Mills River Restaurant

"My advice to diners is to stick with the salad bar. Over the years of trying many dishes from their VAST menu, the only things I've enjoyed eating are baked potatoes and the spaghetti. I think they should focus on one cuisine and do it really well. Lots of heated up frozen food. The owner/manager is grumpy at best. I've never seen him smile. Once, as we were checking out, he (the older man) actually "slung" my husband's card back at him! We're buying your products, giving you our money... be happy about that! For these reasons I truly believe they wouldn't be in business if not for tourists, because most of the locals all know about how rude the owners are. Dining rooms are very neat and spacious, with a small walled area for a more intimate meal. The service is always prompt and courteous, but I have to admit most are somewhat sketchy. Lots of free parking."

"I stopped for breakfast with a good friend of mine and we both ordered the same thing, scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, home fries, biscuit and a side of gravy. Our waitress was excellent, very attentive. However, I had 2 complaints: my friend's eggs had no cheese and we were charged an extra $3 each for a cup of gravy. If we had known that there was a charge, we would have only ordered one side and split it. Secondly, when the waitress brought my friend's food back, in a matter of seconds, the cook had thrown a slice of cheese on her eggs and didn't bother to heat it, so it wasn't even melted. How fast is it to scramble 2 new eggs with melted cheese throughout like mine was? A minute or two? And then we were both charged another $1.50 each for cheese on our eggs! I told our waitress that I wasn't going to pay for a cold slice of cheese and she took it off the bill, but I was mad that overall we were charged a total of $7.50 for cheese and a side of gravy, which was the only part of the meal that was tasteless. The food was excellent except for the gravy and a cold slice of cheese but we won't go back. I can't imagine why our waitress didn't inform us about extra charges after she knew what we wanted. She doesn't set the rules, and I noticed at the cash register to pay, the cook came out and rang me out, and I'm pretty sure he was the manager if not the owner. So he charges for every little thing while another delicious diner where we had the same breakfast a week before (The Waffle House, where the gravy was actually tasty sausage gravy and no extra charges) and other diners I can think of, clearly don't. It's a shame, since my friend lives in Mills River and this restaurant is quite close and convenient, the service excellent, the food delicious, but those extra fees are quite high and not worth it. I will add that the restaurant was quite empty at lunchtime and now I know why."

"On trip from Florida with my wife and 4 kids. Absolutely amazing experience here. Food was amazing. We all like to try each others food in the family and I could not believe how amazing everything was. Our server Sasha was extremely kind and kept our drinks topped off proper. Salad bar is great. Food came out super fast for the whole family hot and delicious. I’m impressed. Too bad this place isn’t in Florida or they’d have a new regular."

"My wife had the deviled crab in the shell. I had the pastitsio. Both were delicious. Our waitress was friendly, attentive, and speedy. We had cannoli and triple chocolate cake for dessert. Wonderful! The restaurant is bright and one of the cleanest most orderly restaurants I’ve been in ever. Some has been made of the owner being grumpy. He’s a hard working person who runs a long time family restaurant 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. I’m sure he gets tired. He’s another baby boomer who’s probably in need of some consideration and respect for his hard work and many years lived. So give it while enjoying your food in this bright, clean, well run local gem."

"Don't judge this place from the unassuming outside appearance. Inside is beautifully decorated and clean. Customer service was top notch too! The food was great enjoyed most of what we had except the hushpuppies. The sweet tea was perfect and the ranch dressing is homestyle ranch dressing yum! The pork chop was juicy and delicious. Country fried steak was exactly what I needed after a day of hiking. The salad bar offer many options and even desserts. Definitely well stop by anytime I'm in the area again. Restrooms are also well lit and clean. Took one star off for the parking lot setup lots of parking but needs some maintenance."