Start off with the bad.. for the quality of the food it was a bit overpriced. Not horribly but just a by a few dollars. The food wasn't horrible by any means just not up to the price point, except the wings.. the garlic parm wings were absolutely amazing!! Service was fast and friendly! I chock the slight over price up to the ambiance, aesthetics and views. They were absolutely second to none, reminded me of being in Aspen but better. So overall would definitely recommend stopping in for wings, a drink and bs'ing by the river with some buddies. read more

Very beautiful place to relax while enjoying a drink and good food. However, my last visit makes me not want to return. We had just received our pizzas and only got to eat one slice before some kind of bug flew on it with multiple bugs on its back that crawled off and when all over the pizza. Needless to say we lost our appetite and our whole pizza. The server was there when it happened but only joked about it. She didn't offer to take care of the pizza or to get us a new to take home. Nope just charged us full price for a whole pizza that we couldn't eat after invested with bugs. Coming from the service industry I would think you would want to take better care of your customers. While it was a coincidence, the lack of customer service shows you don't care about guest experience. read more

Gorgeous location on river. Historic building with classy decor. Delicious food! Enjoyed a burger with superfood slaw and partner had the Hippie Bowl salad. Friendly staff to go with the great good. read more

It saddens me to have to write this review. We absolutely love coming here and consider it a treat. The sounds of the rushing waters of the river helps calm my husband who suffers from PTSD. My kids enjoy watching the river while we dine and really loves the pizza. We drive all the way from Knoxville to eat here and like I said, we consider it a real treat. It's unfortunate that we ended up walking out, my son crying, all because we where lied to and forgotten about. Today was supposed to be a good day. We drove to visit with my grandparents in Blairsville, GA, and I promised the kids if they where good we'd treat them to pizza at the lodge on our way home which takes us out of our way by an extra hour. When we got to the lodge the hostest told us it would be only a 15 minute wait. After waiting 30 minutes I went to check on our status. I was informed that the hostest told us it was a "20 minute wait" because that's what she wrote down. I was then told there was only a 6 top in front of us and it would only be 10 more minutes (I noticed about 2 other names below ours). I then walked back to my family (passing numerous empty, clean tables). Again another 30 minutes had passed and two 6 tops, a 2 top, and a 4 top had been seated. My husband who is now upset and requested we just leave. So we all approached the hostest as she was cleaning the board and I noticed only we where left on it. I told her it's been an hour and she began to look panicked and said they where just about to buzz us. Too late! We voiced our complaint which was ignored. Went upstairs and again voiced a complaint with the girl at the desk which she just looked at us with a blank look. We left and as we walked to our car my son starts crying. This just broke my heart. So now my husband is upset and my kids are heart broken. Today was supposed to be my mother's day treat. Thank you for ruining the end of what would have been a perfect day! read more

Best steak ever! The entire meal was fantastic. Beautiful location. A must stop on your drive.

We got engaged at Tapoco earlier in the year and decided to get married here as well. This place is a hidden gem just across the TN/NC border. It is rustic and charming all in one!! We got married Oct. 2 on the lawn and held our reception on the beautiful outdoor patio that overlooks the Cheoah river. Valerie Frapp is the events coordinator and she made sure my day was perfect down to every last detail. Kim Vaught performed our ceremony which was intimate and so very special. Our vows were the most beautiful words I've heard recited! Kim has such a magnetic personality! My wedding was by far the ABSOLUTE BEST day of my life!! I married my best friend surrounded by family in the most beautiful setting. Tapoco Lodge and the surrounding area has become my happy place! Pictures don't do this place justice! The food is great and all of the staff are so welcoming and helpful especially Dave!! I never wanted for anything! I would highly recommend this place for any special occasion or just a nice weekend getaway!! I know we will be back soon!! Thanks again to everyone at Tapoco lodge!! read more

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So sad. This place used to be such a lovely gem. The food was never super outstanding, but the setting was just *fantastic*! We returned a few days ago to find the restaurant has been completely "updated" and unfortunately has lost all of the wonderful charm that drew us here for pre and post-motorcycle ride lunches and dinners. It is very commercial now; no more Adirondack chairs at the banks of the river. No more campfires, and the lodge's sweet old mascot dog is gone. It really is rather unrecognizable now. There are security cameras everywhere, large tacky lights and industrial-looking railing and seating has obstructed the once lovely, wide-open views. "Sanitized" would be a perfect word for what has happened to this once charming little spot. A server told us that the place was overhauled for insurance/liability reasons. How truly sad. We will not be returning. We will hold on to our great memories. read more

Good food, good service, fair price, and beautiful view. Definitely recommend it!! Get the Stella Chicken Sandwich or the pizza. Cheese cake and peanut butter pie was amazing. read more

Stopped for lunch with my wife after a drive on the Dragon's Tail. The restaurant has beautiful river setting with outdoor dining option. My wife had the spinach salad with seasonal fruit, she said she enjoyed it. I had the trout fish and chips with slaw and fries. It was delicious. I would recommend for sure. read more

What a wonderful afternoon we had! The drive up the Dragon offered some beautiful views and a fun time for our guests. The Lodge is lovely perched on the rocky river below. There was a brief wait but the staff was pleasant and helpful. We ordered a variety of foods, burger, barbecue, Reuben, and wedge salad and all were served graciously and in a reasonable time. The food was all delicious and again, the staff was congenial. Plan to take more guests there soon. Those who complained about the wait are just rude and impatient and unaware of the world we live in since COVID-19. read more

OK... Back here on April 14, 2016. DANG! I got a chicken wrap a few weeks ago and it was pretty good. After my hamburger fiasco I decided to go with something they could not mess up. Nope! My f-ing chicken wrap tasted like fish. How is that possible? Did you fry the chicken in the same fryer as the Trout nuggets? I am giving this place a break for a while. Our waitress was Hiedi. That girl was funny and could have easily gotten them their five stars if the food wasn't poop. They need to get this food production straightened out. What is going to happen when this area is in full tourist season? read more

Excellent menu, good selection of beverages. Friendly staff. I had the hippy bowl, it was good and fresh.

Well...I guess I wouldn't even give it one star and here's why. My wife and I were staying in Deals Gap and had to find somewhere to eat before everything closed. My wife checked the Tapoco Tavern website which stated that they were open until 9 and that they were doing take-out because they were limited to 50 % capacity due to Covid. We rode in a thunderstorm at 7 PM and got there ready to eat. As soon as we walked in the door soaked from head to toe, I was quickly informed by a snooty hostess that they were not seating anyone else because they had a two hour wait and they were not doing any take-out orders. I told the girl that their website clearly said they were doing take-out. She then said that I wouldn't get a table by closing and she couldn't help me. She never offered to call a manager or offer to help out with a take-out order or anything. So we rode in the pouring rain for no reason. So I can't say what their food tasted like, nor will I ever be able to give it a review because we will never be back. Bye Felicia!!! read more

We had our first dining experience the night before this posting. All worth plaudits. We asked if they could improvise on what we call a Margherita pizza - thinner crust, easy on the mozzarella cheese, bring on the basil and pesto - and chef Noah, teamed with our great server Jasmine, came through in flying and flavor-full colors. Noah even came over and asked if what he had prepped for the brick oven was satisfactory. That's customer comes first service for sure! This is another reason why Tapoco Tavern and Lodge should be on everyone's list of places to go where/when/why you want a GENUINE pleasant experience. Bravo, All! read more

Stayed at the lodge (wonderful) and had drinks and dinner under the heaters outside (wonderful). My ONLY "complaint" is that a couple of the best craft cocktails I've ever had were served in plastic. Worth a drive - lovely! read more

Just to let yall know I've seen the servers scrape dirty dishes and pick dishes up off the floor only to just get a paper towel to wipe their hands off and go back to serving food to customers.. No hand wash. No purell. Just a paper towel. Don't know about much but I'm pretty sure that's a health violation. read more

Thank goodness for Tapoco Tavern that the pizza was good because the host was rude as heck! After telling him we wanted an outside table closest to the water, he said we could depending when a table was available. A table became available after our drinks arrived and we reminded our waitress where she said that we would have to talk to the Host. We called him to the table where he rudely insinuated that I lied when I said he said that we could have the table..he never said we couldn't move after we ordered. If he had, we would have waited for that umbrella table by the river. The place was definitely not packed with people, the servers were not rushed with people to wait on so it should have been no issue. I don't know if he is just related to the owners or what but he is no Host! The waitress was nice though...and the pizza was good..so 3 stars from us! And we are local people...I feel bad for people visiting our county with this service. This isn't Graham County! read more

Where to start...food was way below average. So much worse under this new ownership. The salad was good. The pizza tastes premade, not homemade like Tiny made. I asked where Tiny and Red (the lodge dog) were. Tiny found a different job and took Red with him. I'm guessing this is why their pizza sucks now. Amy and Denise waited on us. They are two of the most unskilled and rude waitresses I've ever seen. They acted like we were asking for them to go fetch the moon for us when we asked for more napkins and drink refills. read more

Great service, pizza and cold beer! Beautiful water view! Definitely worth the drive from Knoxville.

The setting is wonderful by the side of the river just at the starting point of the tail of the dragon but sadly the service was slow the waitress was stressed and the place was not even busy the food was pricey $10.00 for onion rings for example but overall the food was "OK" read more

Great dinner on a packed Labor Day weekend night. The pizza is absolutely amazing and the best we have ever eaten. We got the Margherita pizza and would highly recommend you try it. It's a white base pizza without red sauce; however, the GM brought us out a sample of their pizza sauce after telling us how it was made with red wine, and my oh my, was it delicious, as well. I think any pizza ordered here would be heavenly! We also ordered the ribeye with a peppercorn butter. Yum! It was cooked perfectly, and had a nice sear to the outside. It was extremely tender and juicy and had excellent flavor. The peppercorn butter was a nice touch and complimented the steak nicely. The side salad was a generous portion and the dressing tasted homemade and delicious. We also tried the soup of the moment, which was a kale and sausage soup. Delicious and deep flavor! Just great! Everything we ate was absolutely wonderful and the staff was so nice. We sat at the bar since there was a long wait for a table (a storm had recently blown through causing patrons sitting outside on the terrace to be quickly moved inside, which caused a little chaos for the staff); however, the whole experience was still great! We met the owner and the GM and both were lovely. We had great conversation with them both. We will definitely be back! Signed - Bar Friends read more

Very disappointed. Had to wait about 20 minutes (that was ok) and got seated inside instead of the requested outside patio next to the river. We waited 15 minutes for the server to take our order and then waited 40 minutes for our dinner. The grilled chicken sandwich was okay, except for the single, warm, soggy leaf of lettuce and the soggy, small bun. The fries were so salty that they were inedible. My hamburger barely tasted of the ( $2.00 extra charge for) blue cheese. The bun was completely soggy so I had to eat it with a knife and fork. It was very well done when I had asked for medium. Our server never checked on us after tossing packets of ketchup and mayo on the table. He didn't ask if we wanted dessert...just dropped the bill on the table and left. The best part of the entire experience was the friendly hostess that seated us and the sweet potato fries were delicious! Will we be back? Nope. Sorry. read more

Our waitress Brigette made it impossible to give this place a good review. She took our order and then we literally never saw her again. An expediter, Drake , really saved her bacon. He delivered our food, refilled drinks, then brought us our dessert and bill. Food was decent with the exception of the southern fried chicken breast,which was excellent. As we prepared to leave she breezily dropped by saying oh sorry I was slammed. Won't be back. read more

After an amazing day rafting the Cheoah River we shed our wet clothes and headed to the Tapoco Tavern for lunch. It was a beautiful day so they were in a bit of a wait. We headed to the bar for a beer while we waited. What I experienced in the bar was hands down the worst service in the history of taverns. The bar manager, Rae, was rude and insolent in her OCD attempt to keep the bar stools "where that belonged", which we assumed was at the bar. During our 30-minute wait EVERY interaction with customers was handled with acute hostility. It was if they're accustomed to recently released hardened criminals dropping for a drink. Finally we got to our table where we realized the wait was due to the tavern being dramatically understaffed, despite at least three managers just walking around "checking in tables" when should they have been serving customers. Bottom line it was a complete train wreck. Relying on a lovely location, resting on your laurels, and expecting people to just keep coming is an asinine business model. I'd rather swing any of the friendly gas stations and microwave a hot pocket than return to the Tapoco Tavern. read more