Dottie's Kitchen — Restaurant in Helen

The owner does not follow FEDERAL laws and discriminates against those with disabilities! I have a REAL service dog who is quite obviously very trained and legit. I understand there are fakes all day and it ruins it for us with actual legit service animals, but that does NOT excuse the way I was treated! As soon as I walked in, I was stopped by an older woman who told me my SD could not be in the restaurant. I informed her he is a trained service do, and that is illegal. She said she had to talk to the boss.She came back and said we would have to sit in the back of the store in a completely different section and wouldn't be able to take the SD through the food line. I again informed them that is discrimination and illegal at a federal level. I informed them politely that an SD is considered medical equipment and you can no more tell me I can't go through the line with him than you could tell someone with a wheelchair or oxygen tank they couldn't go through with theirs.

She then said she had to get the owner. The owner who is male came right up to my face as I stood in line and got very aggressive and immediately angry. He told me I had to go sit in the back of the store and they would have to get my food for me. Agai, I told him tha it is discrimination and completely illegal. He tried to accuse my SD of shakin, which he is trained not to do in doors, and as soon as he starts he gets a verbal correction and stops. The SD is under full control at all times while working. He began to get loud and cutting me off every time I would try to speak. I never once raised my voice at him. I have extreme ptsd and autism and having this grown man in my face aggressively causing a scene set off a bad episode. He finally said "you know what I'm not going to argue with you!" And stormed off. It was incredibly Embarrassing. Customers came up to me apologizing for his behavior afterwards. His own daughter apologized when we went to pay.

I get it, my SD is 137lb very large with a huge white fluffy coat, but as a business owner you need to know and FOLLOW the federal laws. They mentioned health code several times and while I get the fear, I also know federal law trumps the health department. And so should the owner.

I have had my SD for 5 yrs now and while I get asked questions all the time and have to correct businesses every now and then, I have NEVER been treated or embarrassed the way this man did.

My SD laid at my feet any time I stopped in line, he laid under the table (as much as he could fit under there) without moving once. He never shook, other than the one time he began to when we first entered and immediately stopped when corrected. He was wearing a very clear vest and markings (which is not even required per the ADA). There was absolutely no justification for the way I was treated that day and the owner should be ashamed.

I have provided screen shots directly from the ADA website that address these exact situations. Please educate yourself so no one else has to feel the way you...

We came down for the October fest this weekend and was looking for a good place to get breakfast. Our first mistake was stopping at Dotties Kitchen thinking we'd get something good there. From the time you walk in there's a long line you're having to wait in. No worries as a long line normally means the food is worth the wait. While in line the lady behind the register got into an altercation with an older gentleman about him not being able to order lunch because breakfast was served until 12. She was very rude and saying "Common sense should tell you you can't get lunch if breakfast is served until noon". Then, when he walked away she still kept bad mouthing the poor man to the other people in line. This was so unprofessional I thought about leaving then and there, but as I was with other people it wasn't my call alone to make. We decided to stay thanks to my husband who always calms me down and decided maybe she was just having a bad day. Unfortunately it just got worse from there. Someone else had an issue with their order being wrong and not cooked right. They refused to give him a partial refund on the food he couldn't eat, was yelling and cursing the man right in front of the other patrons. They were threatening to call the police on him when all he wanted was his crispy hashbrowns. They don't care about their other guests or that there were children in the establishment. The man ordering did nothing wrong, but after being yelled at and cursed he finally told the owner he needed to learn how to cook before he left. Obviously the waitress was the owners daughter as she kept putting her two cents in it also not knowing when to shut her mouth. These people were so rude to this guy. I can't believe they are still in business after treating everyone this way!!! The man's hashbrowns looked raw and I can't blame him for sending them back more and once. DO NOT GO TO DOTTIES KITCHEN, unless you like to be mistreated, abused and ripped off. The poor man never got a refund or his hashbrowns plus couldn't eat his food which was not cheep!!!! Prices are too high and the food we had was not good either. The bacon was more like jerky, the ham was paper thin, and you can't get hashbrowns cooked. The only thing about their cathead biscuits were they were a decent size. Nothing special about them either when it came to flavor. I will not be back to this establishment and wish I had listened to my first instinct to leave once the first incident took place while we were waiting in line. These people suck and need to learn some hospitality... especially being in...

DO NOT GO HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! I just wanted to leave a more accurate review for this location. Me and my boyfriend came here for breakfast this morning and it was just absolutely horrific!!! I say horrific because to say awful would be quite the understatement. Let me explain. For two people to eat cafeteria style gravy biscuits, bacon and eggs we paid $44 and some change. The worst part about the entire experience wasn't even that we paid that much for breakfast, but it was that we paid that much for soggy bacon that was completely inedible, powdered eggs and grits that may as well had been a bowl of water. Their so called "Cheese Grits" tasted like air!!!!! Everything was so under-seasoned that if I didn't know better I would have thought we had Covid!!!! When I say there was no taste at all I am not joking. We both agreed it was worse than hospital food. Let me add that we have gone to Hoffers several times and spent over $40 on breakfast and had zero complaints!!! This was not a cost issue. This was a quality issue. I am not usually one to leave a review.... much less a bad one, but I really did feel like it was imperative for me to inform everyone of what they were getting into, since the reason we even went there was due to Google reviews. I would give this place a 2 out of 10 and the only reason they get a 2 is because they were very friendly. I will say that, but we came there to eat and I didn't get to do very much eating. My boyfriend did, but that is because he is able to eat anything. He is a champion like that. Bottom line, if you're thinking about going here....don't. Save yourself the disappointment. It was a total let down and I have to say I was soooooo hopeful. I hadn't had bacon in quite sometime and I was so bummed that it tasted like a...