The Falls at Blue Ridge | Restaurant — Restaurant in Talking Rock

I'll start with the better part of the review for my mother's birthday lunch. Very nice ambiance and layout, inside and out. Our waitress was kind and attentive. The bread service was nice. Who doesn't love homemade focaccia? The four of us enjoyed our meals, but the lamb shank was a bit dry. For dessert, I & my mother ordered the crème brûlée, which they were unfortunately of, so I opted for the cannoli. I'm not sure if the pâtissier forgot to sweeten the filling or if it was intentionally made that way. There's certainly room for improvement there. The one serious issue I had was the parking situation. There was some minor road construction on the property, which is fine, BUT they could've made this information known via email or phone call as I made the reservation one week in advance. The gate happened to be open thanks to a UPS driver leaving, so I entered. The road to the restaurant was blocked off, and the occupants of the two different grounds vehicles that approached were completely dumbfounded on my being there. We were informed of the situation and told to park behind a building off to the right and were to be shuttled via golf cart to the restaurant from there. Mind you, it's 98 degrees out, and I have my 90 year old grandmother also with me. We were refused my request to drive down to the restaurant even with the golf cart leading us down the service road. My grandmother struggled getting up onto the cart and back off of it. Once again, she is 90 years old! Upon paying the bill, a staff member should have contacted the 'chauffeur' to be at the door to return us back to the car so we wouldn't have to stand around and wait. He also said "well I hope the cart can make it up the hill," as if it's our fault the four of us had no other way to return to where we were parked. I worked several years in the hospitality business in North Georgia, I know how hard it can be to find good employees woth the proper mindset in these rural areas. But the parking situation was absolutely unacceptable and handled very poorly. What if one of us were in a wheelchair? Inform your patrons of construction! Also, the manager (or whoever, as he didn't introduce himself when he walked up to our table) seemed disheveled and rather unprofessional with his body language. Wanting to introduce yourself to customers is all very good, but making excuses that you didn't come to the table earlier because you were busy on the phone with the property owners in Miami (weird location drop by the way, not impressive if that's what he was going for) was rather unnecessary. The Ellijay area has been in dire need of a finer dining establishment. I had very high hopes for this restaurant and left quite...

The Falls at Blue Ridge: Where the Salmon’s Fancy and the Bartenders Know More Than Your Dad

So my girlfriend and I go to this place called The Falls at Blue Ridge Restaurant. First off—there are actual waterfalls. Like real ones. I thought maybe it was a metaphor, like “the falls” meant you get emotionally overwhelmed by how expensive dinner is. But no. There are legit waterfalls, lights glowing like you’re eating dinner inside a screensaver.

It’s like if Narnia and a Restoration Hardware had a baby, and that baby grew up to be a very successful hospitality entrepreneur.

We sat outside for an hour before dinner in this magic wonderland, and it felt like we accidentally wandered into a nature documentary. Stone walkways winding around the place, everything perfectly lit like Mother Nature hired an interior designer. You’re surrounded by water, glowing lights, architectural precision…just magical.

We had dinner at the bar and when we sat down, and I was impressed with the beautifully backlit Onyx countertops, and with the barstools that were really comfortable. You don’t think about that until you’re at a fancy place where the chairs feel like they were designed by a chiropractor with anger issues.

At the bar we meet Justin. Now, Justin isn’t just a bartender. This guy’s a mixologist-slash-historian-slash-dream-weaver. He tells us the entire backstory of the restaurant like it’s a Ken Burns documentary. I swear by the end, I wanted to buy a t-shirt and start a fan club. We felt like we were part of the family.

He’s got a co-bartender, Bobby, who’s also incredible. These two are like the Avengers of cocktails. You ask for a drink, and it shows up tasting like the beverage equivalent of a standing ovation.

We start with the Wagyu sliders. Fancy word. I looked it up later—it’s just a cow that got pampered like it works at Google. They were almost a meal in themselves. The fries? I am a French fry connoisseur, and I have never seen anything like this…They’re wide but thin. Like the potato couldn’t decide what it wanted to be when it grew up. But they were so good, I think I blacked out for a minute. Even the ketchup tasted different.

Dinner was salmon, and it was perfectly cooked. Like if salmon had a Pinterest page, this would be the cover photo. I don’t even usually like salmon, but I ate it and started questioning things about myself.

All in all, The Falls at Blue Ridge is the kind of place where you leave thinking, “I should start dressing better.” Go for the food, stay for the bartenders, and bring someone who looks like they belong there so you don’t get mistaken...

My husband and I are extremely disappointed. Knowing that the month of October is a very busy time in North Georgia, we called The Falls Restaurant in Blue Ridge at the beginning of the summer to make dinner reservations for our anniversary. When I called, the gentleman taking reservations informed me that there was a wedding on that Saturday. When o asked about the following Saturday, he told me there was a wedding on every Saturday in the month of October. However, he did inform us that there were opening for dinner the Friday night. So, we made dinner reservations for the Friday night. Right after making the reservation, we booked and paid for a hotel to spend the night since we love just far enough that it would not make for a pleasant evening to drive home after dinner. About 2 weeks from the reservation, I called to confirm. It was the manager Jeffrey whom I spoke with this time. He then informed me that there was no reservation for us. I explained the situation and that we had booked and paid for a hotel. He said he needed to speak with the wedding coordinator Laura to see what happened and would call me the next day. Late afternoon, when I did not hear from him, I called him to see if there was any clarification on the situation. He said he was still waiting to hear from Laura but not to worry because he “works for billionaires” and so he would “make it right.” He even said “We sometimes offer a payment for dinner at a different restaurant in town.” We did not ask for anything, but I was very impressed with his willingness to do something for us since it was our anniversary and we paid for a hotel. He even asked for my phone number and text me asking which hotel we were staying in. I never heard from him again. Strangely enough, about a week and half after our conversation, my husband received a text from the restaurant saying that our reservation had been cancelled-the very reservation that the manager Jeffrey said did not exist. We have never been treated like this by any restaurant. We would have preferred absolute honesty than the placating lies with no intention to “make it right.” It is a shame. The pictures look lovely and we have heard the food is good. But if a manager does not respect all costumers and has no problem lying, it is not a place for us to give our business to...