Boyne River Inn — Restaurant in Boyne City

2024.12.14: I completely forgot I left a review nine years ago... but nine years later, new owner and dare I say it's worse than it was back then...

As a lifelong entrepreneur in the small business space, I really don't like leaving a poor review for a local business, but after four attempts at loving this place since it re-opened with a new owner... I cannot hold back any longer, especially after tonight's experience.

I placed a pizza order online. Their online menu is built out terribly and does not allow for customizations. No big deal. I placed the order and called. My call was answered the second time, but unfortunately, they couldn't hear me—not because of my phone, but because of theirs. It was evident this was a continued issue.

I finally got them to hear, 'Can you call me from a different phone?'—to which they advised they were not allowed to. So, I just asked that they cancel the order. There was lots of yelling back and forth in attempts to hear one another, but it's very clear that serving customers is not BRI's forte. Zero accountability. Zero 'do whatever it takes' mindset.

Frankly, this was my final attempt to like the 'new' BRI after visiting three times previously and having a mediocre experience at best. We'll see if they do the right thing and refund my money or if I need to dispute the transaction, considering I could not order what I actually wanted to eat.

My invitation to leadership is to a) hire staff who live and breathe a customer-first mindset and b) empower them to make decisions that allow them to create a great customer experience.

The solution could have been SO simple... "Sir, we're having trouble with our phone here; let me call you right back from my cell phone so we can take care of you." That would have lead to a completely different review filled with gratitude and admiration—and a very nice tip.

But here we are—hungry and incredibly disappointed with my final experience of BRI. I genuinely hope they get it together and get the right people on the bus with a positive mindset, all moving in the same direction and with the power to make decisions that matter. Or... perhaps we'll watch the negative reviews continue to mount up before the space is empty once again.

ORGINAL REVIEW First, the host was less than pleasurable and when I asked for a different open table she essentially advised it wasn't possible.

Then, we were greeted by our server with 'welcome to BRI. We're out of meatloaf and ribs.' in a I'm really busy and don't have time for you kind of tone. Alrighty.... Good to meet you and glad we're here.

The server/bartender was CLEARLY over worked as there was a constant feeling of being rushed.

What really nailed the coffin was the server saying 'I'm going to steal these' referencing the mayonnaise and mustard, when I was halfway finished with my sandwich. She comes back a moment later and asks if there's anything she can get us and I said... Um...mayonnaise? To which she then took them off the other guests table and put them on mine... Confused, I asked if this is the only container of mayonnaise and she provided an answer that essentially meant there is more but I'm not going to go find it.

In my opinion, this staff needs serious work...if not a complete dump and rehire--but it all starts at the top.

The food overall was ok. Not great... Not bad... Just OK. And there are many other places to get average or better food and much better service in a far nicer environment.

I've been to BRI on a number of occasions in years past and as it stands with current management and staff.... We...

PLEASE READ !!! Ok so this doesn’t happen often , if ever … but this place gets an extremely poor review :( My son has told me he’s tried to go in for a burger several times over 2 yrs ( yes 2 YEARS ) and has been treated badly by workers and never got a chance to try their food ~ once he sat at a table for 20-30 min before asking for service just to find the kitchen was CLOSED ! So the other day , I tell my son that we wanted to go there and sit outside and asked him to meet us there ~ he was refusing to come along and I assured him that me and his dad wouldn’t possibly get bad service because we NEVER DO ! He reluctantly met us there . UGH… I was WRONG …. First time for everything ! We go in ( party of 4 adults , 1 child ) and I ask to wait for a table on back patio the girls looked at me like she’d never been asked that so … who I can only assume was the manager was called over ( for a table request) and again looked as though I asked for him first born child or something:/ he proceeded to say … we will have to wait & I graciously said ‘ yes absolutely we expected that & we’ll sit at the bar for a drink while waiting’ then it gets REALLY STRANGE… the manager looks at the bar and says to me that there’s not enough chairs for us to sit together & I again replied ..’ that’s fine , it will be fine , we can see that or we can even sit outside in the front & wait with our drink if you’ll let us know when a table opens ‘? While out there I believe it was the owner came out & checked on us & acted weird as well , didn’t say anything to us about a table soon opening or ask if we needed anything after 45 min or so . So why come out at all (?) After that my son looks at me and says ‘ I TOLD YOU THIS PLACE IS JUST OFF !’ .My husband assumed that the first girl and the owner possibly didn’t speak English well (?) I honestly have no … idea …. Needless to say to say we left and went to one of our faves ( LSP ) and as always great food as well as service:) We just wanted to try the food at BRI because they have good reviews . We now don’t honestly believe they can be real reviews from what we witnessed . We’re not visiting the area we built a second home there 4 yrs ago & are in the area all of the time I can see them feeling like we didn't belong in this type of place & I definitely won’t make this mistake again , and that’s just sad because we’re not ‘ THOSE ‘ kind of people ~ but we do have standards . I feel obligated to warn others by writing this review to let people know how horrible this place is to people the same as we write great reviews for all other places . I gave it 2 * because my cocktail was good :/ PLEASE DO NOT GO IN THIS PLACE IF YOU'RE TRAVELING!!! So many other great restaurants throughout charlevoix county to...

We won the parking lottery and we're able to park directly in front of the building for dinner last night. If you know Boyne City parking, you know that this is a really big win. However, the thrill of that win was immediately killed when we walked through several employees standing just outside the front/main entrance smoking and vaping. We were almost immediately turned off when one of those employees was also our server. We watched her walk inside, hang her coat in a closet and walk directly to our table to greet us. I can't get past the fact that she never washed her hands before bringing us plates, silverware and water.

My guest and I had two different menus that had both seen much better days. We had to ask for clarification on which menu was correct and then tell our server twice that we needed more time because she stood awkwardly tableside while we shared the one correct menu. She finally walked away and gave us a moment to make selections.

The food was decent at best. The tomatoes on the Ceasar salad were horrible (and didn't belong on a czr). The pizza sauce has a heavy tomato flavor...tasted like doctored up tomato paste.

The ventilation is absurdly awful. Salmon was featured and we smelled ALL the salmon being cooked in the dining room. Then, the smoke from the pizza oven would cover the fish smell until you couldn't see the opposite side of the room through the smoke hanging. Their answer to this dilemma was to open the slider doors that face the river on a very brisk 25⁰ evening.

From an observation standpoint, the restaurant felt like a playground for the staff. They were all hanging around the bar and pizza oven area, eating, on their phones, playing videos loudly on their phones. There was no professionalism.

Overall, set your expectations appropriately and it's just okay, but heavily leaning toward...