Mabry Mill

Pleasant breakfast after a night of camping (15 mins from Rocky Knob). Traditional breakfast selections, all cooked well. Not the most clean place because some mysterious white dust was being blown around by the ceiling fan and we found a long purple hair stuck to the bottom of one of our plates. Other than that, we were totally satisfied with the food and service. All in all it was nice and we would recommend it.
We had a cold, wet night camping up the Blue Ridge at Rocky Knob campground. In the morning we get on the road and Mabry’s was just a 15 minute drive south. Just what we needed.

This place is good for the price. My husband and I both had the open face turkey sandwich. The mashed potatoes and gravy were good. The turkey was a little dry, cold and salty. But if you mix the turkey with the mashed potatoes and gravy it tastes better. Lots of people around us were having breakfast, and it did look good. Maybe we didn’t choose as well as we could of.

My family and I ate at the restaurant earlier today. As Christina G. wrote below, they serve breakfast all day in addition to sandwiches and salads. Between my children, my wife and myself, we had eight pancakes, a few eggs, sausage, grits and country ham. For that, we paid $ 35.80 without the tip. Again as Christina G. and others below have noted, the mill is definitely worth the stop. But unless you’re accustomed to eating dog food at home, the restaurant is a waste of time and money. It was among the worst food I’ve ever been served.

Very quaint and rustic, with mobs of tourists during the fall colors seasons.
My girlfriend and I stopped briefly at Mabry Mill on our Blue Ridge Parkway road trip. The area includes some hiking trails, a small restaurant/​gift shop, and an old water wheel mill with some scattered historical pioneer structures nearby. It’s a bit of a tourist trap, which we recognized almost immediately and decided against eating there. The trails are very nice and the Park Rangers are knowledgeable, but I really don’t see what the big deal is about this place. It seems more like a place for families and older folk to rest from driving.
If you’re road-​tripping and are desperate for food/​souvenirs, it’s worth the stop. Otherwise, just keep driving.

We came to this Historical landmark.

OMG, so this all kinds of wonderful! Nestled in the somewhere land of the blue ridge parkway, a friend and I visited this great breakfast spot on a Saturday morning. There I had the sampler which included a pancake of each; buckwheat, sweet potato, and cornmeal! Each were scrumptious and mostly too grand to finish with the accompaniment of bacon. Bacon. Just thought I’d make a whole sentence for bacon. :) Anywho, the staff was very pleasant and gracious. I asked if they had a side of fruit and they brought a big bowl of freshly picked cherries, amazing. for two bucks! I say if you’re ever up in the blue ridge, this is a must have.

The mill itself still operates, and the grounds are good for a quick stroll; there are a few other structures and pieces of equipment to scope out. There was even a blacksmith working the weekend we visited. But the unsung hero here is definitely the on-​site café.
They serve breakfast all day, featuring pancakes and other entrees made with mill-​ground flour, corn, or grains. They also have Southern staples like barbecue sandwiches. I got the two-​biscuit option, which comes stuffed with your choice of ham, sausage, etc. The sausage was not awesome (actually, it was practically flavorless), and the biscuits are in the small side; but they’re pretty darn good. You MUST order a side of the black cherry preserves (even though they cost another 75 cents). They are amazing… perhaps in part because cherries are in season right now. Totally made my meal.
Gift shop on the way out sells locally made jewelry, odds and ends, and jars of those delightful preserves.

An Autumn tradition. Functional gristmill. Apple butter. Country cooking. Touristy.

The Ed’s Special (pulled pork on corncakes) and the BLT Salad (with fried green tomatoes) were both good Southern eatin’.

Mabry Mill is a rest stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is all on National Park property. There is an old Mill and other historic buildings on the grounds.
The restaurant was Nice. The waitress was friendly and attentive. The food was good.

Mabry Mill is supposedly the most photographed destination on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I may disagree with that because I’m partial to the some of the North Carolina sites but this is a wonderful old grist mill that is very photogenic in any season.
It’s easy to see if you are heading north on the Parkway as it sits right off the right side of the road. Coming south you may have to watch for the signs and mile markers.
There is also a restaurant and gift store on the property, a few other buildings to explore and a few trails.
Definitely a must see if you are traveling the parkway!

It is a good scenic stop off, yes a little touristy, but a nice place to stretch your legs. They had nice sets of the blacksmith, the loom, a little country blues band playing. lovely setting, but lots of people. It was about an hour wait for seating at the restaurant. The forest ranger at the american music center said it was a must to stop by. I must have ordered the wrong thing– 3 types of pancakes (corn, sweet potato and wheat.) The corn pancake was very heavy (maybe it would have been better with bbq pork?) but the sweet potato was the best. I’m not sure if it was worth the wait, but the food was tasty and a bit pricey. The chicken pot pie was creamed chicken soup with a biscuit on top and the cappuccino was instant automatic from a machine (like at a gas station) yet $ 4.

Tourist trap. Of course, what else is there on the Blue Ridge Parkway?
Nevertheless, the Ed’s Special (pulled pork with cheese between two cornmeal cakes) was a great surprise with tender, well smoked meat that was better without sauce. The Lizzie’s Pot Roast is extremely tender, almost fat free and very tasty. Although I did not have any, my traveling companion had the strawberry cobbler which she raved over and talked about for the next two hours.
All the servers are polite, friendly, and quick to help at the table. The small dining area is cramped and some of the tables are not exactly level. Be prepared to fight off the flies which seemed to multiply exponentially during the course of eating. Also be aware that navigation devices will take you down the narrow, winding Mabry Mill Road and you need to ignore them and take the Blue Ridge Parkway to get to the real parking area.

If you don’t mind waiting about an hour (during the summer) you’ll love this place. There are about eight tables in the back of a small gift shop and the servers are all courteous, but they take their time (considering they are all jammed in this building like sardines).
You HAVE to try the item on the menu that says «we are famous for this.» They aren’t kidding. It’s two corncakes smothered in butter with BBQ loaded on top, topped with cheese and cole slaw. When you put everything together (including the extra BBQ sauce) it’s great. My friend from Alabama also said that the pancakes were the best she’s ever had (we southerners know our food, considering our obesity rating).
The parking sucks. It’s just like a rest area inside the Mabry Mill Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Fall is the best time to visit, because the wait is actually manageable. We have, however, visited in June and July and waited for two hours before getting a table. (Not their fault– just the design of the shack you’re eating in).

After our hair-​raising ride on the snow-​covered Blue Ridge Parkway, we finally made it to the destination: Mabry Mill. Unfortunately, it seemed the mill was closed. It makes sense, being that there is really not much chance of anyone getting there, so employees should probably not risk their lives to open on the off chance some out-​of-​state moron would drive an uncleared road to check it out.
Oh yeah, I guess someone might.
Maybe they should put information somewhere saying that they are closed during the off-​season? As it turns out, the parkway page does say in tiny print that they are only open through October, but that is about the fifth result if you are searching at Google, and we missed it. Such is life.
Luckily we had packed a picnic lunch, and had an awesome sandwich and chips in the snow (and ice) covered parking lot, watching some ducks scoot about on the part of the pond that was not yet frozen (or perhaps that was already thawed). We were also able to find the back way out that was way better — and safer — than the parkway. Perhaps not state-​maintained either, but a much shorter route, and because more people took the road, it at least was not a near-​death trap. Sweet.

The menu was limited and basic. It did however have a unique BBQ sandwich with cornmeal pancakes for buns and a slice of cheese. It was fairly tastey. A little better BBQ on it and it would have been great. Since this is on a tourist route it was fairly busy, and the service was OK (The tables next to us got a bit better service as their waitress seemed more attentive). If I return it will be to try the buckwheat pancakes for breakfast, it seems to be a main attraction. I’ll probably venture somewhere else though.