WE MADE IT.

A group of people gathered outside a building with a sign that says 'Campfire Gather Round' for a ribbon-cutting event, with confetti in the air and an American flag to the right.

Campfire is the end result of a decade of hard work. Chef Matt Boggs first started workin’ towards his own restaurant in 2014 when he came back home to work in Helen, GA. He partnered up with Sous Chef Kaitlyn Garrett soon after, & together, they changed the game in their hometown by focusing on quality, fresh ingredients & quick, detailed service. Matt left the industry for 2 years to sell groceries commercially to restaurants across 5 counties while Kaitlyn honed her front of house skills.

Buffet table with fresh fruit, cheeses, granola, and a bowl of cereal. The setting appears to be a breakfast or brunch spread at a gathering called "Campfire Gather Round" with a logo of a campfire on the window.
Man with tattoos, beard, glasses, and a trucker hat cooking burgers on a grill.

Make it happen.

James Garity joined our team when he reached out to Matt with a few catering gigs. Together, the two spent nearly every weekend for over a year slingin’ plates at pop ups, catering events, & out the side door of Matt’s kitchen. We bought commercial equipment piece by piece till Matt’s home kitchen couldn’t hold anymore. The team, then, went on to reinvent a local music festival in Sautee in an effort to sling more plates. We wound up too big for our britches & put together a 2 day music festival headlined by Big Something & Sol Driven Train. We didn’t sling any plates, but we had a blast & our profits from the event became our seed money for Campfire.

Three musicians playing guitar and singing on stage during a live performance, with colorful stage lighting and a blurred background.
Colorful logo for The Grass Roots Festival with stylized text and floral decorations.
Interior of a restaurant under renovation with a worker installing a wooden frame for a new wall or structure, tools scattered on the floor, and construction materials visible.
Graphic of a campfire with red and yellow flames and two brown logs underneath.

When it’s the right time It’ll happen quickly.

Fed up with corporate deals & strict dress codes, Matt sought out a turn key location capable of being opened quickly due to financial constraints. We found our location & got permitted in 38 days. We worked daylight ‘til dark: painting ceilings, building our modest stage from scrap materials left by the previous tenant, & scraped together a game plan as quickly as we could. We maxed out credit cards to build infrastructure, fully tapped out the existing electrical panel, & knocked out walls for storage. Our moniker “Campfire. Gather Round” didn’t emerge from the ashes ‘til 2 weeks before we opened to the public. We opened without a dish washer, a Coke machine, or a POS system. We wrote checks by hand, checked folks out through Square, & hand washed every dish that first month. Team work truly made our dream work.

Cozy restaurant interior with wood shelving, a firewood display, potted plants, and decorative items.

Growin’ while you’re goin’

Since that tough first month, we’ve hit the ground runnin’. We’ve added a wonderful group of team members, sponsored our local school system, & continued to grow our customer base through doin’ the right thing when no one is lookin’.

That’s what got us started.
& that’s how we’ll finish.

We’re so thankful to be allowed to earn our place in this world & truly blessed for y’all to have a seat at our table. Thank y’all so much for readin’ this far into our underdog story.

-Matt.

A two-story building with a sign that reads 'Campfire Gather Round' and a porch with outdoor seating. An American flag is mounted on the right side of the porch, and there are people sitting at tables. Potted plants and hanging greenery decorate the area.
Six people standing outside in front of a colorful sign that says 'CAMPERS'. The group includes three women and three men, dressed casually, smiling at the camera. The background features a vibrant, fruit-themed mural with cartoon-style illustrations of corn, grapes, and honey.

  • We’re over here in the Alpine Village Shoppes tucked between Dollar General & Mind Escapes Escape Rooms. If you see the patio full of plants, you’re in the right place!

    8160 S Main St
    Suite B-6B
    Helen, GA 30545

  • 7 Days a Week!
    Noon - 9pm

  • We tell folks they gotta try our signature Smash Burger, our Gunpowder Nachos, or our Gunpowder Ribeye!

    We hand-cut our steaks in house.
    We buy local ground beef.
    We brine our chicken & bread/fry it to order.
    We pickle our own jalapenos & pickles with our family recipe.
    We make everything fresh from scratch down to the cornbread croutons on your salad.

  • We do!
    Our Sous Chef Kaitlyn is a vegetarian.

    We have a veggie burger option, our locally famous Gunpowder Nachos can be vegetarian, & we offer unique salads/appetizers that are also veggie friendly.

  • We love using Udi’s Gluten Free buns for the folks that want it.

    Our signature Campfire Fries are GF, but are fried alongside items that aren’t. Sorry about that! We’ve got a small workspace.

    All our GF options are designated on our menu.

  • We try our best to!

    Helen, GA is the third most visited city in our great state. Tourism is a beautiful thing for our local economy, but it can cause a big issue with reservations.

    We are currently first come first serve, but please call us & see if we can reserve y’all a spot at our table cause we want y’all here!

    Our current weekend wait during dinner averages no more than 25 minutes. Some places in town can have up to a 3 hour wait!

  • You know it!

    Folks can park anywhere in the Alpine Village Shoppes parking lots & visit us.

    If Keith is out there chargin’ folks to park, it’s for tubers only. Y’all just gotta let him know you’re comin’ to see us and he’ll find you a good spot.

  • We currently offer Beer, Wine, & are the only restaurant in our county sellin’ Weed Waters!

    Due to our tight workspace, we’re workin’ out a way to start sellin’ liquor.
    We don’t wanna go after the cash grab. We wanna make sure we do it right, so we appreciate y’alls patience!

  • We’d greatly appreciate it if y’all can help us facilitate other guests. Our dining room currently sits 64 folks & we can see upwards to 450 guests each day during peak season.

    We wanna do our best to be hospitable, kind, & genuinely appreciate y’all doin’ the same.

  • You know it!

  • We love feedback.
    Even the bad stuff.

    If you’d like to contact management regarding your experience, please shoot us an email at: Matt@gatherroundthefire.com

    You’re welcome to call the restaurant, but an email goes directly to our phones and we’ll do our best to respond quickly.

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