Gather — Restaurant in Chikaming Township

TL;DR - Fine dining aspirations (?), Chuck E. Cheese-level service.

For the prices you pay, this is a miserable experience. Scratch that, regardless of what you pay, this is a miserable experience. It's as if a toxic VC tech bro thought he had a brilliant idea to revolutionize fine dining by making the experience more like a fast food one, via technology, and came up with this clunker.

Walk in to the restaurant and it's a hive of activity as food runners bounce all around the place delivering food and drinks and lending an anxious atmosphere to the place--even when it's less than half full.

We're all familiar with using QR codes for menus now, so that's no big deal, but the ordering system is the major obstacle. The code takes you to Toast's website, where I began a group order for our table. Then, oddly, the person who brought our water begin to tell another person to begin an individual order--this was the least confused we'd be.

Have a question about the menu? Looking for a recommendation? Need to ask if something can be prepared the way you prefer? Strangely, you are your own waiter, so I hope you have the answers! Restaurants still qualify as guest services, right? There was no service and we were not guests, we were part of the labor.

Which is all well and good if I'm going out to Old Country Buffet or Luby's, but at a place that fancies itself as a fine dining spot with prices to match?

One of our party spilled their nearly full drink, and with nobody assigned to serve our table and, oddly, no staff in sight at the moment, we began cleaning it up ourselves. I walked up to the counter to ask for more napkins and someone soon appeared at our table to help the last of the clean-up but never brought more napkins and left our soaked ones sitting on the table.

I walked over to a water station and grabbed a chunk of cocktail napkins.

We went on-line to order a replacement drink and when it showed up, the runner began telling us about another drink that is even better and sold us on it (a recommendation :) after the fact :( ), only to then find out that it was no longer on the menu. This isn't that person's fault, they don't need to know the menu, they don't need to be trained to serve the guests. It's a process and management issue--the staff are set up to fail at anything more than running food to tables.

And then our party decided to try and order entrees and that's where the wheels came off for good. Attempting to order online there was no place to enter comments for personal preferences or notes. So, once again I made my way up front to ask a question about relaying that information to the kitchen and was met by a worker who was snarky, dismissive, and insulting. Again, it's probably not his fault, he's likely tired of having to answer questions that could easily be handled by professional waitstaff.

It's a process and management issue.

The one positive to this convoluted ordering system is that you can pay and leave without talking to anyone, and so we did.

Everything we ate or drank was good enough to make this one of the better spots in the area, but we will not come back. Should the, "people will like what I tell them to like," owner or GM come to their senses and change the guest interaction system to something more inviting and friendly, we might give it another shot.

But, then again... We drove back into New Buffalo, sat down in a high-end restaurant, ordered drinks and entrees and were very well served by a person who did a great job guiding our experience--true guest service!

P.S. Oddly, not long after my party took a table at Gather..., a couple walked in and was seated, given paper menus, and was waited on by a staff member! Which, to me, clearly shows that they know this system is a problem but think it's only a problem for older people, as this couple was clearly elderly.

So, I guess if I just wait another 15-20 years and come back, I'll be waited on...

Really surprised that there are so many positive reviews. Went there last night and doubt that I will be back. I don't have an issue with paying a high price for a great experience and meal but this was silly. So, you order yourself and it takes a little time. I guess this saves owner on payroll for staff? You cannot adjust any item on menu, I was told "we have a small kitchen staff of two people so you cannot request no bacon on your wedge salad" that is fine but not when a small plate of 5 shrimp are 26.00 - when I pay those prices I expect some service. I was asking for no bacon, not re-invent the wheel. Nothing special food wise and with having to stop and put my next order in on my phone if I wanted another cocktail and keep track when two were put in accidentally but still leave a 20% tip for less service than one would expect in any other trendy restaurant. No coffee or espresso coming up on phone menu but clearly espresso machine visible. Had to get up to ask staff what the situation was and was told they only serve espresso beverages until 8:00 PM (it was 7:30) and someone mistakenly removed it from the menu. I had such high hopes and was so...

I really don’t understand why people are so dramatic over the service here in the reviews. You scan the QR code and then just order what you want…. It’s literally not difficult, and takes maybe 5-10 minutes and then you can put your phone away and enjoy your meal. It’s not like there’s no staff whatsoever. You’re greeted at the door and then a super friendly staff member comes over to explain a few things, brings water, etc. He was great and willing to answer any questions.

The issue we had is just the price of everything. My boyfriend ordered a beer and got maybe half a beer poured into a glass for $6. I mean, it’s just expensive. We would have been okay with that if they didn’t also expect you to tip. Why would I tip a server when there is no server? That truly makes no sense. I thought the high prices were because they don’t expect a tip.

Overall, the food really was great, and the atmosphere...