Main Street Grill &BBQ — Restaurant in Tallulah Falls

This was my mistake of an otherwise nice and beautiful brisk Fall Saturday afternoon. Over some years in the past, we had eaten several times in a restaurant at this very same location on 441. We recalled liking our prior experiences. This restaurant is NOT the restaurant from our memories. This restaurant now has a new owner and operates under a different name and with a staff which I’d can not recommend. I wish we had just passed it by on our way home. We decided to stop to eat after 3:30. The “lunch rush” could not have been the cause of our less than acceptable experience yesterday.

As we entered onto the restaurant’s porch section, we asked a server IF there were any available tables inside. We were assured by the server that there was and for us to “just go in & have a seat”. Inside, there was no usual or expected “Please Wait To Be Seated” or “Seat Yourself” sign in place. Once inside, NO staff even greeted us. It’s a rather small narrow restaurant inside, so it’s not difficult to see customers entering, exiting, dining or waiting. There were only 3 previously uncleared tables to select from. So we sat at the smallest table near the front door and then waited & waited to be acknowledged by any inside staff. Over 10 minutes went by and I finally made eye contact with a non-server employee. I advised her that the beverage glasses and crumpled up paper towels left on the table were not ours. She took the dirty glasses and debris away and then actually asked IF we’d like our table wiped off. You’d think wiping off and sanitizing their tables would have been automatic protocol during the Covid pandemic. Also, I did not notice any wiping down of condiment or BBQ sauce bottles, etc. with clean clothes or cleaner. I only saw servers use a wet cloth from a water container which they simply wrung out and reused on tables. Luckily since Covid, I carry tiny packets of sanitizing wipes for my eyeglasses & cell phone. Also, none of the servers were wearing masks. (Apparently, in some smaller restaurants this is not uncommon.) Servers wearing masks would have been appreciated.

Unfortunately, due to our periods of waiting and the location of our table it made it easy to overhear multiple discussions between servers and manager. Manager asked servers more than once about their table assignments of the day. There seemed to be some confusion. Perhaps that confusion lead to our not being acknowledged or attended to in a timely manner.

Probably another 10 minutes transpired before an actual server came to our table with menus. She offered some vague apology and took our soft drink order. Several minutes later, she returned and took our food order. Our food came in probably 20 minutes. We both ordered the pulled BBQ pork entrees plate that came with 2 sides. I had the French fries plus cinnamon apples and my husband had the fries and baked beans. The portions on the BBQ pork & fries were more than ample. The portion size of the second sides was almost a joke. Each of the second sides came in very tiny, almost tartar sauce or catsup condiment size, cups. The BBQ pork would have probably been decent IF it had been served hot or at least warm. The fries did arrive hot like they had just been taken out of the fryer. So did someone forget to heat up the BBQ? The baked beans were nothing more than pork & beans out of a can. The cinnamon apples were decent - - all tiny 4 small pieces. Had the pulled pork been hot or at least warmed, I would have probably elevated my rating to 2 stars (from 1). In all fairness, I was pleasantly surprised to notice a 95 health rating score posted at the checkout register area. However, I could NOT read the date of that Health Dept. score posting. As a footnote, the 2 restrooms (which are now unisex) are still outside in the back. They have not been improved at all over the years. They were out of TP and not in desirable shape.

As is, Main St. Grill & BBQ needs a great deal of improvement...

So my family and I usually do not return to places after bad service but we like some of the food there and it’s close to our home so we decided to give it a second chance. First time we sat on the patio. We were waited on fairly quickly but food took quite a while to come out. Stew was cold but was still very good. As for everything else, it wasn’t bad just isn’t worth what they charge. Never was checked on for refills and had to go ask for one inside. The waitress gave me a new cup of tea and when I sat down and took a drink I noticed the cup was very dirty and had lipstick on it. All the waitress did when I took it back in was laugh and say sorry. Then when I went to pay she told me an amount way more than I had added up from the menu prices. She told me the prices had changed but said she could not honor the prices that were on the menu. Not only did we get charged $9.00 for a kids meal that only was a small Hawaiian bun with half of a frozen burger patty plain and an applesauce but I ended up paying $15+ more for our bill than stated on the menu. We said we wouldn’t go back but my wife said we should try again. Needless to say we sat inside this time in the hopes of better service. The waitress was much better and things went much faster. However, when it came time to pay the same thing happened. When I was told the total I knew it was wrong. $1.00 too much for a kids meal that was supposed to include the drink but was charged $3 more for that, $4.00 too much for two steak phillys, $1.00 too much for a pork plate. This time the waitress did say she would honor the prices in the menu but I wonder just how many people don’t pay attention to these things. I made sure to let some patrons know on my way out. Stew was still good but not hot. I will say that they have the best sweet potato fries I have ever eaten but that’s not enough of a good reason to go back. I truly do not believe if it weren’t for their location that they would never make it.

REPLY TO OWNER I never complain about prices having to go up. I was pointing out that your prices were not accurate on your menu! Also, when we can go pretty much anywhere else and pay $6 or less for a decent kids meal then yes you charge too much. Do you not want to comment about the nasty cup that was filled with tea and given to me? Maybe even worry about the waitress laughing when she said sorry? I would also advise you to serve the stew heated instead of cold. I noticed other people complained about that as well. As far as trying any other places, we have been to pretty much every restaurant in Rabun multiple times and never have a problem. The only reason you noticed this was my only review is because my wife always does...

We are camping at Tallulah Gorge State Park and saw these signs on the side if the road for fried tomatoes, homemade hamburgers, BBQ, BBQ Chicken. I love fried tomatoes! Even after going to Walmart in Clayton and going thru the small town, I just had to go get me some fried tomatoes! The appearance of the outside was clean and rustic looking. There were patriotic decore lining the front of the building. Off to thecsidecwas a covered outdoir setting area with a couple of patrons enjoying there food. We enter thru a very pleasant large screen porch. Once we entered into the inside of the restaurant, we were greeted immediately by a very friendly server/hostess. She smiled and said welcome, sit were ever like! We chose to sit at a high top table on the screened porch. She brought us menus and fighting utensils. My husband and I immediately order the fried green tomatoes. They came out quite quickly. The fried tomatoes were golden brown and 🔥. Freshly cooked! She gave us some time to look over the menu. The menu only had two sides and did not over whelm you with a lot of choices. I settled on fried catfish filets with homemade Brunswick stew and salad as my dish. My husband selected angus steak patty with salad and cinnamon apples. Our salads were brought out promptly. The plate was staged to look very appetizing. The salad contained lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, bacon bits and croutons. It was very fresh and crisp. Now for the main meal. My catfish filled my plate! I had to let it cool before I could dig into it. I finished off the brunswich stew and buttered rolled. Ibshoukd have gotten me some Brunswick stew to go! The catfish was very good with a nice golden brown crust and white flake inside. I could not eat it all. Now for my husband angus steak patty, it looked a little small but I was amazed because, his words, and he is a very picky food critic. "This is actually good and you can tell the quality of the meat is realy good." After we were done, the server came out to talk to us. They had only been open for 6 weeks and she was the owner. If you are ever in this part of the woods, go visit this place! You...