trip to gatlinburg,knoxville, chattanoga
 

1st wk in nov wife and i and small dog will travel to gat. we made tentative res. at holiday inn sunspree in gat. it seems pricey but if anyone has a problem with this place let me know.will then go stay in knox on way to chattanoga. need suggestions on places to stay and eat in knoxville and chattanoga. we want to sitesee great smokey park etc. with as little tourist schlock as possible. will be traveling during the week. I have seen posts here that tell of 2hr waits for decent and sometimes indecent food. if this is the case in these cities maybe we'll cancel. We want to stay in a hotel on the Univ of Tn campus-is this a good idea or not?
Thanks in advance.

I've stayed at the Holiday Inn in years past, but prefer the Riverhouse at the Park or the Greystone Lodge. Both are reasonable and include continental breakfast (Greystone's is beter). Go to www.gatlinburg.com to check various hotel websites. Good luck! I would much rather stay in Gatlinburg than Knoxville.

In Chattanooga, I recommend the Hilton Garden Inn. We stayed there and it is very clean and neat. It is convenient to the aquarium, a movie theater, and a few attractions in the city. My husband stays there all the time for business in Chattanooga. Hope this helps.

I'm not sure if you are looking for good eats in Gatlinburg, but I got some great advice on this board to try the Bountiful Breakfast at the Burning Bush restaurant. It is family style w/your choice of meat (the ham w/red eye gravy is a local favorite - I loved it - salty!). We got there early and avoided the wait. Have fun!!

There are lots better places to stay in Gatlinburg than the Sunspree HI. I haven't stayed there in about 8 years, but it wasn't so great then. There are lots of nice hotels right on the Parkway...Clarion, Hampton, Fairfield, etc.
BTW, The Burning Bush is now The Applewood Farmhouse Grill, but still has great food. Avoid The Open Hearth.

Chattanooga has a lovely downtown area that should be perfect for walking that time of year. It's full of small gardens, the footbridge across the river, several small theme museums plus the very nice art museum, and the excellent aquarium. For a full service hotel, I like the Read House, but there are several charming B&Bs in the area, too.

I can't remember the name of the very good restaurant where I ate last time in town, but it was a long walk from the Read House and it was the something or other Grill. I know, pretty vague, but if you ask around I'm sure you could find the name. Hope you have fun!

The Park Grill is the place that you are prob. thinking of.
Have never eaten there myself but heard the food was wonderful..
As for hotels, I would vouch for the Clarion. We just stayed there and the rooms are nice and the hotel itself is only about 8 years old.

I'd go with either Riverhouse at the Park or Riverhouse Motor Lodge. Don't know if they allow pets, but their rooms are huge so your dog would have plenty of room to roam around in them. The Burning Bush is now an Applewood Farmhouse Grill, which also serves delicious, bountiful meals.

Good restaurants in Gatlinburg that are reasonable: Brass Lantern, Best Italian Retaurant (great rolls drenched in garlic butter&cheese), Bennett's BBQ. Breakfast favorite: Pancake Pantry (get there early, they get long lines-but is very good.) Also like the Cherokee Grill, which is more expensive, but not that high.
Another reason to stay at Riverhouse at the Park is that they are right by the entrance to the GSMNP, but still only 1 block off the main parkway in Gatlinburg. If you do, get a room overlooking the creek-they have great balconies to relax on.

If you want to avoid the "tourist schlock" all together, you might consider staying in Townsend, Tn, instead of Gatlinburg. It is much quieter and very close to the Cades Cove entrance to the park. It is also a fairly straight shot to Maryville and Knoxville via a scenic route.

You mentioned staying on the UT campus in Knoxville. If your reason for going to Knoxville is to visit UT, then this makes sense, but otherwise I would stay elsewhere, because the campus isn't that convenient to shopping, etc. Knoxville has tons of decent chain hotels. As far as food, one of my favorite Knoxville restaurants is a small restaurant in the Fountain City area. Litton's has the absolute best burgers ever, served on homemade buns. They also have wonderful desserts, including a great red velvet cake and mouthwatering turtle brownies (two layers of pecan studded brownie held together by a layer of carmel). Litton's is on Essary Rd. in north Knoxville.

That's too bad that Burning Bush isn't around anymore. We went to Applewood Farmhouse Grill (I guess they have multiple locations now) and though it wasn't really bad, it was my least favorite meal of the trip.

I second the recommendation for Park Grill - the food was really good and it has a nice "lodge" kind of atmosphere.

Dh really liked Pancake Pantry (go early, long lines). I thought it was good, but not great.

I'm not sure where this "Park Grill" is in Chattanooga. No listing in the phone book. They may be thinking of the Southside Grille, which is about 6 blocks or so from the Read House, but is a very nice restaurant. In that same area is St. John, which we have also had very good meals at, and Bellagio, which we haven't eaten at but seems to be getting good reviews. If you stay closer to the aquarium area (Hilton Garden Inn or Courtyard by Marriott for instance), there are other restaurants that could be recommended.

The poster is talking about the Park Grill in Gatlinburg. I agree that the Applewood Farmhouse was mediocre.

Sticky Fingers in Chattanooga is the best bbq I have ever had, recommended by a friend who used to live there. It has been about 5 years since I was there. I don't remember waiting a long time, but even if we did, it was absolutely worth it.

The Burning Bush was owned by the same hospitality company as The Applewood. Not sure what the marketing strategy was to change it to The Applewood, along with their menu. I personally thought The Burning Bush was a Gatlinburg institution and loved going there for any meal. We had breakfast there a few months ago(The Applewood) and it was still good, but they don't bring the fruit platter and tiny muffins like they did at The Burning Bush. The bar is also gone..that area is now dining.

Stokeley Hospitality...that's who owns The Applewood restaurants...they also own/manage (?) The Brass Lantern in Gatlinburg.

I'm so bummed about the change of Burning Bush! I loved that fruit tray w/muffins - perfect when you have little kids who don't want to wait to eat!!

The Park Grille I went to was indeed in Gatlinburg rather than Chatanooga.

In Chattanooga last July, we stayed in a roomy suite at the Residence Inn. They had a good free breakfast also. The Residence Inn, Hilton Garden Inn and Marriot Courtyard are all located in the same area close to the Aquarium. We enjoyed dinners at 212 Market a few blocks from our hotel and at Terra Nostra, a little tapas place on Frazier Avenue on the other side of the river (you can take the world's longest pedestrian foot bridge to get there!). In addition to the Aquarium, be sure to check out Lookout Point - take the incline railway there but go early in the morning to beat the crowds. Same goes for the Aquarium - they have timed entry but it still gets crowded with little ones at peak times.

Yes, I think Southside Grill is the name of the place in Chattanooga that I was thinking of. Very nice menu with wide variety of offerings--the usual suspects, plus duck, rabbit, and quail.

There's also a hole in the wall pancake/breakfast diner with a woman's name that is very good. Can't think what it is, but it's a fair piece away from downtown Nooga. Sorry that I'm so vague on these details. Hope you have a wonderful time!

The HI Sunspree is WAY up Airport Rd/Historic Nature Trail. You'll walk to get down to :"the strip" of the Parkway....but if you're wanting to avoid the tourist schlock that may be best.

The best restaurants in Gatlinburh are: 1) Best Italian in the Elks Plaza
2) the former Burning Bush for breakfast (although with the new name and new apple theme it's not nearly as good as it used to be)
3) Oddly enough, Jose's Catina is VERY good fresh Mexican...even though you're in eastern TN)
4) a local chain...Calhouns is the best BBQ bet around and has lots of other items if people in your party don't like BBQ

In Knoxville, another local chain is Puleto (sp) Grill...very good.

And the quintessential Knoxville restaurant is Regas

Staying in a hotel near UTs campus will be fine UNLESS there's a game while you're there. Knoxville has horrible traffic downtown.