Noto's at the Bil-Mar — Restaurant in Grand Haven

If i could give this place zero stars i would, but i need to give at least one to post a review. We went here yesterday with my in laws. We were a party of six, we had reservations and were seated immediately by the hostess. She was probably the most cheerful person in the room. We got seated near the window, the view was nice and unobstructed but not sure I'd deem it an amazing view for the prices they were charging. There was only one other table seated in there at the time and they had already received their appetizers after we were seated. We ordered two appetizers and our meals. I ordered grilled fish tacos which were suposed to have swordfish. We were told they were out but that they were subbing in perch which i was fine with. But when my father in law ordered the same thing he was told they were out of mahi mahi (which looks nothing like a swordfish), and that he would be served perch instead. After waiting for nearly an hour our appetizers finally came out. Mind you during that time no one gave us an update on the food or offered to bring us something to snack on while we waited. The calamari was super salty and not warm. The mozzarella alforno wasnt bad but it only came with servings for four people, and it was $13. For that much money i would like to think they included enough servings for a table of six. Or atleast the waitress or menu could have noted the serving sizes.

Anyway we finished our appetizers by now two other tables had shown up. Again no status update on the rest of the food. A new woman showed up that was not our hostess or waitress refilled our waters but did not refill our soft drinks. By now the table that was there first ate their food and was leaving. The table that arrived after us was served their food. Still no update or refill of drinks. We've now been waiting nearly an hour and a half for our main meal. I finally get up to ask for an ETA on our food. The woman i spoke to apologized for the delay and said she would send over a basket of bread. Mind you at this point im trying not to get mad or be mean because i dont think its the servers fault, and i dont need someone retaliating on our food. I sit back down. The bread does not arrive for another 10 minutes when our meal is finally served.

Here's where it got worse. The grilled fish tacos we received were not grilled. The perch was deep fried. It almost looked like a frozen fish stick was just reheated. The tacos tasted bland, the broccoli slaw on it was tasteless. My father in law thought the same of his plate. My mother in law and brother in law both ordered lobster sandwiches but only one of them got their meal. They gave him the fish taco. He had to correct them and wait again for a new sandwich. My husband ordered the lobster ravioli he said it had no taste or seasoning. The butterball potatoes on the side though were saturated in salt. We were later told that the reason for the delay was the first batch of lobster ravioli disintegrated in the pot and a new batch had to be started. I honestly have no idea how this place stays in business. With atleast two cooks in the kitchen that i could see and only four tables to serve, I'd hate to see how this place performs on a busy day. We should have atleast been compensated for the two appetizers we ordered after having to wait that long for our food. I would never return to this place. I highly recommend if you want good food for a more reasonable price with a view, go to the Snug Harbor...

My family, (husband, myself, sons and their family), went to Notos Saturday May 10 to celebrate my birthday and Mother’s Day. From the beginning it was the wirst experience we ever had there and we’ve been going for 5 years to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries etc. My youngest son and his gf were going to sit in their vehicle until our table was ready instead of sitting at the bar which is our norm. We walked to the main floor bar and the 5 seats open had no bar space as there were 5 trays of dirty glasses and stacks of dirty glasses all around the trays. It was pathetic and ridiculous. I started to make room so we could put a glass down and I was horribly snapped at by the female bartender. When I replied that I’m just trying to make room she replied…”we’ll get to it, if you want to come behind the bar and help go for it”….. I replied, “I’ve tended bar before and I can come behind there and help because I wouldn’t have allowed this pileup”. She refused to wait on us. One of the male tenders waited on us only after my husband waved a $100 bill. Once seated….out waitress was prompt, but then it took 20-30 minutes before the bartenders filled our order. We were seated close to the bar…I saw the waitress give our order and the same female tender took it …guess she decided to continue her attitude towards us. My husband and I both had to approach the bar 4x before we finally received our drinks. When we received our food it was WAY under par from previous years. The calamari was greasy not lightly breaded as usual. We aren’t impressed with the split level menus. We had to sit on the main floor as the upper level doesn’t have a kids menu. That is VERY disappointing! My husband and I had the crab stuffed white fish. I’ve had it last year and it was wonderful…this year it was pathetically dry. The next day, Mother’s Day, my husband and I went back. 1) I love the manager and wanted to talk to him one on one w my complaints and glad I did. Sunday we sat upstairs had the Mother’s Day menu. I had the swordfish …it was edible but was very fishy not like last years swordfish and the 1 tablespoon of relish was ridiculous. My husband had the the rack of lamb for $48. It was 3 tiny bites of lamb and rice. 48$ for rice and 3 bites of lamb? Really?! No veggies…no pazaz …just an overly inflated meal. The wine and dessert and waitress, Sydney,...

All the negative reviews are true. We had been patrons of the Bil-Mar for many years. We've always brought family and friends there to enjoy the view and food. After reading all the reviews I had to see for myself. On entering Notos at Bil-Mar you get a quick whiff of a fishy odor. Then there is the noise level. It's like being in a noisy cafeteria. Everyone is talking loud so they can hear themselves over everyone else. And the constant crashing of dishes. We were seated at a table for 6 in the corner of the restaurant with a view of the lake. Yes it's a great view but during sunset there is a point were a shade, like they used to have, comes in handy so that you are not blinded for 2 hours. And the flies, what a nuisance, and this is fine dining? We had to use our menus and napkins to swat them away. We order drinks, it was obvious the "bartender" did not know how to make some standard drinks, I think it may have to do with the fact she can't see what she's pouring through the sunglasses she was wearing. Matter of fact, all the servers started putting on sunglasses during sunset. The food was even more unappealing. The pizza ordered was burnt. The ravioli was tough like shoe rubber. The Michigan white fish they were substituding for the 86 on Walleye was of a mushy consistency. Meaning it was definitely not fresh fish. Sent it back and asked to have the Chicken Francesca...what a mistake...though the chicken was cooked it was covered in a slimy brown sauce that smelled and tasted like burnt plastic. Inedible. The server was the only plus. We felt sorry that he had to try and sell such poor quality food. We asked for the bill. And noticed we were being charged for the mushy inedible fish that we did not eat. When brought to the managers attention..he simply said he had to charge for something. Really you charge your customers for food they did not eat. But then offer to give everyone free desserts. Wheres the logic in that? We said no thank you, paid the bill and left. It is sad that such a long time treasure of a restaurant has passed away...and a poor replacement now stands in its place. Seems to be the one time a makeover has failed. Needless to say we will not be back and will not...