Dark Sky Lodge & Tavern — Restaurant in Hume Township

Love the atmosphere, location, and staff. My only issue is really the pre main dish process and this review is meant only to provide feedback for a rebooting restaurants success. D.S. stear away from basic coffee and cup creamers- a good cup of coffee with actual cream goes a long way especially when waiting awhile for brunch. Biscuits need to be fresh and hot, a cold biscuit under gravy is off, seemed like it was not maintained under a warmer. Shrimp roll was lacking style points, needed to be chopped and loaded with butter a simple binder on a buttered and toasted bun. Mine was large shrimp large chopped on a cold hot dog bun. Shrimp were good if you wanted steamed cocktail shrimp. I ate them but it was not the shrimp roll experience that I was wishing for, very plain, basically allot of good quality shrimp chopped on a bun. Points for the shrimp but needs the shrimp roll flair. My salad was all arugula with very little dressing, 3 people ordered salad and no one finished it. A salad should be neutral with flavor pops- less sharp arugula flavor maybe a house Michigan cherry or cucumber dressing, local vegies. Like the coffee, first impressions set the mood, nobody is critical when waiting for a main course when happy with the initial drink, coffee, app or salad. Appetizer was the brussel sprouts, I'm thinking air fried to audente. Crisp and hot but almost raw so very sharp in flavor- not finished by a table of six, maybe a sweet balsamic vinegarette to top and a few more minutes to cook. Now to the great- amazing fried chicken, pasta dishes were all amazing and plates cleaned, drinks were great, eggs perfect- the main dinner dishes were spot on. If D.S. can get some small first dish issues tweaked then they will rock that place. Wishing them the best and want this place to succeed! P.S....

We stayed in Port Austin for a week and wanted to try the new Dark Sky restaurant. We went on Monday in a big group. We loved the appetizers. I thoroughly enjoyed the corn fritters, my son and daughter loved the ends (my daughter said, those are worth writing about!). My daughter also got the nachos with pulled pork as her main course and ate every bite right away, really enjoying them. My son had the meat plate and I had the brisket sandwich (gluten free bun - very happy about that). We were both loving the brisket. My son also liked the pulled chicken and pork, but especially the pork.

We were there all week and the kids wanted to go back the next day but it is closed Tues and Wed, so we had to wait until Thursday. No one in our group on Monday had the ribs, so we made that a priority this time, even though my so was obsessed with the brisket. I don’t go out of my way for ribs, but this was one of my favorite meals of all time. I am a Yankee without a lot of rib intel, but I understand these are Texas style ribs, with a dry rub. You can put BBQ sauce in them there if you like, but I found them perfect as is. Everyone around the table loved them.

The servers both days were great, and they did a great job for celiac discussions (one of my kids is celiac). They can’t guarantee no cross contamination but the menu is very flexible and we didn’t have any issues.

I also loved the cornbread, by the way.

We also wanted to combine the meal with a hike into Port Crescent from right there but timing didn’t work out this week.

Overall, this spot is a great addition to Port Austin and...

I’m usually not one to write such detailed reviews, but this place deserves more recognition! This place is great for a getaway with your significant other, but is also very kid and family friendly.

I’d like to start my review off by saying first that the food here was wonderful! I see a lot of reviews clocking the dining experience specifically (everyone is entitled to their own opinion, of course) but trust me when I say the food was really good! The staff were super friendly, (shout out to our waitress, Jodi!) the portions were plenty big enough to fill us up, and it was even better because they grow most of what they use! Everything tasted really fresh. 10/10.

Staff was friendly and on standby if we needed anything (we didn’t end up needing to contact them, but it was nice to know they were available). Our room was clean and stocked with the amenities you would usually find in a motel. The pool was nice and warm, on top of being well kept (not sure if it’s heated or it was just a particularly nice day).

I did really like that they had a hammock (among other things that came with our room) available for us to use, it made our stargazing experience so much more enjoyable! The lot is beautiful, and of course the dark sky preserve was breathtaking. Truly an amazing experience.

Ultimately, we were very impressed and hope to return back in the future for another stay. It was well worth the trip!...