I always have to stop at Pepper Palace when I visit Gatlinburg. I'm not the biggest fan of hot sauces but they have so much more to offer. What I love about Pepper Palace is they have most of their sauces and rubs out to sample so you can easily spend some time here just trying everything. My husband and I have bought a bottle of their apple BBQ sauce which sounds strange but trust me, it's the best! Next time we come back we plan on buying more bottles so we can have a supply at home read more

Pepper Palace - Herbs & Spices Near Me - Gatlinburg, Tennessee

How can anyone who loves hot sauce leave town without stopping here at least once? Love this place! Awesome staff. A good amount of their products are out and available with spoons for you to taste test, and they literally have hundreds of options. You can't not find at least one or two new ones you like. My recent find, the spicy honey bourbon BBQ sauce. I taste tested it with one of their habanero sauces (can't remember which) and it was dynamite! read more

This place has one of the most spicy scorpion hot sauces I've ever had! The downfall is that they are pricey. The chocolate habanero is amazing with peanut sauce when dipping your spring rolls. I recommend getting the 4 pack. Comes out cheaper. Service was 6 this place definitely is packed with a lot of spice! read more

Visited Villages location, superb service/knowledge. Promotions, military promotion. read more

If you truly like hot sauce, how can you get out of the shop without buying at least one? What special about this place is the service. We have some minutes to talk to the owner, which makes the experience more memorable because she's delightful in that store. Like other shops, the variety can be overwhelming, although it's not that much impressive as other tourist cities that I've been visiting. I'm typically not a fan of hot sauce with much vinegar in it and this one has some that don't. What surprises me most is the pickle. The spicy sweetness is legit. Great location and with energy too. It's also fun when you're in the adventurous environment to test if your palate is still alive. Just enough for you to burn the day up :) I brought the sauce with me for the BBQ and it made my BBQ a thousand time better. read more

If you like hot sauce, you will absolutely love this place!! There is a hot sauce museum!! Lots of free tasting / samples. I have never seen so many different hot sauces in one place! The manager is also unapologetically pro-American which I sincerely appreciate! This is a must stop place if you are in the area. I got a bottle of Bloody Mary mix and can't wait to try it! read more

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I used to come here with friends on the annual church trip to try all the ridiculously spicy samples and watch each other cry. I don't remember actually participating at that time but now that I'm older and LOVE spicy food I keep running across the products from here and not remembering what I loved or didn't! So I'm here to remedy that! They have amazing flavors and even though I'm ordering online I've been here enough to say that this place is amazeballs and is def a place you should look into if you love spicy. Death by Salsa- and they weren't kidding! This is incredibly spicy but I'm not really that fond of the flavor. So far, I've been eating it with everything to see what it will taste best with. I'm getting more used to it but I'm still not liking that flavor. I can stand insanely spicy things as long as they taste good. Quack - Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce- this honestly just didn't have a good flavor and didn't have any spice to it. I wouldn't recommend it at all. Pineapple Serrano Hot Sauce- I absolutely love this one. It's very sweet so if that isn't your thing skip this. But it was awesome and I enjoyed it. Jalapeno Ketchup- it's very watery and doesn't taste as good as a different one I've tried (that I can't remember now). To be honest, I had it on a burger and a hotdog and it just didn't taste great. I'm planning to just treat it like a hot sauce and add it to random things but as a ketchup it was disappointing. Rooster Reaper- this was fantastic and I loved it!! To Try: Hot Chocolate: Ghost Pepper Hot Chocolate: Spicy with Chipotle Salsa: Avocado Tomatillo Loved: - Sauce: Pineapple Serrano Hot - Sauce: Rooster Reaper Sriracha Hot Disliked: - Ketchup: Jalapeno - Salsa: Death by Salsa - Sauce: Quack - Sweet and Sour Dipping read more

Do you love spicy food? I'm not sure I've been to a place with more options of delicious hot sauces. Tucked away in adorable little Gatlinburg is this delightful little store with what must be hundreds of original flavors of hot sauces. I only tried a few before I started looking for the hottest sauces they have. My wife asked the nice man behind the counter what the hottest sauce I could taste would be. The man smiles and told me I would need to have to sign a waiver before I could try a single drop on a spoon. This should have been enough of a warning for me to maybe not try this on our honeymoon, but alas sometimes I make unwise decisions. I signed the waiver, got a drop on a spoon and within about 30 seconds I was really really sweating. The taste was alright (which is to be expected from the spiciest of hot sauces, at some point all companies begin to sacrifice taste for sheer heat) and honestly the heat in my mouth really wasn't as bad as I expected. But within about 3 or 4 minutes I was drenched in sweat and my stomach started to hurt. It also felt like I was literally vibrating (not shaking) from the inside. My wife was kind enough to go and grab me a water and a smoothie type of drink that had dairy in it from a nearby store while I considered my recent life choices as I sat in a shady spot outside until she returned. When she returned a few minutes later I was starting to feel a bit better. My stomach felt bad for the next 4-5 hours but then I was back to normal. The whole event is kind of hazy in my mind. It's a mixture of being too hot and regretting my decisions. I've done the one chip challenge for the last few years and I think last year's was the only thing I've experienced hotter than this. If you also would like a few hours of regret and stomach pain, sign the waiver and step up to the plate. On a more pleasant note, the cinnamon-habanero hot sauce had a fantastic taste that was original and delicious. I'd highly recommend this place if you love hot sauces read more

Had a great experience at Pepper Palace taste testing with the help of Caleb's extensive knowledge and suggestions. Very welcoming and friendly service. Thanks Caleb! read more

Oh how I love the Pepper Palace. It is always one of my favorite places to go every time we hit up the Smokies. The have ALL the good things. All the spicy. All the seasonings. Everything nice to the tastebuds and that with which to combat the dreaded "bland food" disorder so many face. They have more than just hot sauces. They have seasonings, they have salsas, they have buffalo wing sauces, they have awesome tastings of most anything on their shelf. Just go in, but before you do - I bring you this warning: DO NOT SAMPLE UNLESS YOU HAVE A BOTTLE OF WATER WITH YOU! If you think table pepper is too spicy this place isn't for you. (Though they do have some awesome non-spicy things for those who aren't pepper-heads.) Get some flavor in your life. Welcome seasoning into your pantry, and USE IT on your poor meats, veggies, dishes, soups, casseroles, etc. Trust me, you are under-seasoning. This place will help. read more

The employees were well educated about the special products. Very friendly, even after multiple trips. The store was very open and clean with their free samples bar. read more

Dear hot sauce lovers: I have officially found heaven. Pepper Palace may seem like a small little sauce shop, but it is so fun to explore. Who even knew that there were THIS many kinds of hot sauces??!? And not just that, but there's BBQ sauces, wing sauces, rubs and other cool finds. The best part is that there are sample bottles of just about every flavor, and you are able to try as many as you want....I'd highly recommend having a water bottle on hand!! There's one that you even sign a waiver for..I was too chicken to try it though. Cool shop to stop in, and maybe even get something for your next meal! read more

Best chain of hot sauce stores EVER! I fell in love with a Pepper Palace brand hot sauce I purchased in Boston. Imagine my surprise when I checked their website to buy more and realized they are made right in Sevierville. The store is small and crowded, but packed fully of all things hot - sauces, salsa, barbeque, and mustards. Everything is arranged left to right, mild to hot, to help you find just the burn you're looking for. We brought in our five year old, who is just starting to enjoy heat. We explained to the salesperson that she wants a buffalo sauce with just a touch of spice. He was so kind and patient with her and recommended two different sauced that she loved. He also helped her choose a mild and flavorful taco sauce. Take it from me, go here and purchase their buffalo smokehouse sauce. You're welcome. read more

I am not a "hot" person and I didn't even want to go in this store. My boyfriend wanted to go in and try, and the friendly cashier encouraged me to go ahead and grab some crackers and try some of the mild salsa, sauce, etc. And ... ... I AM SO GLAD I DID!!!! I ended up buying some mango BBQ sauce and the raspberry pepper jelly. Now I wish I had bought the coffee rub as well! My teenage son even tried Death by Salsa - a tiny nip and he said that was plenty enough for him! They have a contest where you try a drop of this extremely hot sauce called The End. then wash it down with a drop of Nasal Napalm. You post your photo on instagram #WallOfFlame and one person is chosen each month to be the Extreme Chilehead and $250. I really wanted to do this just for the bragging rights but my family stopped me because like I said, I am not a hot eater. The prices seem to run around $10.95 for most of the things I looked at. So this is truly a store for anyone and it's definitely worth checking out! read more

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OMG!!! That's an understatement. If you are a hot sauce connoisseur or a beginner foodie you have to stop by this hidden gem. Located in Gatlinburg in the inside mall (near Breakout escape room, Mountain Mall). Sauce and rubs are made local, they do have some other retails also. Great BBQ, rubs, hot sauces of all flavors. Your tastebuds will explode at the amount of flavor. Fella will hand you a spoon and you can taste test all the different sauces. Some must tries; Key lime bbq, sweet bourbon glaze (2 bottles for some homemade bourbon chicken this weekend), honey chipotle rum bbq, Asian cooking dipping sauce. You will not have any regrets, so good! read more

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Friendly and informative staff. Really cool hot sauce museum. Yummy samples. Make sure you try the ghost pepper read more

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Ok, I know this may seem totally strange, for a random drop in visit, but this place is AWESOME. We were wandering around the various shops in the area and were sitting outside this place and decided to go inside. We kind of explored around the small space a little as the worker told us to feel free to sample any of the sauces (to clarify - that were open). He also said to let him know if there was one that we wanted to try that may not be open. There was one my gf wanted to try and he went to the fridge and found a sample for her. So what's really cool about this place is the enormous selection they have. Not all spicy either. They have various fruit/sweet infused with heat....jams....hot sauces...rubs...a little bit of everything. Bonus, the more you buy the more you can get discounted/free stuff. Also, if you're brave enough, they have a spice challenge that can get you entered to win $250. We were really glad we checked this place out and my gf picked up 3 things while we were here. Will come back in here next time we are in the area. read more

Rick and Kenny were awesome!! They let us taste all kinds of stuff!! We bought 5 to get the 6th free. The guys were very entertaining and really helpful! They are located in the Mall on the strip. Super friendly and knowledgeable about all their Products. They had my husband laughing and that's hard to do!!! read more

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My favorite store in all of Gatlinburg. They have so many hot sauces that there is something for everybody. They also have bbq sauces, pickled garlic, and seasonings. They offer a local discount and the staff is always friendly. I really like their chili starter. I'm not a big fan of hot stuff but they have a lot of milder flavorful sauces. read more

Awesome place! So many flavors! My ass hole hates me! 13/10 would go back and do it all over again. The owner was there, opened up a bottle of horseradish for me to try and felt like I was back in the gas chamber on Paris Island. Totally bought it. Also got a bottle of the ghost garlic hot sauce. read more

This place was great!! Very nice customer service and some awesome 6.5 million scolville sauce. read more

Pepper Palace - 6.5 million scolville survivors club - Herbs & Spices Near Me - Gatlinburg, Tennessee

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Rick at The Pepper Palace within the Mountain Mall was very easy to talk with and knowledgeable about the product he is selling. Sooo many great flavors with as much heat as you can handle. Enjoyed spending some time in here. read more

Very pleasant lady. We didnt go there to buy anything specific but left with some of her suggestions. I dont even like salsa but we bought a green salsa that she recommended we cook our chicken in. Tried it last night and absolutely loved it. If you are there ask her to show you the green salsa that she uses to cook her chicken, you wont be disappointed :D read more

Wow this was a fun place and the sauce are great! The person working asked us what kinds of flavors we liked and then suggested some samples. The staff here was awesome! We loved the sauces he recommended. This will definitely be a stop the next time we are in town read more

Freaking awesome. Owner was very knowledgeable and actually wanted customers to sample and truly get a taste for the product instead of giving a BS sales pitch. Great presentation and all around amazing service. All the sauces and salsas were absolutely delicious. read more

Pepper Palace - Herbs & Spices Near Me - Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Thinning the herd. I do occasionally go into the Pepper Palace and test the limits of my manliness. Only once have I had something that made me sorry I took that chance. I like to think I am smarter than that. I ambled into their location in The Village - a stripped down version of their Mountain Mall store. I was the only one in there other than two couples that gravitated to the back of the store while I was sampling. The two young men - apparently in an effort to impress the ladies - must have tried some REALLY hot stuff. They went to the back to hide from others the fact that they were in pain. The clerk wouldn't have any of that and yelled - "I have a camera back there, so don't think I can't see you wiping your nose and crying like a baby!" They made their way outside while the girls went and got them some water to cool the burn - didn't help much. They sat on one of the benches and were gaging and spitting and crying - "Don't swallow man - it hurts more!" So they sat there drooling on the brick pavers while trying to conceal their agony from passers-by. No luck. People kept asking them if they were OK. "Do you need help?" "Is there anything we can do?" Soon enough a puddle formed at one guys feet and he - for all intents and purposes - threw up! I'll bet their mommas would have been proud! Word to the (un)wise - there is a reason they make you sign a waiver before testing some of the hottest stuff! It's similar to the warnings on cigarette packs and the "DO NOT ENTER" sign on a one-way street. read more

Rick and Jonathan were absolutely amazing!! Their recommendations were on point! They make burning your face off FUN! My husband and I bought for us and our parents and Christmas presents because we loved it all! read more

My boyfriend couldn't come with us to Gatlinburg, but insisted that we visit Pepper Palace and get him an interesting bottle of hot sauce. This was my first visit to the Palace, and it did not disappoint! They have a wall of various wing sauces, a huuuuuuge selection of hot sauces (most being quite hilariously named), and then various other cooking items like jellys, bbq sauces, marinades, salsas, etc. I'm sure most of this stuff could be purchased online cheaper, but the store is fabulous for wandering around, looking at all of the items for sale, and sampling everything. Heck, they even have the hottest sauce in the universe (or so they claim... I didn't bring myself to try it). Also, if you're looking for an air conditioned place to spend an afternoon during the heat of the summer in Gatlinburg, this mall isn't a bad idea! Oh, and the Buy 5 items get the 6th free deal is pretty good if you have any reason to actually buy 5+ items. Knowing my boyfriend is a hot sauce fiend, I took advantage and purchased a ton of various hot sauces as a Father's Day gift. I wish I had purchased the Pumpkin Butter for myself, so I think I'm going to have to find it online and have it shipped. Seriously though, even living in New Orleans where the locals like it HOT, I have never seen a selection of hot sauces nearly this diverse. read more

ive seen better hot sauce selections in my day, but this place was pretty cool. I do want to write about the "Nasal Napalm" thing. "Nasal Napalm" is a type of horseradish they sell there that is so hot that people come in from all around to taste it. You can search "Nasal Napalm" on youtube and see videos of people doing it. When I tried it, I didnt realize it was a "thing". I was just like "let me try some of that horseradish too". It was a really amazing experience. It burned like i did a shot of grain alcohol. Then it sat in my stomach like I was doing shots of whiskey on an empty stomach. It was just a sample spoon of horseradish! It was nuts. I had to get some water to feel better but I'm really glad I had that experience. It was really cool and I recommend everyone else try it read more

If you are looking for hot sauce - this is the place for you! A few years back (2004ish) I was visiting Gatlinburg for the first time - one of my lasting memories is the Pepper Palace! I like hot sauce. But I'm not looking to simply scorch my tongue, cry like a baby and suffer sphincter-burn the day after. I want some taste too. Pepper Palace has everything to satisfy my love for heat. Yes, they have hot sauce that does nothing but burn - and REALLY burn; but they also have a great selection of flavorful hot sauces too. They have hundreds ranging from the mild to XXX-Hot-OMG-What-Have-I-Done! They carry another XXX section for the 18+ crowd which is full of fun and whimsical (if not out and out pornographic) bottles of hot sauce too. Until I visited Pepper Palace I didn't understand the creativity that goes into the packaging of hot sauce. Clearly, the name, the label, and the ubiquitous novelty key-chain that adorns many of the bottles is a big selling point. You may find yourself buying a bottle based solely on the packaging. They also carry other "Heated" items both food and themed like spicy hot peanuts (yum), BBQ sauces, mugs, platters and other gifty items. The staff is friendly and helpful. No trip to Gatlinburg is complete without a stop at the Pepper Palace. And they are available on-line too, so when I am away for too long I can get my "fix" - www.pepperpalace.com. read more

Love this place the fact that you can taste everything is pretty cool. For lovers of hot, I'm not sure you could find a better place. read more

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There are actually two locations on opposite sides of the street. We went to the one in The Village - which I was told was the satellite location. The selection of salas and cheese dips was amazing to try - most in the $5-7 range. The girl working was very friendly. Make sure to go upstairs as there are more located there. read more

My first moment at pepper palace was the hottest in my life. I tried a sauce which was labelled "Hot." Seeing the "XHot" and having various "hot" sauces before, I figured I could handle it. I grabbed a sample chip, dipped it into the sauce and ... THE HOTTEST THING I'VE EVER HAD. I immediately grabbed a carton of chocolate milk and downed it just to calm the burn. They asked me which I tried, and I pointed out the Southern Redneck, and they were like, "yeah, that's one of the hottest sauces in the store." Not good labeling, in my opinion. They told me that it was a sauce made from the red savina pepper, which is hotter than a habanero, and I'd never tried habanero sauce before. So this blew me away. That moment of pure torture behind me, the pepper palace is probably the best store in the Mountain Mall in Gatlinburg. The proprietors were friendly and helpful. The amount of sampling was neat, and the selection was really fun. In the end, we didn't buy any hot sauce, but we did buy a chipotle barbecue sauce that was really tasty. There are salsas, jellies, and fruit butters, and well as super-hot extracts. It was a fun experience once the intense pain wore off. read more

Cool store and reasonably priced. I like the option of sampling the product. Bought a few items to take home. Only downside is they do not take Amex. read more

We always stop by here while in gatlinburg.They have a huge selection of not only hot sauces but bbq sauce an seasonings.

One of the highlights of my day in Gatlinburge. I am a big pepper head. I love to try things with some heat. This is what I did for a good 30 minutes here. I tried everything from buffalo sauces to jelly, from salsa to dips. I can say I was surprised personally that nothing really gave me a run for my money in the heat department. Yes I even had a drop of the challenge sauce and got my sticker. It was not for the faint of taste bud. I also can see how most people would be dancing around hurting as the man said they did. For me it was hot, very hot and wouldn't want to be walking around all day with my mouth feeling like that, but I took it like a champ. Didn't wince and after a few minutes took the horse radish to take the burn off. I did sample all of the ghost chili sauces and even though they are hot they didn't eat me up like I thought they would. I do like this place even though I walked out empty handed. I think it gave someone like me more ideas for the next time I make something at home. I would say stop in and enjoy. read more

Tiny little place tuck away in the mall, but quite the find. Had a ton of hot sauces, flavorings, seasonings, and novelties. There was endless walls of well organized product, you could easily spend up to an hour there, looking and reading each one. They also have great sampling options and supply you with chips and spoons to taste with. I suggest trying a little bit of each one, unless of course you're sensitive to spice. Then this may not be the place for you. But they do have a good amount of spiced jams and cheese that might fit your fancy. Either way worth the stop! read more

Rick was amazing! Gave us all of the ins and outs to our wants. The place was very nice and clean! Can never go wrong with local made products! read more

Don't know what it is but just can't pass by the palace without stopping in and getting hot flashes read more

Pepper Palace - Herbs & Spices Near Me - Gatlinburg, Tennessee

My husband and I went in just looking around and Ric took the time to show us which ones we'd like based on what we told him. He even showed us how to mix a sweet and hot together to get the best flavors. Definitely will be back before we head back home. read more