AuSable Inn Riverview Restaurant and Sports Bar — Restaurant in Au Sable Township

I SO want to like this place. This will have been my 4th time dining at the AuSable since it reopened under new ownership and 3 of the 4 times have been awful.

I've tried the chicken Caesar salad two times now, the first time it came without chicken and drenched in dressing to the point it pooled at the bottom of the bowl. The second time it came with chicken, a whole 3 strips that were ice cold and a dressing that was sour.

We've also tried the fish and chips two times. First time the breeding was wet and the fries were salted to the point of being in edible. This time the fish came out looking crips but as soon as you cut into it water seeped out, also making it in edible. This time, the fish was taken off of our bill because half of one piece was all that could be stomached.

We've also tried the chicken Caesar wrap and the burgers, both were fine. The chef previously operated a very successful burger tent in front of the local pub, the burgers there put the ones served at the AuSable to shame.

The staff/service is hit or miss. They have a hostess stand at the front door, this evening we waited several minutes, no hostess appeared. I asked the bartender if we were to seat ourselves, she said "no the hostess is here somewhere" and went back to talking to another server. No attempt at going to locate the hostess was made, guests just continued to crowd the front door waiting to be acknowledged. At one point during our dinner, a couple sat themselves (once again hostess MIA). The server then complained, loudly, about the couple to another server. I was embarrassed just watching this scene, I can only imagine how the couple felt. Our server however, was excellent. I wish I could remember her name to acknowledge her personally.

As I said, I so want to like this place, Oscoda needs good restaurants. But a large part of what makes a restaurant "good" is consistency in its food and service. Both of which the AuSable...

We were excited to try this place out. It gained a mixed review. I'm going to start with the con, just because it's glaring. It took FOREVER to get our food. Party of two. No wait. Not a packed house, but decent amount of people. We sat down at 6:45ish. Ordered one appetizer and two burgers/fries almost immediately after she brought our drinks. Appetizer took about 15 minutes to come out, not terrible. But our actual meals? Took over an hour. The waitress came and apologized at least twice. Don't expect to be in and out. The kitchen isn't fast even on simple meals. Also, it said it was a sports bar but no sports were on, I'm not sure if that's a normal thing? It is a Monday night so I expected some NFL, but that's not too big of a deal for me. Just a note in case it is for you. Heck, they might turn them on if you ask. I didn't think to ask.

That said...The pros. The service was wonderful. Amy was incredibly friendly, our drinks were always refilled quickly, she got everything we needed and like I said, very apologetic about our long wait. The food came out very hot and fresh, and though we thought the burgers could use some seasoning, they were done well and the buns were toasted too which was a nice touch. Big burgers, large serving of waffle fries. The patio was closed for the season but there's still a really nice view of the river.

Overall, we'd go back again, but definitely would consider other places if we were in a hurry or just ready to get home, like we were tonight. 3.5/5...

I have been here twice since the "under new management" banner that they display on their patio. One time was for dinner and i had a hamburger. The burger was a cheap patty that tasted like it was cooked on a flat top that hadn't been cleaned and tasted like a wet moldy dish rag. I decided to return today for their "breakfast buffet" that i see advertised so often to give them another chance. You really cant screw up a breakfast buffet can you? I was mistaken. French toast was made with cheap wonder bread, soggy and tasteless. The bacon, (if you could get any) was so thin and absolutely no flavor. Hash browns were still raw in the middle, big bin of biscuits, no sausage gravy, eggs were wet and slimy. No sausage links or patty on the buffet anywhere. There were about 10 people waiting for them to bring stuff out to stock the buffet and because the kitchen was so crappy they didn't bring anything out at the same time. they would bring 15 slices of bacon out ant that was gone by the first person, then hash browns that would quickly disappear. Nothing was stocked and it was all crappy. If you are thinking about going here and enjoying your meal, don't waste your time or wallet. The Office has GREAT food and better service and the little diner up the street ( I don't remember the name) has great omelets.

I should have walked out the first time, I did walk out the...