Howard's Restaurant

The Parkway in Gatlinburg skews heavily toward novelty dining — pancake houses, tourist-oriented buffets, restaurants where the concept does more work than the kitchen. Howard's menu doesn't chase a theme. American standards anchor it: burgers and steaks cover the familiar ground, with quick, satisfying options available at lunch and more substantial plates for dinner, while catfish gives the menu a genuinely regional note that most Parkway spots don't offer. Catfish is a staple of Southern cooking across Tennessee, and finding it on a menu alongside steaks and burgers says something about the kitchen's sensibility; this isn't a place trying to impress you with an identity. It's trying to serve a good meal.

The atmosphere is casual and family-friendly. You're not adjusting expectations when you walk in after a hiking day; the setting matches the clientele and the price point. For groups that include kids or people who can't agree on what they want, the menu covers enough range that most combinations work without anyone settling for their second choice.

Gatlinburg runs hot from June through August and again in October, when fall color draws serious traffic to the Smokies corridor. Dinner waits on the Parkway on a Saturday evening in peak season can stretch to 90 minutes at popular restaurants, and Howard's is no exception. The kitchen takes reservations by phone, and while they're not typically required for a weekday lunch, calling ahead for weekend dinner service is a smart two-minute investment.

Lunch generally moves faster. Arriving before noon, or in the mid-afternoon window between 2 PM and 5 PM, sidesteps the bulk of the dinner surge. The kitchen runs until 10 PM, so late dinners after 8 PM often have noticeably shorter waits than the 6 o'clock crunch. Off-season visits in late fall after peak foliage, through winter and into early spring, are a different story; the Parkway quiets down considerably, and walk-up tables become the norm rather than the exception.

Address: 705 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Phone: (865) 436-3600.

Driving to the Parkway is straightforward; parking there is less so. The main strip has limited street parking, and on peak-season weekends, what exists fills up fast. The city operates paid parking lots in the area, and using one of those and walking a short distance is more reliable than circling for a space directly in front of your destination. Budget extra time on summer weekends before you arrive. Gatlinburg also runs a trolley along the main corridor, which is worth knowing if you're staying in a hotel or cabin on or near the route; it's inexpensive and removes the parking problem entirely on a busy day.

Howard's takes reservations by phone at (865) 436-3600. They're not typically required for most weekday visits or off-season trips, but for Friday or Saturday dinner in July or October, make the call. Groups of six or more should call regardless of the day, to confirm the kitchen can seat everyone together.

Hours are daily, 11 AM to 10 PM. Seasonal adjustments do happen, so if you're visiting in the off-season or around a holiday, a quick confirmation call before you head over is sensible.

Families will find this more comfortable than some of the upscale sit-down options in Gatlinburg, where the price or the atmosphere can feel mismatched with a day that started on a hiking trail. The mid-range pricing and casual format remove most of the friction; you can order without watching the bill climb, and the pace suits kids who've burned real energy outdoors.

Solo travelers and couples who want a proper dinner without the bar-and-grill scene will also find it a reasonable fit. The steak portion of the menu gives dinner more substance than a counter-service stop, and the full sit-down format means you can actually decompress between courses instead of eating standing up with your pack still on.

Where it fits less well: a special-occasion dinner where the setting carries as much weight as the food, or a trip specifically focused on hunting down regional Appalachian cuisine. For either of those, Gatlinburg and the surrounding towns have more targeted options.

The 705 Parkway location makes Howard's easy to work into most Gatlinburg itineraries. If you're coming in from the national park, the Gatlinburg entrance is just up the road and the Parkway is the natural route back into town; a lunch stop after Sugarlands or Alum Cave fits cleanly, and the 11 AM opening means you can sit down almost as soon as you're out of the park.

For afternoon and evening visitors, SkyLift Park, the Ripley's complex, and the craft galleries near the 700 block of the Parkway are all within easy walking distance. Coming off a few hours on the strip and sitting down for dinner before 6 PM is a practical move: you eat ahead of the main surge, and your evening still has room to breathe.