Dillard House Restaurant revisited November 2019 – Dillard, Georgia

“Nothing warms the heart like Southern Cooking.”

Martha White

On our trip to the north Georgia mountains in November, we were close enough to say, lets stop at the Dillard House Restaurant again since we have always enjoyed their food, the atmosphere, and that it is a great family restaurant. Since we were meeting our daughter, Jeannine, her husband Darren, and their eight children, I asked if we could make reservations. Normally there has to be a group of 15 or more to make a reservation, but they were slow tonight after the huge crowds on Thanksgiving and made an exception. They kindly agreed so we were able to have a nice meal before heading to our hotel in Franklin, North Carolina for the night.

The Dillard House is located in Little Tennessee River Valley in Rabun county, Georgia near the state line. It is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the quaint town of Dillard, Georgia which is home to only 200 people. Dillard is only 1 ½ hours from Atlanta and about the same from Greenville, South Carolina but for us was about a three hour ride from Augusta. This beautiful stone inn has large glass windows that overlooks a pasture with the lovely Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. There is also a large fireplace to take the chill out of the air. The had a beautiful nativity scene on display set up next to the front of the restaurant which they lit up at night.   

The Dillard Family first came here back when a land grant of 1,000 acres was given as compensation, to Captain John Dillard for his service during the American Revolution. During this time in history, this part of the Blue Ridge Mountains had so many Cherokee Indians living here, they referred to mountains here as the Cherokee Mountains. John grew butter beans and wheat and later added corn to the produce he planted on his farm. He also was blessed with lots of wild game to live on. John lived here till he died in 1842, at the age of 82.

Two of John’s descendants, Carrie and Arthur Dillard opened their home to boarders in 1917. They gave them a nice place to stay and had food for them to eat. They served their patrons produce that was grown right here on their farm just as John had done in much earlier times. Business was good and continued to grow until the depression. Then it picked up again in the late 1940’s when US 441 got paved and they added a revitalized inn and dinning room. Now there was an easy way to drive from the Smoky Mountains to south Florida and right by Dillard. Their business has continued to grow and grow.

We got to the Dillard House before dark and walked around their magnificent property. We walked back to see the animals at the petting zoo and enjoyed watching the goats, chickens, pig, and miniature ponies. They all seemed to get along and it reminded me of the book “Charlotte’s Web” by E. B. White. I could just imagine Charlotte, the barn spider writing “Some Pig” in her web for Wilbur. I looked but I didn’t see Charlotte or her web anywhere. But maybe, just maybe the pig in the petty zoo was Wilbur and he was “Some Pig”.

Then we walked to the stables and watched the horses out in the meadow enjoying the beautiful fall day. What a stunning setting with the mountains in the background and the sun setting. You can rent horses here or go on group trail rides. We walked past one of the barns that was lit up with Christmas lights for the holidays. The Christmas spirit was in the air.

We loved how the beautiful stone restaurant was decorated up with lights for the holidays. What an ideal setting and we could imagine how it must look when the fields are snow covered. Jeannine, Darren, and children arrived so we went to great them. Joe took the kids back to see the petting zoo before going in to dinner. They loved the animals and talked excitedly about them when they returned.

When we entered the restaurant and they promptly got us seated. All the children followed Jeannine in a single line to the table. This is a family style restaurant so all the things that are on the menu are served for dinner that night on platters. The wait staff promptly took our order for drinks and when they came back with our drinks, they brought out many varieties of rolls.

It didn’t take long till they started bringing out the food. It seemed they brought trays and trays of food. We had fried chicken, fried fish, pork chops, gravy, fried shrimp, beans, squash casserole, corn, and potatoes. They brought out good portions of everything and when we finished what was brought out, we just asked for more. They kept on bringing food out. Then was dessert time which was an apple cobbler with ice cream. We had lots of food left when we were done. They gave us to go boxes to carry out whatever food we wanted to take with us. There was enough food left to last for days. We packed it up and took it with us and left feeling totally satiated.

It was an amazing feast and quite the culinary delight. They only serve the freshest foods using ingredients from the local and surrounding farms. I guess that is why everything tasted so good. The Dillard House has received two Readers Choice awards in the Southern Living Magazine. That is quite an honor. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner here.

They have a gift shop inside the restaurant where you can buy country hams, jams, jellies, candles, apple butter, relish, pickles, and cook books amongst other things. It was fun looking at all the unique items.

We read there have been many famous people who have ate at the Dillard House including, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, Walt Disney, and Jimmy Carter.

If you want to stay for more than a meal, they have many options for staying including cabins, cottages, Inn, and motel. There is even a stocked trout pond on site.  There is also an event hall that can be rented with a huge outside fire pit.   It seems like it would be the perfect place to come and stay to get renewed. You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful setting.

I would highly recommend the Dillard House. It is a little pricey but you get so much food, it is worth it. It is not just a meal it is a memory in the making. Go and Enjoy. This is a must stop if you are near Dillard. Check them out at: www.DillardHouse.com. Bye for now.