Haymarket Brewery & Taproom — Restaurant in Bridgman

First-- the absolute best potato chips ever! I don't usually eat (or order) potato chips, but my wife wanted to try them. (I preferred to try the soft pretzel, but we went with the chips). These are not normal chips. Trust me-- try them. Super crispy, bubbly texture, large, correct amount of salt, a bit greasy (but, not necessarily a bad thing). I know it is odd to rave about the potato chips -- but, I had to do it.

Now that that is out of the way, the service was fast, the pizza was very good (got the roasted corn pizza). The corn should have had a stronger roasted flavor. Can't base my opinion on their pizzas based upon one try. The wood fired grill is visible to the diners, and it is quite impressive. I would definitely try additional types of pizzas here. There are plenty of indoor and outdoor tables. We ate outdoors, but it looks like if you eat indoors you may likely share a table with other diners -- making for a convivial friendly atmosphere (hopefully).

The beer/ cider/ hard seltzer menu was interesting and had about 12 -15 options (can't remember exactly). I had one of the seltzers (peach) and my wife had one of the beers. Both were excellent.

This was our first time here, though we had tried once before. Have to pay attention to the operating hours, and they apparently stop serving food earlier than the closing hour. We had stopped in hoping to get dinner at about 8:30 or 9:00 on a previous outing but we were told that the kitchen was closed.

One odd thing about the Haymarket: you order your food and drinks at the counter immediately after being assigned to a table. You pay for your meal at that time, and you are also prompted to leave a tip at that time. This is backwards (obviously), since tipping is normally done afterward based upon service, etc. The ordering "up front" is a good idea (makes for faster service), the paying "up front" is a good idea (makes for streamlined dining and not having to wait for your bill to be delivered). But the tipping "up front" has got to be changed. Overall -- this place is impressive. Great new building, plenty of parking, streamlined service, good food/drink. Maybe could use a few more pizza options -- especially on the...

Not a kid friendly place. I've been coming here 6-7 times a year since it opened 6-7 years ago. I've always enjoyed it. However, last Friday it was one of those experiences in which I'll most likely not come back. I went with 3 kids under age of 5 and 3 adults. We went early and the place was dead. In fact, we were the only ones outside when we got there. The kids were lucky to enjoy the grassy area. Yes, they were playing, but not being a nuisance at all. However, one of the employees couldn't handle that the kids weren't sitting at our table. Apparently she believed kids need to be on tablets and not allowed to explore the grounds. Needless to say, 'Karen' was not having it and took her frustrations out on these little kids. Her exact words were "this is a brewery, not a playground". Maybe someone should tell her to remove the arcade in the front entrance....just saying. Not a good look and I was actually a little embarrassed for this lady.

Fortunately, plenty of better family friendly options around. Recommend Ghost Isle in New Buffalo. Better food and drink options. Plus, the views are great. Very family friendly.

Watermark is a great place. No food, but usually a food truck and kids very welcome there.

River St. Joe is a better version of Haymarket, larger grassy fields and great beer and food. Just s but of a drive from this area.

Edit updating based upon Owners response. Thank you for your response. I do appreciate it. I had hoped to email you directly, but that option isn't available on your website. While I do appreciate your words, I'm not sure I'm aligned with it. For starters, you have a sign when you walk in that states "All unattended children will be taught swear words and given shots of energy drinks". Funny, yes. But I think there is much more to y'all posting this front and center than you stated below. Also, you like to put signs stating things are broken (i.e. your fence), so if you really cared about the safety of your patrons (of all ages) maybe fix the broken stuff vs. just putting signs up. Just saying. Thanks again for your reply and have a nice Memorial...

My family has dined here a couple of times over the past 6 months or so. I really enjoy the pizza. The chips and pretzel “shareables” are yummy and enjoyed by my kids. I’m not a beer drinker, but enjoy the strawberry basil seltzer. Tonight 6 of us were excited to enjoy one of our last decent weather nights of the year sitting outside for dinner. The food was delicious, as were the drinks. That’s where this review takes a turn for the worst, I’m afraid.

Unfortunately, all of the positive aspects of our past couple experiences have been overshadowed by the awful customer service of the hostess (possibly manager?) After reading some other reviews, I was not surprised at all to see that this same issue, regarding who I can safely assume is the same staff member, has been brought up multiple times in the past. She was rude from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. I agree with others that it seems she is very much against having young children in the establishment, no matter how well-behaved they may be, as two members of our group were my 4 and 5 year old children.

I, too, am a general manager of a local restaurant and have a strong understanding of how customers should be treated during the entirety of their visit. This isn’t the first time I’ve left this establishment feeling uneasy about our experience solely based on this one particular staff member. If looks could kill, she would’ve done a number on our group. Even my son, who is just 5, was picking up on her angry stares and overall negative demeanor.

As much as we love everything else about Haymarket, we’re not too fond of our family being treated like scum of the Earth by someone who should absolutely know better based on her supposed “rank” in the business. I certainly hope that a review such as this (among numerous others, apparently) will inspire some changes to be made on this staff member’s part so that what should be 4 or 5 star experiences at Haymarket aren’t reduced to 1 star...