Snug Harbor — Restaurant in Grand Haven

I reserved a table of 10 in April for my sisters bachelorette weekend in May. We had heard great things about this place, how great the atmosphere, food, and service were, and that it would be perfect for our trip. Unfortunately, our first impression was less than stellar. Our waitress started out by making jokes about how we needed a mocktail menu and that we should stay away from the bread for fear of what we’ll look like (she proceeded to stick her stomach out and puff out her cheeks). Okay, maybe just a weird sense of humor, no big deal. We were seated at 630, placed our orders for food around 7. The place was very busy so we were happy to be patient. Apparently it was prom night for the local high schools which we were unaware of, as we came from the east side of Michigan. When 8 o’clock rolled around, we were still in good spirits and making the most of our time together. Then our waitress came over to inform us the kitchen had run out of rice.. most of us had ordered a dish with rice in it. Again, we were understanding, as she could not control what happened in the kitchen. So we decided we would go out by the harbor to take a few photos since we were losing day light and our food would take another 30 minutes to be ready. The manager was kind enough to call us back inside when our food was at the table. When we got inside, we were still missing 3 of our girls entrees. We also noticed that half of our meals had about half the amount of rice as the others. I barely had a half cup of rice in my sushi bowl, while others had a good amount. It was obvious a few of us got the very last bit that was portioned out before they made more rice. It was dry and the meal itself was so small and I was still hungry afterward. When the other entrees came out, one of them was the wrong order. We told our waitress but decided not to send it back because it was already 9pm. They did make us a new one to send home with us though. As our waitress was cashing us out, she made another comment about how we “should have planned better so you weren’t here on prom night”. Excuse me?? How were we supposed to know coming from across the state?? That pushed me over the edge. She proceeded to get extremely frustrated at the fact that all of our bills were also wrong. We waited another 20 minutes for her to get them right, and a storm was starting to roll in across the water. She made some comment about avoiding the rain but at this point, we were just trying to leave and she was holding us up. We sent most of our group home when they were paid up, and then waited more. The waitress sat herself down and continued to work through all her tickets, handed me mine, and told me to read her the ticket number so she could cash us out. I was in disbelief. Once I was cashed out, I left to go get the car so my sister and her friends did not have to walk in the rain. When I picked them up, they said that the manager had come over to apologize and asked for our numbers. After everything that happened I was glad they seemed like they were going to make it right, but it has now been 2 weeks and no one has called about the situation. I am so upset my sisters bachelorette dinner went so poorly at this establishment and nothing has been done to makeup for it. Any plans we had following the dinner were cancelled because we were there for so long and we all just wanted to go back to our airbnb and eat because we were still hungry! Very...

We chose Snug Harbor as our wedding anniversary/babymoon dinner during a getaway in Grand Haven based on feedback from other folks we know. We were excited about dinner but the actual experience was a total letdown.

Upon arriving, the restaurant host was scrambling to get more menus and silverware and it all felt really unprofessional.

Next, our server was not great. She wasn’t very friendly or welcoming, just trying to serve us quickly. Either she or the bartender mixed up the drink I ordered, but she did request the right one to be made after the mistake, which I appreciated. We also didn’t get waters to start and had to request those part way through the meal, and she wasn’t very attentive with checking for refills, leaving us on empty a few times. At the end of our meal, she asked if there was anything else we needed and when we said no, she set the check down immediately…I thought that was kinda funny. 😆

The food was the best part—I ordered the salmon, my husband ordered the mussels, and we split a lobster roll as the appetizer. Overall, the food was decent but not worth the prices. The lobster roll was just okay and a little misleading—it would have been better if made with chunkier pieces of lobster instead of it tasting more like crab salad. Another negative, was that even though we had a reservation (8:15pm for a later dinner, hoping to miss the rush), we waited over an hour on our food.

Additionally, nothing was really done for our anniversary/celebrating baby, only a congrats from the host when we first walked in. I felt it was odd for there to be a section to add the occasion on the paid reservation, but then not have anything happen or a small treat, etc.

And lastly, the atmosphere was okay. The view is great itself, but the restaurant was super humid inside, had fake flowers, and the bathroom was kinda messy.

Overall, I give Snug Harbor a 2/5. If you’re a “foodie” and picky about quality food and experiences, I say skip this. This seems more casual, and may be a better option for lunch potentially rather than a...

Updated June 2022…

A bit of a downgrade here, friends. Menu has changed - again. Owners are now down to 1 restaurant in GH, so you’d think their focus would be spot-on. Not so much; a shame.

More local favorites are gone, calamari is now added to the list and higher priced out-of-place entrees have arrived. That’s not what I had in mind in my first review. Sushi looks like a plate of mash potatoes or a piece of Irish pie when it arrives. Zero presentation and underwhelming. Edamame is not present. What? Isn’t this place attached to a sushi restaurant?

Hostesses are about 12 years old, dull and not very welcoming - quick to tell you where you can’t sit or what you can’t do. They are a first point of contact owners, and some training might convey that they need to wake-up and look you in the eyes and sincerely appreciate that your patrons actually chose The Snug. Sure, we get it - staff is hard to find and people don’t want to work. Welcome to the new world.

I’m keeping my old review as some points still remain.

……

Beautiful view. Great location. Awesome outdoor seating space and bar.

We’d love to see some of the menu items return that they used to have available. Where’s the salmon bruschetta? It was fantastic!

Been coming here for years...we’ve reverted to only ordering apps and drinks. Calamari is great and ‘newish’ hot mushrooms are a must.

Please take a closer look at your menu and consider putting more love into your main entrees.

Waitstaff needs some training on paying more attention to patrons, even during busy times - sometimes they make you feel like they want you to move on right after you’re done eating - has happened numerous times with different staff at different times of the year...even though drinks keep getting ordered! This mostly happens in your outdoor upper space.

Thanks for your deck by the channel. Fantastic idea and so glad the City of GH helped make...