It was our first time visiting Pigeon Forge and we were there before the huge crowds of summer, but that didn’t stop us from seeing lots of people, slow traffic, and packed restaurants. Going by a local’s recommendation, we headed over to the Local Goat restaurant. But even though it was 4:30 pm when we arrived, the line was out the door! So we sauntered over to a place called the Wood Grill Buffet because there was practically no line and my wife is a sucker for a good buffet.
The Video Review
Have you ever been to one of those restaurants where you are very excited to be eating at the establishment? You look at the menu and everything sounds great and/or looks delicious and you wish you were hungry enough to eat 2 or 3 of the meals? For me, that restaurant is Subway. Whenever I look at the menu or see the sandwiches, they all look so good and I’m expecting it to taste wonderful. But invariably, whenever I eat a Subway sandwich, I am usually disappointed. It looks so good, but the taste just doesn’t match my expectations with the exception of the meatball marinara. I have learned through many attempts of grabbing a quick bite at Subway that the food sounds better than it tastes.
Subway now has competition and that competition is almost any buffet I have ever eaten at, and the Wood Grill Buffet certainly falls into that category. But all is not lost at a buffet because I have learned my own personal secret to actually enjoying the buffet even though it may be too costly, and that secret is to ignore the cornucopia of food set before you, resist the temptation to grab a little bit of each of the plethora of dishes set out before you and instead concentrate on those 1 or 2 dishes that you love the most and go back for seconds on those.
Now I wasn’t completely able to follow my own advice when first eating at the Wood Grill Buffet since I had never been there before and I wasn’t aware of what my favorites would be at this specific buffet, but one thing that is common at most of these style of buffets is that they have a rockin’ selection for salads. So I always make sure to get my favorite buffet style salad which includes lettuce, ham, cheese, red onion, bell pepper and ranch dressing. It almost always tastes the same at all the buffets I’ve eaten at and the Wood Grill Buffet’s salad bar was no exception. Their salad met my desires and tasted every bit as good as I’m used to.
But now that the salad was out of the way, it was time for proteins and the Wood Grill Buffet had plenty of grilled, fried, smoked and slow roasted meats to choose from. I tried the pulled pork, smoked pork, hot wings, roast beef, top sirloin steak and prime rib (which didn’t become available until 5:30 pm). I had to try a little bit of each to get my bearings as to what the best meats are at the restaurant and if I were to go back (usually if I return to a buffet it isn’t by my choice but someone else I am with really is desiring a buffet) I would load up on the prime rib (if it’s after 5:30) the smoked pork and the top sirloin steak. I honestly did not try the myriad of other choices that the buffet offered – the taco bar, the Asian foods, the kids corner, the fried foods, the seafood, the cooked vegetables, the baked potatoes and the like. So if you like some of the other foods that the buffet would offer, I would expect them to be similar to any other buffet restaurant’s fare.
As for the desserts, well they follow my usual idea that it sounds better than it tastes. I had the peach, cherry, and berry cobblers which left much to be desired. Also of note, the soft serve ice cream machine wasn’t working, so that dessert would have been the way to go as I have never had a bad soft serve, but it wasn’t available when I was there.
So would I return to the Wood Grill Buffet? As a person who isn’t fond of the standard American style buffet, I would only return if a person in my party really wanted a buffet and/or if every other place in Pigeon Forge (including Mel’s Diner which is excellent fare by the way) has a wait of more than 1 hour. And if I did return, I would go for the salad, load up on smoked pork, steak and prime rib. That meal wouldn’t be my first choice, but I could live with it.
All in all, the Wood Grill Buffet is like most other buffets and if you’ve ever been to a Golden Corral, then you have a really good idea what the Wood Grill Buffet is like.
