Gary M.
Yelp
To start, my wife and celebrated her 40th birthday and our 20th year anniversary last week. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge was our choice because it has always been our favorite anniversary spot.
We have dawned Bubba Gumps nearly every city in the south but mostly here at Gatlinburg. Its a staple in every visit the past 20 years and likely won't make the cut for several to follow.
Bubba Gump is iconic for servers testing you in the movie trivia, sometimes using quotes from the movie while working, and of course, I've never been to a Gumps without the movie's amazing playlist rocking speakers. We literally got none of that, which was so disappointing because her and I are competitive, pride ourselves on Gump knowledge, as pointless as that is, its important to us.
I've worked in hospitality 8 years, they weren't busy and weren't understaffed, only 4 tops occupied in the entire upstairs dining, no rush, no excuses...
As you can see of the captions, we always start with the Hush Puppies, its our kids favorites, they weren't with us but in honor (and a bit of boasting through pics) we enjoyed. Yes! Spot on! First round app was amazing! Piping hot, break apart steam rolling out of each crispy golden fried pup, sauce excellent, we were well on our way to a 5* rating... until meteor struck!
Again, no enthusiasm from wait staff, I like a bit of ketchup with my pups so I flipped the stop plate, but Forrest was sure "running full!" at a snails pace passed at least 3 times doing nothing, and once heading back to the wait station to get on her phone. I know what you're thinking, teenager? No, 30 something... but age doesn't matter finally stopped, got ketchup but only to take our order. Wife ordered fish n chips, I typically order Shrimp and Grits, but not available this time of their season :(, figure a Shrimp'n restaurant can't go wrong with a Shrimp pasta classic... Well, that one jumped up and "bit me right in the buttocks". We both love the Shrimp Shack Mac & Cheese so we splurge and grab that to share, though we know we're taking leftovers to the hotel, we still get it.
Food comes out, and it was best if it had stayed in the bait house. I'll be brief, but probably not, let's take these one at a time:
Shrimp Shack Mac & Cheese - This shrimp migrated from desert land, dry as it looks, not sure if they blanched noodles, but they're supposed to boil them through. Does anyone see actual shrimp in the bowl? Yeah, me neither and it isn't because we ate it, it was more like shrimp bits, like they cut'm up then added there are one or two, but plain to see the 'shrimp' quality was not Gump, it was bunk! Flavoring was bland, cheese was sparingly applied... Inflation has evidently effected us all, but paid full price, this was just bad, Bubba... Does Mama know??
What you see, is how much we ate and how much we left. It was that bad...
Captains Fish & Chips - I'm tossing this Capt'n overboard, "not a friendly"...
Fries were just ok, but not hot or crispy, more of a soggy warm texture (yum!) that doesn't fall into the category of a chip, rather a wilt...
The fish... I would say they should stick to 'Shrimp'n' but shrimp reviews thus far and below for clarity!
They must have fried the fish an hour prior to arrival, set under a heat lamp and allowed it to bask in the superficial sun. The actual fish inside was dry! Not sure how you do that with a batter that thick then fried, should hold in some moisture... Not taking on water, but still sinking. Flavor was just 'OK' but if you cover the entire thing in ketchup and tartar, it tastes like... Walmart brand frozen fish, poorly cooked with a lot of ketchup and tartar... you guessed it, I think she ate some of her fries and just under half of the fish but left the rest to the mountains... "That's all I'm gonna say about that"
Finally, the classic! The pasta dish of choice in the 80's! Shrimp Scampi!!!!
Scamper..... Whimper.... just sad ya'll...
First of all, unlike the 'Shrimp Mac N Chz'... Scampi is an Italian dish to be served 'Molto Al Dente', meaning 'Very undercooked'... Its meant have a chewy texture to compliment the texture of the shrimp. This looks like a plate of soggy bottom worms!
Secondly, as you can probably tell, the shrimp, WELL overcooked, wasn't certain if I was eating 10 week old frozen shrimp from the local Kroger, or if I was entertaining the rubberized model shrimp from window displays. Either way, Bubba, the shrimp have turned, ya'll!
Finally, the sauce... holy pucker up, Bubbaman! Did this 'chef' mistake the Italian Vinaigrette for the White Wine?? If not, wine has turned to vinegar and more plagues are afoot! Hardly no butter, and A LOT of vinegar! I couldn't eat much more than you see here. Manager apologized, that's it...
To sum it up. "I want to tell you I love you", but you're no longer "My Girl"... Fix it, Bubba! FIX IT!!! :( $81 meal, no B-Day song, Dessert, and worse food of our week long trip, disappointed in all but these sad Hush Puppies...