The Copper Door

Dined there last night for pre-​Valentine celebration. The only thing I am upset about is that I didn’t find this restaurant sooner! Especially considering it’s only 35 minutes from my house outside Franklin, NC.. Unbelievable excellence for a small town mountain restaurant. Matter fact we have a reservation for Ruth Chris in Asheville tonight. We’re going to cancel it and go back to the Copper Door in a few days. My beef tenderloin was the best I’ve ever had and my husband said the same thing about his veal. Bananas Foster is done table side! Yes it is a little pricey but not compared to other fine dining places in larger cities! A real gem in the mountains. Now I Don’t have to drive to Atlanta or Asheville for a first class steak. HOORAY to the chef/​owner!

Try the pork chop it is the best I have ever tasted. Melt in your mouth tender with a perfect glaze to enhance the flavor. The chocolate moose crêpe with raspberries is to die for as a finisher. Our guests for the evening were delighted.
David our server has that elegance one does not expect in a small town restaurant.

The Copper Door is rated very well on Unilocal.As well as TripAdvisor. So, I had to take some time to really examine my experience. Compared to other guests of this restaurant. Let’s begin. Although, two others party arrived after us. They were seated first. One party of two. The other party of six. We were a party of three with reservation for 8pm. Full 20 minutes later we were finally seated. The hostess apologies for the delay. The WAITRESS. Size me up within seconds of our first encountered. Her demeanor was very unprofessional and uncomfortable. Which was obvious when she arrives minutes later with the darkest dinner rolls. She can find. My daughter ordered a pasta entrées. My son’s girlfriend ordered chicken entrées. Since, its only one salmon left. According to the WAITRESS. I ordered seared tuna, wedge salad, house soup and escargot. Both ladies entrées seems good. The tuna was fully cooked. YUCK! Seared? My house soup, taste very similar to Campbell’s NEW ENGLAND soup. Nothing over the top! When I asked her for dessert meun. The WAITRESS told me, «I will rather tell you, because I don’t feel like grabbing one.» NOTICE this is a direct quote from our WAITRESS. The main reason why we chosen this restaurant over the others. For the BANANA FOSTER’S desserts experience. Since, the pictures seems tasty.
When she finally returned. 15 minutes later. After her «Oscar Worthy performance» of BEST WAITRESS of 2015. Of course, this is with the table behind us. «Will you like to order the Banana Foster?» No CHECK. I left her 10% gratuity, instead of the usually 30%.
Hopefully, COPPER DOOR will take a moment to understand my review. This was a very stressful evening. When I had to explained to my 13 years old daughter and son’s girlfriend. «Why» our experience was different. When noticed the other people experience compared to ours. It saddened me to have leave this.

The business is open at 5:00pm. We arrived at 4:50, and see people are lining up for seating.
The menu and food is excellent. It is a delight that such a great restaurant in a small town

Food and service was excellent as always. I had the mushroom soup for the first time and it was heavenly. My tenderloin melted in my mouth. My only complaint was that the lobster meat was chewy and just off. But overall, best place around.

Excellent food and service ! Highly recommend for a great dining experience.

The Copper Door is a first class restaurant and bar nestled among the eclectic businesses of a typical small mountain town. The décor stands out as comfortable, leaning toward elegant, with a large fireplace as a central focal point. White linnen tablecloths and bound menus offer a wide menu of steak and seafood along with a few «country» offerings like meatloaf and pork chops.
Chef Dennis was trained in New Orleans and his dishes sparkle with tasty sauces and a rotation of well seasoned vegetables that perfectly complement his seasonal menu and harken back to his Creole upbringing. Deserts include a fiery table side Bananas Foster and a killer bourbon bread pudding. For those that believe you need to drive 2 hours south to Atlanta for fine dining might I suggest instead trying a quick 15 minute drive to Hayesville NC. and a visit to the Copper Door. You can spend the money you save on gas at the bar enjoying a drink on me.

With all the five-​star reviews, I guess Unilocal doesn’t need another one — but I can’t help it! My bride and dined there last night (yes, it’s a 2hr drive from Atlanta) for our 49^th wedding anniversary.
Everything you’ve read is true. Beautiful facility, open kitchen, great service and fantastic food. Wonder if they’d consider moving to Atlanta … Hmmmmm.
The only thing we can’t comment on is the wine list as there was a delicious wine waiting for us as a gift from out daughter and family for this special occasion. I wondered why she wanted the name of the restaurant… To The Copper Door’s credit, their corkage fee is only $ 10/​bottle.
Our server Mark was attentive, knowledgeable and friendly.
Now, to the food.
My wife had the soup as a starter. It was the Wild Mushroom Bisque with Madeira, cream, & brie. Now, she’s the best soup chef I know and this dish (I sampled it) tasted exactly as if she’d made it herself. Wonderful.
I had a half-​Caesar salad and the Romaine was icy, crispy and the dressing was perfect.
Her entrée was the duck breast and she pronounced it excellent; took some home for breakfast, she did.
I ordered the tenderloin with foie gras (my favorite substance on planet Earth). The steak was cooked perfectly (medium-​rare) as was the foie gras. One of the top five meals of my lifetime.
And, though some might find it pricey, I think my entrée was the nearly the highest-​priced on the menu at $ 39. A bargain (and I don’t like paying a lot for food in a restaurant).
It was a wonderful evening and, as a bonus, my bride has agreed to stick with me for one more year. Yay!

This was my DW retirement/​birthday dinner! We were staying in Hiawassee and I wanted the dinner to be nice since we had friends with us. Well it couldn’t have been better. Carrie was our waitress and did a great job waiting on us. She was very attentive! The food was great! I had the bone in ribeye steak and it was cooked perfect. The chief did a great job on everyone’s dinner. We were all talking about how great it was to fine a very nice restaurant in a small town! Thanks for such a nice dinner for my wife!!!

The Copper Door dining experience is always an exceptional one. We were entertaining business guests and the food was, as all ways, fantastic the ambience was very pleasant. Our guests were able to talk with Dennis the owner and chef and compliment him personally on the wonderful preparation of the food. We are very lucky to have a restaurant of this caliber in our small town. This restaurant is equal to or better than most fine dining experiences in Atlanta, Asheville or Chattanooga.

If you want fine dining at lake chatuge, you have to go to the copper door. This place has great service and amazing food. I recommend the filet with foi gras. The sea food is also outstanding and the salads are great as well. For dessert you can never go wrong with the bananas foster which are cooked in front of you. My friend Nestor R who happens to be the Duke of the copper door also recommends the bread pudding.

This place is five star in every category. The menu is creative but at the same time not excessively too far from the old standard. This was my second trip. The next time I am in the neighborhood I will make my third appearance. Prices are very reasonable for the service and food quality offered. It is a pleasure to visit a business that is managed at this level!

Everything about our experience was top notch. It was our anniversary and we were congratulated by the host, by our waiter and the chef left a card on the table. The drink selection was great, appetizers were very good. I had the ribeye and it was incredible. Perfectly cooked and incredibly flavorful. My wife had the scallops which she loved. Capped it all off with bananas foster table side. Surpassed any expectations we could have had with great service and atmosphere! We will be back as soon as possible.

Definitely the best fine dining restaurant I have experienced. The lavender honey dressing was out of this world. The Suzanne white chocolate crème brûlée dessert can’t be topped. Best filet mignon ever! I can’t wait to go again. Service and atmosphere were superb!

Very nice restaurant tucked away in Hayesville, NC. The members of our group who had steak definitely had the best meals overall. The interior is nice and this is easily the best restaurant I have eaten at in the Lake Chatuge general area.

So so good. Had the Scallops Casino and it was incredible. Best fine dining I’ve found in the North Georgia mountains. Only 35 miles from our home in Helen. I will definitely be back.

Awesome place to eat! Had the mint jalapeño
pork rib chop and the mushroom bisque. This place was to die for! The ambience was nice and had awesome service. The salads were great and so was the prime rib. I would definitely come back to this place if I’m back in this area.

Great restaurant with high end wine list & lovely fine dining menu. The service was attentive and the atmosphere romantic. Great for a special night out.

By far one of the best steaks ever, great service, large portions and reasonably priced.

This dinner was a part of a girl’s weekend. We had reservations and were seated immediately. This restaurant was nicely decorated, bathrooms were very nice, but there was no artwork on the walls around the restaurant. We found it odd… so much work in choosing the colors, décor, etc., but no art. Weird. Anyway, we began with a cocktail. My friend had a rum and diet and I had what they called a «Green Fairy» that had absinthe and ginger ale and some other items. Not important, tasted like cough medicine. The starter was a crawfish crêpe and it was very good. Not awesome, but very good. We split it, but it was a small portion.
For the main, I had the special, which was filet with lobster and vegetables. The steak was the best I have ever had. The lobster was okay, but the cream sauce the lobster was smothered in, wasn’t. I believe food should be allowed to stand out and stay true to their original flavors. The sauce did not do a thing for this lobster. And to make matters worse, it was served on top of the filet. Not good. BUT the steak was awesome! The vegetables were clearly an afterthought. My friend ordered the filet with crab. Same thing here. Crab was more like a crab salad and was placed on top of the steak. Nooooo! Anyway, her steak was tops, too and once we scraped these items off, it was all good.
We did not have desert because we were full.
After sharing our experience with my Aunt, she pointed out that we shouldn’t have ordered seafood in the mountains and I thought, «Of course!» That said, they probably shouldn’t have it on the menu if it’s not up to par. So I guess we’re both at fault there. Then again, the waitress could have done a better job in explaining how the seafood would be presented? Maybe. Maybe we should have just ordered a steak and baked potato. But we thought that since the crawfish was so nicely prepared, why not? I digress…
The wine list is comprehensive and diverse. I have an Argentinean red and my friend had a cabernet of some kind that was also delicious.
Pros: Easy to find, nice atmosphere, Comprehensive and Diverse wine list, decent on service, GREAT steaks!
Cons: Undereducated staff, a little pricey, not so great seafood.