Sportsman's Restaurant — Restaurant in Ludington

If there’s ever a place I would immediately suspect the onion rings would be frozen, it would be a place like Sportman’s Restaurant. An unassuming sports bar in a summer tourist destination, it seems like a place designed for efficiency first and taste second. The onion rings arrive in a red basket with white-and-green checkered paper, a slight though insignificant departure from the norm.

I’m pleasantly surprised by how the onion rings appear to be hand breaded, although less so by the severely cracked and patchy nature of that breading. They are cooked to a light, golden brown and, with the exception of the top ring, mostly positive in retrospect. The platter is rounded out by a mysterious container of the amorphous and obligatory sauce.

There are fewer surprises in the taste. They’re about exactly what you would expect from a sports bar on the shores of Lake Michigan: a greasy fried circle of onion and salt. The onion taste is mild, the batter slightly seasoned. They’re designed to be quick, hot, and forgotten.

Most of the time, the sauce is either a complement to a decent onion ring or the one shining light bringing flavor, depth, and moisture into something lacking. For the first time in my memory, this mystery sauce actively detracts from the good parts of the onion rings, bringing the entire dish down.

The sauce is incredibly, almost painfully, salty, a salt-bomb raining shrapnel of salinity down on on my unassuming and once-peaceful taste buds. Every bite is nothing but salt and, for all I know, this sauce is just industrial grade mayonnaise mixed with half a cup of salt. One could almost forget one of the world’s largest freshwater lakes is mere minutes away, and instead that it’s the Dead Sea just over the horizon.

Much like the taste, the texture couldn’t be more middle of the road. The batter is crunchy, but not too crunchy. The onions are soft, but only just-too-soft, a bit of slippage eking through the cracked exterior. Beyond the slippage, there’s no significant textural issues, but nothing really stands out either.

I think that my subconscious interpretation of value is inherently pegged to the cost of living in west Michigan, but years of experience has given me ample opportunity to weight appropriately. $4.49 for a side of onion rings of middling quality is overpriced, by that baseline, but about on the money for a place like Ludington.

If you’ve ever had onion rings before, you’ve had these. If you’ve ever been to a sports bar before, you’ve been to Sportsman’s. They are the prototypical basic ring, almost an art unto itself, but dragged down into the mire by whatever salty, creamy beast unleashed...

I recently returned to this restaurant for a family dinner after not visiting for quite some time. Unfortunately, the experience left much to be desired.

We ordered a variety of items, including sandwiches, a burger, and a chicken strip basket. Upon arrival, it became apparent that our server was also tending bar, which understandably divided her attention. As a result, service throughout the evening was inconsistent and less attentive than expected.

When our meals were brought to the table, the server had difficulty finding space to place the plates due to leftover menus and appetizer dishes that had not yet been cleared. In the process of juggling the food, two of the four meals were accidentally dropped, spilling a large amount of sauce—some of which ended up on our legs and feet. The meals that did make it to the table were also disappointing, with sandwiches served on noticeably burnt bread.

Adding to the frustration, my husband's replacement meal didn’t arrive until well after the rest of us had finished eating, preventing us from enjoying dinner together. There was no immediate effort to rectify the situation, which was disappointing given the circumstances.

Finally, it took quite some time to receive our check and a to-go box, and during the meal we were never offered drink refills—something we would typically expect as part of basic service.

While I understand that restaurants can have off nights, this visit did not meet expectations in terms of food quality, service, or overall experience. I hope this feedback is helpful in improving future guest...

Don’t Bother!! I’ve never left a restaurant review before but felt this one was necessary. Our party of three walked in and gave our name to Jerry Thomas, who was hosting tonight. Jerry told us there would be a 15-35 minute wait and that he would call when a table was available. We just had time to walk across the street - less than 5 minutes - when my husband got a phone call from an unknown number listed as “Wolverine, Michigan.” Assuming it was a junk call, he did not pick up. Jerry, the host was calling from his personal cell and left a message saying that because we did not pick up, he gave away our table. We hurried back across the street and into the restaurant where he approached us. We explained the situation, and he said there was nothing he could do. He admitted that he told us 15-35 minutes but said it’s not really his job to gauge table turnover time. He also admitted that he called from his personal cell phone and not from a restaurant line and that, yes, it is not a Ludington number. When I asked what he could do, he said that he could put our name back on the waiting list, but at the bottom below parties that had come in after us. Truly, I can’t recall ever receiving such poor treatment from a hospitality establishment. This young man does not belong in customer service, and the restaurant does not deserve patrons if it supports such an...