The Old Mill Restaurant

The Old Mill Restaurant is the biggest name in the Old Mill complex, a collection of shops and eateries around a working gristmill that the complex calls America's oldest continually operating gristmill. The restaurant itself is at 164 Old Mill Avenue, a short walk from the mill, and it describes itself as family-owned since 1993. Southern Living has named it a legendary restaurant, and it carries a 4.5-star rating from over 13,000 TripAdvisor reviews on the operator's page.

This is Southern cooking built on the mill's output. The restaurant's own pages name biscuits, stone-ground grits, mashed potatoes, fritters, and homemade pies, including pecan pie. The full menu is published as a PDF on the restaurant's page and changes by meal period. Breakfast is the best value of the three, and the grits are the thing the operator advertises hardest.

As of fall 2026, the restaurant is open daily and serves:

• Breakfast: 8 to 11 AM
• Lunch: 11 AM to 4 PM
• Dinner: 4 to 9:30 PM

It takes no reservations, and takeout is available. Lines are the cost of that policy. Aim for the first hour of breakfast, a late lunch around 2 PM, or an early dinner to dodge the crowd, and keep a phone game or a stroll around the mill grounds ready if you do wait. The phone is (865) 429-3463.

The restaurant is one of several separate businesses on the grounds. Next door are the Pottery House Cafe and Grille, the Old Mill Creamery, the Candy Kitchen and the General Store, each with its own hours, so a visitor can eat here, walk past the pottery shop, and buy fudge or ice cream for the car without moving the car. The complex's main phone is (877) 653-6455 and the address for the grounds is 175 Old Mill Avenue.

• Families who want Southern food with a gristmill to look at
• Groups arriving without a reservation who will tolerate a wait
• First-time visitors to Pigeon Forge looking for a place that predates the Parkway attractions
• Breakfast eaters who care about biscuits and grits

• If you are heading to Dollywood or the park afterward, eating a full breakfast here is easier than finding a table at 11 AM.
• Pigeon Forge's Fun Time Trolley runs for $1 a ride (the Dollywood route is $2.50) and avoids the parking question on busy days.
• If you plan to enter Great Smoky Mountains National Park afterward, remember the parking tag rule ($5 daily, $15 weekly, $40 annual, per the National Park Service).

• Address: 164 Old Mill Avenue, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
• Phone: (865) 429-3463
• Reservations: none
• Official site: old-mill.com