Terry's of Charlevoix — Restaurant in Charlevoix

So I've been a long time summer visitor and have family that live there year round and we will likely never give Terry's another chance. Every time, save once, I have been there over the years they give me some reason to not come back.

This time it is how they still will not take reservations for large groups. 9 family members. 1st to arrive, by boat, at about 5:40 pm on a Saturday night (July 22nd). Told it's a 45-60 minute wait. They won't take a phone number. They don't have pagers. You have to just wait on the side walk. Yes, we could have, all 9 of us, tried to pack into the Villager but that's not reasonable either with some well into their 70's. We could have waited it out on the boat just a few hundred yards away but since they won't take a phone number....... So after multiple inquiries about a large table not being used and 45 minutes we were told that table was being held for someone (apparently for a friend of the owner) But remember that thing about "They don't take reservations."? So we continued to wait. Over 60 minutes in they finally tell us that the table they were hoping to seat us at is not moving quickly through their meal and it'll be another 45 minutes. But then they say they can split is between 2 tables

I told my family I didn't want to give them our money at all but lost out so we walked in. It was at that time that they said they couldn't actually put us at those tables because a chair would be in the way of the servers. So now after well over an hour we still can't get seated and have multiple people over 70 years of age that are tired of sitting or standing on a sidewalk.

So we left.

Taking reservations for large groups would have eliminated this issue entirely. If they can't accommodate we go elsewhere and come back another time.

By not taking reservations and not being accommodating in how they make people wait washout simply rude and pretentious.

I personally will never go back and I feel confident that several others in my family...

After a great recommendation from a friend, I called Terry’s on Sunday 8/8 asking about reservations for Monday 8/9 for my birthday. I was told that they do not take reservations, walk ins only. Their website says they are open until 9pm. After being stuck in several downpours in the area and work phone calls, my husband and I finally made it to Terry’s on Monday 8/9 at 8:30pm for my alleged birthday dinner. Because they were allegedly open until 9pm…..When we opened the door to Terry’s the hostess looked very shocked to see us. I said Hello we have 2 for dinner. She basically started backing us up out the door. She said I’m sorry but we are full up for the night. This is after my husband and I saw at least 4 tables open. It was extremely obvious that they just didn’t want to “deal with us” since they were closing at 9pm. I said but I called and you said you don’t take reservations. No. We don’t but we are full for the night. It was a complete lie to our faces and then the door was Basically shut in our face. So rude and unprofessional and beyond disappointing for a place that came so highly recommended. My advice: Take reservations and tell people that they need to be seated by a certain time...

Haven't read all the reviews, but when you average 4.8, you know they're mostly 5 star reviews, and Terry's deserves all of them. We first stopped in there 2 years ago during the pandemic, on the advice of a friend. And she did not lead us astray. We've now been there 3 times and each time it was excellent. My wife has had the walleye almondine each time. I had perch the first time, and walleye the other two. Properly cooked and sauce was on-point. If there's anything better than the fish itself, it's probably the hash brown side. Honestly, it's awesome. And if there's anything better than the food, it's the service. We were there last night right when the doors opened at 5pm, and we had impeccable service from Candace (I think). We'll definitely try to save some room for the Key Lime Pie next time. Thanks for a great meal! ...