Raven Social — Restaurant in Cadillac

EDIT - Returned to Raven Social again in March of 2025 while in town for a tax appointment. We knew we'd be pressed for time - but were hungry! Our server was great helping us with delicious food and staying on our timeline! The large garage door windows that open in summer were also nice in March. We were able to sit inside where it was warm, but also soak in all of the sunshine while there. We chose different food choices this trip but they were still delicious. I opted for the bruschetta and was surprised how flavorful it was in March! My husband had the Parma Rosa this time. It was delicious and the portion was large enough that it also became the next day's lunch!

I recently had a chance to visit Raven Social while in town for a Tin Can Tourist vintage trailer rally at Mitchell State Park. (Second weekend in June if you want to see us!). The entire experience was marvelous - and we almost missed it! 😳😳 We had a party of nine who were hungry after our trailer rally. Although it was a Saturday, it was very early evening, so we weren’t too worried about seating. My party first went to another establishment downtown, just across the street from Raven Social as we had heard good things about them. Unfortunately, we never made it past the hostess who seemed to be indignant that we would ask for a table to seat nine. I offered we’d split up to help out, but it did little to change her exasperated demeanor.

My party decided to look elsewhere and boy were we glad! We walked across the street to Raven Social and were immediately greeted by a cheerful hostess whose attitude portrayed no issues with the size of our group. Things continued to get even better from there. The restaurant itself is extremely charming. The aesthetic of the old building is perfect. Bits of old and new commingle to create a space that is open and airy yet charming and cozy at the same time. And clean!!! From the floors to the bathrooms to the open “show style” kitchen, everything I saw was impressively clean.

Our waiter, Eric, was knowledgeable and friendly, patiently answering all of our questions - everything from ingredient sources to specific brands of spirits used. As Eric brought out each drink, appetizer, entree and dessert, we continued to be floored by each item. As each person’s choice was set in front of them - sighs of “I almost ordered that” were echoed around the table only to repeat as the next meal was placed. On person in our group has been recently placed on a restricted diet due to some health issues. Without blinking an eye - or asking for any reason, multiple healthier side dishes were offered instead of (the delicious looking) French fries. No one in my party lives near Cadillac- yet everyone intends on return before our rally next year! I wish I had photos to post, but everything was so spectacularly delicious it was gone before I thought of it! 😝

Raven Social has a second level with a small outdoor area that we hope to make use of next year with an even larger party!

I will offer one constructive criticism for Raven Social - you need better outdoor signage. We weren’t sure what your name was (to tell the other part of our group), and we weren’t sure if you even offered food. 🤷🏼‍♀️ (So happy you do!). A sign perpendicular to the road would help enormously.

You know it’s a great establishment when the only criticism I can sight is the need for a better sign! 🤓.

Go to Raven Social - you...

I read the reviews, about cold food, slow bar service, dry meat selections, inattentive waitresses, complaints about a restaurant "trying to be too many things at once", even the complaints on the interior designing (my goodness what people complain about).

I decided I would go anyway and bring my grandfather. We went on a Saturday, early afternoon and there were five other tables being served. I had the Nevermore burger, fries, creole potato salad, water. Grandpa had the same burger, and a whiskey/coke. Within two minutes of him placing order of whiskey/coke it was in front of him, and only costed $4. That's nothing. Really. I've gone to dive bars and paid more for less. So slow bar service seems to have resolved itself.

Our food was hot, so much so I had to wait for my fries to cool off a bit before eating them. Issue seems to have resolved there. Burger was moist, brisket was moist. Dry meat also seems to have been solved. I will say our waitress's attentiveness and personality was lacking a bit (nothing horrible), but she seemed young, so instead of berating the business online, I figure she's younger and maybe new to waitressing. Gotta start and learn somehow, right?

I found the interior charming, and more importantly it was clean. I couldn't care any less about the interior of a restaurant if it's clean and the food is good. So to base your review simply on your opinion of the interior design is childish and unfair to the business because it poorly reflects on their overall review (which then implies to people there is something actually wrong with this place, which there isn't).

I give my overall review four stars because the creole potato salad was a bit on the pricy end for the 1cup(ish) helping and extremely underwhelming. The texture was right (thick not soupy, dressing-saturated potato salad), flavor was extremely bland. Everyone needs to remember all new business go through a growth/learning stage and I will definitely be returning here to check out the menu further. Nice job bringing something different to...

We were given a gift card a while back for this place. We finally had a chance to go. It was not a very good experience. Place looked nice but the menu left quite a bit to be desired. I had a very tough time finding something that sounded good. I ended up ordering a item that I thought would be okay. The appetizer I ordered was the sausage and pickles. I have made similar for cheaper and had much more more. One piece of sausage split in half, one pickle cut into three pieces breaded and fried, and one small red skin potatoe cut into pieces for 12 dollars. It was not very good at all. It was quite a wait for that to come out. After almost a hour wait, we were informed that they were having problems in the kitchen and it would be a while longer for a dinner to come out. We informed them that we did not have all night to be there. We had a friend watching our grandkids and couldn"t be another two hours. I was not impressed that they knew that they were having problems and still were seating people. I looked at reviews while waiting. They were very mixed. If they are having this problem they should get it fixed before trying to run a business. Reviews showed that they have been having problems with the kitchen for a while. We got our dinner about twenty minutes after being told about the wait. They had rushed our order. I was not impressed with the dinners. We almost left the food on the table with the gift card. We ended up boxing it up and leaving. There were people seated before us still waiting for their orders. We did leave the waitress a tip of all that was left on the gift card. It was over $15.00. She was doing her job. We tried the food when got home and got things settled. The food was at best okay. I have had worse. I am not going to go here again. I think the way they are going they are not going to do well. Prices high...