Union Station Smokehouse — Restaurant in Durand

Went in today with my partner and his dad. I had the Ultimate Mo and a cup of brisket chili, partner had a bacon burger, and dad had the Four Meat Switchman. I sampled everything we bought. I'd love to see some improvements and be able to come back for a better experience. You can tell that they work hard and put some effort into their cooking, but it was overall disappointing. The Ultimate Mo was a decent sandwich, but the pulled pork was dry and would've been almost tasteless without the sauce. It was certainly underseasoned. The bourbon sauce saved the sandwich for me, making it tastier and less dry. The Ultimate Mo comes with mac n cheese on the sandwich, and I was extremely disappointed in the mac n cheese. It did not taste of any kind of cheese or smokiness, and was also dry. The photos of some of these older reviews seemed to have fresher mac with more smoky cheese sauce on it, and I would've liked to see that on my sandwich. The bacon burger was okay, but again dry and underseasoned. A thick, meaty burger like that deserves some juiciness and better seasoning. The ribs were chewy, seasoned well, but too chewy to even cut well. Pulled chicken was pretty good, definitely juicy enough and decently seasoned. The corn muffins were okay, but I could tell that they'd been reheated, would've been much better if they were fresher or reheated with a good method. We had fries as well, and even my well done fries weren't very crispy. Tasty for sure, but could've been delicious had they been cooked properly. By far, the best part of this experience was the brisket chili. I could eat this chili all day and still want more. The only recommendation I'd have is to make it a tad spicier, as I believe chili should have a kick to it and this was almost there, but not quite. I actually took a bowl of chili home because it tastes so good. The sauces were also pretty good, though the bourbon sauce could be less sweet, as the sweetness masks over the flavors. The service was incredible, welcoming, and unique. The atmosphere is unlike any place I've been to. I believe these people are really onto doing great things with just some small improvements on their foods. Less dry meats, better balanced seasoning, and a little more love would go a long long way. I think these small, but impactful things could make this one of the best places to eat in Michigan. I'd love to give Union Station another go if they decide to make...

Was really excited to try this lacal restaurant. But was completely disappointed within 15 min of being there. The absolute saltiest dry meat I've ever ate. The burnt ends are hard and dry. As first thing i saw was the cook put them in a microwave. That should have been my clue to leave. And even after that they were cold. I believe it's just a cut chuck roast that they burnt. The cornbread is not cornbread really should be called a flour muffin. The smoked macaroni and cheese is flour pasted macaroni that is flavorless but pepper. Add some milk more noodles and cheese and you wouldnt believe how much sauce you could make with that. I did this to fix it at home and I had enough for a 9×13 pan. The corn pudding is a waste. You need to just start over. The sauces came and you could clearly tell they dont clean them between services. I wouldn't touch them. The server blamed the owner, saying "she was having a bad day." And giving excuses left and right and telling me how the food is good. WHAT? Its not even edible. I didn't need to hear the who what and why. This isn't my fault. Well unfortunately her bad day fell over to her customers. Who does that? She couldnt even come out herself and find out what we gelt about any of it. She hid behind her staff. And then tries to make up for it by giving me more of the crap that isnt edible. I literally thought the pulled pork was cooked onions sitting so dried out and hard. The chicken was completely dried out. They didnt even bother to dunk your meat in any kind of juice before putting it on a tray. Youve got to have juice. Really easy to google how and achieve that to make the product a little better. And apparently she knew what she served and just didnt care because of the "bad day" and basically blamed her customer. I would not recommend. I Will never return. Just a complete waste of 50 dollars for 2 people to eat. I really wished I would have read the reviews before we went. And for what it's worth. Word of mouth does a lot for a restaurant 🙄 You will not make it blaming your customers with your bad day and food. Seems the owner makes a lot of excuses for the bad food rather than fixing it. Blaming your staff for your lack of caring is a terrible way to run a business. You should research how to do better before you end up...

Ok, I had been craving BBQ so I had my husband schlep us the almost half an hour to Durand. First impression was good! Pretty cute place, loved the vibe and it included an outdoor seating area which was a huge plus for me. We found a seat and hung out waiting for service. It took a bit but our server(she seemed pretty fun) came over and took our drink orders and we ordered an appetizer (burnt ends). We got our drinks then soon after, our appetizer. We then ordered our food & waited. We looked around our surroundings while waiting and noticed ALOT of weeds out there, brushing up almost on our legs, plus plenty of dried mud & weeds on the area where the seats were. So the food came and our server left. No ask if we needed anything. No ask if everything looked OK. She did ask my husband if he needed another soda I guess, but she never brought that. (Some other guy brought it out and the ice was all melted, it clearly had been sitting for a bit). She never came back until it was time to bring the bill. She literally just kept disappearing for extended periods of time. And, pretty sure she had been drinking beer. She leaned down to put my drink down and i snelled it on her breath when she said something. I smelled it when she first came to our table as well.Our sandwiches were just ok, fries were pretty good though. Our server never came back to ask how things were or check to see if we needed anything. I had run out of soda at some point before finishing my meal. She finally emerged and buzzed by asking if we needed a box. Then forgot to bring that for ages. Just honestly not impressed. The bbq sauce bottles were in empty beer 6 pack containers and it was dirty with sauce on it. The sauce bottles were dirty with the letters of the sauce scribbled on the top of each squeeze bottle with a sharpie. Terribly done by the way. Overall just not impressed. 😭 I'd like to say we'll be back but I'm...