Barnhart's Resort & Marina — Restaurant in Hamlin Township

We've been recommended this restaurant ever since moving to Ludington years ago and we went today for my birthday. We reserved a table for the whole family early in the far. Nevertheless, it took a while to seat us, and we were seated at a broken table. I happened to have a whole pack of Kleenex that I was able to stabilize the table with. There were flies and the menus were really grungy (our drink menu had literal mold on it) but it's right by a lake so swimmers and stuff. It's sorta to be expected for some sort of greasy spoon restaurant maybe. We arrived at 7:00, were seated at 7:20 and got our food at 8:30. Almost the entire restaurant had cleared out by the time we got our food and then the food was bad. There were 10 of us. Two of them are kids and they had pizza and it was fine. Two had shrimp tacos and both of them liked it. One had a Cuban sandwich and liked it. All of the rest of the food was very borderline. Mine, the mahi mahi, was inedible, but my partner decided to take it home anyway. If you are into sweet, caraway-flavored overcooked fish then this is the place for you. I asked for water several times and never received it. I got two mango pineapple daiquiris, both of them weren't blended enough to drink through a straw and had giant chunks of ice in it and not even a slightest essence of rum. I hate writing bad reviews but honestly it was a very bad time. The menu they have online is outdated and the things are more expensive now and there are fewer options. Lots of disappointments, mediocre service. We are not a picky family and that's why this surprised me enough to actually write a...

I want to thank Barnhart's for ruining my family's vacation in Ludington, which we booked six months in advance and is the last chance to see my family before moving overseas with the military for up to seven years.

I called Barnhart's twice during the last week to confirm our reservation - their reply both times was that we were good to go (and don't forget to bring our own sheets and towels!).

Then, the DAY OF our reservation, the owner calls me to claim he hadn't recieved payment for the booking (through VRBO), and that if I wanted to stay in the room we would have to pay him directly, despite my card already being charged for the 900 dollar reservation in February. After a brief discussion with the owner about how business is conducted in the civilized world, I called VRBO directly. Despite Barnhart's owner insisting he had "no contact with VRBO," I was able to get in touch with them and confirm that Barnhart's account was still active and they would recieve payment the following day, per their standard operating procedure. Evidently that was not satisfactory for Barnharts.

This was a blatent attempt to swindle an out-of-towner (which I am not) during the high summer season for an extra thousand dollars. Barnhart's should be ashamed of themselves for their lack of honesty, transparancy, and most of all lack of patriotism. Nice try, guys - this isn't a third world country, though you seem to do business as if it were.

If I could rate you as zero...

We should have left before we ordered. The waitress had to ask in the back if they had perch and shrimp for the po boy sandwich, something she should have done before seating anyone. We were there at 6pm on a chilly Thursday and the place was not busy. Service was friendly (hence 2 stars) but overzealous, nearly taking my husband's beer before he was finished. The perch was extremely mediocre for the $20 price point. Four small pieces of perch and a handful of fries with a shot glass of cole slaw. The blackened mahi tacos were likely not mahi and definitely not blackened but stuffed with lettuce and fillers. We had to ask for tartar sauce twice because the tiny tubs were half full. The rice was not cooked well and not done at all in some cases. They brought us paper plates for some reason. I brought them home since they were just going to be thrown away needlessly. They don't provide real silverware or dinnerware or glasses. Plastic utensils and plastic cups are used - such a disgusting waste of single use plastics. For a $100 meal, I'd at least like a real fork. The owner appeared to be present but was too busy glad-handing local friends to check the quality of what his restaurant is selling. This is a waste of a good location right on the lake. Owner needs to step up and should be...