The Smith House Historic Inn and Restaurant - Dahlonega
E. Lisa (Peachy in Georgia) This review is specifically for the Thanksgiving dinner at the Smith House! I’ve been here for other meals and they were delicious, but we just went to the Thanksgiving feast and I wanted to review that for other people who were curious about the experience.
We parked behind the Smith House, down the hill and on the UNG campus. There’s a whole lot of parking over there on Thanksgiving because all the kids are gone for the holiday. Then, we walked back up the hill to the restaurant.
They do not take reservations for Thanksgiving and they will be BUSY. Please know, that means you are going to have quite a wait! The food is worth it, but if you have senior citizens in your group or children that will have trouble being patient, this could be challenging for you. Bring snacks and something to keep the kids entertained.
I had called a few days before and asked when the least busy time of day would be for us to come on Thanksgiving. I was told to come at 2 o’clock, which we did. I should also have asked how long the wait was going to be at that time – and I would’ve planned differently, lol.
We were a party of 3 and we waited about 90 minutes before getting seated. However, when we were finished eating it was a little after 5 o’clock and there were very few people waiting at that time, so I would say if you can wait until later in the day for your meal this might be the better plan!
There are very few places to sit while you’re waiting, so a lot of folks were just standing outside on the lawn waiting to be called and it was a chilly day. You can wait in the lobby, but it is crowded and again, there aren’t places to sit although inside, you can get beer or wine or sodas while you wait and explore the little gift shop and the little gold mining museum downstairs as well.
You are given a ticket when you check in. They call groups of ticket numbers to pay for their meal at the desk in the lobby in advance when seating becomes available for your dining group. You are asked at the time of payment to leave your tip and they assured me that the money we were leaving is going to towards our server downstairs.
When we were finally taken downstairs to dine, we were HUNGRY! We were sat family style at a table with seven other people. There was tea, lemonade or water to drink and the servers came around with carts of food for us. The servers were very busy, but everyone was so sweet and had a smile on their face.
We got delicious yeast rolls and corn muffins and butter before the majority of the food came out and then the table was just covered in Thanksgiving favorites!
In addition to platters of turkey, ham and gravy, they also serve their amazing fried chicken at the Thanksgiving meal. Y’all, this was THE reason we went to the Smith House on Thanksgiving – we were going to get a traditional Thanksgiving meal with family a few days later, so I wanted that fried chicken and it was THE BEST!
The servers bring out bowls of awesome sides - crispy fried okra, creamy macaroni and cheese, silky creamed corn, dressing and cranberry sauce and more. Everything was southern perfection. I was surprised mashed potatoes were not on the menu, but it’s not like we went hungry without them!
Everyone passes the sides around the table and takes their fill. If your table runs out of something, you can request another bowl of it from your server.
After the main meal, coffee was served with pumpkin pie and pecan pie. I asked for one slice of each because, why not?! I thought the pecan pie was actually the better of the two!
I would absolutely go back here for the Thanksgiving feast again. But I would also eat a little snacky before I left the house now that I know the wait is going to be significant lol.