Boonedocks — Restaurant in Glen Arbor Township

My family and I have been vacationing to Glen Arbor for over a decade now. We love the area and the friendliness of the community and are always bringing family and friends with us to enjoy this little slice of heaven. This past weekend though we experienced the worst experience at Boondocks with a group of family and friends, some new to the area. Generally we enjoy eating here. We have never had any issues in the past and the food has always been good. We have even visited with a few families but nothing too big. Our night began with a kind young man who took our drink order. We attempted to tell him who would be on which bill and he stated that they do not split bills for parties of more than 6 people. We were a bit shocked as that has never been the experience at any restaurant we have ever visited. We asked if he could speak to his manager about it, thinking maybe there was just a misunderstanding. The waiter returned and said the best they could do was split our bill three ways. We had three families ranging from 3-5 people per family, one of which was as an infant, so that seemed even odder. We then asked to speak to the manager as the whole scenario just seemed strange. The manager came out to our table and said that it is too difficult for the younger staff to understand how to split a large groups bill, and that their system does not allow them to do that. He claimed all other restaurants do the same thing. Still never having experienced this and just having our bill split in the same town earlier that day, just as a common sense question I asked, what do you do when there is a large party that cannot afford to foot the bill for everyone? The manager arrogantly responded that if I can afford to vacation in Glenn Arbor, then I can afford to pay for everyone’s bill! I was in total shock at the arrogance of his comment. Not that it is his business but I think I can speak for multiple people when I say that generally you only budget for your own vacation not other family’s vacations. As we were all flabbergasted by his comment, the manager began taking offense to where my Husband was standing, the table he approached. This was the last straw for us. Two of the three families decided to leave. My brother and his family stayed, their kids were hungry, but then told us after we respectfully paid and left that the police did some rounds and another unit stayed and watched the deck area while he sat with his young children and ate dinner. It was a terrible experience. We were not being rude, but just simply trying to understand why it was so difficult. We would have kindly split our group to eat at different tables but once the condescending remark was made by the manager and then his quick approach of claiming we were threatening him, we were done. No business that treats their customers like that, deserves our money and we will never return to this establishment. Such a...

They were moderately busy when we got there so we asked to sit at the bar. They said if seats are available we can sit down otherwise we can order at the counter and sit at cocktail tables out on the deck. We got in line at the counter. When it was our turn next for drinks, the first two seats next to the ordering counter opened up so we sat down. There were two bartenders working and they served the next four groups of people at the counter that were behind us before they even checked on us. We asked for a drink menu and our bartender gave us one and disappeared for another 15 minutes. We asked for a sample of their boondock squeeze lemon ale and mentioned right away that we would like a pitcher if we like it. They gave us small sample glasses then didnt come back and check on us again for another 10 minutes. We got the pitcher and upon finishing it, asked to cash out. The bartender took my card and our tab and walked away. We then watched that same bartender cash out at least 5 other groups without bringing our card back. Eventually we got his attention and he asked if we needed anything, forgetting that we already gave him our card and asked to cash out, and were just waiting to get the card back. When we mentioned that he took our card to close our tab and never came back he got frantic and both bartenders started moving everything on the bar to look for my card. They probably spent 15 minutes looking for my card while I started the process of locking it on my phone assuming he gave it to another patron instead of us, and it would be considered stolen. Eventually, another patron noticed it was set down with our receipts to at the walk up counter so anyone else that may have came up to get a drink could have walked away or charged their items to my card.

The bartender barely checked on us and served multiple people while we got overlooked for extended periods of time, then negiligently put my credit card in a position where it could have easily been stolen. We weren't even difficult customers, we got a single pitcher of beer. Probably wont come...

Cute place. Friendly service. Decent food.

My husband and I spent our honeymoon in northern Michigan and stopped here on our way back from a scenic drive. Our server Noel greeted us with a sincere smile and eye contact. I ordered a glass of Rose and my husband ordered a beer. Unfortunately, when Noel returned with my husband's beer, she informed me that they were out of the Rose but offered me a glass of House Red at no charge. I politely accepted. #Thankyouverymuch

We started with the Zucchini Chips. They were excellent. The portion was pretty large too. They had a nice crispy batter on the outside with just enough seasoning. They were served with house ranch dressing for dipping which was super tasty too. We were given a small loaf of bread before our food arrived. It seemed like it had been microwaved which was a bit disappointing and made for chewy bread. For dinner, I ordered the 1/2 rack of ribs (a total "treat yo-self" kind of meal). They were delicious! Perfectly cooked, tender, falling off the bone, melt in your mouth, awesome!! The portions again were very large. The veggie medley that came with the meal was bland, but so is most of the food in northern Michigan so I get used to adding a little s&p. Same goes for the coleslaw. It was OK, but nothing special and definitely needed additional seasoning. My husband ordered a fish sandwich (Canadian Perch) and fries. The fish was cooked nicely and was tender and flaky. The fries were OK but needed seasoning.

Conclusion: The portions were so big we could hardly finish half of our meals and some of the food was under-seasoned but the good definitely outweighed any 'bad.' If you're looking for standard American fare in a friendly atmosphere, Boonedocks is a great place to stop. We had a nice time and I know I could come here again and be happy with my...