Warren's Spirited Kitchen — Restaurant in Burton Township

I rarely give reviews for restaurants, especially poor reviews, because I think we should all just be generally grateful that we can have someone else serve us food from time to time. Since it was our first time here, I’d also like to think it was just a bad night. We attended later in the evening during ramen night, we sat at the bar, the bartender was very attentive even though he was super busy. The service was great. We ordered the Brussels sprouts, which were really tasty, they were a bit over sauced but the sauce is delicious so I’m not going to complain! We were really optimistic about the rest of the meal. I ordered the walleye, asparagus, and macaroni and cheese. My husband ordered the pork chop, cole slaw, and crispy potatoes. The food took a bit of time, but it’s a small kitchen so that was to be expected. When it arrived, I knew immediately everything was way over cooked. The plates were way too hot to the touch, which is highly unusual in a nicer restaurant, everything was literally steaming hot. The asparagus was wilted and shriveled. The walleye was a small portion of tough-looking shriveled fried fish swimming in a steaming sauce in a bowl. The Mac and cheese, which came in a separate dish, was not steaming hot, but tasteless and gummy. You wouldn’t have even known there was cheese it. My husband’s dish was also steaming hot, and his pork chop was cooked very well done (he wanted medium), but seasoned okay. The crispy potatoes were good, but that’s a low bar to meet, when are potatoes ever bad?

Either they left the food under the lamps for an incredibly long amount of time or they put the food in the microwave to heat it back up. I would hate to think they just generally over-cooked everything and plated it immediately on very, very hot plates that proceeded to also cook the food. Walleye is supposed to be a delicate mild fish, but since it was over cooked and then essentially boiled in a sauce, it was tough and fishy. I had my husband try it in case it was just me and he agreed. I couldn’t eat half my meal because it was so fishy, and the asparagus was again, shriveled, over salted, and the mac and cheese too sad to bother eating. The only reason I ate the first half was because I was so hungry, I needed to eat something.

I didn’t want to say anything to anyone there because it was a bit busy (but winding down), and honestly I was so exhausted from a long day (thus why we opted for a nice meal out instead of cooking). I was disappointed that management would let plates leave the kitchen that looked like that, but some guy, who I assumed was a manager, was very busy watching drinks go out at the bar and less concerned with the food side of things. I worked in food service a long time before graduating and know a lurky but not helpful manager when I see one. I didn’t see him move from that one spot the entire time we were there.

The bartender was again, busting butt and he was great, and we still tipped him appropriately even though the food was meh for a $100 meal. He didn’t cook it, nor did he serve it, and he checked on us. We didn’t really say much when he asked how the food was, we certainly didn’t say it was good.

Not every meal is going to be excellent, and restaurants are allowed to have off-nights, but if your kitchen is putting out sad-looking food, please catch it and make them redo it. A diligent expediter or even attentive manager would have noticed this right away, especially in a more “upscale” restaurant. I’m really hopeful this was just a bad night- maybe ramen night means other food isn’t as good? I’m not sure. I’m disappointed because we only go to small, local restaurants and would have loved to return. Maybe some time in future we would try again, after I’ve forgotten the...

Warren's Spirited Kitchen 🔥

This adorable little restaurant is situated around Burton square along with other quaint little shops! They have a beautiful patio leading from the front door to wrap around the side of the restaurant! Enjoy the view of century homes and beautiful greenery!

We had a reservation for 6:45p but when we arrived, we realized we didn't need the reservation! They could have sat us immediately in the bar area. It was nice because everyone else was on the patio so we enjoyed the bar area alone!

The atmosphere is very romantic! It has a lot cabin feel inside (pictured below)! Our waitress Jessica greeted us immediately. We ordered only waters after a quick glance at their incredible menu!

Elk chops? Duck? Crab legs? Oh my! So many incredible and exotic options (not the Crab legs 😂). We skipped right past the mocktails and decided to delve into a Scallop appetizer! Paired with a giant pile of arugula and half a lemon, these scallops were so tender and fresh! Sometimes we get unlucky with chewy or fishy scallops but these were perfection! 😋

Dennis decided to try the Burton Duck! Jessica told us its prepared Medium Rare. Dennis decided to go with the Chef's recommendation and have it as-is! And wow! The duck was AMAZING! Tender and bursting with flavor, with little bits of salty ham to compliment it perfectly! Paired with red skin mashed potatoes and spicy broccoli (which I had as well and its perfectly cooked: not too soft, not under done). Absolutely fantastic! He also had a side of their housemade house hot sauce which tasted like a spicy sweet chili sauce. BANGIN! 😍

I chose the one pound of crab legs! It came with shoestring rosemary fries but I am not a fan of shoestring so I decided to replace it with their Gouda and Gruyere Mac! Most of my crab legs were hot and meaty! I was disappointed by one of my leg clusters as the meat wasn't as plentiful but they gave me four claws, which was generous in my opinion! I also had broccoli paired with mine. Overall, I really enjoyed my meal! ❤️🦀

We decided to do dessert home: Limoncello Creme Cake! Let me tell you, words wouldn't even do it justice. We ate the cake in the car 15 minutes after leaving the restaurant 😂 soft and lemony, but not too lemony! The creme was velvety and light, perfect for our summer evening drive! 🍰🍋

My rating was a solid 9 and only because of my weak crabby legs. Dennis rated it a 10! He's still talking about it this morning! Overall average rating being 9.5! Wow, were we impressed!

We highly recommend this quaint little place!...

If you find my review helpful, please give it a thumbs up! Update 5/19 - Stopped in and had the Brussel sprouts (still amazing) and I had the burger this time. The burger was good, but it seemed to have just a plain Jane burger bun. I expected something more gourmet. Also, for the price, the portion should have been larger. Anytime I've paid more than $10 for a burger it's usually a large portion, I would say this was a standard portion you would normally find for around $9 - so at $16 it was definitely overpriced. The rosemary fries were a nice change of tastes and emitted by myself and the other person in my party.

Loved the decor, sat on the inside patio. Staff was very friendly. Prices were about expected, maybe a little on the high side. Tastes and decor I would give it a 5, however, a few things kept my meal from being a 5 as well. I had the eggs and chorizo, the taste was great, but there was very, very little chorizo - I was definitely expecting more, there was plenty of potatoes. The eggs were supposed to be medium, but they were a little over cooked. I grew up in L.A. So chorizo and eggs was a staple and I liked theirs, but I feel like there was maybe 8 little pieces, so I couldn't really taste or even see the chorizo. The Brussels sprouts - were amazing! If you even slightly like veggies, GET THIS DISH!! The person with me had the chicken sandwich and loved it, I had some and it was good, but I'm not a person who likes pickled foods. Overall I enjoyed this place and will definitely be back, but I would definitely order...