The Oaks Lakeside Kitchen — Restaurant in Hayesville

Hearing about this restaurant on the radio, we decided to pay a visit to dine. Upon arriving, we waited over ten minutes for a hostess to appear to seat us. I finally stuck my head through the entrance of the restaurant to where the bar was located and kindly asked the bartender if he could locate the hostess so that we could be seated. He was very cordial,, and sat us himself. At the time of our us being seated, there was only two other set of guests in the restaurant. We waited another five to six before someone, I assume the hostess, to bring us water and tell us that our server would be with us in a few minutes. The "few minutes" turned onto another ten minutes before she appeared. At this time, my companion ordered a drink, and I requested the wine list. Again, another ten minutes pasted before our server returned with the wine list, but without my companion's drink. We had planned on ordering an appetizer, but since it had already taken too long for service, we decided against it. W had to change our dinner order three times as the restaurant was out of items on the menu. This came as a surprise since it was 6:30pm. I stressed to our server to leave off the tomatoes as I was highly allergic to them. My companion had to again reorder her drink. It took quite a while before we received our drinks, probably another fifteen minutes. Needless to say, my companion's drink was watered diqn. Shortly afterwards, we received our food by another server. Much to my surprise, there were tomatoes on my food. I had to use the salad fork to scoop underneath quite a large helping of my dinner to be sure all the tomatoes were were removed from my meal. It was quite a while after being served our food before our server returned to check on us. She seemed slightly surprised to see the tomatoes sitting on my napkin, apologized for it, and walked away. By this time there were several other tables of guests in the restaurant. One family was sitting quite close to us, and we could hear them talking And they were quite agitated concerning the long wait for their order to be taken and only to told as well that the restaurant was out of the items to which they desired. I was quite wary about eating my dinner due to the tomatoes, but since they were on top, and I had scooped quite a substantial amount of my food out from below it, I felt that I should be okay. However upon eating just a little of my dinner, I found a few more pieces of tomatoes that had been mixed in the meal. I couldn't eat anymore. Our server returned and said the main chef was so sorry, but when he walked by my plate on the serving area, saw that there weren't any tomatoes on my plate, he automatically sprinkle the tomatoes all over my food! Whoa, he didn't even bother to look at the food ticket! He didn't even bother to come to our table to apologize himself about the mistake, but instead sent the server to do so. About thirty minutes after leaving the restaurant, I started to itch, broke out in an awful rash, and became all puffy...my allergic reaction to raw tomatoes. This is WHY I told the server NO TOMATOES!!! This was my first and LAST visit to The Oaks Lakeside Restaurant in...

Memorable Dining Experience at The Oaks in Hiawassee

If you’re anywhere near Hiawassee, Georgia and looking for a dining experience that checks all the boxes—breathtaking views, warm ambiance, top-tier service, and unforgettable food—The Oaks is an absolute must.

From the moment we arrived, we were impressed by how easy it was to find parking. The restaurant is beautifully decorated, offering a cozy yet elegant atmosphere with stunning views that make you want to linger a little longer.

The service was impeccable from start to finish. Every staff member we encountered was friendly, attentive, and professional, adding to the overall enjoyment of the evening.

Now, let’s talk about the food—because wow. Every single bite was mouthwatering. We started with the crabcakes and the Brussels sprouts with bacon. Both were excellent, but the crabcakes stole the show—perfectly crisp on the outside, tender and flavorful on the inside. Truly some of the best I’ve ever had.

For the main course, we tried the seafood linguine special and the salmon with asparagus. The seafood linguine was packed with fresh flavors and cooked to perfection. The salmon was tender, flaky, and well-seasoned, paired beautifully with perfectly cooked asparagus.

We couldn’t resist trying their famous bread pudding for dessert, and it did not disappoint—it practically melted in our mouths. The perfect sweet ending to an unforgettable meal.

In short, The Oaks delivers a five-star dining experience in every way. Whether you’re a local or just passing through, make sure to add this gem...

Terrible (almost non existant) service.

EDIT: COO reached out to me. took a detailed account of our experience and apologized. seemed very sincere. the rest of our stay at the resort was lovely so i believe this single dining experience was not the norm. increasing my review from 2 stars to 4. very much appreciate the response from the resort. Had a reservation at 11:45am on a Sunday. There were only 4 tables of guests including ourselves. We were told by hostess that it was buffet and to help ourselves but a server would come by first to take our drink order. We waited ten minutes before going to bar to ask for a server. Then had to ask three different staff members for milk and sugar. Never offered an opportunity to get more drinks or warm up our coffee. Sat there for 10 minutes for check (and a table of buffet plates that were never cleared) before going to bar to ask for check.

Buffet was good but not stocked. There were sauces and syrup for pancakes or french toast, but no pancakes or french toast. A good selection of meats but a big lack of veggies and no potato dishes.

Everything we ate was delicious and every staff member we were able to interact with was very polite. But it felt like it was all their first day and they had no manager to coordinate.

They did apologize for slow service and comped us our orange juice and coffee. Still charged a pretty big price...