Emerson Lake Inn — Restaurant in Branch Township

October 2022 updated review: Ordered pizza for takeout tonight. Tried to order an 18" (only option on menu) with 3 toppings. We were told they were out of 1 of the 3 toppings (no problem...we pivoted and chose a different one), also told out of 18" (should have been 1st indicator of premade crust), so ordered 2, 12" pizzas.

The gentleman on the phone told us 20 minutes. We stopped at Branch Grocery to grab a few items and showed up 35 minutes later to be told they hadn't gone in yet and it would be another 20-25 minutes. Because we had ice cream in the car, we had to run home to drop it in the freezer then come back. When we went back (approx 1:05 after ordering), they were ready. I paid quickly and didn't look hard at the bill or open the pizzas, so not bringing questions up at the moment is on me.

An 18" cheese pizza is advertised on the menu for $15, with $2 for each additional topping. We ended up paying $46 for 2, 12", 2 topping pizzas. (Yes, 2 toppings...1 was left off, 1 was as ordered, and the other was not what we ordered.) Unfortunately, I did not relaize the disparity until we were already home and too tired and hungry to drive back a third time.

The crust was as suspected - premade, the toppings were as stated above, and the sauce was not anything of note.

I have had high hopes for ELI since the reopening but each experience since we have gone back has been a bit more disappointing. Tonight pushed us over the edge on not trying again. Glad to have them in the area; wish we were able to become the "regulars" I'd hoped to be in my review from 2 years ago.

2 years ago, I wrote the following on here: We were so excited to see that ELI has new owners! The place looks great and the crowd seemed steady tonight. Perfect reataurant to have near Long Lake too, where options for a decent place to eat are very limited. Menu had enough variety for a casual night out. Pollock and Perch were good. Breading on the Pollock was beer battered and tasty but the Perch was more lightly breaded. Both were good optioms! The atmosphere was great and tonight's entertainment was nice and chill. The outdoor space was inviting with picnic tables, fire pit/adirondacks, and corn hole. We will definitely be regulars! Please stay open in the winter :) Also, cute logo....hopefully stickers and tshirts...

I really wanted to like the food. There’s nothing else around here really so I was excited when this place opened back up. I understand how hard it is to own/run/work at a bar/restaurant (my parents owned one for several years). It’s not an easy task. I also get that covid has messed with a lot of things. I ordered a pizza and a pretzel with beer cheese. Took almost an hour to get our food (to go, not dine in) and it was so so. The pretzel was decent, the cheese was cold but ok once we warmed it up in the microwave. The pizza unfortunately wasn’t good at all. I love pizza and I love cheese but this pizza had WAYYYY too much cheese on it, to the point that it was just coming off in huge chunks and not staying attached to the pizza at all. The sauce wasn’t great either. I also feel like both items were very over priced, especially for the location of the business and the quality of the food. I really think they could have a good thing here and I hope that they take the reviews to heart and understand that we don’t want to see them fail and no one is trying to be mean…we want you to succeed, and in order to do that you need to pay attention to what your customers are saying and make...

We had dinner at Emerson Lake Inn last night. We hadn’t been there since they reopened. We were a group of 11; half were in town from St. Louis. We made a reservation ahead of time. It was nice to see a full parking lot when we arrived at 7:00 pm. That’s a good sign that it’s a good place. 😊 The building looked very nice with beautiful landscaping decor. The owner (male) warmly greeted us at the door. Everything was set up for our group on the screened-in porch. Our waitress was fantastic (sorry I don’t remember her name). We ordered a variety of items including ribs, pasta Alfredo, perch, fish & chips, smothered chicken, perch Reuben, chicken sandwich, and a burger. Everyone was very happy with their drinks and meals. The other owner (female) stopped by the table and chatted a bit. We had a great experience and will be back when we’re in the area. Even the music was great! I’d love to know what...