We took our first trip to Helen, Georgia, today to celebrate our 12 year anniversary.  The town is unique, and offers lots of variety for eating.  We chose Paul's Steakhouse because it was situated on the waterfront and offered indoor dining.

As soon as we opened the door, I was overwhelmed with the smell of cigarette smoke, but I noticed a door that said 21 and older.  I figured it was coming from the closed bar section.  And while there is this separate section for the bar, they keep a window open so they can slide drinks from the bar to the regular eating area.  It really defeats the purpose.  I am not sure how they are even able to pull this off with Georgia's non-smoking laws for restaurants.  The first thing my children said was that they thought the place smelled bad, and it did.  They went so far as to put lemon juice on their noses to try to cover up the bad smell.  If you are sensitive to cigarette smoke or have children, this is NOT the place for you.  Honestly, we should have left then.

The carpet is dingy, and everything is really outdated.  The best part is the view of the many people tubing on the water, if you're lucky enough to get one of the few window tables.

We arrived at about 4pm, and so we were seated right away.  The waitress was fairly friendly, and we had our drinks quickly.  However, once we placed our food order the service went downhill.  This was probably because we only ordered two entrees for four people and no alcohol.  Or because our kids were going nuts because they hated the smell, and had nothing to do.  No kids menus to color or anything.

I was shocked when I saw the children's menu.  $9.99 for chicken strips and french fries.  So I quickly flipped through to the regular menu and saw that the adult portion was only $13.50.  We decided to let our two boys (8 and 6) split the adult entree thinking there would be more than what was served with the children's portion.

My husband and I decided to share the fried seafood platter.  It was $32.99.  It came with a small salad and Ranch dressing in a plastic container with a top.  I'm sorry, but if I'm paying that kind of money for food, then I expect a higher end container.  And when I asked for more, I didn't get any.  I will say the Ranch dressing was the best part of the meal.  Thick, creamy, and homemade.

Once our orders were placed, we were given a cutting board with a small loaf of bread.  The crust was very hard, but the inside was piping hot and soft.  To me, there just wasn't any flavor.  It was definitely missing something.  It in no way can compare to breads I've had at other steakhouses.  Oh and the buttery spread was served in a Land O Lakes plastic container.  Seriously, not even real butter.  And you know how most places will ask you if you want more.  Yeah, don't expect that from this place.

The wait for our two entrees was a little longer than I would have expected at this time of day, and for the fact they weren't very busy.  Our fried seafood platter had about 4 jumbo shrimp, 4 oysters, 6 scallops, one small filet of fish, a deviled crab, two hush puppies, and about 8 steak fries.  Honestly, the chicken strips platter had more fries than this and was 1/3 of the price.  But that reminds me.  The chicken strips were nothing other than bagged (my guess would be Tyson brand) chicken strips that you would buy at Sam's.  There were a total of 4 chicken strips.  One was really small.  The plate was full of steak fries.  It was fine for the kids to share, but not worth the money and had I been an adult that ordered that, I would have been really upset.  For $13.50, you expect real and fresh chicken strips.

The seafood batter didn't taste like it was fresh batter.  It tasted like it had been mixed with maybe catfish batter.  It didn't stay on the seafood well, which made me think that their grease was probably old, too.  The oysters were overcooked.  Again, the tarter was served in a small plastic container with a plastic lid.  We had to ask several times for more.  It was frustrating to feel like the place was being stingy with condiments when we were paying nearly $50 for two entrees.

The bathrooms were fairly clean, but were toasty.  The girl's bathroom didn't have a changing table for children.  So one lady was changing her baby on the counter where I was washing my hands.  The best part of the bathroom was that they offer a sea salt scrub, but only because they want you to buy some when you checkout and pay for your food.  Which reminds me, they don't even take care of your bill at the table.  Yes, you read that right.  You have to walk to a counter and check out, which is crowded because of the people waiting to be seated.  It's like they can't decide what kind of restaurant they want to be.  Upscale or a pub.

I will say if you're looking for seafood, make the drive to Gainesville and eat at the new Silver Bay Seafood.  You get four times as much food for $35 and that includes the tip.  The environment is much cleaner, not smoky, and the staff is much more friendly.

All I could think was that this place reminded me of something I'd see Robert Irvine going nuts about on Restaurant Impossible.  My guess is if it weren't in a tourist location, it would eventually be on that show or already be out of business.  Honestly, save your time and money.