Editor Pick
Charlie Williams' Athen's Most Unique Eatery
- September 7, 2000
- Rated 4 of 5 by
katyw from Blairsville, Georgia
One of the most unique restaurants is Charlie Williams Pinecrest Lodge. It began in 1929, when Charlie's fishing buddies wanted him to cook barbecue for them.He gathered rocks from the surrounding area and built the Milam Room to serve about fifty to seventy five people.
Though the years, as his fame spread Charlie added more buildings, all built by hand. Charlie also added various rustic buildings and implements of Appalachian life. The most interesting being an old water wheel from a nearby grist mill. The wheel actually provided power for the complex in the early days before electricity could be connected.
The current owner, Mike Williams, Charlie's nephew, actually lived in the mill house as a child. He now uses it for an office. Although the restaurant is only open weekends, it has maintained the fine food that made it famous and the rustic ambience.
From journal Athens, Georgia - A City with a Multiple Personali