Pavilion Indiana Dunes - Rooftop — Attraction in Chesterton

We arrived shortly after 3 p.m. and were informed by the “hostess” (using that term loosely) that service wouldn’t start until 4 p.m., but we could go up to the bar and order with her. That sounded perfect, but it turned out to be the absolute worst service we’ve ever seen.

This experience was so laughable that I can’t even begin to describe it. Think of the worst service you’ve ever had, multiply it by the highest amount . I’ve never seen a less competent person behind a bar. It was absolutely embarrassing! It took her an incredible 35 minutes to serve six people drinks at the bar.

During that time, she kept scratching her head and looked utterly confused. She even sent a few quick texts, but for the most part she just stared at her shaker, trying to remember her next move. I felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone from the moment we stepped up to the bar. If the term slow as molasses was a person. We stood there in awe, alongside every other thirsty patron , watching this absolute circus act unravel right before our eyes . . After she took 12 mins to concoct one cocktail …we quickly changed our mind on the order we are very patiently waiting to give her. So instead of getting a crafted cocktail, we decided to get some white claws and a beer. Surely that can’t take her that long. . I mean, right? WRONG!!!!!!!! We asked for a bucket , were met with a puzzled look, and an uncertainty from her. Questioning the word “bucket” I’m not sure if she’s never heard the word, or maybe it’s a triggering word that makes her brain malfunction. After we showed her on her menu where it said “ bucket “ she finally said ok. And then the 15 min search for a bucket ensued . I wanted to bang my head on the bar and knock myself unconscious and then, hopefully by the time I’d wake up, maybe my beer would be infront of me. After a long , agonizing wait , the bucket arrived! Finally! Do we even dare try and order food? I urged my cousin against it. As I had very low expectations at this point . And said let’s just wait for a server . At this time it was almost 4. But my courageous cousin , went forth with the order . “ Can we please have an order of steak nachos.” This really stressed her out . It was like she was programmed and the things we were asking were asking were just not computing . She quickly brushed us off and said yeah hold on. Then walked away . As I stood there for a few mins holding my card to pay. She then proceeded to help the other customers who were all presumably feeling the same way as we were. Now I was the one left feeling confused . So, I just walked away and we sat at our table. It was around 3:45 when we finally got served. Now it’s around 5. We’re enjoying our drinks and we notice there is now a server on the floor. We wave her down and ask her if she can take care of us . We mentioned that we ordered nachos over an hour ago from the bartender. She said let me go check on those . And came out with them literally 2 mins later. We know that the person behind the bar did not send our food order in , and the kitchen clearly rushed it out. The chips must’ve came from whatever dimension the “ bartender “ is from. Bc they were so unbelievably stale. We didn’t even care bc we were so hungry at this point.

The only saving grace of this place is the view. We noticed five people get up and leave because they couldn’t wait until the next day to get their drinks! This was a Monday, and it was by no means busy. I’m sure they were having a rough day. At least I hope that’s all it was. But if this is a norm for this place . I would seriously suggest some training on literally bar basics for the bartender and customer service for the entire place. But, there was a man working , idk who he was or what his position was. But, he...

My husband and I made the 45-minute drive from our home and were really excited to visit the Pavilion at the Dunes for the first time last Saturday night around 6:30pm. While the views were beautiful, the service was less that desirable. We were greeted in an unfriendly manner by a host at the door and told that because of the kitchen experiencing some troubles, tables were not being seated for 25 minutes nor were food order being accepted at that time. We were not in a rush and didn’t mind waiting the 25 minutes to place an order but asked if we could sit at the bar and have a drink while we waited. We were told that was totally fine and grabbed two seats at the bar.

Once at the bar were again, not greeted at all and had to wave down one of the two bartenders roughly 12-15 minutes after sitting down to get a drink. About 35-40 minutes after sitting, we noticed food coming out of the kitchen and asked if we could put a food order in. We were told that the kitchen still wasn’t taking orders but just a few moments later two other patrons sat next to me. It was obvious the bartender knew the two people because they were greeted with a nice warm welcome and were immediately able to get drinks and place a food order. After their order was placed, we asked if we could order food too. The bartender quickly took our order of ceviche and a chicken wrap and verbally gave our order to the other bartender to put in.

We were never asked how we were doing or if we wanted another round even though our drinks sat empty for a long time. It was close to 8:15pm when I ask about the ETA of our food and for another round of drinks. She was surprised we hadn’t gotten our food yet and asked us what we ordered. When we repeated our order, she said “ohh we ran out of ceviche about a half hour ago so that probably why they didn’t get your food out”. She asked if I wanted to order something else and I declined and requested our check for the drinks, and we left underwhelmed and hungry. I also noticed that the bartenders had 8 or so shakers and a one jigger on the bar top to use to make drinks but they were not washing anything in between making drinks. I even saw the person I assumed to be the manager chewing on food while he exited the kitchen with food to deliver to a table.

We won't be making another visit anytime soon to this restaurant and definitely will not be recommending this place to others. It's really sad because it is a...

ZERO!!!!!!!!! Tonight started out beautiful, but ended horribly. The busser accidentally took away half our food, though our waitress was amazing and apologized with 20% off. My 4 & 6 year old had been playing a Connect 4 game most of the night, and right after we paid, they asked to play a quick game of hide & seek. To me it was innocent, I counted to 5...and said ready or not, here I come. I walked into an area and my son quickly jumped out & said boo! I then started looking for my daughter, when I noticed that this area looked dangerous & not part of the restaurant. Mind you, it is about 12 feet away from the game they had been playing all night & was fully accessible. I panicked when I couldn’t find my daughter. Management came to help look in the unsecured area. Meanwhile, my daughter ran up to her dad because she was actually by the connect four game & not back in the dangerous area.

Management’s response? The so-called “co-owner” Austin Scott yelled at me, told me to “watch your kids” and to leave. No apology. No concern. Just arrogance & ignorance. I paid $7 to park and over $100 for our bill & tip, and this is the treatment we got? What pathetic negligence. Secure your rooftop before a tragedy happens. Austin, if you are a co-owner, you need to learn...