Gumlog Bar B Que & Fish Lodge — Restaurant in Lavonia

I had a full review, and the browser ate it. Here is the summarized version: Fried Catfish - Great. Didn't try other fish BBQ - Lackluster and disappointing. Don't bother. Had brisket and pork. Didn't try chicken or ribs. No seasonings, no dry rubs, no evidence of actual smoking except a ring on the brisket, but even that was a partial smoking, and finished with either an oven or a steamer. Sides - nothing to distinguish them from straight out of a bush's baked beans can, KFC slaw, bland stew, or 2 day old fries cooked in leftover fish grease. No BBQ combo plates, so no 1/2 and 1/2. The meat had no flavor, and they only offer 1 sauce (it was decent, though.) no Mustard, Vinegar, tomato based sauce. This was like one of those mediocre "Sonny's BBQ" blandfests, except with only 1 sauce.

Cost seems very high, especially considering the blah food.

They are only open 3 nights, and is a favorite of locals for a few miles out. But based on the food, they are favorites of desperation since there is no useful competition. a McDonalds McRib would be better flavor on BBQ than here. And cheaper too.

Service was terrible. 4 tables seated 15+ after us had eaten and left before we got our food. 2 only had BBQ, so they should be faster. The other 2 had a mix of fish and BBQ, and should be on the same timetable we were. Asked the waitress and she said this (the screw-ups) is standard for their kitchen. 15 minutes later we ask for a manger, and were told there was no manager there, and that this is how the kitchen operates. We were told to speak to the cashier when we went to pay. The cashier said I could leave my number and have the manager call me back at a later date. It has been 2 days, and still no contact.

In the end, if you are a local bumpkin with only 1 dollar a week for gas money, or if you just want fried catfish, then go here. But if you have the money to pay their prices, you also have the money to drive to a better place to eat.

It was really...

Really disappointed with dinner last night, 5/26/18. I ordered the Large Catfish dinner and my wife had the Catfish Fillets with Popcorn Shrimp. The catfish, fillets and popcorn shrimp all appeared and tasted to be deep fried in old, burnt oil. The Whole catfish were very small, flavorless and overcooked. If I had caught them while fishing I would have thrown them back, none were eating size fish. The Popcorn Shrimp was 90% breading, flavorless and had that burnt oil taste. The Catfish fillets were cooked better but tasted more like the burnt cooking oil than catfish. I also ordered the Boiled shrimp appetizer which was the best part of the meal, they were properly cooked, LARGE and flavorful. The hush puppies were good as well. The entire meal was way overpriced for the quality we received. Apparently, and I didn't realize this until we got the check, your tea is NOT included with the meal. It's something like $2.00 if you want a drink with your meal. Tartar sauce and cocktail sauce are another $.75 each. Adding tartar and/or cocktail sauce is a necessity if want a little flavor in the catfish or popcorn shrimp. The slaw and fries were ok but it's kind of difficult to screw those up. We had one lady who may have been the manager ask us if everything was OK within a minute or so of the meal being served and the waitress asked once just as we were finishing up. Everyone was nice enough but the meal was a waste of the drive and the money. The total meal was $39.00 and change, it'll be a few years...

I ate here with 4 friends about 15 years ago and remember it as being very good. Recently the same group of friends was in the area so we stopped in for dinner. Either all of our memories are extremely faulty, or the food has gone way downhill. Out of 5 entrees, only one was what I would classify as good (ribs), otherwise I would have rated the food at 1 star instead of 2. We started with an appetizer of onion rings which were primarily batter and very very greasy and tasted almost nothing like actual onions. Two people ordered the brisket platter. The brisket was super dry and didn't taste like anything except smoke flavor. One person had the fried butterfly shrimp which were obviously frozen restaurant supplier grade and more batter than shrimp, again fairly tasteless other than the fried batter taste. The last person had the fried cod sandwich, and she took one bite of it and pronounced it inedible, overcooked, and very dry. I was the one with the ribs, so I had no personal complaint, and the others did not want to speak up for whatever reason. I did have a taste of everything on the table and agreed 100% with their assessments, so I felt compelled to come here and state how mediocre the food quality was, at least on that occasion. Apparently the catfish is really good, but none of us particularly like catfish so we didn't try it. The service was excellent; the wait staff was very attentive and friendly so no complaints there. But what a disappointment in a meal we were so...