Fodor's Expert Review Mountain Lodge Restaurant

When you're ready to leave behind the hip and hype to sit down and simply enjoy value-priced home-style cooking served by friendly faces, this is where to park your palate. The menu is packed with Southern-style favorites, and from 7 am you can breakfast on chunky stuffed omelets, country ham (yep, the salty kind), grits or hash browns, pancakes and waffles, fluffy biscuits and sausage gravy. For lunch, you can get a decent burger or do what the locals do—opt for one of the most affordable "meat and two" plates in Gatlinburg. It's a smallish restaurant and can get crowded, so come early.

Be sure to try the homemade maple syrup.