Patti's 1880's Settlement — Restaurant in Grand Rivers

Update: It’s come to my attention that the company is now encouraging employees to post positive reviews to bury mine and others like it. They’ve also claimed my review is AI-generated — it’s not. Every word I shared came from real, personal experience. Instead of addressing serious concerns, they’re trying to discredit and silence criticism. That alone speaks volumes.

As someone who has lived in this area for most of my life, it truly breaks my heart to write this. Patti’s has always been a special place for our family — a spot we’d take out-of-town guests to show off a little piece of our local charm. But our most recent visit was incredibly disappointing, and it’s clear that things have changed — and not for the better.

The food was cold and tasteless. My pork chop was tough and dry, the salad was wilted, and even the bread — which used to be a highlight — was stringy and almost inedible. And for what they’re charging now ($30–50 per person), it honestly felt like we were being taken advantage of. Our server was kind, but you could tell the staff were overwhelmed and stressed.

I’ve also been hearing and seeing things that deeply concern me as a community member. We found out our son and our niece, both good kids and hard workers, applied for jobs there and were denied solely because they’re under 18. That’s such a shame. Patti’s used to be a wonderful place for local teens to get their first job and learn responsibility. Cutting them out like that is disappointing and short-sighted.

What’s more troubling is what we’ve heard about how the new CEO is running things. Multiple people have shared that he often yells at and talks down to female staff members. He’s reportedly planning to shut down parts of the settlement to make room for overpriced “luxury experiences.” That’s not what Patti’s is supposed to be. It feels like the heart of the place is being stripped away, all for profit.

People in the shops aren’t even getting proper breaks — we spoke to one young woman who hadn’t had time to eat all day. That’s not how you treat employees, especially not in a place that prides itself on Southern hospitality.

It hurts to see a place we’ve loved for so long turn into a tourist trap with no heart. I truly hope they find their way back, but until then, we won’t be returning — and I can’t in good conscience recommend...

Update: May 29, 2022 Me and my family went back to this restaurant because my mom wanted to give it another chance. Today I ordered salmon and it tasted "fishy" which means it was old. I did like the loaded mashed potatoes, bread, and strawberry butter. Our server was nice as well as the rest of the staff. For example, my salmon was $26; I've had much better salmon for around $18. I really don't understand all the hype about this restaurant. I just don't think this place is worth the drive or the menu price points. I did but some of their strawberry butter, and locally made chocolate candies though.

2 - 3 years ago We drove two hours to Patti's 1880 Settlement to celebrate my mom's birthday. Although we liked the gift shops immensely, the restaurant fell far below expectations. We made a reservation and were seated promptly on time. My mom ordered the Patti Burger, and I ordered the Catfish platter. 45 minutes later we finally received our food; despite being seated prior to a party of 14, that table received their food first.

We did receive my side of soup and some bread as starters. The server only came to check on us about twice, and we finally had to ask where our food was. The server apologized and stated a party of 30 had been seated just prior to us.

Upon receiving the food my mom received a pre-frozen lump of coal for a burger, when she had ordered medium-well done. Her fries were old and had been sitting under the warmer for some time. Of my catfish entree, the sides were all good but the fish was overcooked with little flavor. In total I paid $43.28 for two meals. My mom could not even finish her burger. I decided to take mine home after tasting a bit of everything. I would not recommend Patti's 1880s restaurant after our experience today. I have had better food for 1/3 of the price in my hometown.

I feel that the management staff should have limited the number of reservations around the party of 30, to help the kitchen cope with the inundation of orders. You could not eat at the restaurant without a reservation. I would hate to see the service and quality of food at 100% capacity based on our...

We had a dinner reservation for 6pm on July 11th to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. We arrived at 5:30pm and were seated within 10 minutes. This was our first time in town, and our first time visiting the settlement. Everything was absolutely perfect! Let's start with our waiter, Tay (Taylor)... he kept us relaxed, laughing. Full of energy and jokes. He immediately told us of the days specials, and kept our drinks topped off. I'll say that he is one of the BEST waiters that we have had in a very long time. We have already booked a stay back in Grand Rivers for September of this year to celebrate my mother's birthday. We will stop by Patti's so she can enjoy a meal, hopefully we get Tay! We loved him. My husband and I ordered our meals. We started with the Ultimate Sampler. It had homemade loaded potato chips, mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders and fried dill pickle chips. The sauces were BBQ, marinara and an incredible homemade sour cream and onion dip sauce. This Sampler was HUGE. We had to push it aside to keep room for our meal. We had the beautiful flower pot bread with strawberry butter. I have never had that and was amazed! Our meals, he had to 2 inch porkchop, a loaded baked potato and bean & ham soup. I had Don's Chicken, a loaded baked potato, and broccoli & Cheese soup. This side of a baked potato was as big as our plate!! It's huge! His pork chop came with a brown sauce on the side, said to be Patti's special sauce. I should have bought some to bring home if available. That stuff was great!! We did buy a homemade pecan and chocolate chip pie in the giftshop to bring back to the cottage with us for later. We had so much food that that went home with us too! My only wish was that they had sung to us for our anniversary. I had seen reviews from the past, and was hoping to shock my husband lol. I'm going to end this by saying thank you all for a memorable romantic dinner with the love of my life. If you've never been here, you're missing out! We...