Best Italian Cafe & Pizzeria

New York style pizza is a specific product: large, foldable slices with a thin, slightly chewy crust that holds its shape under toppings rather than collapsing at the center. It's meaningfully different from Neapolitan (char-spotted, wet-centered, eaten with a fork) or thick-pan Sicilian style, and it suits the format of a casual sit-down meal where you order a whole pie and eat slowly without ceremony. The style lives and dies on how the dough is handled — the characteristic texture comes from a high-gluten flour and a slow fermentation process that you can taste in the finished slice.

Garlic knots are listed alongside the pizza as a signature item. That pairing makes sense; garlic knots are the canonical Italian-American side, and in a pizza-house context they function as the thing you eat while the pie cools slightly. Done well, they're pull-apart soft on the inside with a blistered exterior, saturated enough in garlic butter that they require an extra napkin. A restaurant that lists them as a signature is making a statement about kitchen attention to basics, and they serve as a reasonable early indicator of overall quality.

The broader menu follows Italian-American casual conventions at the $$ tier: expect pizza in multiple sizes and configurations alongside pasta and similar staples. The official site at bestitalian.com has current menu details worth checking, since seasonal specials and menu updates don't always surface elsewhere.

The 968 Parkway address puts you on Gatlinburg's central commercial corridor, which means convenience on paper and logistical friction in practice. The Parkway carries heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic throughout the tourist season; on summer weekends and during October's leaf peak, it can slow to a crawl for blocks at a stretch.

Parking in Gatlinburg runs on a paid lot system. The city operates several parking facilities within walkable distance of most Parkway restaurants, including a garage near Ripley's Aquarium that serves much of the central strip. Street parking exists but turns over slowly during peak months. The most practical approach is to park once, accept a modest fee, and walk to dinner rather than repositioning your car between stops. If you're driving in from Pigeon Forge on U.S. 441, you'll arrive directly on the Parkway. Coming from the national park's Sugarlands Visitor Center puts you a short drive north into town on the same road.

Gatlinburg's peak periods are predictable: summer weekends from June through August, October for fall foliage, major holidays, and any long weekend when weather cooperates. Walk-in waits at popular Parkway spots during Friday and Saturday dinner service in those windows run 45 minutes to over an hour at busy restaurants.

The simplest workaround is timing. Best Italian Cafe opens at 11 AM, which means an early lunch — arriving right at opening or by noon on a weekday — sidesteps the bulk of the midday crowd. A late lunch between 2 and 3 PM, after the main rush clears but before the dinner wave begins, also tends to move faster. The 10 PM closing is on the later end for Gatlinburg, which gives you some flexibility if the evening runs long.

The quietest version of this experience is a weekday visit in the shoulder season: March, November, or early December before the holidays kick in. The town still operates; it just does so at a pace where you can actually cross the street.

Families with younger kids fit naturally here. Pizza-house formats remove the guesswork — nothing on the menu requires explanation to a child, and the casual setting doesn't put pressure on anyone to sit still for a formal meal. After a full day of hiking or driving through the national park, that simplicity has real value.

It also works well for travelers who want a filling, efficient dinner without committing to a long or expensive evening out. The $$ price point keeps costs reasonable for a group, and the food type is deliberately unfussy. If you're looking for a quieter, more leisurely experience — the kind of dinner that stretches over two hours with a bottle of wine — a Parkway pizza restaurant in peak season probably isn't the setting. The location is inherently high-traffic and audible.

Hours are listed as daily 11 AM to 10 PM, but seasonal adjustments happen at most Gatlinburg restaurants, particularly in the deepest off-season months. Calling ahead at (865) 430-4090 before a late-evening visit in winter is a sensible precaution. For larger groups, a call on the day of your visit also gives you a realistic sense of current wait times — no reservations means no guaranteed table, but it doesn't mean showing up blind.

The official site is bestitalian.com if you want to look at the current menu or check for any updates before your visit.