Moose Preserve Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Bloomfield Township

I've been a visitor to this family of restaurants for 20 years. First experience was Camp Ticonderoga. After that we began eating regularly at Beaver Creek or Deadwood. Both long drives, but worth it.

Then Beaver Creek closed so we only went to Deadwood. Quality had been slipping each visit so we stopped going and drove further distance to competitor Karl's.

Today we met family for dinner at Moose Preserve. First impression was good. Clean, great staff and nice decor.

Then I ordered my first beer and it took a long time. Actually all the drinks did. 4 people and each drink came separately. And my wife's was really delayed due to staff having to retrieve a component to make it, a Mule menu item no less.

When I wanted to order a 2nd beer I guess I had drank the last Labatt Blue on Woodward. Had to settle for Blue Light. When that was gone... It was gone. Was informed the remaining Blue Lights were warm in storage. Poor waitress. She didn't want to tell me. Not her fault. Who doesn't know how to manage a bar cooler to keep track of inventory? You take the 2nd from last of anything you immediately restock. Hopefully sooner.

Then the menu. It's been so long since we patronized one of these places the Wild Thang appetizer is gone! The thing that always was worth the long drive. Whitefish pattee and the tenderloins. And the Porcupine Sundae? Gone.

There's a sign over the urinal pushing eating small local places and not chain foods. Well when you no longer have unique items how are you different? Just much more expensive. I can get buffalo anywhere. That's the last menu item that may be different than a chain, but bars much closer to home have it also.

The only reason this isn't 2 stars is the Buffaloaf was very good. Much better than the last time I had it at Deadwood where it was almost inedible.

Not having items and the long wait times with so few patrons at 5:30pm is minus 2 stars. Unfortunately I don't see us returning to any of these establishments after a 20 year run. Especially with the Wild Thang gone.

These restaurants sure were good when they were at their peak. We would take out of town guests for the 30 mile drive...

This was not the first experience I expected from this restaurant at all!

I've enjoyed some other restaurants in this group, but this was far from a stellar experience.

I called a couple weeks ago and made a reservation for 16 people for my birthday. We all arrived, got seated, and put in our drink orders.

All is going well so far, until it came time to order food.

For some reason two servers took care of us. 14/16 people showed up. I know it was busy, but it seemed odd that it took two people to take care of 14 customers. Oh well, that's not the end of the world.

But I'm assuming some disconnect happened with the servers and kitchen, because the food began coming out very poorly timed. I got an appetizer before anyone else (there were like 5 Wild Thangs ordered). Well.. I began eating since I don't want it to get cold. We asked the food runner about the others, he said he only had the one. Next, my half of the table began getting their main courses delivered before the appetizers came for the second half of the table. We inquired about the other appetizers and where they were and we were informed that they were sorry and it must be because there were two servers working our one reservation. They said that the appetizers were on the house for the mess up. Okay, that's understandable.

Then one meal came out, I believe the daily special Jambalaya, covered in Parmesan cheese. This person happens to not be able to eat cheese and it wasn't on the menu that it had cheese. Okay, not the end of the world as they offered a replacement. But then the replacement was missing the toast.

And the icing on the cake, the appetizers were not comp'd as promised, and due to us already being late for the party, we had to leave and everyone just paid for them. Sad.

The only reason this is not a one star review is because the server on my side (Not sure her name, but dark hair and a tattoo sleeve) was great, and the food, when accurate, is good.

But the negatives outweighed the positive and made for a less than stellar birthday dinner for me...

Laura immediately greets you from the hostess desk with a smile and friendly chatter, as if you are old friends. On your way out she makes sure you are still smiling. We knew we’d selected the right restaurant!

Zach is an upbeat, friendly fellow, masterful at pacing dinner service and conversation (even at the height of the dinner hour.) Alexis is a manager aware of customer satisfaction...and dissatisfaction.

Fun place, great food. So why only four stars? Because of a server who missed customer cues, interrupted obviously intense table interaction (family medical issue,) rushed meal ordering, ignored patrons when they were ready to order and then dragged out service until customers addressed her ill behavior directly. Then she pouted before she finally adjusted her attitude. I promise you, we were trying to coax her (kill her with kindness) into rolling with our situation. We did not reprimand her. We simply explained our unique situation.

When we joined other family members (who’s server was Zach 😁) at another table, we saw why folks like to gather at this restaurant.

The manager got wind of our earlier frustration. She asked for and got an earful about our first table experience. Alexis is genuinely interested in providing superior customer experience.She assured me the server would be reprimanded and customer service guidelines reviewed . Thank you, Alexis. Your restaurant is only as good as your people. She needs to be made aware of her importance.

(Did I tip the first table server? Quite well, only because I knew I was going to unload about her poor attitude to a manager who would/should come down very hard on such insolent behavior. Hopefully this was a learning situation and this server adjusts her attitude or finds another employer. She was clearly a misfit at this place this evening.)

I am convinced your experience will be 5 stars! The Moose Preserve Bar & Grill Is a great place, attentive to the customer and serious about staff...