Kruse's Deer Lake Inn — Restaurant in Independence Charter Township

WOW! Weekly Friday neighbors dinner, party of 8. Called the establishment for reservations at 1:00 PM for dinner at 5:00 PM and, after a pause, was accommodated. Will call at least a day in advance next time to not be disappointed. Website allows for menu review prior to visit (pricing not displayed). I have visited Deer Lake Inn once before and was familiar with their two parking lots (either side of the building) off Dixie Highway. Handicapped parking was available as is a wheelchair ramp to access the building. This restaurant has several locations and all have excellent reputations. 3 of us arrived at 4:58 PM and found three of our party already seated, enjoying cocktails. The final two arrived at 5:10 PM and we were all welcomed upon arrival. Seating was close, but comfortable. More beverages and hot, long, loaves of bread arrived. Our waiter briefed us on the evenings combination specials (no fine tuning of the specials, all menu items can be personalized), answered questions and orders were taken. We were 2 couples and 4 singles, requested separate checks were not a problem. I ordered the corn (white) chowder and.the lake perch, others ordered salmon, seafood combinations, tacos and specialty salads. My selections were fabulous! The chowder was thick and rich, the perch were light, tasty, plentiful and served surrounding well seasoned mashed potatoes. Dinner service was constant without hovering. Staffing is a hallmark and we were impressed with their numbers and efficiency. We were tempted by the dessert menu but passed on the offers (full from our meals). Checks (all correctly prepared, no added fees for our group size or those paying other than cash) were presented and this process was also without fault.As the establishment filled, noise levels increased but did not impact table conversations. We exited at 6:40 PM and noted a significant number of patrons waiting for seating (hence my recommendation for reservations). Parking lots still had available slots, but none near the entrance. There is ample room to drop guests near an entrance and the driver then park. I did not notice valet parking.The only negative comment from our group was that the shrimp and scallops combination special was short on scallops. Pricing for dinner was in line with the reputation, accommodations, service, beverages and food provided. Definitely on our list for more...

This was my first experience here. I made a reservation since it was a Friday night during Lent and being in this business my entire life, Fridays are busy and with Lent twice as busy especially when you have a menu that specializes more towards seafood. Our reservation was for 3 at 6:15pm. We arrived well within time to park and get checked in. When we arrived there was no parking anywhere we drove around and around and around. We finally called and they said to park across the street at the bank and then cross the very busy 4 lane road. We did this it was a little risky but made it. Once inside WOW is all I can say. There is no place for customers to stand and wait. You stand where literally people are eating inches behind you so they had the luxury of staring at backsides while they ate. It was so packed inside that servers couldn't move around all the people waiting. Once a little back area with extra table and chairs were piled and stacked up was empty of the few people back there we were able to move back and scrunch in that area. We sat a little after 7pm for our 6:15pm reservation. Mercedes greeted us and took our drink order and brought us our drinks and bread. Witt quickly ordered since we had so much time waiting we didn't want to wait any longer as we were starving. My sister in-law soup took a little long considering but we were happy just to be sitting. Our food came, I had ordered the Parmesan encrusted flounder my husband ordered the twin filet and my sister in-law went with one of the chefs features of New Orleans. My flounder was kinda of greasy, the sauce was good underneath but only was able to eat half as the grease was too much. My husband said his filet was kind of stringing but my sister in-law said her food was delicious. So mixed reviews. Leaving after dark with traffic still zooming down the road the walk back to the car was a little more risky but again we made it. With all the places around we probably won't give this place a second visit. I wouldn't count it out if you never have been but there are many other places that...

Y’all. I’m not even going to lie, this was amazing! But I think first you deserve a back story- the hubs and I decided to go to Great Lakes Crossing and we were super excited to go to the Rainforest Cafe for the first time in a long time. Well, let me tell you- at the Rainforest Cafe, the service was SO BAD, the food was SO BAD, and all of 3 waiters that we had couldn’t even keep our drinks correct, our food was cold, not to mention we dealt with this AFTER we waited to eat there for AN HOUR. Our food took about another hour to come out to us, and when it did it was cold- not very impressive for a $21 Fish and Chips and a $27 Salmon and Shrimp. We ended up paying a bill of $27 and left because we weren’t paying for bad food, or bad service.

NOW- on to Deer Lake Inn, when we got there we were met with a very friendly host and a very friendly waiter. We checked the prices, which were about the same as the other place we were going to eat- so we didn’t mind. Our waiter (Joshua) brought our drinks, correctly and fresh- we got the bread stick, hot and fresh every time it got to us- AND THEN the waiter brought us a free sample of some of the soups they had! When we chose what to eat, the hubs got the Fish and Chips $17, and I got the Seafood (something with lobster, shrimp, and scallops all in one) $23. YOU GUYS, everything was beyond perfect!! From the service to the food, everyone was super friendly and the food was BEYOND delicious. 5 star ratings all around, and if I could I would give it more. Im not one to eat my left overs usually, but I was more than happy to be able to have some of my food to take home! It really came in handy for that 9pm craving, we will...