwich and the server specifically asked me to tell him exactly what I wanted on the sandwich so I told him that I would take sautéed mushrooms, onions, and cheese. I didn't like the sandwich at all, but I ate half without complaining. When we received our bill...I noticed that the $12.96 sandwich (as stated in the menu) rang up to be 16.96. I asked why it was $4 extra dollars and the server responded that it was the up charge for the mushrooms, onions, and cheese, but he saved me some money by not CHARGING me for the ice water I drank! FOUR dollars for mushrooms, onions, and cheese on my steak sandwich that should have come with topping anyways, or at least he should have told us that it would be $4 on top of the price for the sandwich. Oh, but it was so nice of him to not charge me for my WATER. As if that wasn't irritating enough, when I gave the server our money for our bill, he said that he didn't have enough change to give me my $10 back that he owed me. In other words, he was GUARANTEEING himself a superb tip...as a server of 9 years, I was never going to leave him a bad tip anyways..but for him to practically FORCE me to leave that $10 behind really upset me. We will not be back and I'm sad that that was the first dining experience we had while in Gatlinburg.

Food:

Me and my wife just ate here 2/19/16. We. Never would have stopped here based on the reviews but I am so glad we did. We were hungry and didn't want to walk all the way back to bubba gump shrimp company (plus it was a line out the door) we came across this place and a gentleman outside greeted us (like another user said, same line even..) It was beautiful today, 64 degrees and sunny. We asked to sit on the patio. Little did we know there is an amazing Creek that runs right next to it! Long story short, the bloody Mary's are AMAZING. Best I have ever had in my life. The menu prices for entrees were stupid high and I would never pay those prices. But the lunch menu was reasonably priced. I had the ribeye steak sandwich and my wife got the cordon blue burger. We both LOVED our meal. Our waiter was over worked and stressed but had a great attitude. I would recommend this place. It would have gotten 4 stars but after we ate we decide to give it 5.

Food:

Excellent Bloody Mary. Burger was a little overcooked (medium) but really good, really good fries too. Good knowledgeable service.