Wild Plum Tea Room, Gatlinburg

Another of my “must dos” in Gatlinburg, TN. The Wild Plum Tea Room is easy to drive by. It is a cluster of connected log cabins with a tiny parking lot just by the side of the road on Buckhorn in the Artists Loop. (It is just north of the Hippensteel Art Gallery.) It is easily mistaken for a private residence except for a tiny, artistic sign that says simply “The Wild Plum.” The entrance is through the back side of the front porch. In the warm weather, the porch is screened in and a delight, in the cold weather, the porch has window walls, but is still a bit brisk for dining. I prefer to eat inside the log cabin at this time of year. Either room easily accommodates small parties. (Large parties, by reservation, are seated on the cozy second floor.) The tables are small, many of them round, and covered with lace scarves. They are adorned with lovely cloth napkins. The menu is standard with homemade soups, enticing sandwiches, and healthy salads, but they always have unannounced specials such as lobster pot pie in puff pastry or salmon burgers with dill sauce. A staple beverage is a hot tea with orange and cinnamon tones. Complimentary hot muffins are served with Wild Plum jelly. (What else?) The soups can vary. Today it was Italian Tomato Bread. But that can change with little notice. Every soup I have tasted there has been divine. One of the salads of the day was Orzo and Wild Rice with golden raisins, a touch of thyme, and a hint of Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing. Another salad choice was English peas with fresh dill. Lest this sounds like a ladies alone lunch locale, I have to tell you that the portions are fit for lumberjacks. If you feel quite hungry and eat every morsel, be prepared to take home dessert. All desserts are made in the kitchen behind the log wall. The aromas wafting through the door into the dining room should be ample announcement of their existence. Choose from Amaretto Bread Pudding or Raspberry Cobbler with freshly whipped cream, or double chocolate brownie with French Vanilla ice cream, and on and on and on. Or, you can get The Wild Plum Sampler. (I dare you to decline.) Gatlinburg has many fine places to eat, and the Arts and Crafts Loop has more than its share, but this is a treasure. By the way, if the tiny parking lot is full, I noticed a sign that says there is additional parking across the street. No excuses anymore.

My mother and I took a chance while on the Arts and Crafts Loop, and were not disappointed. Lobster pot pie and chicken salad were delicious. Waitress was very friendly and we visited with other diners seated close by our table. Quaint and sweet. Stop in and enjoy a wonderful respite in the mountains.

Great food, service and atmosphere. If you experience what I did you'll go back time and time again.

Never bad service! It is a long drive from Florida to eat good food, but well worth the drive. We discovered this hidden treasure many years ago and I purchased a few of the recipe cards and wish I had gotten the book/ The Plum tea is outstanding hot or cold, and add the chicken salad and you have a lunch that is out of this world!! We loved the Plum jelly with the wild Plum muffins. Have recommended this wonderful little place to everyone. I have met so many others while dining there and they tell us the same thing about driving so far for the best place to eat.

I've been visiting the WPTR for quite a few years. This is THE BEST place for lunch in Gatlinburg. I usually have the medley. Once, my antique mom had the pimiento cheese croissant and fell in love. The food is excellent, especially the desserts, the service attentive without being intrusive, and the ambience is absolutely charming. The portions are just the right size - not too little, not too huge. You probably can eat it all without asking for a doggie bag. The only problem I ever had was trying to back my car out of the handicapped spot. It *is* a tight squeeze. I've learned my lesson and park in a regular place now.

Lobster pie was super delicious. My favorite was the refreshing citrus ice tea! Wish I had some now! I wanted one of their cookbooks but they were all sold out. Looking online for one but no luck.

We like the food, the atmosphere, the service and everything. We make sure we visit the Wild Plum Tea Room every time we go to Gatlinburg which is once or twice a year. We're going to Gatlinburg this weekend for a wedding and the first thing were doing is go to the Wild Plum. If you haven't tried it, your missing something great.

The atmosphere was wonderful. The food and the people were excellent. We go every year and found this place by a recommendation from the pottery place. Best advice we could take. It is a definite stop each year we go to Gatlinburg.

My husband and I went to the Wild Plum Tea Room for lunch on 11/9/07 to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We highly recommend this magical place that is so unique and unlike any place that we have dined before. From the time that we were seated until we left, we were treated by the staff like royalty! Their speciality drink is wild plum tea that is served either iced or hot. We were told to try it and if we did not like it our drinks would be switched out to whatever else we would like. Well there was no worry here because we absolutely LOVED the iced wild plum tea and every time that our glasses got the least bit low, our waitress was always refilling them! We loved the wild plum muffins and jelly that are served with each and every meal there. My husband ordered a bacon, onion, and swiss cheese sandwich with orzo pasta and I got the chicken salad with a hot scone and fresh fruit. Everything was absolutely DELICIOUS. When the waitress was telling us about the desserts of the day, we were absolutely amazed and it was very hard to choose. I got the homemade brownie with homemade chocolate chip ice cream covered with homemade whipped cream and fudge sauce served in a sundae glass and my husband got the homemade mountain apple cake served with homemade cinnamin ice cream and drizzled with homemade caramel sauce. I can't begin to tell you how amazing these desserts were!!! When we are in the Gatlinburg area you can be sure that we will dine at the Wild Plum Tea Room again! They also sell cookbooks that have all of the recipes to the wonderful food that they serve there. The menu is very limited and changes often. The atmosphere is very rustic and quaint at the same time. It is very close quarters there and the restaurant is very popular. You can call ahead to make reservations. What an outstanding experience we had there! Can't wait to go back!

Love every minute of it! The chicken salad, the wild plum tea, the atmospere, it was all great! My wife had a roast beef sandwich that was made in heaven! We will drive to Gatlinburg just to eat there!