Monteagle’s Jim Oliver’s Smoke House re-emerges in new venue with weekend music and food

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / The Patio Grill stands behind the location of the Smokehouse. The 1960-era Jim Oliver's Smokehouse burned to the ground in late April in Monteagle, Tennessee, and it could be some time before the iconic mountaintop eatery returns to anything like its original form because of insurmountable pandemic-induced high construction costs. The owners of the property are now operating out of the Smokehouse Patio Grill building that was located behind the restaurant that burned.

By Ben Benton October 24, 2021 7 min read

MONTEAGLE, Tenn. – The iconic neon sign for Jim Oliver’s Smoke House called people to dinner atop Monteagle Mountain for six decades, but in a matter of hours on April 27 the roadside mecca was reduced to smoldering rubble and memories.

It could be next spring before the landmark restaurant and trading post begins to rise from the ashes, said J.D. Oliver, the namesake’s son, who has revived a restaurant operation behind the rubble of the former smokehouse in a small venue on the property that was once just a pavilion for outdoor events.

Insurance coverage based on cost estimates from more than two years ago didn’t begin to consider the pandemic-driven spike in construction costs, and many of the antiques, farm equipment, tools and the like can’t be replaced, Oliver said. He estimates the loss was well over $1 million.

But Oliver refused to throw in the towel.