Thunderbird — Restaurant in Kalamazoo

Fine not great. The aesthetic of the place is top notch! Very cool, kinda edgy bohemian ski lodge vibes. Someone put a lot of thought and effort into the look of the place. Might I suggest putting in just the tiniest bit of effort into the food? Classic bar food menu, but quite disappointing in the execution. It cost $2.95 to upgrade to a side of fries instead of the chips that come with the sandwiches. I asked our server how the fries are. "Honestly, they're hit or miss." While I am grateful for your honesty, I'm not spending $3 on maybe good fries. (My friend got them. They were only ok. Thick cut, but very squishy inside. Please fry longer.) The fried pickle chips were good. Had a nice spicy kick, but a few were a little gooey inside. Please fry longer. Their ranch is great! I got the spicy chicken sandwich. According to the menu, it is meant to come with fried chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet and hot pickles, and ranch. Mine arrived without tomatoes or pickles. When I asked for these things, I was given tomatoes and told they're out of pickles (nevermind that my friend's pizza had pickles all over it). Disappointing and only ok tastewise. I personally don't think being out of 20% of what comes on a sandwich is acceptable, but what could I do at this point but eat it? The chips that come with sandwiches are a mini bag of Lay's original. Also disappointing. Our servers were very sweet. And as I said, I appreciated their honesty if nothing else. I would suggest getting water pitchers to avoid having servers pick up cups with one hand while holding Sanitizer spray in the other. Maybe I'm asking too much, but if you leave after wiping down a table and come back with a pitcher, I can at least fantasize that you washed your hands in between.

Overall, the place looks very cool, but we left...

I came in last night for a girls night out with another lady! We decided to check out this location as I’m from Grand Rapids and love the vibe this place offered! We sat at a round booth it was nice atmosphere DJ was amazing! Server however was rude very short with us and seemed to be bothered by our existence! We ordered 2 raspberry martinis! She brings us a maybe 6 oz plastic cup filled with ice and half way full of raspberry chunks! You couldn’t even drink the drink and I was confused at it looked like a raspberry margarita that never made it to the blender! I asked her if she ordered us the right thing as a martini should have always 2 oz of vodka thrown into a shaker with the raspberry purée and shaken then strained into a martini glass! She proceeds to tell us that’s how they make them here they are pre batched but offered us a spoon to drink? Our “martini” with! Again I apologize I didn’t try an offend her but the table next to us had ordered the same drink and and it came beautifully prepared in a martini glass and appeared to be strained into this glass! We actually confirmed this with the ladies next to us and they even apologized and stated that’s horrible and brought up just how rude the server seemed to be treating us! This was my friends first night out in nearly 5 years and I drove all the way from GR just to leave the establishment by 11 we didn’t even want to stay and party just very unwelcoming! I’m in the industry and still tipped her generously! But I hope she learns that nobody is obligated! And if a fruit ice parfait is what you consider a martini you might want to retrain your bartenders! Tons of potential but lack of care and effort are going to be...

Racist, Hostile, and Humiliating — All Over $18 Did I mention that we came from best damn sports league which sponsors this bar and we were still treated horribly?

We didn’t order food — just one drink for me (which I didn’t even finish) and some mocktails for the kids. That’s all it took for this place to treat us like garbage.

The lead bartender completely lost it. She was screaming and yelling at me in front of dozens of other patrons, trying to embarrass me like I had done something wrong — over an $18 tab that I was literally trying to pay. I had my phone out, showing I had the money, and stayed calm the entire time.

She kept yelling louder, threatening to call the police right in front of the kids. Three of them were crying — including a six-year-old — genuinely scared I was going to jail. For $18. And because we didn’t order food.

Security was respectful, but the bartender made everything worse. She escalated the situation, humiliated me, and traumatized the children — all because we apparently didn’t spend enough to be worth basic respect.

This wasn’t about money. It was about race and bias. If I looked different, or if I had ordered more, none of this would’ve happened.

Avoid this place at all costs — especially if you’re a person of color. You’re not welcome unless you fit their idea of who belongs. And God forbid you try to pay a bill — they might just call the cops in front...