What's New at Lake Oconee This Season for Locals?

Drive down Greensboro Road past 920 and you would have passed a closed restaurant for the better part of four years. The parking lot sat empty. The sign came down. If you were new to the lake, you might have assumed the building was waiting for a buyer who did not exist yet, or a concept that made sense to no one.

That was never quite the story. The building eventually reopened with two concepts under one roof, under the ownership of Gary Sofen.

Sofen confirmed to Business Debut that a new concept would open in time for Masters Week 2026. Walking the space after four years shut, he described a building that had barely aged.

As Business Debut reported, Sofen said, "You walk in, it looked like it closed yesterday."

That account sets the scene for the two concepts that now share the address.

Two businesses, one address, two different weeks

What opened on Greensboro Road this spring is not one restaurant. It is two, sharing a kitchen and a view.

Inside, the Italian Chop House at Lake Oconee runs an evening operation built for a dressed-up night out: prime steaks and chops, fresh seafood, and a wine list meant to be lingered over. Reservations run Monday, Thursday, and Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m., with a business casual dress code that guests have interpreted loosely during opening weeks. If you want a quieter table, a weekday seating or an early Sunday reservation beats a Friday night, when the bar has reportedly filled by 5:50 p.m.

Outside, the Lakefront Pavilion runs on an entirely different clock. It serves casual bites and drinks Thursday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and you can arrive by boat or by car, according to Lake Oconee Life's rundown of what opened at the former Bone Island Grillhouse location. One address now covers both the resident who wants a dressed-up Thursday dinner and the resident who wants to tie off after an afternoon on the water and order a plate without changing clothes.

The boat club didn't need a newcomer

Deano and Heather Cantrell have operated Freedom Boat Club's Lake Oconee locations for the past 11 years, according to Lake Oconee Life's roundup. Membership means access to a maintained fleet with no storage, no insurance, and no cleaning to manage.

The same pattern, off the water

Lake Oconee Life's roundup also describes several other openings around the lake.

The roundup also names Bedor as the business’s founder.

If you want a lower-key gathering than a restaurant table, the Lake Oconee Farmers Market runs on select Saturdays from May 30 through September 26, from 8 a.m. to noon at 122 E. Broad St. in Greensboro, bringing local produce and baked goods to the same kind of resident who is now choosing between the Chop House and the Pavilion depending on the day.

What this means if you already live here

The season's additions include two dining concepts at one address, dock maintenance, retail, and beauty services.

For a resident, the practical upshot is a choice of new dining, retail, beauty, and dock-maintenance options around the lake. Bone Island Grillhouse's former space sat empty for about four years before two dining concepts opened there.

That is worth knowing the next time you are choosing between a Thursday dinner at the Chop House and a Saturday afternoon at the Pavilion. Both are being run by someone who already understood this lake before he opened either door.

If the pace of change around the lake has you thinking about what it means for your own home, whether that is timing a sale, understanding what a property here is really worth, or simply talking through what a move to Lake Oconee could look like for your family, Kimberly Waldron would be glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.