Bitter Tom's Distillery — Restaurant in Lake Orion

Have dined in several times and gotten carry out a couple times because we were dying for their Reuben egg rolls, but weren’t up for going out. Wonderful, lively, atmosphere. Just the right level of fashionable to make you feel like you’ve had a special night out, without feeling at all pretentious. Just perfectly nice. Service is great - they have clearly taken the time to train their staff. The food is fantastic. Love that they frequently try new menu items - you can tell that they are not sitting on their laurels, but constantly working to be even better. That said - please never take the Reuben egg rolls off the menu! We also sometimes indulge in their loaded totchos - their play on nachos w a tater tot base. Decadent but delicious. Several tasty salads - I always get the Bitter Tom’s salad and add salmon. A perfect, satisfying meal. Friends have raved about the Tuna Nicoise, as well. We have had several of their tacos. All good, but the fish taco is especially delightful. A great variety on the menu between the starters, salads, burgers, main plates, tacos and charcuterie. Not an overwhelming selection, just enough that anyone should be able to find a yummy option. We haven’t had desserts there in a while, but revisited that part of the menu last night. Apparently, one of the servers grandmothers makes everything from scratch. I am dying to try the carrot cake, but, alas they were out of it. I had crème brûlée instead - and it was quite the consolation prize! My husband had the chocolate lava cake and it was so good - perfectly dense and moist. He is eyeing the peanut butter pie for our next visit. Bar is terrific. They have a small, but nice selection of wines. Bartender makes a great Old Fashioned and other interesting cocktails. We have also been to one of their special cocktail classes - we did the Tequila tasting. Very well done. Their head of the bar clearly knows his stuff and has struck such a nice balance with innovative cocktails that are fun to drink. This is the kind of restaurant I love to see in our little town. Just the right amount of flair to feel somehow both up and coming and right at home at the same time. Can’t wait to...

TL;DR they failed to remove unlisted nut garnishments on a dish after repeated warnings.

I wright this solely as a warning for the safety of others. I have always had great experiences here, however this last time when I ordered the chicken thighs I specified twice at least that I had severe nut allergies. It was not listed on the menu as an item the dish contained, but I’ve had problems with various nuts being used as garnishing and that turned out to be the case. Despite the several warnings to the waitress it was ultimately garnished with nuts, unfortunately it was under the chicken, unable to be seen resulting in me consuming some. Fortunately I had access to an epi pen and have a lifetime of experiencing the consequences of nut based allergies. I noticed the symptoms quickly and was able to manage the symptoms well enough to not need emergency services to be called despite them probably being necessary for most peoples experiencing a reaction this severe. The manger comped half of our tables meals, being mine and my girlfriends and promised to have updated menus to reflect the allergies present. Along with offering to call an ambulance and apologized to my girlfriend in my place. Unfortunately this was the sum total of their efforts to rectify this situation, when the symptoms had abated enough for me to leave, the staff would not make eye contact with me or make any further reassurances that this would never happen again, to someone more vulnerable. I then had to raise my voice to get the attention of their bar manager to even get water, to take Benadryl that another customer had offered. The whole experience was deeply unfortunate and shows a l critical ack of understanding of the severity of situations like these. I only count it fortunate that this happened to myself and not someone who is less familiar with the symptoms of the reactions, or a child who would not notice or be able to communicate the...

We quite enjoyed this restaurant. We of course got drinks. I got a "mocktail", which like all non-alcoholic, non-soda drinks found in the US was juice based, but this was pomegranate, so not nearly as sweet as most are, which was ideal. Though I still search for a vinegar based one at a restuarant. Also, first one was like 85% ice, so made sure to ask for light ice on the next one, which was much better. The hard cider was rather non descript and out of a can, but the only cider option. The rosé smelled questionable, but was actually quite good and it was well described by the waitress.

To start we got the "carnivore" charcuterie board. The cheeses were distinct, and fig jam always is delicious. The mustard used was a perfect complement, but we were hoping for more than just 3 kinds of salami. Another type of preserved meat would have been more balanced and interesting.

We got a sorbet trio next, which was fun diversity following the diverse board, especially since it included some berries. It worked well as a palate cleanser.

Last we ordered the silders. The burgers themselves were bigger than expected. Aesthetically the buns were disproportionately large compared to the burgers, however, while eating, I didn't notice muxh excess bun. The burgers were very tasty, the sauce and meat especially (the burger was thick and crispy on the outside). Came with a nice and crunchy pickle slice on top.

Overall a good experience. With covid, things like the online menu weren't up to date, and service was a bit slow of course (but I am comparing to pre covid days, this is my first time out since). Our server was very nice and accomodating (especially since we ordered dessert in...