Log Cabin Pancake House: A Gatlinburg (And Formerly Pigeon Forge) Breakfast Icon

Log Cabin Pancake House is known as a long-time Gatlinburg breakfast institution and icon in the community. But it hasn’t always been easy. I’m going to give you a brief, “in case you didn’t know” explanation of their history, and a few bumps in the road despite its massive popularity.

Ronnie and Linda Huskey opened the first Log Cabin Pancake House in… not Gatlinburg, but Pigeon Forge in 1976. It was located at the end of town just before the spur at 4235 Parkway. Needless to say, a successful beginning led to the Huskeys opening up another pancake house on Airport Road in Gatlinburg in 1979, where it remains.

Photo credit: Knoxville news station, WATE

Tragedy befell the family in consecutive years as their son passed away in 2014, while Ronnie—Linda’s beloved husband of 52 years—died the following year. And then, in 2016, Linda and the property landlord couldn’t come to an agreement on the lease terms, spelling an end to the Pigeon Forge LCPH, which was already the longest running family restaurant in the tourist town at 41 years.

News stations in Knoxville reported the story, and Huskey had planned to relocate to 1819 Parkway in Sevierville, taking all 35 employees with her. The new Log Cabin Pancake House was going to keep serving up the favorites but also add some healthy options. Also in the plans was retaining the old grills they had grown accustomed to cooking their popular breakfast items on. It would’ve seated 25 more happy guests in May 2017—the projected opening. Well… all of that seemed to fall through. It was decided the Gatlinburg location would be the sole focus.

I know this still disappoints many people, and the memories are still pretty fresh from those who visited the Pigeon Forge location. The numbers seem to validate visitors’ feelings. Despite only being open 7 hours a day, the original Log Cabin welcomed more than 180,000 guests in 2015 alone. Now, I’m no mathematician, but it’s reasonable to deduce that millions of guests have passed through both doors over the course of the 37 years both were in business, with the remaining 11 years—1976-1979 and 2017-2025—having just one operating.

Log Cabin Pancake House has been a family favorite of ours, but it didn’t always resonate. Our first visit was in 2011, and my wife wasn’t completely sold, despite my approval. When we revisited a couple years later, she began to discover what made them such a fan favorite… and so did I.

Their biscuits, bacon, gravy, and omelets are what we gravitate toward. At first, I went for the sweets. And while they do the job, spectacularly—and for a great price—my body could no longer tolerate the splurge. Thankfully, the more savory items suit us even better. It’s little wonder why they’ve stayed in business in the pancake-padded Smoky Mountain tourist areas.

They are consistently in my top three favorite breakfasts in Gatlinburg. Now that we live here, it’s tougher to rank them against all the others we’ve tried, but there’s no denying the appeal. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying that there are no bad breakfasts in Gatlinburg. So when I rank them high on my list, you know it’s a legitimate placement.

Being a transplant, I have an even greater respect for small, family-owned businesses. We’ve felt like a part of the community years before we moved. I want this business—as well as many other locally-owned establishments—to be here for decades to come. I know it’s tougher in today’s big chain, tourist-driven, celebrity-themed joints to make it nowadays.

However, I want to do my part to keep the new tourists informed of what is really the backbone of this community. It’s amazing how many visitors of these kind don’t realize people live and work here. We’re not a theme park bubble.

This town has grown into the tourist attraction it aspired to be… for better or worse. But businesses like Log Cabin Pancake House can still operate in this space. It’s vitally important they do. I want that mountain feel we fell in love with to remain. Yes, we can have both the gaudy and quaint. Things change, but not everything that made this community so beloved by our yearly visitors has to go away. And if I can help it, I’ll do what I can to maintain a piece—no matter how small it may be now—of what people have always loved about Gatlinburg.

Thank you for reading my latest post! I hope you consider subscribing, if you haven’t already, so you can help drive my inspiration to write more articles such as these. As always, I appreciate your kind words and support, and I hope you follow along on our most excellent adventure as Gatlinburg residents!