Our editorial staff LOVES good barbecue, and recently we sat down for a meal at Hungry Bear BBQ, located on Parkway in Gatlinburg.

As you can see from the photo above, the restaurant is located in an adorable little blue-painted building. It is easy to find – just head out of town on Parkway toward the Arts & Crafts community. It will be on your right. You may notice it from the plume of smoke rising from the smoker out front.

Inside, you will find a quaint ordering/eating area, with a larger dining room around the corner. Nothing fancy, but we ain’t here for fancy – we’re here for the grub! So how is the barbecue?

After placing our order, it was prepare quickly. We ordered the pulled pork sandwich with sides of potato salad and baked beans.  The meat portion was sizable, and it was smothered in cole slaw, just the way we like it. The barbecue tasted great. For what it’s worth, we like our barbecue swimming in sauce, so we were generous with the sauce, which sits right in front of you on the table. The barbecue was tender and tasted just right, and the sides were good.

From a price standpoint, it’s not the cheapest, but unfortunately, at the time of this writing in May of 2022, a cheap meal is very rare, especially in a town like Gatlinburg. So you can’t really hold the price against it.

If there is a downside, it is that we did not find the staff particularly friendly. If you need to have a conversation with a server as part of your meal, you’re probably not going to get there here. Hey, not everybody’s conversational! But if you’re just looking for some good barbecue prepared quickly, then you will survive.

If you’re in Gatlinburg looking for some good barbecue, give Hungry Bear a try.

The restaurant has two locations:

490 East Parkway
Gatlinburg, TN

and

2263 East Parkway
Gatlinburg, TN