Whitlow's Forerunner — Restaurant in Fruitport Charter Township

I recently attended a gathering in one of their banquet rooms, so this review is in regards to the banquet room & service provided for that, not the restaurant itself.

My main complaint is the catering service. This was an open house type of affair for 2 hours, with people arriving throughout this timeframe. Halfway through the event, the staff suddenly removed all the food and stripped the buffet table - literally pulling the food while a couple of people were trying to fill plates!

I realize it is likely that the hosts requested only an hour of food service. I have attended similar events there and the food has been available throughout the entire affair, so I can't fault the staff if they were following instructions.

However, there is zero excuse for the complete lack of customer service. The 1st hour, two scowling employees watched the tables. One hour into the event, they swooped in & started clearing everything. There was no announcement, no warning, and in fact they were pulling food off the table while some guests were attempting to fill a plate! Completely unacceptable.

Other than that, the food itself was adequate. The scalloped potatoes in particular were quite tasty. In addition to the cash bar, there was also a beverage table with coffee & water.

The room was a decent size for the expected attendance, with buffet tables & cash bar, a dance floor area with dj table, and several round tables, each seating 8 - 10.

I would still recommend this for an event, but please be specific regarding the type of service you expect from the catering. This is worth your consideration if you're looking for a cost-effective base solution to diy decor...

Knowing we would be in Muskegon this Friday, I researched best places for fish fry and discovered Whitlow's. I have nothing good to say about our experience: the "bread basket" contained one hard dinner roll and what appeared to be left-over old, cold, and crumbly toast from breakfast. The tartar sauce appeared to be home-made and was lacking in taste. The serving of fish was large, but the coating was unlike any I have ever experienced and it was dark, having been left in the fryer too long. Lastly, our waitress was an older woman who appeared to be physically unsuited to the position, resulting in very slow service. Additionally, our waitress and an older gentleman working in the dining room were not wearing masks, but wore small, partial face covering "shields;" the restaurant was mostly full, with a long line of patrons in close proximity waiting to enter and zero social distancing evident. According to the CDC: Face shields are not as effective at protecting you or the people around you from respiratory droplets. Face shields have large gaps below and alongside the face, where your respiratory droplets may escape and reach others around you and will not protect you from respiratory droplets from others. Needless to say, we will never recommend this restaurant to others, nor will we...

Very disappointed willows has been my favorite place for fish and seafood but I took my mom there over labor day Saturday waitress never asked us for refill on coffee or pop mom got a perch sandwich came as fish next to a bun that's it plain I always get all you can eat perch dinner mind you that's around twenty dollars waitress was was very unpleasant they usually let you get some of whatever is on the all you can eat dinners she made me choose to I got smelt and perch .the search was good as usual smelt was mushy told never offered anything different from menu had to ask for lemon juice a few times to get it got a refill for drinks after food was done and acted indigent about second helping this saddens me very much because willows is the only place I go for good food in Muskegon or grandparent I also headed two other customers that were not very happy my aunts last meal was a search sandwich if that explains the time we spent eating there I'm 46 mom 80 guess that says it all I'll just go to checkers and get a fish sandwich yours truly Travis and romaine page oh time we were there before this waitress was so great loved her she was great...