The Smith House

This place is what I imagine heaven will be like. Your family gathered for a meal out, all the southern comfort foods, cooked to perfection, trotted out to your table to your family to devour. Fried chicken… mashed potatoes… greens… mac and cheese… green beans… pot roast… ham… fried okra… I’ve never liked fried okra, but this stuff I couldn’t stop eating. The greens were sweetened and it was divine. Look, I can’t even finish sentences just thinking about it. We came on Sunday and they kept bringing the food out until we couldn’t take it anymore. See what I mean… heaven.
This place has charm on lock. There is a gold mine and lots of history to check out. I look forward to returning in the future. =)

I married into a Yankee family. Otherwise, they are wonderful. We flew from San Francisco spent the first night in Atlanta and then went straight to Dahlonega after going to the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. All four of us enjoyed the service, the food, and the hospitality very much. I give it my highest recommendation.

This is the classic Southern food restaurant, served family style with old-​fashioned comfort food. It certainly is a place to enjoy fried chicken, chicken-​fried steak, fried okra, biscuits and everything else that satisfies the Southern craving. It was a pleasant surprise to come upon this place on a recent visit and we all enjoyed our meals. Make sure to try the summer squash relish! Reasonably priced and an excellent staff!

This is a cute place from outside and such a great concept as a family style restaurant. It is perfect for groups since many people can sit at one large table. If you are a small group you will be sat with other people. The staff is friendly and on Sundays it is all you can eat. It even has a mine and some history downstairs.
Unfortunately, there are not many staff members so they are not very attentive with refills of drinks or seconds on food items. The meat selection of fried chicken and stewed beef is very good but all of their sides taste like canned food warmed in a microwave before serving. This makes the beans, corn, mashed potatoes and even the Mac n cheese mushy and not flavorful.
For $ 18 per person it is over priced for what you get. I would have no problem paying $ 18 if it was fresh and of they had seasonal Southern items. For the quality it should be under $ 10 in my opinion. This is probably why others rate them so poorly. The dessert and coffee is not worth mentioning. This is our second time visiting and the food was mediocre then as well. We will try somewhere else next time we are in the area.

Feeding frenzie…2 sets of strangers forced to sit together vying for tiny portions. 8 of us aharedfood for 4. Complete madhouse. Servers were rude… not eorth 15.00

Drove from the cabin in Ellijay. Always worth the drive from anywhere! The best fried chicken with 3 more meats and tons of fresh veggies. So good it’ll make you slap your granny!

If you like family style eating, you will love The Smith House. It is reasonably priced and great food for the money.
You can see where they used to mine for gold right inside the restaurant.
It is also great for large groups and families.

I vow not to set foot near this pathetic attempt at southern food ever again. I will also do what I can to keep anyone from eating at this trough. If you want proper southern fair… go to The Dillard House. Also, the fact that it’s an all you can eat restaurant, and you are unable to take even a single to go box with you, is horribly wasteful. I felt really bad that all of their leftover food is thrown away! No donations to any shelters or the like. On a side note… whomever did their most recent renovation was a shabby chic hack. It looks atrocious. If you love proper southern food… stand clear of this place. Hugs and kisses.

I had been waiting years to check this place out. We recently found ourselves in dawsonville for the day and decided to drive a little further to see what all the hype was about.
We are accustomed to eating family style at the Dillard house (the six flags of southern food!) and were expecting a similar experience at the smith house. Here’s what we got:
— a depressing nursing home ambience that was pretty understaffed. Okay, I think. We’ll get served up some amazing food to make up for it.
— fried chicken and sweet tea were the real deal. All other vegetables tasted «institutional». Really? It’s summer in the south and I’m being served green beans out of a can?
— oh well, we say. At least we can behave like gluttons to get our money’s worth. But alas, we became full, and asked if we could have a to go box for our paltry looking leftovers.
— to which the waiter replied «no», to-​go boxes are not their policy. My husband asked «why?» and proceeded to ask what happens to the food?
— here’s the kicker: they throw it away!!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this establishment would rather put your food in the trash than charge you an extra 50cents or so to carry it home.
So in a nutshell, we paid 60 plus dollars to feed 3 people some canned green beans and frozen okra with some country time lemonade.
Please please pay a few more dollars at the Dillard house for the real deal.

The food is like cafeteria style food. It was the worst mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had. The chicken and roast beef were decent. The breads were old and not even tasty. The dessert was not good. This is NOT worth the money. Even the tea and lemonade were not good. The bonus is that they throw away all the food you don’t eat. Save your money!!!

Yum ! In the Spring, I came here with a large group of students for lunch. The food came out quickly and was delicious. So many choices! Great Staff and Wonderful Southern Food. I can’t wait to go back.

My friends and family had a special occasion and decided to go to the Smith House. Reservations were called in a week in advance because of the large group. Changed needed to be made twice, and twice we were
told they didn’t know what reservation we were talking about. However, upon arrival they were expecting us. We were seated at separate tables but were never told in advance that we wouldn’t be sitting together. It was disappointing because family had traveled from as far as Chicago and Jacksonville to spend time together.
When checking in at the hostess stand, the hostess was rude and not accommodating to our needs. We were herded downstairs and forced to stand in a straight line without the children being aloud to move around. Then, when released from the line to approach the table, another rude woman was waiting to demand a ticket. «I need your ticket! I need your ticket!» The one in our party who had paid was at the end of our line and she seemed as though she couldn’t wait another second to get «our ticket».
The food was already on the table and most of it was pleasant but nothing to make a fuss over. The lack of hospitality overshadowed the cuisine. We spent a lot of money at this place but we were treated like it didn’t matter that we chose to spend our hard earned money there. I have received friendlier service at the local supermarket.
I will never have a family event there again and will probably never go there again.
Learn something about customer service. You’ve been in the business long enough to know better.

We loved this place. Beautifully decorated. Right downtown. No room service or amenities but perfect location. The bed was the most comfortable ever. We will definitely come back. We do wish the front desk was more friendly.

Lots of food, not good quality. 2 stars for friendly and attentive servers and the quantity of food. Cracker Barrel has better country fare. Skip this place unless you want to visit for the historical inside, which isn’t much downstairs in the dining room. Convenient location, pricing was $ 17.95/adult and our 3 year old was free (thank goodness). Seek elsewhere for true home cooked country food.
The okra and creamed corn were the tastiest of the spread.

There’s something satisfying, almost nostalgic, about eating a meal served family style. I rather like meeting strangers over a common table and sharing our stories as we get to know each other. It’s part of the charm of The Smith House and the ample platters of food seem to taste a little better in such an atmosphere.
During a recent lunch we were served fried chicken, sliced ham, sweet potatoes, cream corn, fried okra, collard greens, green beans, whipped potatoes and coleslaw along with a basket of cornbread and biscuits. It’s the kind of food you’ll find in dozens of cafeterias across the South and they’re not shy about refilling bowls and bringing more food. While I loved all the veggies, the food was pretty average tasting, not bad but nothing to write home about. The batter on the fried chicken was soggy, not crispy, and the ham looked dull and grey as if it had been boiled. I was disappointed we weren’t offered a beef entrée like roast beef or pot roast or Salisbury steak, but maybe that’s only offered at night. Dessert was a little square of yellow cake with strawberries and whipped cream, what passes for strawberry shortcake at the Smith House. Your mom probably served it many times, so enjoy the memories it conjures up!
One suggestion is to post the day’s menu at the top of the stairs before descending to the dining room.
The Smith House is a place you visit for the experience as much as for the food. So you owe it to yourself to try it at least once. Whether you return is up to you.

I was very unimpressed with this place. The service was decent, but all else was nothing to write home about. We had a rehearsal dinner here. Lots of family style portions of over-​saturated chicken, not good Mac and cheese, rolls, fried okra, cole slaw, creamed corn, and roast beef. Husband said the beef was good. I tried the creamed corn… just okay. Had the Mac n cheese, which was not tasty at all. Dessert was strawberry shortcake, and that was decent. It had whip cream and strawberries (not fresh). Sorry, this place just wasn’t for me.

This is for the Inn not the restaurant as we didn’t eat there. The beds are very comfortable. Our first night stay we were in a larger room and it was clean and no complaints. Our second night stay a few days later we were in a smaller room and it was nice and clean also. I think the maid forgot to vacuum though. We were a very last minute reservation though. We were glad they could get us in as the B n B we wanted to stay at was completely booked.
All in all not a bad place to stay and it’s right down the street from the square. So you are within walking distance of all it has to offer.

My boyfriend and I were looking for a place for a late lunch and honestly decided to go to this place because his last name is Smith and the reviews were good. Lol. We weren’t disappointed :-) The staff was very nice and our waiter was very attentive without being overly bothersome considering we were the only people eating there right before close. Even though they were about to close, the food was hot and «Mom’s Southern Cookin’» good! We both made comments to each other through the meal that it reminded us of home cooked meals. The fried chicken was juicy, great green beans, candied yams, and cream corn! Another great part… all you can eat!!! Which was great for his big appetite :-) If you’re in the area, don’t miss out on it!

This place serves up some serious southern cooking on Sundays!
Yesterday after running all around Dahlonega looking for a wedding venue the bride, future in laws, and myself were starving for lunch and no one could really make up their mind where they wanted to eat. After doing a quick search on the Unilocal app we decided on Smith House due to their good reviews. Boy am I glad we did!
On Sundays Smith House offers an all you can eat southern lunch served family style which worked great for us. Of course they like to fill up the table so we got stuck sitting with another family which I felt sorry for as we aren’t the most sophisticated people to dine with. Our servers here were very attentive to our needs and brought out more food than could feed an army; just hope that they take all the leftovers to a homeless shelter or something. The all you can eat meal included cornbread muffins and dinner rolls to start, then out comes fried chicken, pot roast in gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli casserole, fried okra, creamed corn, and yams. Everything was so great, but I really give kudos to the pot roast in gravy as it was so tender you could cut it with a fork and it melted in your mouth.
After lunch we noticed this place also had an attraction to visit. They have an old gold mine in the restaurant. Not really much too it, looks like a big well; but still cool none the less.

Country family dining at its best! We went for a drive through the mountains and ended up at the Smith House and could not get over the overwhelming amount of food that kept being put on the table. We’d finish one bowl and another would magically appear.
I have been here several times since and I enjoy everything from the strangers we sit with that become great company, the food that literally sticks to your bones and the ambience of being in the basement of this beautiful old house.
The sweet tea could have been used to fill the humingbird feeder or throw you in to a diabetic shock but we kept on smiling and nodding every time the waitress offered a refill! Fried chicken, pot roast, creamed spinach, potatoes, sweet corn, squash casserole, macaroni and cheese and strawberry short cake for dessert.
Thank God the stairs are the entrance and exit to this place or I’d never burn off the delicious calories!