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    Front Porch Cafe

    3.5 (63 reviews)
    ModerateAmerican, Burgers, Salad
    Closed 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

    Front Porch Cafe Photos

    FRONT PORCH CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Touristy
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Front Porch Cafe

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    Margy C.

    For amusement park food, it was as expected. On such a hot July day, we needed to have an air conditioned, sit down place. So Front Porch Cafe, it was! A bit of a wait on the porch but actually not as long and not as crowded on the inside. I ordered the Country Fried Chicken Breast. This was a crispy buttermilk fried chicken breast with creamy mashed potatoes, topped with house-made sawmill scallion gravy, pickled tomato and collards. The chicken breast was not dry so that was a plus. The gravy was bland and tasteless. Collards were okay. He ordered the Butterfly Chicken Club and when it arrived to the table, we were both impressed with the butterfly-shaped pretzel bread. The sandwich was standard with a grilled marinated chicken breast, smoked gouda cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a chipotle aioli spread. The plate came with fries. The women's restroom had only one toilet and the sink was also in the stall so it took longer than necessary while waiting. Yes, there is a sink outside of the stall as well but people continued to wash their hands in the stall while there was a line outside. Not the best design!

    Shrimp and grits
    Victoria E.

    Started with Fried Green Tomatoes and sweet tea finished with shrimp & grits. Great service from Joyce. Cute farm decor with fiddle music. The green tomatoes are a must crispy fried with 1/2 of them have mozzarella in them nice balsamic drizzle. The shrimp and grits was a large bowl of creamy cheesy grits surrounded with many shrimp cooked perfectly and a nice amount of andouille sausage. Delicious

    Jan K.

    I ordered a dessert only... peach cobbler with ice cream.... It was okay but not as yummy as other places outside Dollywood... Waitress was friendly

    Specials 11/7/24
    Taylor K.

    Front Porch Cafe sits inside Dollywood theme park not too far from the front gates. There can be a wait any given time depending on park capacity when you're there. It is quaint and feels like a small southern restaurant. We needed to accommodate a gluten allergy in our party of 2, and this was recommended as one of the better options in the park. The park does label many items as "GF" for "Gluten Friendly", however I'm not confident for all of those items to be actually gluten free or free from gluten contamination. Service was fine, our server was polite. We had a relatively light check, we both ordered the southern strawberry lemonade with a water also (it was hot in the sun!) and appetizers. I ordered the smoked chicken and bacon chowder from the specials sign on the table, and my friend with the gluten allergy ordered the hot pimento cheese appetizer (marked gluten friendly). We did let our server know it was a gluten allergy. Both dishes came out quick and both were delicious! The soup was actually one of my best meals on Dollywood resort/park property of the week. The pimento cheese was also tasty and there was no gluten reaction indicating no contamination occurred. Better actually gluten free options would have been nice. I also tried the special dessert, eggnog bread pudding. This felt overpriced and underwhelming. I love eggnog, I wait for it every season, and this was just a fine bread pudding. And it was fine! But I wouldn't have ordered it if it was more accurately described. This is probably typical theme park experience, overpriced and fine food for a reprieve from the sun and standing/walking. It won't be a reason on its own to visit the park, for me.

    Receipt

    12/4/25 Cup of chicken bacon chowder $10.99. It was delicious; not enough of it for price. I say cup because it was in a small bowl not half full, about a cup. I asked for cornbread to go with it. I was told they have no bread of any kind. Husband chose turkey stack $17.99. It was turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and green beans. The quantity dished up was more like a child's plate. Neighbor table had same dish but it was plentiful portions. Good price for this plate if it weren't very stingy on portion. Needless to say we both left hungry.

    Menu
    Mike M.

    It was lunchtime when I arrived at Dollywood and Front Porch Cafe is located near the entrance. It is a table service restaurant and fortunately there was no wait. Among the entrees the Tuscan Chicken was listed as a favorite for $20. The food arrived less than 10 minutes later and immediately I thought I should have ordered a sandwich instead. The presentation of the food looked poorly on the plate. It had boneless chicken pieces covered in a cream gravy over mashed potatoes with carrots and sliced cherry tomatoes. Yes I thought it didn't look good on the plate but the taste was better. The cream sauce on the chicken was good tasting along with the tomatoes. Honestly, for theme park food it was ok. Most meals are on the menu were $15-$20.

    Chicken fried chicken
    Anna M.

    We had the pleasure of dining at the front porch cafe in Dollywood! The service was great and the food was delicious! I had a burger and wedge salad and my partner had the chicken fried chicken and we enjoyed the food. The restaurant is clean and spacious with cute decor. I highly recommend front porch cafe as a nice break!

    Tuscan Chicken
    Sean M.

    Nice to get a chance to sit down and relax for a bit. The dishes are decent and the service was very good. We were told a 15-20 minute wait and we personally felt that was underestimating since there was a long line but almost exactly 15 min later we got the text that our table was ready. The wife ordered a Tuscan chicken which was actually very tasty and oddly they just put about six medium sized tomatoes on the side. They weren't prepared in anyway, they were just there like you just picked them yourself. I got the chopped salad and added the chicken. The salad was good if you get extra dressing. 100% pass on the chicken though. It was extremely dry and had no flavor so it's best to just pass on it since it's almost inedible. My son got the chicken sandwich that just had a little dripping of sauce on it. If it had lots more sauce, it would be considerably tastier. Daughter got the hotdog which was as expected. We also got the fried green tomatoes which was a first for me. They were pretty darn good to be honest, but I don't have anything to compare them too but I totally enjoyed them. All in all, it was $77 and we walked out full and happy. Probably would have been just as happy hopping around to the individual booths, but then you can't sit down and recoup.

    Fried fish and grits - delicious
    Cris M.

    We had lunch at the Front Porch Cafe due to a recommendation from one of the staff at the ticket book line. We were pleasantly surprised and the food was great quality, taste was outstanding , and I think the cost of the entrees was reasonable especially since it's an amusement park. My friends had black bean burgers and I had the fish and grits . It comes with a bean-ish type side and greens ( I held the greens back since I don't care for them) the portion size was perfect. Just enough and I had a few bites left on my plate . The fish was perfectly cooked , light crust , not greasy, and I loved loves the beans. The grits were great and very homemade tasting I considered bringing an order to-go order to take back to my air b&b . The waitress was beyond sweet and attentive . I'd go back and suggest giving it a try .

    The sole vegan option on the menu. $3 frozen fries
    Jessi M.

    Definitely disappointed in the vegan option at Dollywood, overall, not just at the Front Porch but I was so upset by the time I got here that I had to complain to someone so our server brought out the "head chef" who gave less of a hoot than anyone. Our server ended up not charging us for the fries. Bless her heart. So we ended up coming here after waiting in line at 3 different places to find that the "vegan options" were not available. So when I walked up to the hostess and asked to make sure there were options actually available before I waited 30-45 mins to be seated, she dismissively stated, "yeah, this is the only option in the part that always has vegan options". So we waited, sat down and asked our poor server a few questions. Come to find out, all the items listed on the menu as "vegan" had to be modified to be vegan, making them not vegan. For example, the GF pasta contains eggs, the kids vegan hot dog (Yves brand) comes with a no -vegan bun and goldfish... but hey you can still pay $8 for you kid to get a wiener and applesauce. A damn joke. Also the Beyond Burger listed as vegan comes with a non-vegan bun so you can order a patty with frozen fries for $16. No thank you. Step it up, Dolly. We will be bringing this complaint to corporate because it really is unacceptable. Not to mention the attitude of the employees when you ask questions, aside from our waitress, they were ALL rude as heck. No southern charm there.

    Crispy Fried Chicken Breast (boneless) over mashed potatoes with some collards (I got the sawmill gravy on the side)
    Debora S.

    I would've given 5 stars for my meal of Fried Chicken Breast and all but I gave the restaurant 4 stars because the menu have enough options for lunch. My food was really yummy though.

    Spinach Salad at Dollywood
    Curt C.

    Often you'll hear about food quality ,prices and value when people talk theme parks. As a proud Disney Alumni, I still often heard guests complain about "theme park food". Well, I am thrilled to report there is exceptional food, affordable and friendly and close to home. I visited Dollywood and walked in with a critical eye, looking to compare this park with my former home. Honestly, I was blown away. The park sparkled and the lunch at Front Porch cafe was above the quality and the portions at most free standing restaurants outside anywhere near here I had a world class spinach strawberry salad. Perfectly prepared, fresh and very competitively priced. Travel advisor calls Dollywood "The best theme park in America " . When you combine the cleanliness, entertainment and killer food, I would have a hard time disagreeing...no matter how much that hurts.

    Auon H.

    Located inside Dollywood. We were seated right away. Staff was very helpful in explaining the menu. The burgers were great!

    Fried Green Tomatoes, Vegan Tacos

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    2 months ago

    Fried chicken sandwich with side salad was delicious. Service was kind of slow. They were out of tomatoes so no fried tomatoes for us.

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    4 years ago

    This place is GARBAGE they won't let you just order a salad with protein , if you do you have to pay over 40$ . Save your money . GARBAGE .

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    Mel's Diner
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    Bar Area
    Bar Area
    Nachos with upgraded brisket
    Nachos with upgraded brisket
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    Photos
    Car tables
    Car tables
    Kids Mac & fries
    Kids Mac & fries
    Closeup of the burger challenge

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    Closeup of the burger challenge

    Front Porch Cafe - tradamerican - Updated August 2026

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