Timbers Inn Restaurant & Tavern — Restaurant in Cannon Township

I am updating this review and adding a star based on our latest experience.

Timbers did finally send us a gift card for a generous $50 and encouraged us to try them again, so we did. Overall, it was a much better experience. The server was very pleasant and took good care of us, though getting the bill at the end took quite a while.

A water bottle with two plastic (!?) glasses was brought immediately, and soon after a small loaf of bread, thoroughly encrusted with seeds was delivered with butter for each of us. It looks quite inviting, but it wasn't warm, and really had no particular flavor to commend it, so disappointing.

For appetizers we had the French onion soup and house salad. The salad was fine, but nothing special. The soup was quite good, not too salty, and it had plenty of onion. The crouton crust, however, was so tough I had to use a knife to cut it.

The main dishes arrived well before we had had a chance to complete the appetizers, so that was a bit disconcerting. (Which do I allow to grow cold, he meat or the soup?) My wife had the Greek pizza, and it was fine, though nothing special. I had the Ball Tip steak (usually referred to as Sirloin tip). It was cooked as I requested, and it was fine, though not great. However, it was served on a piping hot plate, and accompanied by hot, crisp fries, so that was all good.

We splurged and ordered the Chocolate Mousse cheesecake and the Raspberry cheesecake. Both were similar to what you buy in a grocery store; so fine, but nothing worth $8.

All in all, everything was OK. It was certainly not a negative experience like our first visit, but still quite expensive for what you get. (For example, the same steak can be had at Rio Grande for about $5 less, and the bread there is delicious!)

Four months ago... We have lived in the area for 12 years but have never been to this restaurant, but given the overall positive reviews we were happy to try it out. It was truly disappointing.

On the positive side, it is attractive, and the wait staff are pleasant. The music isn’t too loud although the classic hard rock seems inappropriate for the ambience they have tried to create.

The menu has a nice variety of sandwiches, salads, and several fish entrées. It all looked quite enticing though the prices were quite high. Nevertheless, we were eager to see if it was worth the price.

From here it was all downhill, unfortunately. My wife ordered the angel hair chicken and pesto sauce, and I ordered a Caesar salad with chicken. Very simple.

We waited about 30 minutes to receive this order, and during that time there were no crackers, no bread, no nothing. I understand that good food may take a while to prepare, but if it’s going to take 30 minutes, then having a little something to snack on would’ve been very nice. In fact, my wife’s order had bread that was supposed to come with it, but when the entree came there was no bread and we had to ask for it. The bread was tasty, and there was plenty enough for both of us to have had a nice snack to tide us over while we waited for the meal if it had been brought earlier.

The angel hair chicken was more of an Alfredo sauce than pesto, and not that flavorful. The Caesar salad was the worst that I have ever had. The dressing was bland with none of the bite or flavor one expects from a good Caesar; by hunting I found a total of four small croutons, and the chicken was a grilled breast on the side. The chicken was fine, but overall this was a pretty sad meal that set us back $37 with no drinks and no dessert.

Update: A month later, and the gift coupon that was promised was...

Update: 7/23/2023 Based on our bad experience Timber's Inn reached out and wanted us to try the restaurant again. We don't often give places a second chance if the first experience is terrible, but they offered and we took them up on the offer. This time we decided to go on a Friday night, rather than a Monday night, to see if we could get them at a time with more patrons and see if the increase in customers would help the overall experience. The difference was night and day! The service was prompt, friendly, and professional. The wait staff was on top of drinks, circling back to see how things were going, and checking in to see if we needed anything else. This time we all decided to order something different than the last time, so this review isn't exactly "apples to apples", but everything was delicious! I tried the buffalo soup (which was a first for me) and my wife got the rice soup and it was perfectly seasoned and just the right portion. This time I got the salmon and my wife got the shrimp scampi. Both were great! The kids both got kids meals (pizza and chicken tenders) and the only complaint was the BBQ sauce. My kids like sweeet barbeque sauce and the BBQ sauce they serve with their kids meals is probably the same spicy/smoky BBQ they use on ribs or wings. While I thought the BBQ sauce was delicious it is not a 'kids BBQ sauce".

Overall, everything was well prepared, well presented, and delicious.

I've kept my original review below for context, but I definitely see myself going back. I'm glad we gave it another chance!

Original To say the food underperformed doesn't do it justice. My family ordered two burgers, pizza, and jambalaya. The burgers were burnt, the "lightly toasted" buns looked and tasted like they stayed on the grill 10 minutes too long. Completely ruins the taste of a good burger to just taste the charred remains of what used to be called bread. This, coupled by the fact that the server disappeared for so long after the food arrived that by the time we could have complained it was too late. For $18 per burger it was a darn shame to see it go to waste.

The Jambalaya was seasoned perfectly, sauce was great, and shrimp was great. The veggies were all crunchy and the sausage was like rubber. I've never had the Jambalaya here before but I expected the veggies to be cooked. For $30 I expected cooked veggies.

The pizza was delicious , well seasoned, sauce was tasty, crust was done perfectly.

The dinning room was empty, and for $85 of garbage I am...

I can not even give this place 1/2 star. We had a very unpleasant experience with a to go order. Not only were we missing half of our order but what we received was incorrect. Do, I called and explained this to the manager. She told me she would send out a git card which we did not receive so I called her again and she sent it with apologies. So, we decided to try try again. I called Timbers and the hostess who answered the phone DID NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SPECIALS, MENU, OR HOW FOOD WAS PREPARED. I ordered the 4 piece coconut shrimp app, fish and chips, and they said I could have additional side. So, I selected sweet potato. I did not know it was mashed potato. But they put the crispy fish on of the mashed potato - hence very very soggy fish. My shrimp was bunt to a crisp and rubbery. I could not even eat it. My husband ordered an all meat burrito but did not receive the sour cream, salsa, chips, etc. I was furious. An very expensive restaurant in our area and we can't even order food from there any longer. If you have someone answering the phone, have that person trained on menu and how foods are cooked and ingredients. They should also know the soups of the day along with the specials. I was put on hold 7 times so she could ask someone answers to my questions. My husband and I have worked in the food industry. My husband a chef at the Idler in South Haven. I worked as a sous-chef to line cook to waitress and then shift manager in South Haven at a restaurant which is now closed. I did not really want the gift card, I was originally calling so this could be used as a training experience as I feel this is more important to the restaurant and it's customers in our community. I am so sadden about the experience. To get a free meal and it be the worst mean ever...