Smoky Mountain Brewery-Maryville

We ate here TWICE during our week long stay in the area. Kaylee provided an excellent experience both times. The atmosphere was perfectly suited for families and the food was delicious. I ordered a burger both times with a gluten free bun and fries (which they said were fried in a dedicated fryer). Cider selection was sparse, but others in our group really enjoyed the selection of brews The first visit was for dinner on a Monday night (~6:30pm) and there was about a 45 min wait for our party of 8. There is not much space to wait inside the restaurant, so if weather is expected to be poor, you will want to plan for that (we had large umbrellas that part of our group huddled under outside in the rain for about 15 min). The second time was for lunch on a Wednesday (~1:15p). The restaurant was much quieter for this time slot.

Went to Smokey Mountain Brewery tonight after not going there for a long minute. The wait was just a little longer than the 25 min that they said it would be. But no worries, I was waiting in a parking space listening to some tunes. I got the ale steak, with mashed potatoes and mack & cheese. With some Ale beer to go along with it. The steak was good. Cooked perfectly to a medium rare. The mashed potatoes are usually perfect but were a little runny this time. The mac & cheese. Here is where I am at a loss. I switched to Smokey Mountain for one big reason. It was the mac & cheese. I like my mac & cheese, well cheesy. Not dried up or not cooked thorough. But cheesy and stringy. That is what I am used to getting from Smokey Mountain. But this time was not the case. The mac & cheese must have been sitting in the container for a while under a light. It was dried and a lot on the not stringy and cheese side. For that reason they lost one star alone. The other order was a veggy pizza gluten free. It was a little over done. Gluten is hard to cook with a pizza. If it's not watched it will burn fast. It wad edible. But the burn marks were all the way around the pizza. Usually, I have very good things to say about Smokey Mountain Brewery Maryville. But, Today they missed the mark. I know this social distancing thing is affecting everyone. The wait staff that brought my food out had her mask on the entire time. But food should be consistently good all the time to get great reviews all the time. Social distancing or not. People are out eating and want the best. I do expect to get better results next time I visit.