Food is excellent (trust me, you will be surprised). Try the falafel wrap and sweet potato currie soup.
Service is 2nd to none (make sure you get Ashley; she was awesome and took good care of us)
AND there was an awesome local group playing some music, and I believe that this is a normal occurrence.
I will definitely be back.
We came here for breakfast early, to beat the crowd. Â We thought it would enable us to get good service. Â It didn't help. Â They are so busy, and waitstaff is too frazzled. Â Only the food justifies three stars.
Standard fare, at decent prices, in a quaint surrounding is the draw here.
I wait for my cafe au lait at the one counter, while my dude-friend waits for the man at the register on the other side of the room to acknowledge him. This is the moment when simultaneous episodes of awkwardness and rudeness commence and become grossly prolonged. Â I am thankful that the steamed milk spooned on top of the coffee is so obviously floating sour curds that the waitress pours out the whole cup and starts over. "Whew!" I'm relieved I won't have to stammer out something about the milk being bad, as confrontation of any kind gives me the willies.
Meanwhile, my dude-friend gets the attention of the guy at the cash register, informing him of our order. Without answering or making eye contact with his customer, register-guy barks at the lady re-pouring the milk for my cafe au lait: "HEY! Will you help THESE people?!" Â The lady hollers back about already filling the order and then sets my drink on the bar. This time she hasn't bothered to steam the milk too much--there's no foam and when I take a sip, it's luke-warm.
Across the room, register-guy is fumbling around, frustrated with the credit card processing system, but the payment goes through, and we're off to sip our drinks, both of which turn out to be brackish tasting and potentially the remnant of the morning brew (this is a mid-afternoon coffee run).
On our way out, I bring my cup to the counter, saying "Thank you!" before turning to leave. Tight-lipped, the au-lait lady brushes by me, and feeling sheepish and unwelcome, I got out of there.
Was there last night. Waited over an hour (1:20 minutes) for a BBQ pork sandwich which did not come. Had to go get it from the waitress. Food just so so. Service was poor. Was not asked for refills. Dressing for salad was extremely thin like it was watered down. Rolls were suppose to be yeast rolls. Did not taste like yeast rolls to us. Rolls we had were like they were over nuked.
Review Source:Had a great time listening to John Cowan here last night. Good food, cold beer and a server that was 5 star. It was crazy in there but Ashley kept smiling and was very sweet and attentive. People need to take the time to give props when they are due and not just write about the negative. Ashley, you made our night very enjoyable, thanks!!! We'll be back!!
Review Source:The food is OKAY here. It's nothing out of the ordinary to brag about. It's basically your standard bistro with a slightly expanded menu. The most recent time that I have eaten there service was on the slower side, but not to the point that I was frustrated.
Their coffee is expensive, but if you just get a cup of standard coffee from the back room with free refills it's not bad.
My biggest complaint about The Crimson Moon is the atmosphere. I understand it's not targeted at my demographic, but ever since the redesign a few years (maybe more) ago it seems to have lost all of its appeal. It tries to be quirky and carter to the artsy / folky type people, but seems a little too stiff to achieve that now.
I'll never understand the design of their stage for music, either. As a musician, I can tell you that it definitely wasn't designed with musicians in mind. Concerts are OKAY from a listener's perspective, though. I appreciate the intimacy, but just be forewarned that it'll cost you 2-3X what it'd normally cost to see a particular artist when they play The Crimson Moon.
I'd give a two star rating if it wasn't for the upstairs bar. Prices are REASONABLE there, but I appreciate having a quiet place to grab a beer and have a conversation without having to shout into a friend's ear.
"Bad Food, Terrible Service and Overcharged. Hey, what's not to like?" Â Seldom does a restaurant strike out so bad... but this one did. My lunch special was two pieces of chicken deep fried.. flavorless, a dried out corn on the cob and a small salad. How much was this chicken special? $16.50 !! My wife's vegetable soup was old, mushy and worse that a can of Cambells. Three times we had to ask the waitress to bring what we ordered, twice she forgot and the third time it was the wrong item. Hey, it maybe they have good music at night but for food, especially lunch, it is a disaster. Gang, there are much better eateries in Dahlonega. Really!
Review Source:One of my favorite places in Dahlonega and I go there pretty much every time I visit. Â Average "rustic" decor...very polite, knowledgeable service (not the fastest...but when I go to Dahlonega, I'm in a laid-back, throw your cares away, relaxed mood...not a rush-rush-rush! mood). Â
I have had a lot of things on the menu...but most recently we had the New South Grilled Cheese (cheese, grilled onions, and tomato on thick bread), which was delicious (wasn't what I ordered, but got to taste my friend's sandwich). Â I ordered the Hummus plate...it's on the appetizer menu and I highly, highly, highly recommend it! Â It gets 5 stars from me. Â It is huge (I had to bring half home)...you get a very large plate with a large ice-cream-scoop of homemade hummus in the center, surrounded by generous servings of shredded carrots, sliced cucumber, chopped tomato, and a house olive salad...all very fresh and delicious. Â Then the entire plate is framed with triangles of warm flatbread. Â
As mentioned in some other reviews, the prices are a little bit on the high side. Â I think at $9.50, the hummus plate is the best deal on the entire menu. Â Some of the sandwiches, since you only get either chips or slaw, are a little on the high side. Â
In the past we have also tried the veggie soup, the burger, and the falafel wrap...all were delicious. Â I love the tea in the mason jars, although I hate getting lemon slices instead of wedges...they are impossible to squeeze! Â Before you order the tea, though, check out all the drink choices on the back. Â I didn't realize till today that they offered so many things...including Italian Soda, one of my favorites. Â
I was disappointed, with all the local wineries within a stone's throw, that they don't offer local Georgia wines on their menu...just standard blah wines like Berringer, etc. Â There are so many excellent wines (I mean, c'mon, the Habersham Plantation winery has a store right next door to Crimson Moon!) by local wineries, you would think it would be easy for them to offer them on their menu. That was a real disappointment!
You're visiting the Dahlonega square. You're hungry. There's this crowded sandwich place. It's probably the Crimson Moon Cafe.
1st, 2nd & 3rd stars -- decent place for lunch in the mountains.
If you're visiting Dahlonega, you can't go wrong with Crimson Moon Cafe for lunch. Â The menu features breakfast, appetizers, sandwiches and burgers. Â There's an entree section that seems out of place for this sort of restaurant -- they seemed a little pricey to me.
During our visit, my wife had the new South grilled cheese. Â I had the pork BBQ sandwich. Â In-laws had the Southern slaw burger, which apparently confused the hell out fo them. Â If you're wondering, you can still get slaw on the side, but it's gonna also be on the burger. Â Duh?
The BBQ pork sandwich was OK. Â A decent portion between two big ol' pieces of not burned (important) Texas toast. Â The menu says sandwiches come with a side of cole slaw OR Zapp's potato chips. Â Crimson Moon does NOT give you a choice of chip flavors, though, so don't go askin' for sour cream & onion chips with your order.
We didn't have any fancy drinks -- just sodas. Â I liked them served in the glass mason jars. Â Always a nice touch when you're visiting the hills of north Georgia.
The restaurant itself is basically short tables set out in a grid around the Crimson Moon Cafe stage. Â The decor is goofy pastels and paintings. Â There's a coffee shop / bar in the back if you don't want to eat. Â They offer free wifi too.
Lost 4th star -- $45 for lunch for four.
The food was good. Â Just not $11/person good. Â I got more for my money at Dante's on the Square (also recommended in Dahlonega).
Lost 5th star -- slow service.
After 1pm on a Saturday, and the restaurant up front had a lot of full tables. Â It appeared that they had 2-3 servers too. Â We saw our server 4-5 times the whole meal, and it took her a good 15-20 minutes to run the check for us. Â Keep this in mind if you're in a hurry to visit the rest of the square while you're in Dahlonega.
Overall -- I liked Crimson Moon. Â Not sure if the long waits at prime time would be worth it, but I'd go back again.
The Crimson Moon has to be my favorite spot in Dahlonega. They have a pretty awesome little coffee shop tucked away in the back of the restaurant. They also have dining downstairs sort of arranged around a stage that draws some decent acts- local and otherwise. Very intimate setting to see a show. Crimson moon gives you the sense that it's an equally great place to grab a beer or a coffee, which can be a hard atmosphere for a lot of places to capture. The menu is varied. Most of the dishes are classics with one or two less traditional ingredients. I usually go for the Macho Nachos or a wrap, neither will let you down.
Review Source:My mom and I visited Crimson Moon on a recent trip to Dahlonega - we weren't very hungry but I'm so glad we went! Â We got the plate with three sides and all was good but I especially like the mac-and-cheese, such a simple dish that can go so wrong so easily. Mom liked the asparagus the best and I have to agree that it was great. Â Service was excellent.
Review Source:The mister and I went wandering through Dahlonega on a lovely Saturday afternoon and stumbled across this place. In addition to being a cafe, they also have a coffee house in the back. But *really* I think they are considered a music venue for bluegrassy-folksy-bluesy kinda bands. A small stage takes up a chunk of space in the dining area, but we came before the big show. No skin off my back, I just wanted to eat.
Everyone was friendly and the sweet tea was yummy, although they aren't messin' around when they call it "sweet" tea. Like pushing-the-envelope-towards-a-diabetic-coma sweet. But I still liked it. Mostly.
The mister ordered the tarragon chicken salad sandwich with a side of the sweet potato souffle. I ordered the falafel gyro with a side of macaroni and cheese. We were both starving, so it seemed like it took a little longer than we expected for the food to come out. But really, it's probably just because we were really hungry. The mister really enjoyed his sandwich, but the sweet potato souffle left a lot to be desired. It came in it's own lil ceramic baking dish. It had three mini marshmallows melted on top, but the souffle itself was the consistency of baby food. Blech. He ate it anyway though. I enjoyed my falafel gyro, although it looked more like a toasted pita-taco. Which wouldn't have been a big deal except that every time I tried to take a bite, stuff would fall out the ends. And I couldn't "wrap" anything with the pita or it would flake apart. But I held it together (mostly) and chowed down. The falafel was wonderful and flavorful, and the amount of roasted red pepper dressing was perfect. The macaroni and cheese left much to be desired. It also came in it's own lil ceramic baking dish and initially looked like a fantastic, cheddar encrusted wonderland. But it wasn't. Baby pasta shells mixed with what tasted like creamy velveeta, blanketed by a teaser of cheddar. Boo hiss.
After we ate, we wandered aimlessly through Dahlonega, then came back for coffee and dessert. We sat at the little bar in the back of the cafe in the "coffeehouse" area. It was cute back there. We each ordered a cup of coffee and were kindly told we could help ourselves to the coffee on the opposite wall. No biggie, and they had different sizes of coffee mugs. Condiments were there for use as well, but I didn't see half of them at first because they weren't at my very-short-person eye level. I liked the coffee, but didn't refill. Mainly because we also ordered the brownie a la mode. This came in an inconveniently shallow bowl, and the ice cream was a smidge too hard. It was quite the chore to spoon off a bite of the ince cream, only to have to use our fingers to get the ice cream/brownie combo to scoop onto our spoons properly. Despite this slight inconvenience, it was really frickin' yummy. In fact, I think I want some more right now. We both walked away with nice, full bellies.
I would definitely eat here again on another day trip, but as much as I overall enjoyed my meal and dessert here, I probably would not come back for a show. They charge a pretty hefty admission for shows (in comparison to shows in Atlanta), and I don't know if they still serve food then. Not sure I'd want to eat during a show anyway. Add to that the fact that there's only ONE single-toilet bathroom in the whole place, and I can't even fathom how the bathroom line works itself out. Plus it's gross to use the restroom after a messy guy that pees everywhere and leaves the seat up. I'm just sayin'...
The Crimson Moon is a very cute and intimate restaurant, coffee shop, & music venue in the downtown square area of Dahlonega. The food is quite good - I've had both the Santa Fe chicken wrap with corn and black bean salsa and the shrimp and grits (served with buttered asparagus cross-hatched on top - nice touch!). The coffee is solid. The stage is tiny and the sound is good. They host mostly acoustic acts and always have high caliber music from all over the East Coast. I highly recommend stopping in.
Review Source:I was torn between two stars and three stars.
Crimson Moon was a cool looking place. The service was great. We went to Dahlonega during an art's festival on a very overcast (threatening rain) day. The crowd was decent but I'm sure it would have been much busier on a sunny day. We walked right in to Crimson Moon and sat down for lunch.
The food was okay. I got the steak sandwich and it was okay - nothing I would rush back for. We both ordered a house salad (hers came with her meal, mine did not). The waitress nor the menu told me that crappy little salad would be $4.
I paid $32 for lunch which was one entree, one sandwich with the salad and two sweet teas (a luxury we rarely get). I think for lunch and for the amount of food it was way too much to pay. I probably won't be back.
Over my time on Yelp, I've gotten embarrassingly soft. No, I'm not talking about my midsection; that's been soft long before Yelp. Hell, it was soft before AOL and Compuserve. I'm talking about my reviews. My reviews have grown soft, soft, soft. Cottonball soft. Down comforter soft. Â Glenn Beck's head soft.
My reviews are soft because, over time, I've become much more attuned to what it takes to open a small business, the hard work, the lost sleep, the blood, sweat, and beers. I've eaten some fair to middlin meals these past few months and I've peeped nary a whisper to Yelp. So a restaurant has to serve a giant heaping plate of FAIL with a side of "WTF?" for me comment negatively these days. Unfortunately, the rocket surgeons at Crimson Moon earned my ire.
First, some context. This place is popular as a music venue. I wasn't there for music and none was playing. I was here with my wife for brunch, the day after a friend's wedding at a nearby winery. (We also happened to run into other wedding guests while there who all had the same experience as we.) So brunch it was.
This was our first mistake.
Fifteen minute wait, we were told. There were open tables all over, but, hey, I understand being short staffed. We can wait. After being seated, we were given menus and left to fend for ourselves. My wife ordered a latte. (I discovered later that the latte was $5, steep even by Atlanta standards. For Dahlonega? It should've been made with gold and unicorn tears.) We ordered our food, an omelet for the wife, bacon, eggs and toast for me.
This was our second mistake.
Now I've eaten at restaurants that take great care in preparing their food. These places, who prepare everything fresh, chop vegetables to order, prepare dough as needed, are not fast food. Their ingredients are combined in such unique ways so as to transcend each component, resulting in a whole greater than the sum of its parts. For this, people will wait patiently. For bacon, eggs and toast? People should wait 5, 10 minutes tops.
We waited about an hour.
It wasn't just us. The table next to us (other wedding guests) was similarly challenged. They ordered a bagel and eggs, a bagel, that I assume they had flown in from New York City itself considering the time it took to arrive.
Needless to say, we were not pleased. At one point, the server asked my wife if she wanted another latte. My wife instead asked, "Could I get some coffee instead, while we wait." (Emphasis on the last 3 words.) Coffee was supplied, but, well, I'll get to it later.
The food arrived. It was, well, bacon, eggs and toast. It was serviceable, but for the time (and ultimately price we paid), my brunch should have come with an extra side of hand job. The servers seemed blissfully (or consciously) unaware of the growing frustration on the floor. There were no apologies, no acknowledgement that everyone's meals were being served on geological time. At this point, we all ate our food  quickly and left. My wife, a former server whom I've never seen tip less than 20%, tipped 10%. I told her that that was 9.5% more than I would have given. We left, none-too-happy. The hostess (who I assumed had some sort of managerial position) smiled at me when we walked out. I returned it with a growl.
One star served up as slowly and incompetently as possible.
Oh, and that coffee "refill?" They charged us $3 for that.
Reading early reviews, it is interesting to see the evolution of the Crimson Moon.  The place first came to our attention as an intimate music venue with a focus on quiet listening.  The owner has been able to attract extremely talented artists to this historic little venue.  Many  highly respected musicians love this place.
We drove up last night for dinner and to see Ellis Paul. Â The show was great and the setting was perfect. Â It is well worth the drive from Atlanta to see a show here. Â We had dinner at the Crimson Moon Saloon- upstairs- on their delightful porch and moved downstairs for the concert after dinner.
In the cafe, many of the tables are connected to other tables so it is possible that you will be sitting with someone you don't know unless, when making reservations you request one of the high tops.
I have to report that our experiences with the food at the Crimson Moon have been inconsistent; and this visit was no exception. Â Â Last night, we had the meat loaf melt and the grouper sandwich. Â The meatloaf was seared, seasoned well and presented in a great sandwich with mushrooms, Swiss, and caramelized onions. Â I am getting hungry just thinking about it. Â The grouper, however, was mushy, and tasted a bit like the refrigerator. Â We weren't sure what went wrong there but the best thing about it was the tartar sauce.
The Crimson Moon has a huge menu with something for everyone.  One wonders if, had  they focused on fewer choices, the quality  might be more consistent.  On the other hand, a few more draft beer choices would be welcome.
Service ranged from good at the saloon upstairs to incredible during the show.
Damn, they don't take AMEX! Â No sky miles!
Don't let the negatives put you off. Â This place is the real deal and we have always been glad we made the trip.
Well, for food quality alone, they would have gotten 4 stars because the food quality is excellent. Â I got a smoked trout with broccoli and rice pilaf (pilaf? Â in a former gold mine town? Â in GEORGIA?!?! Â yea, it made no sense but I paid the extra 50 cents to replace my coleslaw side and paid another 50 cents to replace the souffle with the broccoli - no idea why they charge extra to change sides - but as suspected the pilaf was nothing as I had expected but still very good) and I was very very very pleased with the flavor and quality of my dish.
Now, why only 3 stars? Â Well, it is a very tiny place and I have no idea why I it took 45 min to bring us lunch! Â When we asked after waiting about 30 min, the waitress said they had burnt one burger and they are making another one. Â OK! Â Well, the staff is extremely friendly and we went on Sunday afternoon where there is a free live band playing gold miner's music, which is pretty cool, not really packed - about 70-75% capacity. Â Very nice atmosphere and all but 45 min for lunch is too long!
My second gripe is the portion size ... this place is NOT fancy. Â Anything but. Â My lunch check was $20 (with NO beer, even though a dark beer would have been awesome with the smoked fish on this cold day - but I was the driver and it's a good hour back to Atl.) and the amount of food I got was barely enough to be considered a snack. Â I really expected more food for $20 from a place as casual as this 60 miles outside the city!
I guess I could give them a 3 1/2 if I could ... but my wife had a hair in her burger ... she actually pulled it out just as the waitress passed us by and we got lots of apologies and an offer to get us a new burger ... but ... but ... the hair was the same length and color as my wife's hair so ... I don't know ... maybe it went in there when my wife was putting on her condiments. Â I don't know.
My silverware was not very clean. Â But I used it anyway. Â So 3 stars is my rating and I am sticking to it. Â I would have given it 2 were I had not been so pleased with my 4oz. piece of smoked trout!
Oh, and there is a cover charge to get in on evenings when they have other bands playing. Â Tue - Sat. Â Ranges $15-$20pp at the door. Â Yea ...
I love this place and it is definitely a must every time I am in Dahlonega. It is cute, charming, laid back and has a chilled atmosphere, awesome food and very friendly service. You can go for lunch, dinner or just drinks. They have live music almost every night and it is just totally worth it.
Love it!
My husband and I stopped into the Crimson Moon Cafe for lunch today. Â This cafe seemed a little more cosmopolitan than the majority of the other Dahlonega establishments we visited (except for the cute
Hummingbird Lane art gallery). Â It offered free wi-fi and featured interesting art (which I assume was created by local artists) on the walls.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure that we got to experience this cute place at its best. Â There was a wedding party going on upstairs, and everyone was super busy. Â To the staff's credit, we were warned before being seated that there was a wedding party and it would be about 10 minutes before any lunch orders could go back to the kitchen,
After the aforementioned wait (I think it was actually a little over 10 minutes before a server even came by our table, which is why I only gave 3 stars), we ordered the fried green tomato appetizer. Â It took a while to come out, but when it did it was pretty good.
My entree was definitely the winner of the meal. Â The melty meatloaf sandwich was really, really good. Â My husband's reuben sandwich was good but unremarkable. Â Since we split the two sandwiches between us, we both left happy.
Our server was nice when she was at our table; she just seemed extremely rushed and we didn't see a whole lot of her. Â But our food did come out hot when it finally made it to our table, so it seems like the kitchen was the real bottleneck. Â I'd love to check out Crimson Moon Cafe again the next time I'm in Dahlonega to see if the service is good when they're not quite so overwhelmed.
When you are looking for a place with character in Dahlonega - this is it! Â Located right on the historic square right across from the historic courthouse and gold museum, this place has been nicely preserved from when Dahlonega was an old North Georgia gold mining town. Â The owners have done a great job in breathing some life into the town square and with the ever-growing university nearby, Dahlonega needs some good entertainment venues such as this.
The food is really good and slightly eclectic, lots of good folk-type art all over the walls and apparently they have some pretty good acts that come through music-wise. Â They also have a full selection of unique beers and wine too. Â Check it out when you are in town. Â They also have free wifi.
Located on the very 'so quaint I could've just walked onto a movie set' square in Dahlonega, Georgia, is a place that bills itself as the "Southeast's most intimate music venue." Now I wasn't there to rate its intimacy-music-levels. But just for lunch.
A decent selection of sandwiches and entrees, but food isn't the only thing happenin'. You've got some distractions in the form of local art for sale along one wall, a huge wall o't-shirts for sell on the opposing. . . and even the bathroom has action happening (um, aside from you using it, that is) since it's reminiscent of your graffiti-wallpapered bathroom in your high school circa 1993. Messages of love, sprit and even ads for houses for rent will entertain you.
A unique spot worth checking out, and if you happen to find yourself up here in D-town, worth checking out the music calendar, too!
The Crimson Moon Cafe opened its doors in 2001 and started off not as a cafe, but as a gallery of eclectic art and decorative antiques. Located on the historic, public square of Dahlonega, Georgia, about an hour north of Atlanta, this little cafe has what I like to call...Character.
The walls and shelves house works of artists from all over North Georgia and display them among eclectic antique tables, chairs and glass cases. Showcasing the creative work of over 30 artists from the North Georgia area from a dozen different mediums...This is a place filled with conversation starters.
This cafe houses an authentic coffee house in the back "saloon" area... Serving only organic, shade grown, Â coffees/teas and locally made baked goods...
The Crimson Moon Caf & Coffee House has become a favorite "hang out" for the locals, visitors, and students that relish a comfortable and supportive environment for relaxation, study, or conversation. Its artsy, its laid back, and it has all the good stuff that great coffee houses are made of.
Patrons also enjoy a wide variety of great tunes including...contemporary folk, vintage & contemporary blues, classic jazz, traditional 'mountain music'... bluegrass & old time, and a variety of world-folk that speaks to The Crimson Moon Caf's inherent philosophy of tolerance and support for creativity throughout all cultures. The stage is awesome..as is the sound system...
The menu is home to a great selection of beer and wine, "build a bagel" sandwiches, as well as homemade soups, quiches, salads, and baked goods.
The Crimson Moon Caf is rapidly gaining in reputation as a place of support for and from area artists of all types - as well as the "coolest, most happening place in Dahlonega. "
Features:
Organic/Shade Grown Coffees
Homemade Desserts & Baked Goods
Made From Scratch Vegetarian Soups
Freshly Made Sandwiches
Gourmet Salads
Select Wines, Imported/Micro-Brewed Beers
Relaxing, Inspiring & History Infused Atmosphere
Expanded Selection of Delicious Entrees & Appetizers
Recommendations:
Get the Nachos-They are life changing!!!!!
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
All in All: Seriously a Great Little Cafe Featuring Interesting Food, Music, and Art.
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