Broomstack Kitchen and Taphouse — Restaurant in Kasson Township

I’m one of those people of the opinion that great eateries do few things, but do them very well. Broomstack is one of those places. They have a short list of appetizers, salads, burgers, and pizza, as well as an exceptional selection of local Michigan beers (M-43!) on tap. That’s it, and that’s all it should be. Tried the pork belly appetizer which was silky smooth, had a great sauce and came with some lightly pickled onions which paired perfectly with it. Would I have liked a bit more crisp on the outside? Perhaps, but still delicious. The burger I had was perfectly cooked to requested temp (medium) with a great crust and a lovely combination of poblanos and cheese, of which the only criticism I have is it’s name (“Spartan” - blech). Just about anyone can make an OK pizza. Fantastic pizza is harder. We had the Animal, an all meat pizza. This came out a square pie with the crust perfectly browned and crispy on the bottom. They also managed to pull off an all meat pizza that wasn’t swimming in grease. Better yet the pepperonis had curled up into those perfect little cups, crispy (alright! I like crispy things!) around the edge, savory at the bottom. Great service as well. We’ll...

We love Broomstack’s food. Their Spartan burger is my fav and absolutely delish. As we all know, this Covid has hurt many businesses and restaurants, which is why we try to support our local ones as much as possible. We only live a couple miles away. My issue is this: we placed an order last night for 3 burgers, an order of onion rings and an order of their scrumptious cheese fries to go since we still can’t eat indoors. FYI, their prices are higher than most which we are aware.... my Spartan burger with chips is $14 or $15, I don’t recall....our bill was $55 but then I noticed they tacked on a 15% service fee?!?!? I asked if this was the tip and he replied, “no, it’s just for all this”...waving his hands around towards the kitchen. No real explanation as to what it is for. I then added a $10 tip anyway so our meal for the above ended up being $72!!!! I felt a bit aggravated about it all. I should have been informed of this new service fee when I called to order. At $72 for 3 burgers and 2 sides, we won’t be able to eat there again anytime soon. And...

Broomstick has the potential to be a very nice restaurant with its location, decor, music and service. However, for anything other than burgers or fries, the chef really doesn’t know what he’s doing.

For example, his idea of a taco is shredded lettuce and sinewy dry shredded chicken. How about some peppers or onions or cilantro or hot sauce or lime juice?

Another example is salad with “grilled chicken”. Again, the chicken is sinewy and dry and the salad was topped with some kind of nasty sweet and sour brown sauce.

Mr. Chef, I realize your restaurant is in a small farming town but you’re charging full price and there are many fine restaurants in the area. You really have no excuse as you have access to the internet and YouTube. You need to do...