Dam Site Inn — Restaurant in Maple River Township

We have been visiting and staying in Petoskey now for the last 5 years in our RV Coach. We have heard about the Dam Site Inn and how good the chicken was. This year my family and friends (party of 10) and grandkids made reservation to enjoy an evening of good food. Well, the Dam Site Inn turned into a Dam Disapointing Experience. Again, this was the first time we have been there and did not know that if you or someone at your table wanted to ordered "all you can eat" chicken, anyone else at your table that were not big eaters and wanted to order a chicken platter could not. Myself, wife along with daughter and son-inlaw are not big eaters and each couple were going to share a meal. The young waitress told us we could not and that if someone at the table ordered "all you can eat" chicken then no one else at the table could order a chicken entree. Ok, with that being said my friends wanted "all you can eat" chicken so they requested to sit at another table so as to accommodate their policy. The young waitress went back in the kitchen and a few minutes later a male waiter came out and in a stern voice said "we don't serve all you can eat and separate chicken entrees at the same table" then went back to the kitchen. Maybe a minute or so went by and another man approached our table and stated "you made my waitress cry, maybe you just need to find another place to eat" "you need to leave". We were taken aback and couldn't believe what he just said to us. We told him that we were trying to comply with their policy and our friends requested to sit at another table to have the "all you can eat" chicken so the rest of us could order separate chicken entrees, no one was loud or rude to the waitress. I have never been asked to leave a restaurant in my life, let alone with family, friends and small children. It was very embarrassing to me and my family since this older man (I believe his name was Ray and either the manager or owner) was so rude and did not even ask us what happened or what was wrong. He lacked any type of customer service skills and was just glad to embarrass us and move us out. I explained to him that I was a law enforcement executive and would never treat his waitress or allow her to be treated poorly or berated and further that I too am in the customer service business and never treated the public in that manner let alone with out getting their side of the story. I give this establishment along with the head waiter and manager/owner a big thumbs down on how they handled this miscommunication between ourselves and the waitress. I am never to return or suggest to any of my colleagues or friends to visit this Dam...

We first started frequenting this place about five or six years ago now. It appealed to us for the retro décor, the all-you-can-eat Fried chicken special, and of course the family-style setting for food and atmosphere. I’m sad to say Saturday night was our last night. It came down to service. We were nine adults and a baby at a large round table. In fact it is the same table our group has been coincidentally sat at since our first visit. I think there was one occasion where there were fewer of us and we were sat somewhere else, but digress. First, our server left literally everything on the table throughout the duration of the meal. We bussed our own plates and stacked our dirty dishes on the table on the off-chance she would come by. She even had a helper with her the whole time, as all the servers seemed to have with them. Throughout the meal she routinely forgot drinks, had to be asked to bring more of what had been long empty, and had to be asked to take away what had been long empty. We were not rude whatsoever. We loved this place. Besides, we are classy patrons wherever we go. She was just entirely unaware, and really entirely unapologetic. She just didn’t care, and neither did any of the young men helping her. I can understand a lesser establishment having service like this, some place like a year-round chain or something, but this is supposed to be a Petoskey institution. A destination. Our bill was about $400 before tip, as it always is for our group. Think about that a moment. That's nearly $50/person. We have never scoffed at that price at all. It has always been worth it to us, but after Saturday night we were wondering what is going on behind the scenes of this place. They were not busy with open tables everywhere. As we finished the meal I asked her directly to give us some gravy to go with our boxed up stuff, since we had so much leftover potatoes and chicken etc. I told her explicitly to charge us for it if necessary, we just wanted it for the leftovers and did not want to forget it. I figured being so direct with her would at least ensure that much was covered, but again she completely ignored the request when we got out leftovers the next day. It made the group downright sad, and makes me sad to write this now, but our group will not be back. Especially with other seasonal gems like Leg’s Inn, or even Douglas Lake Steakhouse, just...

This restaurant came very highly recommended by my dad who came with me for my first visit on our family vacation. We came with a party of 10 and were looking forward to eating. However my wife and I really don't eat a large amount of food. We wanted to split our meal of plated chicken and we were told that we needed to all have plated chicken or all you can eat chicken at one table. My father wanted to then move to a different table so he could accommodate the restaurant's policy. No all you can eat chicken is allowed on a table with plated chicken, so we agreed and my dad was just going to change tables. Our waitress said she was going to get Mike and he would help. Mike came out and he was very rude and he told us their policy and my dad again said he would switch tables to eat all you can eat. Mike did not respond and he left. Then a man (who I assumed was the owner or a manger) came to our table and said " I think that you need to find another place to eat". We were shocked and we responded by laughing and he said "I am serious, you need to leave, you made our waitress cry". I cannot believe she would cry but he (owner or manager) appeared to be very upset so she must have been. I am very pleased to see an employer stick up for his employee , but he never asked us what happened, or how he could make our experience better or even just tell us that we had done that made her cry before throwing us out. We did not yell, or degrade the waitress at all. She was very pleasant and we ( due to this being our first visit) wanted to figure out how to eat at this establishment in a way that would suit our needs. This was a very terrible experience and we will tell everyone we encounter to never visit this establishment. The person who threw us out was angry and not friendly at all. He did not personally hear the exchange and he did not ask any questions. I have never been so disrespected in all my life. I can see how the owners can be unprofessional and disrespectful based on their catty and juvenile responses to unfavorable...