Corkscrew Cafe

My wife and I took a party of 9 to the Corkscrew Café this past weekend to celebrate my birthday. The entire experience was a train wreck from start to finish. We should have known where things were headed when the server first came out and apologized for her having to take care of us. She took our drink orders and that’s when we first noticed there might be a problem. It took about 15 minutes to get our drinks, but at that point we just figured maybe the bar was busy. We then were ready to place our orders and another telltale sign from the server, «I hope I don’t get this all screwed up, I don’t know what I’m doing.» Oh boy, here we go.
Well, we place our orders, order another round of drinks at which time we’re told they’ve run out of one of their draft beers that half the people at the table are drinking. Ok, still not a huge deal, we picked a different beer. Time goes by… a lot of time. It’s now 9:30 when they finally start bringing out our meals, and our reservation was at 8pm so we placed our dinner orders around 8:30. They finish bringing out the meals and we are 2 meals short, one of them mine. They assure us that they’re coming shortly. About 5 minutes later they show up with one meal, but not mine. Five minutes later they come out and tell me they’re out of short ribs, what I had ordered for dinner! Most everyone in the party at at least half done eating by now and they’re going to start cooking something else for me. I order duck figuring that might be the quickest to prepare and they tell me they’ll have it ready in 5 – 10 minutes. It’s now 9:50, I have no food and everyone else in my party is done eating when they FINALLY bring my dinner, the driest duck I’ve ever had, it was horrible! As well, I found out later that my wife’s pork chop was «like a hockey puck» as she put it and the short ribs that they had supposedly run out of was actually pot roast and not very good.
I’ll be quite frank, I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so infuriated in a restaurant before. The Manager finally came out and apologized for not coming out sooner, but he «was tied up in the kitchen washing dishes!» WTF!!! He then shares that they actually didn’t run out of the beer we were drinking, the keg just needed to be swapped out, but our server was filling in as bartender also and didn’t know how to do that!
They did comp my meal and the one other meal that came out 5 – 10 minutes and gave everyone else a 50% discount on their bill, which I guess is all they could do at that point. But when you get a party together like that for a special occasion it’s not about the cost of the bill, it’s about having a great evening with friends. They never tried to get in front of the problem, the Manager and Asst Manager never showed their face until the very end, and they never even tried to bring a appetizer or something for me to eat while I waited for my meal.
The Corkscrew Café managed to absolutely ruin my 48^th birthday, but I can assure you they will never have the opportunity to ruin another meal for me and hopefully not for you.
I don’t write reviews unless something exception happens, good or bad. This was exceptionally BAD!

Winner winner chicken dinner! Um yeah so… Corkscrew gets high marks for sure. I tried out their new small plates menu and was pleased with absolutely everything. The Indonesian Stir-​Fry had some zip and distinct flavor. Don’t worry if your palette doesn’t gravitate toward hot food, this wasn’t too spicy for you to handle. I added pancetta because it always rounds out brussel sprouts. The Chicken Roulade was also very good. It’s a deceivingly small portion. Since it’s so small you think you’ll need 3 more but you’ll find this micro plate is stuffed with plenty to keep you full. And actually, I really enjoyed the salad and apricot vinaigrette that came with the dish. And the dessert? Oh wow. It was A-​MA-​ZING! The almond cream pie is a MUST. It’s basically the lightest, fluffiest whipped cream that tastes like wedding cake dream on a plate. The drizzle berry sauce on top is beautiful and tastes great. I was eating this simply delicious dessert like a shameless glutton. I should add the wine list here is great. I was torn between several options (hahaha.just sample all of them). And the service was top-​notch. Everyone is friendly, knowledgeable of the menu, and gives a truly elevated level of fine dining service.

Gross. Just gross. Slow, unattentive service. Almost empty when we arrived. Dirty tables everywhere. Took 20 minutes to get the pretzel appetizer, which was dry and hard like a croûton, not soft and buttery like a pretzel should be. I asked the waitress for an ETA on my salad, and she said it would be a few more minutes. Why should it take 25 minutes for a salad when the restaurant was empty? The chicken roulade came out looking like beef jerky and barely had any meat on the tiny plate. Don’t waste your time with this joint.

We have eaten at the corkscrew twice. Both meals were very good. It is a wonderfully pleasant place to eat that isn’t too expensive. The food is good and the service is friendly and efficient.

Great dining experience. Had Scallops for main entrée, 3 Sisters local white wine, Kentucky Derby chocolate pecan pie. Delicious along with fantastic service.

The steak we had here was one of the best I have ever had but when they changed management at one point the service wained some but the food was still good. You can’t totally blame a restaurant for what their servers do or lack thereof. Because of that we will return again for a great dinner.

Enjoyed a delicious dinner here over Labor Day Weekend. We sat on the patio near the outdoor bar and were severed by the friendliest waitress. Can’t speak to the interior of the restaurant but the outside was inviting and eclectic. Tried the spinach salad, cheese plate, soft baked pretzel, ahi tuna salad, and trout. Great wine and beer selection. Removed a star since they didn’t have several of the dishes we wanted including salmon and duck. Could’ve been due to the busy weekend though. If you’re in the area, you should at least stop by for a drink and explore the old jailhouse grounds.

We’ve spent the past 4 days dining with profesional chefs, with great food day and night. My hubby and I parted from them and went our own way. We found the Corkscrew Café — and wow what a delight! The trout with shitake mushrooms was the best trout we’ve had in a long while. I ordered the eggplant mascarpone and it was simply the best meal I’ve had in eons. Anna was a most delightful server — attentive, friendly, knowledgable, efficient.
All we can say is: HURRY UP AND EAT HERE; with his creativity, ingredients and wonderful sense of balanced flavors, THIS CHEF IS GOING PLACES.

We had dinner earlier tonight. My first time dining here. My partner and I took my parents out to a nice dinner and saw good reviews and it was a «MUST» that we find good quality local and as close to organic as we could find. It is really disheartening that there are too few organically grown vegetables/​fruits and pasture raised (without GMO feed) beef/​pork/​poultry. I feel like I’m in a food desert and I shouldn’t have to say that.
What I know about Corkscrew Café is that they source a lot of local ingredients (now if we can get those vendors to go organic/pasture…I’d be very happy). NOTE TO READERS: it just so happens today (8÷24÷15) Consumer Reports is advising buying organic/​sustainable beef.
I’ll start with the ambiance and service. We were seated in the downstairs outdoor room which is very nice and air conditioned for comfort (clear thick plastic keeps the cool air inside). Our waiter was very professional and gave descriptions of the soup du jour and cheeses for the cheese plate and ran down some of the special items on the menu we needed to be aware of. Service was very good and food came out in a timely manner. We were brought our drinks and a basket of hot french bread slices w/​a dish of soft/​whipped butter w/​a few grains of black volcanic salt… nice touch.
The bathroom for this section of the restaurant is in the old jail part of the restaurant… walk past the wine cave all the way to the back corner for a single unisex bathroom. Pretty creepy but not dirty or unkept… just that you walk past jail cells… its the vibe thing.
The menu looks seasonal and creative dishes were evident here. However, let’s talk about the pricing of the plates. A lot of work needs to be done on this area. I’ll go through the items we ordered, tastes and value.
My parents shared a spinach salad. Excellent salad, flavors were vibrant and the sugar pecans/​bacon pieces/​balsamic dressing w/​blue cheese crumbles really went well together. My partner and I split a Caesar salad. It was pretty good. Size was plenty to share (like the spinach salad), the dressing was just so-​so and the croutons were just so-​so (nice big freshly baked ones would be so much better) and romaine was nice small leaves but the cheese should have been freshly grated or shaved Parm or Asiago. I think this salad needs more attention. The prices for both were very fair (10 and 8 respectively).
Main courses. I had one of the most expensive items on the menu, Five Scallops grilled and atop a long plate of sweet corn w/​poblano, red onion, cilantro and crema (27). Very lovely plating but honestly, the sea scallops were a bit overcooked (just slightly rubbery) and while the corn/​onion/​pepper were nice, there really needs to be something more to justify such a high price. The crema was so little it was almost not there.
My partner ordered the duck (large plate) for 14. The price was the same for the duck salad, however, a large plate should really be a dinner and 1 piece of duck is just not very much. So for say 22 an additional duck leg on a bed of rice or w/​some kind of small potatoes would have been more appropriate. It was really not a large plate (my partner is 6 ft. 5 in. and an athlete).
My father ordered a small plate item. The Ahi tuna (11) was arranged on a long plate (like my scallops) and it was a lovely work of art. However, the pieces of tuna were really small. A lot of plate, little items spread across the plate and small pieces of slightly seared tuna w/​a lovely dressing sprinkled around the dish. A suggestion would be to raise the price to 18 and make nice 1″ x 2″ pieces and add arugula and more heirloom tomatoes. The quality of the tuna and other ingredients were very good (according to my dad).
My mother ordered the Rainbow Trout (22). She raved about this meal. I tasted it and it was really spectacular. I do think the plate lacked a nice little addition of a starch (wild rice would have been perfect w/​this fish dish), but otherwise it was a nice size amt. of trout.
We skipped the dessert menu although it sounded very good and the photos on this Unilocal page for Corkscrew look very good, however, I baked a killer triple lemon cake the other day and we had plenty to await us at home.
I would definitely come back again and I’m hoping that my review will inspire some positive changes with the owner/​chef/​management of this sweet little restaurant. I’m just hoping I can update my rating to a Five Star review!!!

Waitstaff was a bit slow to arrive… Absolutely flawless all the way around after that. Our server was completely engaging, knew the menu and made awesome recommendations.
We were a party of four very well travelled and very discriminating tastes. Not one was without high praise for the entire experience.
Would certainly return when we are in town.

Great food! It was really fresh, and perfectly cooked. The atmosphere was great too, we even found the old jail in the basement fun too! And took lots of pictures.

Absolutely charming. Very friendly and welcoming. Lunch menu was perfect. We ordered the pulled pork sandwich and the chicken salad. Yum!

Indoor and outdoor seating are available. I like that the patio also has a romantic ambiance with a string of lights lining the edges of the ceiling and white table tops with a jar of flowers.
Cheese plate. We said YES even before knowing of what it consisted. We loved the 3 cheeses (with international names I could not remember). It also came with pesto, almonds, and fig jam. This was delicious and highly recommended.
Chicken salad sandwich. I am not a fan of white bread but I did enjoy the chicken salad. It was not as dry as I feared (I have bad memories of dry white bread from childhood).
Pulled pork sandwich. Do not expect to eat all of this and end up with clean hands! I attempted to attack this sandwich with both hands. I enjoyed the tangy slaw atop the pork. It also has pickles. The sandwich is VERY big. I finished the rest with a fork because the bread got too soggy and disintegrated in my hands, resulting in sauce dripping all over.
The waitress is very friendly and a fantastic storyteller. Take her offer to go on a short ghost tour. The history of the building is interesting and very creepy. If you need to use the restroom, use it in their basement before going on the ghost tour down there!

I seem to pick great restaurants. This place has a great atmosphere and friendly staff. The town of Dahlonega is quaint and filled with places I’ve visited over the last four years. They have all been good. This is the best!

So so glad we gave this place a shot.
Amazing food and wonderfully attentive service.
We started with the warm pretzel and beer cheese. So good! One of the best pretzels I’ve ever had and the cheese sauce was good enough to eat on it’s own.
I had the caesar which was great and my husband tried the cauliflower curry bisque. It had such a lovely texture and was so yummy.
We both got the eggplant dish and loved it. Huge servings, I took half home!
We tried the almond and blackberry dessert and it was delightful.
What a great little place to eat in a wonderful little town!

GO! Our experience, 4 adults and 2 kids (3 yrs and 5 yrs), was above excellent! Anna, our server, was knowledgable about everything and one of the best servers I’ve ever been served by. We chose to start with the cheese plate and lamb meatballs, both were tasty, but having come from a winery just before we ate dinner at Corkscrew the cheese plate hit the spot. House made apricot jam and Miti-​blue cheese was a nice pairing that night. Pairings and cheeses change so ask your server. The Caesar salad was house made as well and excellent! The house salad dressing for the night was an orange honey and fresh and delicious. The rainbow trout with shiitake mushrooms was light, ribeye was tender and flavorful and my husband said it was in the top 2 ribeyes he’s eaten anywhere (and he is very particular about his steaks), my filet served with skin skin-​on mashed potatoes and creamed spinach was so tasty, but wasn’t cooked to medium as I ordered. They quickly corrected the mistake and gave me a free dessert to apologize for their error. Our coffee and desserts, great way to end the meal. Chocolate pecan pie was heaven for anyone who loves chocolate pecan pie, the hazelnut Crème brûlée was unexpected with its texture having bits of hazelnut and chunks of chocolate, and the coconut cake was light and perfect with the coffee.
Go! Enjoy a meal and take a look at the pictures around of the local vineyards while you decide on which wine to have with your meal.

I had read the Unilocal reviews and checked this place first after we arrived in Dahlonega around 11:30 a.m. one recent Saturday. I was initially hesitant about it only because they were serving from a brunch menu, and we’d had breakfast early that morning. Plus I’m not really a fan of brunch (I’d prefer it was limited to Sundays too, but then I don’t own a restaurant). The owner /​hostess encouraged us, saying that they did have other menu items. It was the first chilly morning of the fall, and we were hungry, so we forged ahead.
I’m glad we stayed. We found a good portobello mushroom appetizer to share, and we each had a salad (as neither of us wanted a heavy lunch). The mushroom was a bit small, but the salads were well-​proportioned and quite tasty. I also had a glass of wine that our server recommended; it was also good, though a bit pricey.
As we dined, the place really filled up, to the point that when we left there were no vacant tables. I don’t get up to Dahlonega often, but I would eat here again. I’d probably try to check out dinner instead for a follow-​up visit, just for variety.

I’m rating this 4 place stars because the price was far higher than I think it should be when comparing to many other places we’ve eaten and the food was only 3 stars. My absolute favorite take away from this place was finding an amazing new beer they serve called the Curious Traveler. Its a Lemon Shady and its sweet, light, and refreshing. Not like a typical beer. Our bill for 2 people came out to be $ 120, and we travel a lot, eating at many high end places for much less. Compared to a restaurant like The Husk (owned by a Food Network Chef) in Downtown Charleston, we only paid $ 75 there. The atmosphere and live music was 5 stars, the food was 3 stars, and the bill was 2 stars.

The only 5 star rating I’ve ever given.
Our waitress was very professional, friendly, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. Made great suggestions when we asked.
Good wine/​beer list. And, they do have a cork/​carry policy! Yay! I didn’t have to go home drunk just to finish the bottle.
Food was PHENOMENAL. Bread came out warm, crusty on the outside and so soft on the inside. Caesar salad with anchovies very good. For my main course, I had the cider brined pork chop which was so tender, flavorful, and cooked to perfection. My husband had the rib eye steak and said it was very good. We shared a dessert, but I can’t remember what the name of it was. Chocolatey and a raspberry center. Yummo.

Great food, attentive service, and while I might have dinged them a star on the atmosphere, (*spoiler alert*) the location’s history made up for it.
SETTING: It’s a white table cloth restaurant in Dahlonega – which should say it all right there. Big band music plays softly in the background, and there’s a mid-​20^th century feel to the type of fancy the restaurant puts on – although I’m not totally convinced it’s intentional. Back in the day, the city fire station, town hall (or courthouse, maybe I’m remembering it wrong???) was apparently located where Corkscrew sits today with the jail downstairs. Cells are still intact, a waitress informed us… pretty neat, if you ask me.
SERVICE: Our waitress was attentive, professional, knowledgeable on the nightly specials, and overall seemed like a real sweetheart.
FOOD: Warm bread with pesto butter (yum!) was put out for us immediately. We ordered a couple glasses of wine that were meh, but we’re not huge wine folks anyway. I ordered the tomato basil bisque soup special to start and the stuffed portobello app as my main entrée. Both were fantastic. My parents ordered the tuna and vegetable linguini, and were both pleased as well. Initial presentation on the dishes was beautiful. The food ended up being hearty while also feeling healthy and perfectly proportioned. We skipped out on dessert, but the offerings sounded delicious as well.
Overall a pleasant, warm experience… doubt you could find much better in Dahlonega.