Toccoa Riverside Restaurant — Restaurant in Talking Rock

Events took place 08/13/2023 - Review Edited for Clarity: I'll begin by saying that Initially everyone in our group was excited to dine at this facility as it was advertised as dog friendly. When we arrived, we immediately had issues with what is assumed to be the owner, being resistant to my mobility service animal entering, as I am a disabled, amputee veteran. In no way was anyone rude, or the dog disruptive, performing his duty as trained.

Upon my entering the "Owner" immediately started crowding my dog and reaching to try and grab the tags on his counterbalance harness, which is hazardous should the dog become distracted, stating he "Needed to see his 'ID,' tags, paperwork, or something signifying he is a service animal," to which I replied, "There is no such thing." He replied "Yes there is!" In the most abrupt, disrespectful way he possibly could. I simply replied, once again, that "There is no such thing," and continued walking away from him to keep my dog out of his reach.

Out of view of any of the males within our party, and unbeknownst to me at the time, this coward decided to block, harass, and demean the smallest person and only female in our group. He went on to denounce her trade, her knowledge of applicable ADA law, and the "Dangers" my dog could theoretically cause.

It during this that I was expected to descend down a series of steep steps to dine on the patio, not anywhere that was easily accessible, or navigable without help from my dog, ironically, and two people within our party. When reaching the patio, we were then seated over what I can only guess was a septic system or something similar, as we were constantly being hit in the face by waves of what can only be described as urine or ammonia like fumes. This table was also in direct sunlight unlike the rest of the patrons which were shaded by large patio umbrellas. We had to ask to be moved to address both issues. During the entire meal, there were many interruptions by patrons regarding the dog, trying to interrupt or get his attention, and several of us veterans at the table took notice of unwelcoming states coming from some patrons, the owner, and some staff from the building's deck and patio, giving the Aire that we weren't welcome or their preferred class of client.

The food was ok, the fish was well sourced, fresh, tasteful. The steak however, tasted acrid, almost like lighter fluid, was not delivered to request (Medium well, not med-rare). Not worth the premium asked in the slightest.

I want to stress that the wait staff was attentive, friendly, and helpful. After describing our interaction, that's when we were told that the man was the owner, and they were extremely sorry for his behavior. I find the staff having to apologize for the OWNER to be completely unacceptable and I fear for how he potentially treats the women staff in his facility.

This owner: Unwarrantedly berated a patron, the only woman, restricted their movement and belittled them about their knowledge of their own disability. See GA 5§ 51-7-20 Interfered with a mobility animal during the performance of its duties. See GA § 16-11-107.1 Discriminated against a veteran and the need of said service animal due to 'damage the dog could do,' see The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Did not consider a disabled individuals needs when seating, nor provide reasonable accommodations for an individual with a disability. Necessitating a disabled amputee to descend and ascend dangerous stairs, that wouldn't have even been possible without the dog he was discriminating against! See ADA Law Attempted to serve patrons in a blatantly unsanitary area, and not provided the same accommodations as other patrons.

I ask that this owner either formally apologize to all parties involved, and refund...

We recently visited this restaurant after hearing great things, but unfortunately, our experience was far from enjoyable — and somehow, it just kept getting worse the longer we stayed.

From the moment we arrived, the tone was off. We brought our golden retriever with us, as the restaurant advertises being dog-friendly with a pet porch area. However, the designated space for dogs is a tiny corner with no view of the river — which is the whole point of going to a riverfront restaurant. We were also told we couldn’t walk our dog down by the water because “she might pee,” which felt unnecessarily rigid and unwelcoming.

Our waiter’s attitude made everything more uncomfortable. Each time we asked a simple question or made a request, he responded with sarcasm — like we were being difficult for simply trying to enjoy our meal. When I asked for a straw, I was told they don’t allow them because “people throw trash by the river.” Again, an understandable policy, but the delivery was condescending at best.

We ordered the lobster tacos ($24) and the Cajun pasta ($26), which is supposed to come with sausage, shrimp, chicken, and peppers. The tacos were completely flavorless — like something that came straight out of a freezer bag. And the pasta? Same story. Bland, unbalanced, and completely missing the sausage it was supposed to include.

When I asked about the missing sausage, the waiter casually said they “might be out” — no apology, no heads-up when we ordered. Ten minutes later, he returned and said they did have sausage. My girlfriend asked, “If you have it, why was such a major ingredient left out of the dish?” His response? A shrug and “I don’t know.” Then he offered to just bring out a plate of sausage. I told him that’s not what I wanted, and he replied, “I don’t think the kitchen will have any other solutions.” At that point, I said, “Perfect — then I’d like to speak to a manager.” By now, it had been well over 20 minutes since our food had arrived.

I was told someone would come by, but after another 10 minutes passed, I went inside to speak to the manager myself. Jessica, the manager, informed me that the chef was reviewing the security cameras to confirm whether or not the sausage had been included — because he was confident it had been. Let that sink in: instead of just owning a mistake, the chef was watching surveillance footage to see if I had imagined the sausage being left off a plate.

What’s even more ridiculous is that if anyone with basic culinary experience had looked at the dish, they would have known immediately. There was no oil from the sausage, no telltale seasoning in the sauce — nothing. It was crystal clear the sausage hadn’t been cooked in the dish. They could’ve saved everyone a whole lot of time just by using their eyes.

Jessica did eventually offer to remake the meal for free. While we waited, I removed all the shrimp tails from the plate just to make it easy to confirm whether it was truly a new dish. We waited another 15 minutes for what we were told would be a remake from scratch.

When we left, I checked the to-go box — and lo and behold, they had just tossed sausage into the same cold, 20+ minute-old pasta and reheated it. Not only dishonest, but honestly insulting.

I’m still blown away that it somehow got worse with every step.

Save yourself the time, money, and frustration. Bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sit by the river — you’ll get a better view, better service from the trees, and you won’t be made to feel like a burden just...

“Omg I’ve never had this happen to me, it must be because they’re Asians.”

Does this place run on hidden fees? How it is even still open? Probably because it’s the only restaurant nearby. My friends and I came here during a cabin trip, and we had an awful experience.

After placing our order, the food took over an hour to arrive, and it wasn’t even busy. Our server barely checked on us, and we had to ask for a pitcher of water because she took so long to refill drinks. At no point did anyone warn us the food might take a long time, which would’ve been a basic courtesy.

When we asked about our food twice. Once it finally arrived, we asked if the 20% gratuity (which was automatically added) could be removed, since the service had been poor and we were planning to take our food to-go instead. We made it clear that we understood it wasn’t necessarily the server’s fault, but we had already waited over an hour and received little to no service in the meantime.

Instead of understanding or trying to resolve the situation, the server was dismissive, rude, and unprofessional. She refused to remove the charge and brought over a “manager” (who didn’t seem like an actual manager). That person said she would talk to the owner, but ultimately nothing was done and the charge stayed.

What made it worse and completely unacceptable was what happened next.

As my friend was walking past the counter, she overheard the server say, “Omg I’ve never had this happen to me, it must be because they’re Asians.”

This comment is not just inappropriate, it’s blatantly racist. It implies that our concerns about service were based on our race rather than the actual experience we had. It reduced us to a harmful stereotype: the racist idea that Asian people are cheap or difficult customers. It completely invalidated our feedback and made it clear that the staff saw us not as individual customers with valid complaints, but as a racial group to mock and dismiss.

We were calm, respectful, and reasonable (even cleaned up after ourselves) throughout the entire interaction. To be spoken about like that because of our race is incredibly offensive and hurtful. We’ve all worked in the service industry before and consider all point of view. We tried to be understanding throughout the experience, but the comment the server made was completely unacceptable, especially in this day and age. Ridiculous. Educate yourself.

Between the unnecessary hidden fees (gratuity and a “shared plate” fee), the lack of communication, the poor service, and the casual racism, I would never recommend this place to anyone. Do better...