Top 5 Celebrity Owned Restaurants in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge
Published Apr 21, 2025
Music stars and celebrity chefs bring their favorite dishes to the Smoky Mountains at these five restaurants. Check out these tuneful, tasty eateries!
1. Ole Red
Country music, served hot, is the main course at Blake Shelton’s Gatlinburg restaurant. Live performances kick off at opening time and don’t stop until closing time.
Ole Red prides itself on its honky-tonk atmosphere and Southern-inspired food. You’ll find burgers, BBQ, and Nashville hot chicken. Wash down your hearty eats with beer, wine, shots, and fun cocktails. You know you want bragging rights to say you drank a Dirty Tractor!
2. Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen
Deen’s Pigeon Forge restaurant showcases Southern dishes she’s been cooking on TV for decades. You’ll get a true down-home dining experience, too, passing heaping bowls around to share, just like you’re at grandma’s.
Stick-to-your-ribs breakfasts include chicken and waffles, pancakes, and breakfast casseroles. Lunch and dinner bring fried chicken, pot roast, meatloaf, and plenty more comfort foods. Everyone gets dessert–it’s always included!
3. Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar
Jason Aldean’s is the newest addition to the celebrity restaurant scene. Like Ole Red, Jason Aldean’s Kitchen has daily live music. Aldean’s is home to a rooftop bar where you're surrounded by stunning mountain views.
While you tap your toes, fill your belly with new twists on Southern staples, like Redneck Egg Rolls filled with bourbon BBQ pork. Entrees include pot roast, steaks, salmon, fried shrimp, and spicy chicken pasta. Cocktails are a specialty here, with 11 unique drinks.
4. Downtown Flavortown
Guy Fieri, host of TV’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” owns this Pigeon Forge restaurant. Downtown Flavortown boasts a 10,000-square-foot arcade with virtual reality games, video games, and duckpin bowling.
Play before or after you nosh. Start with chili-smothered fries or Philly cheesesteak egg rolls. Burgers are stacked high with toppings, including the unmissable Donut Burger. Entrees include stone-fired pizzas, salmon, salads, and rich pastas.
5. Margaritaville
Escape to a tropical paradise at Margaritaville, the restaurant exuding Jimmy Buffett’s beach-bum vibe. Of course there’s live music!
The menu leans toward Louisiana and Caribbean flavors, like coconut shrimp, jambalaya, Cajun shrimp and grits, jerk salmon, and fish tacos. Named for a Buffett song, the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” is a favorite here. Pastas, salads, and sandwiches round out the menu.
Try all five restaurants and see which celebrity’s food is your favorite. Plan your getaway to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge now, and reserve a comfy vacation cabin today.
