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Restaurant

The Old Mill Creamery:

An essential stop for dessert, offering homemade ice cream in classic and unique flavors, often incorporating ingredients from the Old Mill.

Pigeon Forge, TN

About The Old Mill Creamery:

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The Old Mill Creamery sits at 177 Old Mill Ave in Pigeon Forge, the designated dessert stop in a cluster of Old Mill-branded establishments that share a short walkable stretch of Old Mill Avenue. It's counter-service, priced at the low end of the dollar range, and reachable at (865) 428-0770. No reservations, no table wait — you walk up, you order, and you're done in minutes.

What the Ice Cream Actually Is

The Creamery makes its ice cream in-house and pulls ingredients from the Old Mill itself — the same source that supplies the Old Mill Restaurant's fresh-ground grits just down the block at 164 Old Mill Ave. That ingredient connection explains why the menu runs beyond the standard flavors you'd find at any scoop shop; when you have a working mill as your neighbor, you have access to stone-ground products that most ice cream operations simply don't stock.

Classic options sit alongside varieties that only make sense in this context. Naming specific flavors here would risk pointing you toward something no longer available, since the selection rotates. The more reliable move is to ask what's freshest when you arrive, then decide. Prices are low enough that ordering two different things to compare doesn't require much deliberation.

What you're getting, at its most basic level, is ice cream made on-site with ingredients that reflect where it comes from. That's a different product than the soft-serve or pre-packaged scoops that fill most of Pigeon Forge's dessert options, and it's worth the few minutes it takes to stop.

The Old Mill Complex: Four Stops, One Walk

Four Old Mill establishments share this corridor on and around Old Mill Ave, each covering a different part of the eating experience. The Old Mill Restaurant (164 Old Mill Ave, (865) 429-3463) is the anchor — a family-style Southern operation with corn chowder, fried chicken, and the fresh-ground grits it's locally known for, priced in the mid-range. The Pottery House Cafe and Grille (3341 Old Mill St, (865) 453-6002) runs a lighter menu of sandwiches and salads alongside fresh-baked bread, which works for anyone who doesn't want a full heavy meal before getting to dessert. The Old Mill Candy Kitchen at 175 Old Mill Ave handles fudge and handmade candy.

The Creamery at 177 Old Mill Ave closes out the sequence. The standard approach to this district is a full meal at one of the restaurant spots, then a short walk to the Creamery; then, if anyone still has room, the candy shop is a few steps away. You can complete the whole loop without ever moving your car between stops. On a busy Pigeon Forge summer weekend, that matters — parking on Old Mill Ave fills up, and once you've found a spot, you don't want to give it up.

Note that the Candy Kitchen at 175 Old Mill Ave shares the same phone number as the Creamery ((865) 428-0770). If you're calling ahead to check hours or ask a specific question, mention which location you're asking about to avoid confusion.

When to Go

Pigeon Forge peaks twice a year: summer, when families pour in from across the Southeast and the Midwest, and October, when the fall color in the Smokies draws a different but equally large crowd. The Old Mill district sees both waves, and wait times at the sit-down restaurants climb accordingly — the Old Mill Restaurant in particular can run long on Friday and Saturday evenings during these windows.

The Creamery moves faster than any table-service spot in the district because it's counter-service by design. You don't absorb a 90-minute dinner queue just to get a scoop of ice cream. The practical bottleneck is parking and the general foot traffic on Old Mill Ave; both are lighter on weekday mornings or in the late afternoon hours on non-peak days.

If you're organizing your itinerary with the Creamery in mind, building the Old Mill complex into an afternoon rather than a dinner-hour visit gives you smoother logistics. Arrive at the restaurant side for a late lunch, work through the other stops at a relaxed pace, and let the Creamery be the last thing before you head out.

Practical Information

Address: 177 Old Mill Ave, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 Phone: (865) 428-0770 Price range: $

Parking for the Old Mill district is available in the immediate area. During peak season, earlier in the day or later in the afternoon tends to offer better availability than the midday and early evening hours when the restaurant traffic is at its highest.

Who Benefits Most from This Stop

Families with younger children find the Creamery straightforward: no table wait, no minimum order, and a price point where a mistake costs almost nothing. It's also a natural decompression stop after the Old Mill Restaurant, which leans toward large portions and a full Southern meal — something cold and simple afterward makes sense.

Visitors who are only passing through Pigeon Forge and don't want a sit-down restaurant experience can treat the Creamery as a stand-alone stop. A few minutes, a few dollars, and you have something genuinely made on-site rather than anything from the soft-serve and chain ice cream options that dominate the main parkway. For a brief stop, it punches above its category.

How It Fits into a Broader Day

The Old Mill area sits off Pigeon Forge's main commercial strip, which gives it a calmer character than the blocks of entertainment venues and chain restaurants along the parkway. If your trip includes time in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which begins just outside Pigeon Forge, the Old Mill complex works well as a stopping point on either side of a park day — a place to eat before you head in or to decompress after you come back out. Finishing that kind of day with a scoop at the Creamery is a considerably better option than stopping at whatever's convenient on the way back through the commercial strip.

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Where to stay

Near The Old Mill Creamery:

Stay close to The Old Mill Creamery: — most visitors base out of Pigeon Forge. Live pricing below.

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Further reading

This page draws on our research reports: Restaurants Pigeon Forge List

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