Local Favorite - Carver's Applehouse Restaurant and Orchard

Tourist destinations are packed full of restaurants; most of them being the well known chain restaurants that can be dined in all over the country.  However, every city has the smaller restaurants that are usually out of the hustle and bustle of the city life.  These restaurants are  local favorites and mom and pop establishments that don't make it into the guidebooks and vacation brochures.  Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and the other surrounding areas of the Smoky Mountains have several well-kept secrets that the locals love. 

These establishments in the Smoky Mountains are often a great place to go and learn about the local culture, as well as eat some of the best local food.  Most of the establishments have more reasonable prices than the chain restaurants in town.  The service is above and beyond in these family owned establishments and the food is worth coming back for over and over again.

Because there are so many local favorites we will pick a featured restaurant each month and share it with our readers.  This months featured restaurant is Carver's Applehouse Restaurant and Orchard.

Fall has arrived in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.  Fall means cool weather, hayrides, pumpkins, a kaleidoscope of beautiful leaf colors, and apples at Carver's Apple Orchard in Cosby. 

Carver's is a family farm orchard that has been growing apples since the 1940s.  Kyle Carver started his orchard in 1942, hand grafting and planting trees in his cornfield.  The orchard today sits on 75 acres in Cosby, Tennessee, producing over 40,000 trees and 126 varieties of apples.

Carver's is not just an array of apple trees and apples, but they also have Carver's Applehouse Restaurant.  The restaurant offers a delicious home-style menu.  Carver's is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Each meal starts off with a basket of apple fritters, apple butter and glass of their fabulous cider. Carver's serves all of your families favorites from pot roast to catfish.  Their sandwiches are fantastic. The chef cooks your food when you order so you may have to wait a few minutes depending on what you order.  The fall is the busiest for Carver's so you may have to wait for a table but if you have time it will be worth your wait. Make sure to leave room to end your meal with the best fried apple pie in East Tennessee.

After you are done enjoying your meal make sure to visit Stacy's Candy Shop and the farmers market where you can buy as many apples as your heart desires.  The market also has other seasonal fruits and vegetables plus jams, jellies, butter, lye soap, and many other goodies.  

The locals call Carver's a little slice of heaven because Carver's is truly a roadside wonder.  The easy way to find them is by following Hwy 321 out of Gatlinburg.  The intersection of 321 and the parkway is a traffic light # 3 and it will take you out of town and past the Great Smoky Mountain Arts and Crafts Community.  The route from traffic light 3 in Gatlinburg to the orchard is a little over 22 miles and takes you through some beautiful locations.  On the way to the orchard you will pass the Greenbrier area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the turn off to the Cosby Campground area of the Smokies and eventually you will arrive in Cosby.  The Cosby area is nat as visited an area as Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge but it is out of the hustle and bustle and still offers some beauty.

Carvers Applehouse Restaurant and Orchard is open year round.  Apples and seasonal vegetables are always available in the apple house but the best time of year to visit is the fall because that is when the harvest is at its finest.  Its a long drive, but you won't be disappointed.

Stay tuned for next month's local favorite.