A.J.’s Hearth and Kettle

They have a reasonably priced breakfast buffet and kids eat free. Unfortunately, the quality of the buffet food falls somewhere between truck stop buffet and hospital cafeteria. It’s not terrible or anything, but it would definitely be a stretch to call it good. I don’t think I would rush back here.

Had breakfast buffet. Not bad. Bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, biscuits, pancakes and etc. Coffee and drinks extra. Little pricy considering area and what you got. Cost almost $ 50 for 4 of us.

The most despicable, horrid, reprehensible, and evil place manned by the worst wretched scum you will ever have the misfortune of encountering.
AJ’s should be burned to ash and the ground it stood on salted to purify its vile taint from the earth.

FREE beer with your dinner, but u have to ask for it. Food was good! Pinto beans are cooked just right. They have a good breakfast buffett.

The breakfast buffet was not worth the price. I wouldn’t recommend it. They Charged us an adult buffet for our child who was 10 even though the menu said 10 and under.

I’m giving this place 1 star only because the sweet tea was great. Everything else was less then ok. Over cooked small pieces of catfish was not what I expected. It’s all you can eat because you won’t order more. The servers are incredibly awful. They messed up orders for 3 of the 4 tables around us. They don’t pay any attention to you. Best part was watching them yell at each other and the cooks right in front of us. We had to wait over 5 min at the register just to pay. I’m 30 with a family of 3 and eat out all the time. This was the first time in my life I have never left some sort of a tip. Overall experience was worth going in just because it was entertaining watching them scream at each other. Never ever again!

We stopped in for dinner, in the middle of the week, after a long day of hiking in the Smokies. We were the only people in the place until another couple came in about ½ way through our meal. This place is nothing fancy, 2 TV’s showed weather channel hurricane disaster footage throughout our stay. The carpet is WAY overdue for a shampooing. While we were eating, someone from the kitchen rolled a disgustingly dirty garbage barrel through the dining room in front of us, and then came back through again after dumping it out somewhere. If you are looking for a dining experience worth remembering, go elsewhere.
We had burgers, so did the other diners at the next table. They were huge, but not great. I would have been happier with a smaller, better tasting burger. There is a lot of tacky artwork on the walls, all of which is marked for sale. Some of it has been there for years, judging by how faded it is. There are a lot of dining choices in Townsend, I would put this one on the end of the Go-​To list.

The open faced roast beef was Awesome! Probably the best that I have had. The beef was tender and seasoned great. The gravy was tasty and just salty enough to be a great touch with the beef. I have driven past this place hundreds of times and this was the first time I has stopped. I got there after brunch and it smelled like a dream! I will definitely will make a trip back to try their breakfast. If you are in Townsend give it a shot.

We came here for a breakfast buffet on our last day. The service was GREAT, the food on the buffet was good and forward, scramble eggs, beacon, sausage patties, gravy, biscuite, pancake, tater tot, and some muffin. I just stick with eggs and beacon. It was good for a buffet but next time I will have to try the food off the menu.

Pulling up to AJ’s I had some reservation as the previous reviews were not great. The fact that our table had a fairly noticeable wobble to it did not dispel this impression. Contrary to the above, it turned out to be a great stop for us on our way to the Tuckleechee Caverns. Our waiter was quite friendly and the place was nearly empty. I stuck with their Big Joe burger and I have to admit I was genuinely surprised at the size of it for the price. For $ 8 that was a large enough sandwich that I had to take the fries, of which there was plenty, to go. I do not wish to counter the other reviews, but our family’s experience was good and I would return if in the area again.

We have eaten here on several occasions. Mostly we stop in for one of their big burgers… forget the name of it, but it’s a guy’s name. Generous portions and the waitresses try hard to do a good job here. Salads are actually pretty good. The sweet tea is sweet and good.
The vegetable sides here are in general not very good, taste like they just dumped a can into a pan and heated them, so I don’t recommend the pinto or green beans. The fried squash is good, the cole slaw is tasty, but the portion is very small. The baked potatoes are pretty good, no complaints with those.
Do not order a steak here… we were VERY disappointed tonight. We order ribeyes with a skewer of shrimp… ordered them Medium, expecting some pink inside. They were dry, grey throughout, tough without flavor, and at least 30% fat. We didn’t finish them, took most of it home to feed the dog !! An expensive lesson. We will go back to a steakhouse in future !!
This is a very casual place, and good for a quick stop when you don’t want to dress up to eat… I have not tried breakfast here, they apparently have a breakfast buffet until about 11 AM… In the winter, there are few places to eat in Townsend, but in general I would recommend the Riverstone over this.

Very basic breakfast buffet. Nothing outstanding but not bad. They have all the standards like bacon, eggs, sausage, grits, pancakes, and biscuits and gravy. Pretty decent if you want a lot to eat or just a basic breakfast.