Blairsville Restaurant- Grits & Greens — Restaurant in Blairsville

Sorry this is kind of long.... We have had lunch at Blairsville Restaurant quite a few times with no issues, and good experiences. We have mostly gone through the cafeteria line, but also ordered off the menu at times. So, when our friends came from out of town for a visit, I suggested that we have dinner at Blairsville Restaurant. I told them about the menu and cafeteria line options, and we all agreed that it would be a good choice.

When we arrived, there were people seated at 5 or 6 tables, and the rest were empty. A lady came up and told us that the there would be a 30 - 40 minute wait because the kitchen was backed up. We elected to stay, since the dining options on Sunday nights in Blairsville, is very limited.

They seated us at an empty table and gave us menus. My husband walked over so he could see what was available on the cafeteria line, only to see that it was totally shut down. We assumed that whatever the problem causing the kitchen back up, must have been the reason for the cafeteria line being unavailable, so we made our selections from the menu.

After waiting about 25 minutes, we noticed that there were people at only 3 tables, and all of them were eating. But, no one had come to take our order yet. How backed up could the kitchen be, if every customer in the restaurant was eating, and we had not even ordered yet? After another 10 minutes, one of our friends flagged down the waitress and asked if she would be taking our order soon, or if we needed to go elsewhere? She took our orders, and we had our food after about 15 minutes.

The burgers my husband and I ordered were good. Our friends ordered the Club Sandwich and the Pimento Cheese Starter and Crackers. The pimento cheese was warm. Pimento cheese should be served chilled. Club sandwiches do, traditionally, come with 3 slices of bread. But, this sandwich wasn't on regular bread, it was 3 thick slices of Texas toast! WAY too much bread for a sandwich!

As we were checking out, I asked why the cafeteria line was not available? He told me that the food from the line is available, but because evening business is slow, they "bring it out fresh". I told him that it would have been nice if someone had told us that, because we probably would have ordered that instead of what we ended up ordering. He said, "It is right there on the menu.", and pointed to where it talks about the cafeteria line on the menu. I told him that "No, what the menu says is the listed foods are available through the cafeteria line. There is nothing saying that the food listed is available 'off the menu', and someone should have told us that.". This whole experience tonight makes me not sure I want to eat...

I worked in restaurants for years, waitressing, managing, working in the kitchen. Early in my years, I had a manager say two things to me that have stayed with me throughout my working life - in completely different professions as well as the restaurant profession. First - anyone who takes the time to complain is giving you a gift. Most who have a bad experience just won't come back and never say a word to you. But they tell others. A complaining customer is telling you what you need to do to improve and make sure you keep or increase your customer base. The second is be reliable and trustworthy. If you have posted hours, keep them. If you can't provide items off the menu, offer something complimentary. Make sure that customer knows they are important. I have eaten at this restaurant many times. I have also come while the restaurant is supposed to be open to find them closed. I have tried to give you the benefit of the doubt due to the staff issues from covid. But this isn't covid. Your night manager (female) is rude. She said she was closing because she didn't want to pay staff when there weren't people in the restaurant. When I said something, she said she didn't think my opinion mattered - I was one person. I had people in the car. Now none of us will recommend this restaurant. Any why don't you have customers an hour before you are supposed to close? All the restaurants I passed heading to you had packed parking lots. Maybe there aren't people in the restaurant because you are not consistent with keeping your stated hours. Your front house staff are not friendly. Everyone looks unhappy to be there. If your profit margin is so fragile that you don't stay open on a slow night, maybe you need to change your hours. But stay open if you are supposed to be open. You loose your customer base when you are inconsistent. Your food is good, but I won't be back and I will tell anyone that wants to know that the customer service at your restaurant is sub par. But thanks to your "manager", I found a new to me restaurant that was excellent. ...

Went Sunday at noon. Probably one of their busiest days of the week. Steady church crowd. We were sat immediately (just 2 of us) and a server took our drink order and came back immediately with our drinks. Now this isn’t a criticism, especially knowing how hard is to find reliable employees and the fact that we were there at the busiest time of the day, but we did not see our server until the end of our meal, when the bill was dropped. The manager/owner?, a young man, who was running the register, took our order and delivered our food. Again, no reflection on the restaurant employees or management. I just want people to understand, everyone is pitching and doing their best in regards to customer service. Please be patient and polite and understanding when you make the decision to dine out. There was also a young girl managing seating and a young boy busing tables and helping out with customer needs, both very attentive. The food was well worth the small wait time. I had the cafeteria style meat and all you can eat veggies. The fried chicken breast was huge, with just the right amount of breading and was juicy inside. I had ALL the veggies! Loved the cream corn and okra! But everything I ate was tasty. My husband had the mother clucker and tots. He left a completely empty plate and said it was delicious. The price point was comparable to others in the area, running $10-12 for meal and drink. This was my first time back since the renovations (and change in owner?). WOW, what a difference. Bright and shiny and very welcoming. Felt like a completely different restaurant. No wonder it was so busy. We will be back very soon to try out breakfast and dinner. And to the young gentleman at the register (manager/owner?) it was a pleasure to meet you (I’m also a YHC alum). You kept a smile on your face the entire time we were there and really engaged with your customers. As long as food quality remains and if they can find and keep reliable employees, this place is...