If you are in the Foothills of the Smokies one will notice a number of pancake places. However, if you want the original (& IMHO the best) you need to find your way to
Gatlinburg and the iconic
Pancake Pantry.
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| Three photos from the Pancake Pantry website... |
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| ...the restaurant... |
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| ...through the years. |
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| Pancake Pantry today. |
This Gatlinburg institution has been around over a half-century (1960). Located next to T
he Village this was a place I wanted to eat at since first seeing the round roof and large front window of the beautiful building years ago. Anyway, in 2012 after hearing and reading so much about the pantry I decided to make the trip and let me say it was worth it. Like I said above the first thing you will notice is the beautiful building for the outside and inside is just as lovely with its oak interior. One will also notice the amount of seating and it is always full. I have been here four times and there was a line on all of these visits. Hell, even my visit this past weekend (out of season) was packed. Once you eat here you will know why.
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| The Village |
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| Front of the Pantry at Christmas. |
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| Big window... |
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| ...inside. |
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| Some of the decor...a wild boer's head... |
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| ...cool bear. |
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| Crowded inside... |
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| ...out. |
Let me just say if you go here and it is your first visit get the pancakes! On my first trip I got the Wild Blueberry. Let me just say these are the best pancakes I have ever had. They are tender and fluffy at the same time. They are sprinkled with powdered sugar and come with incredible blueberry compote. The fact that they were better than the
Pumpkin Pancakes I had at the
Dor-Stop Restaurant in Pittsburgh in 2010 says a lot. Oh, they are much better than the ones I had at the
Egg & I. When I returned here this past week I got the blueberry again and guess what…they were just as good the second time around.
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| Blueberry Pancakes |
On another visit in 2013 I tried the Sweet Potato Pancakes (with the cinnamon cream syrup) and let me say they were also wonderful too.
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| Sweet Potato |
Breakfast isn’t the only thing they serve; I have also eaten lunch here. They have a great selection of soups and sandwiches. I had one of Pantry’s signature sandwiches, the Dutch Diplomat, which won a national award. It is triple-decker on rye bread with ham, turkey and Swiss cheese and comes with a mix bean and onion salad with chips. Let me just say that it deserved an award.
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| Dutch Diplomat |
So, if you are in Gatlinburg and have to pick just one place to eat make it the Pancake Pantry!
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