Big Al's Pizza - Hiawassee

First experience. Not a full service restaurant at this time, but was disclosed upon entry. We had no problem ordering at the counter. The large calzone was amazing and plenty for two. The beer was ice cold. No complaints.

If you are visiting Hiawassee or live in the Hiawassee area, I highly recommend taking the time to stop by big Al's Pizza. For our first visit we decided to go for Saturday afternoon lunch. We opted for the pizza buffet figuring that was the best way to sample more than one thing. Feel free to ask for additional types of pizza and they will cook it and place it on the buffet. My favorite is mushroom and garlic which they were happy to make for me : The salad bar was well stocked and the soup of the day, roasted red pepper, was excellent! The views from outside are beautiful! The restaurant is clean and the staff are super friendly. This is a no frills place but the atmosphere is fresh and provides plenty of options from seating, drinks and menu choices. Just like many other places up in the mountains and rural America they do not take credit cards which to us is no big deal! I noticed one person did a review and slammed the restaurant for not taking credit cards. That review is not appropriate since The restaurant states clearly that they do not except credit cards when walking in or looking at yelp. So grab your cash and head out to enjoy a lovely pizza lunch or dinner in the mountains! We will become regulars for sure.

Great local find! We split the Greek salad and homemade meatball pizza, it was delicious! Also very good beer and wine prices.

Make no mistake, the pizza in wonderful and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Our service was excellent as well. My only issue, and it's a big one, is that they only accept cash and local checks. Hiawassee is a tourist destination/pass through, and most people don't travel with much cash for safety reasons. I understand not wanting to pay the fees associated with credit/debit cards, but in 2016 that is a cost of doing business. Their pizza is not cheap (generally $12.95-17.95 depending on size), so I can't imagine the fee cutting too much into the overhead. Instead they have an ATM that charges the user $2.50. They want the consumer to assume their cost of doing business, and that to me is unacceptable. We were very close to leaving and going to another pizza place 15 mins away. I will also add that when I asked for a receipt, I was given a handwritten tab receipt. In my experience, cash only businesses with no formal receipts tend to be operating under sketchy accounting practices. Please bring your business into the modern world.

Big Als is a good local pizza place. Pizza is good, plenty of cheese and toppings. The sauce always seems a bit light and the crust is average.