Smith Creek Tavern — Restaurant in Georgia

I want to start this review by saying that my grandparents have been coming to the Unicoi Lodge for anniversaries and special occasions for DECADES. The way that we were treated this past Sunday is unacceptable.

We had a great afternoon around town and decided to pass on going back into town for dinner and go to the lodge instead.

We were seated right away with no issues, but after it took over 15-minutes for the server to come around to place our drink orders, he apologized and brought us our waters. However, 3 people in our party had ordered beer.. after waiting over 30-minutes and having placed our food orders, one of the people in our party decided to go and ask why the beer order hadn’t been placed. They were then informed by the SERVER (not even the manager) that they weren’t serving anyone that had been in town.

We weren’t being loud or rowdy. We had a toddler with us. And they literally ordered it with our waters. Why did it take over 30 minutes for someone to inform us of this “policy”.

To have a policy like that just doesn’t seem enforceable. How do you know we had been in town other than the ONE Oktoberfest outfit at our table….4 people out of our party of 7 were stone cold sober and absolutely disturbed by the way this whole situation was handled on the Tavern’s end….

The server then laughed when we asked to speak with the manager. While I understand nervous laughter can be a thing, this was just inappropriately handled all around.

This was my grandmothers first time coming back since my grandfather passed away and I can assure you, we won’t be back. Decades of memories with your establishment tarnished because your bar manager made a decision they refused to tell us about before we placed food orders. You best believe we walked out and won’t be back. Highly disappointed, and will likely share on other social media...

We were staying at the lodge so we went in to have a drink and it took around 20 minutes for someone to come greet us. It wasn't that busy at the time and we saw about 5 servers and the manager. The manager finally came and brought us water and said someone would be right with us.

Well, we waited another good 10 to 15 minutes before someone came and asked had anyone taken out order. We said no and so she took it. We got our beers and they were hot, then she brought what was supposed to be a cold mug but it was room temperature. She went to check the cooler and it was off. They put beer and mugs on ice to get them cold but really never got there. We drank 3 a piece and they charged us for 4. I let them know we only had 3 so the bill went from $77 to $54. We didn't eat just had beers. $6 a beer was a little much for domestic.

Went back the next night to meet up with friends and they had already eaten but complained about the beers being hot and service being bad but the food was really good. We sat there for 15 minutes and nobody ever greeted us until one of us went to the bar to let them know we needed service. We got waters but didn't stay to eat because we knew it would take forever and their cooler was still messed up even tho they said they got it fixed.

I've worked in food service before and they definitely need some work and training. Seems they don't have 1 designated bartender, they were all behind the bar making their own drinks and very disorganized. We saw drink going back because they weren't properly made. They need to greet the tables within 1 to 2 minutes at most when they sit down and acknowledge them. It's not that big of a place and they had plenty of people to cover but were just not trained properly or organized. It could be a very cool place to hang out, the atmosphere was great but service...

Went to the Tavern for lunch today. Well, it turned out that the storms had knocked out the power and messed up the electrical systems and they were closed.

I just wanted my grandsons and daughter to have a good weekend, as my health is deteriorating is deteriorating and not sure what future holds. So why the 5 stars?

I had plopped down on the couch in waiting area to get some relief from knee pain and swelling and Nae Nae,(employee) came by and overheard my daughter and I trying to figure out what to do now. She came and explained the situation and listened to the fact that we had just spent the last hour trying to get out of Helen after spending an hr looking for a place to eat and where kids could play pool.

Next thing we know, they bring out to equipment to play on their Billard table, and Melissa (Manager), said she was going to get a pizza and drinks and we could stay and play pool. We had made reservations for dinner but that was 6 hr to wait.

The pizza was so fantastic and the pool game was so much fun and we laughed so hard I almost pee’d on myself(old age sucks)!

When it came time to eat at Anna’s, we were treated so very well! Our waitress, so sorry I can’t remember her name, was supper delightful!

The food was delicious and we couldn’t have been happier!!!!

So what started kinda rough ended up being a great day, and tomorrow we’re (the grandkids) are doing...