The editorial staff of the Historic Gatlinburg Inn recently had a chance to sit down at the Park Grill (located at 1110 Parkway, very near the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park). Here is our official restaurant review. Click any of the images for a larger view.

The restaurant has great curb appeal. It looks like you’re walking into a really nice log and stone cabin. There are flowers everywhere. And especially this time of year (early November as of the time of our visit), it has a very pleasing look set in front of the color-changing trees on the hills that slope down toward it.

The front is lined with red rocking chairs. There are likely times when you may have to wait for a table, so rocking chairs are always a nice touch.

There is a great big copy of their menu mounted outside the front door, so you can take a look before you go in, or if you do find yourself having to wait for a table.

But enough about what the place looks like outside. Let’s go inside and take a look.

The interior is also very pleasing, with high ceilings, stone walls and log cabin styling. It has vintage-style furniture and nice seating areas.

One thing you will notice almost immediately is the salad bar. It’s huge! And everything on the bar looked very fresh. If you’re the salad bar type, you are going to like this place. You can purchase the salad bar standalone or add it to any of the “Local Favorites” meals.

But we were not there for a salad! No sir. The meal started with rolls, which were soft and delicious.

After perusing the menu, we decided to go with the BBQ sampler. This consisted of a sampling of pulled pork, barbecue chicken breast, and pork ribs.

As a side, we selected onion rings. Other side options included steak fries, potato salad or cole slaw.

The menu claims that their sauce is “award-winning.” And you know…we believe it! It was excellent. The sauce had just the right amount of tanginess. All of the meat was super tender. The meat on the ribs slid right off the bone. The chicken was perfectly grilled.

The onion rings were…well, onion rings. Hard to mess those up.

There’s really not much more to say about it, honestly. It was just great-tasting barbecue!

The menu also included items such as sirloin steak, rib eye, trout and shrimp. In conjunction with the salad bar (did I mention that it’s huge?), I don’t see how you could eat here and not find something you like.

The Park Grill also has a nice looking bar if you’re looking for something to wet your whistle. They do have a happy hour Monday – Friday from 4:30PM to 7:o0PM.

If you’re coming down from a day of checking out the mountains, as soon as you get back into town, look to your right and you will see the Park Grill. Or if you’re staying at the Historic Gatlinburg Inn, walk out our front door, cross the street, turn right, and it’s a very easy stroll.

Recommended!