Cool Breeze – The Oar House

Wow. Where to begin
I ordered ribs full rack. I’m a big rib lover. It’s an expensive place to eat but I LOVE ribs.
The server took forever just to take the order but that’s not the focus of this review…
The ribs were so tough that I had to use a fork to even ATTEMPT to eat it. I ended up bending the fork so instead of being charged for the destruction of a fork, I ordered dessert just to make sure I had SOME type of food.
Although I had friends who had worked there, the quality of the ribs were so bad that I expressed my concerns to the server. He said he would express his concern to the owner.
I assumed I wouldn’t have to pay for the ribs because I could only take a single bite and I paid for ribs, not jerky. But the owners decided just to give me my dessert half off.
This isn’t a cheap place. So the manager saw that I barely touched my ribs and that I was obviously upset. So instead of taking the EXPENSIVE ribs off the ticket, he gave me my dessert half off.
Avoid this place if at all possible. There are far better places to eat and oh my goodness so much cheaper.

We called for reservations for a party of five. I was told it would be better to wait until 7:30 p.m. «So we can serve you better.» We arrived on time and waited although there were tables available. We were seated at an outside table that had no tablecloth or placemats or dinnerware. Our wait person seemed confused from the start. It took a couple of request to get water and a couple more to get drinks. Many of the items on the menu were not available (including baked potatoes). Once we ordered, it took an hour to be served (now approaching 9:00 p.m.). No fly by by management nor an apology from the wait person.
In the meantime, we were entertained by a vocalist/​guitarist who was great!!! Thank God for him!
When the food arrived it was great! Presentation and preparation and seasonings were to everyone’s liking.
Great setting, great food, great entertainment and TERRIBLE service. Management could cure this easily with proper training and oversite. Come on Oar House… those of us who have been coming there for years deserve better.

Wonderful, relaxing creekside dining. Food was outstanding. Great atmosphere. I highly recommend it for a special evening.

Wow! Some of the best food and ambiance we’ve enjoyed in a while. While visiting the area, a group of us had such a great dinner, we returned for a spectacular brunch the next day. Our dinner steaks and salmon were cooked to perfection and delish. Must-​have side: garlic mashed potatoes. The bread pudding — done in triangular shapes with slightly crispy edges with rum sauce — was divine. Crab cake appetizers were yummy but the dates wrapped in bacon and stuffed with house-​made sausage and blue cheese were brilliant. For brunch, Cool Breeze offers delightful spins on the usual fare. We tried artichoke scrambled eggs, Belgian waffles topped with candied pecan apples, a Georgia Benedict with cornbread, pork, egg and a crab cake Benedict. All were great with the Georgia Benedict earning the most votes for our fav.
Cool Breeze — The Oar House has warm, hospitable service and cozy and quiet interior dining areas. We had pre-​dinner drinks on the gorgeous lower back area on the river surrounded by huge trees with live music. There’s also a sizable outside upper deck area.

This place has sooooooo much potential!!! The place itself was great! The deck outside and all the seating along the river was beautiful! The staff were all young timid girls… We seemed to throw our waitress off when we said we didn’t want dinner… Just appetizers and drinks!
(It’s okay… Some people only want appetizers and drinks!!)
They had live music which was nice…
The Sangria was good and the Spinach & Artichoke dip was really tasty!
It took a little too long to get our drinks.
And I don’t think the girls could handle a busy day/​night!
We did enjoy ourselves though…
And wish your establishment Good Luck!!!

Lunch on Saturday, sat by the window. Beautiful nature setting with a view of the river. Our party of four had prompt service, good portions, and above average food. I had the Reuben sandwich with tomato, cucumber, and feta salad. I enjoyed the meal and the service.

Came here for lunch on a Monday holiday. Extensive lunch menu with reasonable prices. Never seen a Lamb Burger before, but I went with the good old Reuben. Beer Cheese soup was excellent. Eating partner had chicken Caesar wrap. Prompt friendly service. New management seems to be have settled in.

Some good friends of ours took us to their favorite neighborhood restaurant in the North Georgia mountains. We were not expecting much, but were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful surroundings and the homey/​country atmosphere. Unfortunately, although it was a gorgeous Saturday evening, and even though the place appeared only half full, they said they were «slammed» and it took forever even be seated. Once we were seated outside it took 10 minutes for our server to show up, and went downhill from there. We were sitting outside for close to two hours and our entrée had not even arrived. We ordered cocktails and two appetizers, which took about an hour to appear. Then 30 minutes later our salads came out. At the two hour mark the waitress appeared and said «oh, sorry, the kitchen just told me that we’re out of the prime rib.» Three of the four in the party ordered that entrée, and they only realized this at that point in the process??? We decided to give up at that point and leave. We even paid for our food… which actually should have been comped since they lost at least $ 100 on the rest of our tab! Our server was sweet as could be, but apparently the management did not prepare for how «busy» they would be. There was a bike race in Dahlonega and it was gorgeous weather… how can you not plan ahead thinking it would be busy??? I felt bad for the poor waitress, as when they realized that they ran out of our entrée the manager/​owner himself should have come to the table. He gave us a half-​hearted apology when we were leaving, but it was too little too late. Long story short, the new management has a lot of growing to do. This location has potential, but unfortunately this is a big two thumbs down.

We went for dinner on a rainy night so we couldn’t sit by the river. That was the only disappointment of the evening. Nice beer selection and a wonderfully prepared meal. We had prime rib, a ribeye and the crab cakes. Good portions and everything from the service to the entertainment was spot on. One of the new owners was there during the evening, we might have dressed him up a bit more but it was nice to see him being involved.

The short review incase you dint want to read my full experience.
I has been here prior to Cool Breeze owning it and had an awesome meal. So yummy that i have been wanting to go back. I came now, post buyout and never got service. Only come here if you don’t mind sitting around without service and waiting for staff to notice your sitting at a table. We walked out after sitting for over 15 minutes without bring acknowledged. For fine dining the tables are the sane wrought iron ones I have on my own deck.
I normally have a date night with my boyfriend and we like to go to local, independent places. We had last been here about a year ago and for the last month I has been wanting to go here since the food was amazing along with the scenery. We made a reservation for Saturday night and I was super excited, but that’s all the excitement I would get from Cool Breeze Oar House.
We arrived and our table wasn’t ready. No big deal the hostess said she would get it setup. She returned, took us to a seat on the deck, which was the exact same table we has last time, and said our server would be right with us. Well a sever never did stop by. The hostess did give us some water and again said someone would be right with us. We waited just over 15 minutes in which time a sever passed us 4 times without acknowledging us and a fable for seven got setup and were beginning to be sat. At that point I called it and said let’s go we aren’t being acknowledged. Upon walking out I told the hostess we were leaving because no one came by the table and obviously they didn’t have time to serve us. It would have been one thing to have someone come by and say there were busy and it would be a little longer. Also the restaurant was not full and maybe was 40% occupied so it was even more strange to be so ignored.
We hopped in the car and went to The Corkscrew where we has a delightful 3 course meal.
I am writing such a long review because I let the restaurants Facebook page know of my experience. They posted a reply, told me they have a 99% satisfaction rate and then took down my post. Guess that it how they keep such high ratings. Take away the bad experiences and sweep them away to disguise your failings.