Union Pier Social — Restaurant in Chikaming Township

I will try to tell the story in as few words as possible. My wife and I took our dog with us to New Buffalo for a nice outdoor dining experience. We had originally went to Bentwood Tavern, but upon arrival we learned that their policy had changed and dogs were no longer allowed on the patio. They were graciously apologetic and recommended a couple of other places. We chose one and called to confirm the dog policy and they put us on the wait list of 15 minutes. The drive there was only 10 minutes from where we were. Upon arrival her phone check-in showed that we were 2nd in line. Great! 55 minutes later, she went in to ask about our table. The girl inside was the same one on the phone profusely apologetic and sat us immediately. I didn't particularly like the table because of the proximity to other dogs. They proactively re-located us. Awesome! Our server Kerensa (SP) was nice, friendly and smiled with her guests. She was also sloowww. Either she was weeded with her section or could only focus on one thing at a time (15 minutes for a drink refill, next table had the wrong beer, etc.) In our experience, the business level on the patio was nothing overwhelming. A good server should be able to handle it. I ordered a pizza. When it arrived, it was PERFECTLY round and had mini pepperoni and finely diced green pepper. I have made MANY pizza's in my years in food and I am a professional pizza consumer (LOL) and the perfect shape + mini pepperoni + diced green pepper= FROZEN PIZZA! That aside, it wasn't bad for what it is. My wife enjoyed her salad, however, the "delicious rotisserie style" chicken was super dry! Our dog ate it without complaint. though. There was an "entertainer" there that night. She was at the low end of mediocre at best. Try to imagine Ben Stein at karaoke. But I've heard worse. On a couple of occasions we heard little dog "chirping" on the patio throughout our visit. Nothing too overwhelming but enough to know they are there. Based upon that and our in depth knowledge of our dog's behaviors we decided to take the long way around the area of the patio to avoid any conflicts. The two little dogs saw us and went wild with the barks which caused our dog to crark (part cry, part bark) and they went back and forth. It happens. NO biggie. But what really changed the experience for us was firstly, BEN STEIN wanna-be starts mocking the dogs with her best dog voice into her mic to further entice them all to keep barking! Second, the KAREN standing in the walkway to get out with her dog, and a stupid, puppet-like smirk on her face like she was being entertained. My wife went to ask her to back up so we could leave and she snarled with disgust as if she asked to borrow the keys to her Maserati limo. OK...KAREN's happen...BUT, she would move! Still laughing! And third, emo reject employee who I refer to as a clown, tells KAREN to move because we have a "Super aggressive dog" and we need to get out right away! WHATTT!!!??? Our dog is NOT aggressive! In fact, as we began our exit, SEVERAL tables filled with guests that she met during our 55 minute wait to be seated, all pet her with warm petting and sad goodbyes. We are not a family of instigators, but won't stand by and be attacked. I obviously failed at the few words part but the experience started well and turned out to be horrible. Particularly the rude, uninformed, unwarranted comments about our dog from an employee who had never met her until that moment. Even if that was her perception, she as an employee, had an obligation to shut up about it! With that, it gave us an opportunity to really evaluate our entire, first and last visit! *While I am not a professional entertainer, my review of the singer is an opinion from a music fan. My review of food and service comes from DECADES in food and beverage service and management. I wish you all happy dining...

This was our first time visiting Union Pier Social. And it was a GREAT first visit. It's nice to have a place in "downtown" U.P. opened most days. We have young kids, and there were six of us dining this evening. Age range was 5 to 80, and we all loved it.

We started with the grilled artichoke salad, and it was truly FANTASTIC! For entrees we got sandwiches, burgers and salads, and the kids got chicken nuggets. First, the nuggets. They are almost spot on McDonald's, but higher quality (that's a good thing!). The rest of the food was great...the one unmemorable dish with the beef stew. For the price, we expected a much heartier portion. It was mostly broth and literally three pieces of meat in it. It was disappointing, but it didn't derail the experience or the rest of the food (for that reason, we didn't even express dissatisfaction to our server). In fact, we were enjoying the food so much that we ordered cheese curds midway through. They were great!

As for drinks, decent selection. I loved they have M-43 on tap! One comment is that they should have offered a glass with the can of beer I ordered (pictured: Gumballhead).

We went very early on a Monday night, unsure whether crowds would await us. There were several people at the bar and only one other table of people in the dining room. But by the time we left, it was crowded. Not so crowded there was a wait for a table, but I looked around, and most were filled. That's a good sign on a Monday night in the off season. If we lived in Union Pier year-round, we'd almost certainly...

Decided to try something new, was sorely disappointed. My wife and I sat outside, there was live music getting ready and the outdoor area was nice. Beer and food selection looked good, but we never got to try anything. After sitting for half an hour without having our drink order taken we caught the hostess attention and explained we hadn't been served yet. She seemed incredibly disinterested and said "oh, ok" and walked off. We left at this point, getting overlooked is one thing but when no one even seems to care that's an entirely new consideration. I've worked in restaurants, I'm a great tipper(my wife jokes we might have to retire later than expected because of it!), I understand that places can be understaffed, have rushes, the kitchen can get behind, etc.... This wasn't that. We saw other tables sat, order drinks, get drinks, order apps, people get their checks, pay them.... Etc. We were adjacent to the walkway for the servers too, so it's not like we were hidden in a corner and easy to overlook by mistake. I've never once left a place like this, and certainly don't leave a bunch of reviews like this, but it was a frustrating event on a rare night out my wife and I get. We love to support local places and looked forward to trying something new.... But instead stuck with more established places nearby... Hopefully our experience was not common, but I felt it needed sharing at least so the establishment can be aware and...