We stayed in Gatlinburg, TN for a couple nights during our visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park earlier this year. While we didn't care much for the tourist-trap nature of Gatlinburg, we did find a couple places to eat that stood out among the fast food/national restaurant chains that lined Parkway Drive. On our first night we found a place called the Cherokee Grill that we decided to give a shot. But first, here's their story -
Michael Chase opened his first restaurant - the Copper Cellar - in nearby Knoxville, TN in 1975. The Copper Cellar was a traditional steakhouse and became a popular destination near the University of Tennessee. In 1982, Chase opened a second Copper Cellar in Knoxville, both of which were very successful. In order to keep his restaurants under a corporate umbrella, he formed the Copper Cellar Corporation.
Chase - a native of Maryland - felt that Knoxville needed an upscale seafood place that featured fresh seafood served Eastern shore style. He then opened Chesapeake's Seafood to satiate his passion about great seafood. Chesapeake's was significantly different from the Copper Cellar restaurants not only for the emphasis on seafood, but for the more laid back atmosphere in the restaurant.
From there, Chase decided to enter the already crowded barbecue landscape in Knoxville and in 1983 he opened Calhoun's BBQ Barn, a family-oriented barbecue place. A year later, Calhoun's won the title of Best Ribs at the National Rib Cook-Off held in Cleveland. After that business took off for Calhoun's which now boasts seven locations in Eastern Tennessee.
The Cherokee Grill and the Smoky Mountain Brewery followed in Gatlinburg and in 2014 the Copper Cellar Corporation resurrected Cappuccino's, a long-time Italian restaurant that was a favorite of many in the Knoxville area in the 1970's and 1980's. Today, the Copper Cellar Corporation oversees 17 restaurants as well as the Copper Cellar Catering company.
We had parked down the street in a public lot (for $10 bucks!) and walked along Parkway looking at the tourist places and dodging the hucksters out front trying to get us to come in to see whatever. We hated that part of Gatlinburg tremendously. But we came upon the Cherokee Grill that was part of the Calhoun Village complex that included the Smoky Mountain Brewery, a Calhoun's barbecue joint, and a handful of shops. (see map) We also found that if we had parked in the Calhoun Village lot and eaten at one of the restaurants or bought something from one of the shops we would have gotten free parking.
The outside of the Cherokee Grill is a sleek looking building with rock pillars and some neon accents. Inside, the restaurant has a contemporary mountain-style decor with wooden ceiling beams, brick pillars and walls, and reduced lighting giving the room a cozy feeling.
We were greeted by a hostess and directed to a booth next to at windows on the street side of the restaurant. After we were given menus, our server - Jessica - came over to greet us and take our drink orders. Cindy got a glass of malbec wine while I got a Great Smoky Mountain Appalachian pale ale that they had on tap. It was actually a pretty good beer.
The food emphasis at Cherokee Grill is primarily steaks, but they do have other entrees that include pork chops, barbecued ribs, shrimp dinners and crab cakes, as well as chicken entrees that are prepared either fried, barbecue grilled or on a rotisserie. Sandwiches, burgers, salads and about a dozen appetizers round out the menu. We decided to get steak for our meals that particular evening.
We started out with salads for the evening. I got the wedge salad while Cindy got a regular dinner salad. My salad featured a large quarter head topped with creamy and crumbly blue cheese with tomato chunks. The lettuce was cool and crisp and the blue cheese crumbles were fresh and pungent. This was a pretty good wedge salad.
For steaks, we both went with the filets that evening. I got the 9 ounce filet and Cindy went with the 7 ounce filet. Both were reasonably priced for a steakhouse. I got an au poivre sauce to go along with my steak. Cindy got a side of broccoli to go with her steak and she also decided to get the baked mac and cheese. She's glad she did - and so was I. The baked mac and cheese was stellar.
I also got some sautéed button mushrooms along with some blue cheese grits to go along with the meal. The button mushrooms had a great earthy taste, but were very salty from the burgundy wine sauté. But the blue cheese grits were just outstanding. I normally don't care for cheese in grits, but the taste sensation with the blue cheese grits was out of this world.
Cindy ordered her steak medium and I got mine rare. They were both cooked exactly as we liked - a little bit of pink in the middle for hers and a cool red center for mine. The steaks were tender and tasty - the au poivre sauce wasn't necessary for my steak, but I did enjoy dipping a couple pieces of the meat in the sauce. This was a very good meal.
For dessert, Jessica enticed us into getting some of their blueberry cobbler to go. We weren't really ready to eat anything else after this very good meal, but we decided that we may be ready to eat something before bed back at the hotel. Interestingly, the ice cream that she provided in a separate container from the cobbler was still cold and firm when we got back to the hotel about an hour after we left the restaurant. The blueberry cobbler was very good.
Before dinner, I went to pay for parking at a public lot with my credit card and I realized at that point that I had left it back in Knoxville at a place we'd had lunch at earlier in the day. Fortunately, I had my emergency credit card with me and we were able to pay with that. After I paid the bill, I got a different receipt than what was presented to me. The amount was the same, but there was a discrepancy on the prices that were on the first bill and the tax totals were more. I asked Jessica if these numbers were correct and she said that they were. I sort of shrugged and signed the bill - as I said, it was the same total as on the first bill I was presented.
As we were getting ready to leave, the manager came over to see us. He said, "I understand that you had a question on your bill." I told him that even though the total bill amount was the same on both bills I was given, they were different in food and alcohol totals and taxes. He said, "You folks must not be from Tennessee." He explained to us that there are different taxes on food and alcohol both in the state and in the municipality of Gatlinburg. "We have no income tax in Tennessee," he said. "So, they have to tax everything that we do in this state." He said they have to separate out the differences in the food and alcohol and that affects the prices on the bill. It sounded complex and he was sort of exasperated as he told us about the process. Nonetheless, he was a nice guy and we appreciated the fact that he took the time to stop over to explain the billing to us.
Our meal at the Cherokee Grill was very good. We certainly couldn't complain about much, if anything - save for the saltiness of the sautéed mushrooms. But that was certainly not a deal breaker for the over all taste of the meal. Our steaks were top notch and a very good value compared to other steakhouses we've been to. The sides - especially the baked mac and cheese and the blue cheese grits - were outstanding. The service was polite, timely and even keel. While we didn't care for Gatlinburg all that much, the Cherokee Grill stood out as one of the better meals we had on our vacation.
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