Frogtown Cellars — Restaurant in Dahlonega

The food, the wine, and the waiters and waitresses were all amazing and I was very impressed. However, the ownership and management of this place is severely lacking, and I would under no circumstance recommend that anyone plan a special event here. I had reserved a table for my immediate family for Mother’s Day a few months in advance. I had indicated online when I made the reservation that we would like to sit outside on the patio. I also indicated this when about a week and a half before Mother’s Day, they made everyone who had a reservation reconfirm and then put down a deposit that would be kept unless we canceled 48 hours in advance. So far, no problems. I get that Mother’s Day is a busy time. We arrive at the winery, after having barely seen my mother in a year because of COVID. We not only wanted to sit outside because of the views but also because my mother is high risk. When we arrive, an older woman checks us in, provides the incorrect number for our party which I correct, and then says “so you all are sitting inside.” I then comment that I had indicated on the reservation in multiple places that we would really prefer to sit outside. She then got extremely short with me and said we don’t sit parties of 6 or more outside. She had such an unwelcoming attitude that even my mom mentioned that she seemed to be having a bad day so we should be patient and understanding. I didn’t want to make a big deal because this was supposed to be a really happy occasion so we went to our assigned table. My father and I then started looking around at the beautiful outdoor patio and realize there are tables for 6 set up everywhere and there is even a huge 12 person group outside. I ask one of the managers about possibly moving outside and she was again extremely short and told me that I would have to take that up with the owner. Apparently the rude woman at the front door who lied to us about large parties not being allowed outside was the owner!!! We only stayed because they forced us to put down a deposit but otherwise we would have left. As soon as we were done with our food we left and visited other wineries in the area with exponentially better service and management. Needless to say, please don’t waste your time on a place like this that does not seem to care mush about its patrons.

UPDATE to address owner’s response:

What you are saying is again an outright lie. We had 6 in our party. My mother, grandmother, father, two sisters, and myself. You asked if the party was for 8 and I corrected you and said it was for 6. You obviously have us confused with another party. We also took pictures of the tables outside which we will post to demonstrate that there were tables for 6 outside on the covered part of the patio and then one large 12 person group on the front patio with multiple tables pushed together. I do not care to argue with someone who makes false accusations. ALSO, I guarantee you we did not make our waitress cry. She was an excellent waitress and we tipped on top of the included gratuity and we never ONCE complained to her. Once we realized we just needed to eat and leave that is exactly what we did. So it seems that again you have us confused with another group. The owner’s extremely rude response should demonstrate the overall tone of this place. Again, I do...

Good wine, good food. Service was a bit erratic, but friendly. Worth a try!

The important stuff: The wine and food were both delicious. We did several flights of wine and shared them since we were all family! We really enjoyed that. We had a cheese plate and it was delicious. The food selection for Sunday brunch was perhaps a little limited but we all immediately found something we wanted. The salads were excellent and the paninis/pizza were hot and savory.

It wasn't inexpensive, but candidly we had a pretty good time and enjoyed our meal so I won't complain about the price.

The atmosphere is also very nice. We sat out in a covered porch area with a cool breeze and were perfectly comfortable - Even in August! The landscaping and koi ponds at the entranceway to the building were beautiful. And they clearly have put some money in new landscaping because there are several new trees and bushes. Very nice!

If you're looking for a little road trip destination this is a good choice. And my daughter selected it for Sunday brunch in that seem to be a very good choice. It wasn't too crowded,

So in all the important ways I would definitely recommend this place. Food, wine, environment. All great!

The downsides are very slight.

A navigation tip. Drive up to the concrete circle and drop off your passengers and then swing back around and park alongside the road. The road is not very wide and the edge of the road has some rocks and gravel that make it a tiny bit precarious especially if you're wearing heels. (I wasn't)

The outside could use a little pressure washing but it still looked quaint and the landscaping overcame that. It's been a very humid summer and I would imagine that has contributed to the fact that they need a little pressure washing action on some of the trim work. Obviously not a big deal.

I'm not sure if there was a staffing issue or what but the only thing that was a little disconcerting was that our servers kind of disappeared toward the end of our meal and another server finally came over and asked if we were ready to pay and we settled up with her. That may have been a temporary kitchen emergency or something but it was a little unusual. I would expect that that was an anomaly and would not let it impact my choice of visiting here again.

This winery is apparently owned by a cat because he walks around like he owns the place! Very cute and fairly friendly. But not rubbing up against you or anything. I won't don't mind but if you're one of those who have cat allergies you at least need to know there is one on the property.

And no, you can't bring your dog into the dining area. I love dogs, and I am okay with a restaurant choosing not to allow them. So I have no problem with that policy but again you should know.

By the way We will definitely...

It was my first and last time going there. We had a party of 15 people, which my friend had reserved 2 tables for. Upon our arrival at 2pm (on Saturday, May 8th) we were told they could combine our tables and sit us together. At this point we were not told the menu for our table would be limited. They sat us down and then told us we could only order Paninis and Salads. After a few back and forth trying to understand, we understood the issue was with it being a small oven an individual pizzas take a long time to make etc etc, (okay fine, I still don't understand, they still had other customers sitting outside, families of 6-7 eating pizzas! how was that any different if they kept us in 2 separate tables? We didn't even select our Panini's (which we had our favorites), they just gave us a mix of them with chips and salads (but in case you're wondering, they were pretty good!). This was the cherry on top for me... I asked the waitress if I could walk outside by the deck to take some photos, the view was beautiful. To which she answered no! we don't want to disturb the people sitting outside and because of Covid, tabs me on the shoulder and says "and you're a little loud". Please note, there were people taking photos out there, that's why I asked! In disbelief and shock, I didn't respond quick enough, but my friend's eyeballs across the table confirmed what my ears just heard. She made a couple more rude comments to others on our table and I immediately thought it was because we were Latinos, clearly this lady has never sat on a table full of Italians! (possibly other cultures) As I kept telling the story, people just seem in disbelief. You are at a winery, where people are drinking and enjoying themselves, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and you tell someone they're a bit loud for your establishment, sorry, not just someone, a POC. Professionals, college educated, a few nurses in our group, etc... but clearly, she saw what she wanted to see. Funny thing when the bill came she had the NERVE to tell my friend that you can add extra gratuity, the "loud one" had to raise her voice and say, absolutely not! don't you dare give them an extra penny, that they did not earn. I frequent many bars/ restaurant in Atlanta/ Buckhead area and have never been treated as such. We also went to two other wineries on this day and had a fantastic time. This place was beautiful, the food was great, I mean the Paninis, but I go back to places because of the experiences and service. This will not be a place I ever go back to.

Tip to the Waitress: you want to call out loud, messy and unpleasant people, I suggest you go to a Mexican Restaurant on 5 de Mayo (or any day really) so you can know what being loud and obnoxious really is, cause your people can't really hold their...