Jim's Smokin' Que — Restaurant in Hayesville

I will never return to this establishment. How this place is rated one of the best bbq places in Ga is beyond me. First off, you can’t even call and place an order to go or even ask a question about an item! You get a recording telling you that you have to order food ahead of time and don’t leave any voicemails, that they won’t be checked, that “they’ll see you at the restaurant”. That alone almost turned me off but I thought we’d drive out there and give it a shot, see what all the rave is about. I like bbq but there’s a lot of stuff I can’t eat so I asked if I could try a sample of their turkey to see how smokey it was before I bought an entire plate and not be able to eat it. She refused, said she can’t/doesn’t do that. She told me they do smoke it but they do not use liquid smoke so it shouldn’t be that bad. I reluctantly ordered the plate and upon taking a bite of the cold, not even warm turkey, it was like eating a piece of wood it was so smokey. The woody smoke taste was so overwhelmingly strong and horrible, it lingered and was hard to get the taste and smell out of my mouth. I guess a lot of people go for that but it was honestly some of the nastiest tasting turkey I’ve ever had! Even my husband who is a “smoked anything, Bbq fanatic” said it was awful, and that was shocking. So we paid $10.50 for some sweet potato fries (because they cost extra) that were nothing too special and some inedible turkey that our dogs may not even like. I even called a local chain bbq place after leaving to see if I could try a sample of their turkey and they said sure, no problem, we’ll let you have sample of anything you want! I won’t recommend this place to anyone and I sure will not be back. Absolutely disgusting and very poor...

1:30 on a cool Saturday 10/17/20 when half of Georgia and Tennessee are in the mountains. Line was 15-20 deep. Mostly masked, but 6 feet of space wasn’t there. Maybe some x’s or something? Any way....

Register lady nailed our order for three. Came out in about 20 minutes and with the number of tickets in the window, I was very impressed.

The meal: We all had the pork sandwich. Warm, tender meat with a great smoke flavor. A brioche like bun that was fresh and delicious. I ordered the half rack of ribs. Holy large portion, Batman! Would have liked them served a bit warmer but they were great all the same. Beans, coleslaw, fries were standard. Do not skip the Gouda grits. Life changing! Final test was the banana pudding. Perfect!

I’d like to type directly to the waitresses that were running plates. I was beyond impressed. Patient, attentive to everyone not just a table or two. Proactive, asking if we needed anything instead of waiting to be asked. With the crowd and mass of food y’all dealt with, it be easy to understand a moment of distress or confusion or frustration.

And to the waitress in purple. Patience of Job. You were trying to make conversation with people as they waited and a guy absolutely laid into you about all the things he though Jim’s was getting wrong and acting like it was all your fault and that you were out to get him. THEN this other lady thought that it was her green light to do the same. You answered all of their complaints, offered suggestions were you could, said “I don’t know.” when you didn’t and did it all with a smile. And not a “Bless Your Heart” smile but an honest smile that rose above them. So...

I have eaten here many times and the food is always great. I had out of town friends and family visiting from two different states and had told them how much we enjoyed the barbeque here. Having several barbeque fans in the group we decided to make the trip from Blue Ridge to Jim's que. There were 11 of us total so when we arrived half of us stood in line, (which was out the door, leaving one of us to hold the door open) while the other half of us tried to sit down at a table. I also want to mention that we had 3 elderly persons in our group, one with a broken foot, walking with a cane. We were sitting no more than 5 minutes when one of the staff members who I believed to be one of the owners, came over and told us we had to move and were not allowed to sit down until we got our food. Thinking she was just simply telling us we had to order food to be able to sit in the restaurant, I explained that the other half of our party was in line ordering food for all of us. I was then once again told we were not able to sit down and if we wanted to eat we had to stand in line and order it ourselves! I have never been so embarrassed! We were all shocked at the audacity of telling your customers they were not allowed to sit down. Needless to say we were so offended we all left and ate at another establishment that was not only great but hospitable. We will not be recommending this to anyone again. So much for southern...