Blake Shelton’s Ole Red serves incredible burgers and bites
When you visit Gatlinburg, TennesseeYou’ll want to check it out Ole Red – owned and operated by a country music star Blake Shelton.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the venue and had an absolutely amazing time – and the burgers were amazing!
the atmosphere
The entire restaurant is extremely open and offers visitors a great view of the place.
“We’re more than a venue and, heck, we’re more than a restaurant,” says the website for Blake Shelton’s Ole Red Restaurant. “Ole Red is THE complete country experience that will get your ass and your taste buds pumping with what we like to call 100 percent live music, home-cooked meals and signature drinks… all inspired by the boss himself: Blake Shelton.”
There is a stage front and center where some local artists come in and play. When we visited Friday afternoon, Carson Peters, who received a four-chair turn for his performance of Don Williams’ “Tulsa Time” on “The Voice” in 2021, was in the blind auditions.
“We don’t like to brag (yes we do), but Ole Red has the music,” the website says. “And we mean the good music. Experience the country stars of tomorrow and today up close at Ole Red, where the hottest talent performs and you experience the best sound on a small stage. Grab your drink, put on your dancing shoes, casually walk on stage and say you heard them when.”
The drinks
To start, I ordered the Warden, which consists of bourbon, peach, iced tea and fresh lemon juice. This drink is dangerous! It tastes like peach tea and you can barely taste the alcohol. Try not to screw this up!
The second drink I tried was the Dirty Tractor – consisting of Ole Smoky Salted Watermelon Whiskey, fresh lime juice and ginger ale. This was definitely sweeter than I expected, but still delicious!
The food
Both my husband and I ordered the Oklahoma Onion Burger – I got it with a Beyond patty since I’m pescatarian.
Both of our burgers were perfectly cooked and flavorful. The buns were soft and the toppings were all fresh, but what made these burgers special were the beer onions!
The fries were also well seasoned and came out hot and crispy, although they were nothing special. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t memorable.
Blake Shelton has additional locations throughout the United States, including Nashville, Tennessee (as well as Nashville Airport), Orlando, Florida and Tishomingo, Oklahoma, Shelton’s hometown where he currently lives with his wife Gwen Stefani.
A new location, Ole Red Las Vegas, will also open later this year. “If you’re going to do something here, you’ve got to do it big,” Shelton said of Ole Red in a news release website. “Every time I’m in Vegas I want some country music and Ole Red is the vehicle for that.”