Summerlands Brewing Company — Restaurant in Delhi Charter Township

Went the day before their grand opening with the expectation that there would be shortcomings, since they have been open only a week. Unfortunately, even with the low-bar expectation, the experience was dismal.

We knew we'd have to be patient because we could tell they were short-staffed. A server greeted us about 30 minutes after we sat down but then had to go find some menus. The menus on their facebook page look nice. The menus in the restaurant are stapled-together, well-used photocopies. To get the beer list we went to their website. However when our server took our order, they were already out of some of the options.

I ordered the Hawaiian smash burger and it was relatively tasty, but there was only a small part of a pineapple slice, and the side pickle was absent. Fries were bland so I went and found some salt from another table. Even the salt-shaker didn't work because of the humidity and we had to take the cap off to get any salt.

I tried 3 beers and all were mediocre, though the cucumber cream ale was the better of the 3. The key lime coconut pale ale had a bit of a diacetyl aftertaste.

The setting: the building and decor looks nice. The chairs are comfortable (this is a big selling point on their website and Facebook page) but the tall tables are too small. My party of 3 was bumping knees throughout the entire 1 hour 45 minutes visit. If we'd had a 4th person there would have been no empty space on the table between our food and drinks. There is no place to put a purse. Also, those chairs, if they are open a year from now, will probably start to look pretty ratty from wear.

The saving grace was our server. It was her first day but she was experienced and was working very hard. There were a couple of other servers but not nearly enough for the number of tables and customers. We watched a lot of people come and go without having any contact with an employee. You only get one chance to make a 1st impression and we saw at least 50 people have a negative 1st impression.

I hope they figure things out. It would be nice to have a good brewery in Holt, but they seem very ill-prepared to have opened a business. Maybe they should seek out...

Updated Post on Second visit:

I feel as though I ate at a different restaurant! I had the same Hawaiian pork Quesadilla as last time….not the same. First time I visited I absolutely loved it. Today I am so disappointed. Started out with their Hush puppies (which I normally love) they simply had a “Funky” taste to them. They were served with a Maple sauce that sounded incredible. The steaming hot Hush Puppies did not go well with the COLD sauce. The sauce was lacking and didn’t taste like it was properly stirred?!

The main course was missing the sweet Asian sauce I had the first time. When I asked about the missing sauce, I was told it never existed. Even though it is in the photo I posted here.

Also ordered a Seafood Nacho. It wasn’t bad… it wasn’t good. It just was. Don’t expect a pile of chips though. Three large pieces of crispy tortilla. The tortilla tasted good. That’s about all.

Even the VIBE seemed different. Smiles and warmth that abounded before. Now muted and lacking.

So, with the extreme lack of consistency. I have drastically adjusted my rating and sadly leave without a desire to return. Maybe I’ll give a sandwich a try though. Time will tell a better story I hope!

Dine at your own risk!

Previous Post as Follows:

I was blown away! Went there for a decent beer and hoping for some bar food. What we received was so much more! My hubby and I ordered a bear flight. It consisted of some of the most unique and absolutely delicious beers! My favorite being the Key Lime Coconut goodness. Quite literally my favorite bear of all time! It is that good!

The food was next level! The menu was a passport to the Hawaiian islands! You won’t find these meals anywhere else in the Greater Lansing area! From the slow roasted Kahlua Pork, to the sweetness of incredible homemade desserts!

So, I will be returning, I will bring others, and I will hope that you give it a try again and again!...

We decided to try Summerlands a few weeks after their grand opening. We had heard mixed reviews, but wanted to give them a fair shot. The patio is very cute and offers a fun, tropical, vibe. However, the inside felt very different from what I would have expected of a tropical themed restaurant. It just felt like it was missing something. The blinds were shut and the lights were very low. Our service was not bad, but when you walk in there isn't a sign telling the customers to sit down/or wait. We eventually just sat down and a waitress did notice us. She was sweet, but we felt like we had to keep asking her for refills and other items. It seems as though they are very short staffed, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt for not being as attentive. I was excited to try their craft sodas, but the waitress informed me that they were not serving sodas that particular evening, as none were carbonated or available for purchase. As for the food, the menu was small, but what they did have available all sounded pretty delicious. I ordered the Paradise Burger, my husband ordered the Voodoo Nachos, and we ordered our son the kid's cheeseburger. The servings were not overly huge, and all of our food was not hot, but rather lukewarm when we received it. Yet, we had already waited a substantial amount time for our food and were hungry, so we just ate it. After thinking about everything, I don't know If we will be back. I know they waited a long time to open and had to jump through a lot of hoops, but our experience left much...