Doc Pierce's Restaurant — Restaurant in Mishawaka

we went to doc’s friday afternoon for a late lunch...my dad ordered the intern, i ordered the ambrosia and my mother (74) ordered a hamburger. by late friday night, she was vomiting profusely for HOURS...unendingly, to the point that she PASSED OUT. and then continued vomiting throughout the night. she is only NOW, BEGINNING to feel better. on saturday, my poor father (also 74), not knowing what made my mother sick, finished the leftovers she'd brought home. by evening, HE followed the same pattern of uncontrollable vomiting and dry heaving for HOURS to the point that HE passed out (hitting his head also) and is barely able to get out of the bed today. doc pierces has been a family favorite for over FORTY years. that restaurant has been our FAVORITE restaurant our entire childhoods and lives. every POSSIBLE event or occasion that we could pretend was an event called for an excursion to doc's. the atmosphere, the food, the service and the management was UNMATCHED. birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, engagements, rehearsal dinners (we FREQUENTLY reserved the loft for our celebrations), out of town visits and just if we were in the area for appetizers and deserts! our name and us and individuals were very well known by several servers and by the management. just this past valentines day, my parents met one of the new owners and spoke of our family's fondness for doc's and what an integral part of our lives that establishment has been. they spoke of our favorite dish...the potato skins...and were ASSURED that although they were making a few minor tweaks to some other dishes, the potato skins were not going to change. now friday, i come to visit from virginia and after picking me up from the airport, we made a bee-line for doc pierces. already watering at the mouth, i/we ordered our favorite treat (and truthfully a lot of the reason i come home!) doc pierce's potato skins. what was presented was NOT doc pierce's potato skins. it was some over fried (and frankly your oil needs to be changed) VERY sparsely topped "potato skins" that EVERY OTHER restaurant prepares. we could not have been more disappointed. and then to discover a few hours later that my mother had been served rancid meat! i am astounded and truthfully hurt by what doc's has become. the change in management certainly does not care about maintaining the name and quality of this treasured establishment, and it will be a VERY long time before we even consider coming back there. i am just shocked...losing doc's is like losing a family friend (which it is)...we are honestly,...

First time here based on a recommendation.... 0/5 the inside is dim and dated, and the patio is overrun by spiders and bees due to an obscene amount of floral arrangements. The menu is small and limited, the vegetables are pre-seasoned, which means frozen, they have niche unappetizing salad dressing, rotten coleslaw(the slaw was actually brown) or 3 types of starches. The rest of the menu isn't much more diverse with 2 types of fish, 2 types of chicken, and an array of beef being the gist. The appetizers seemed appealing based on description, but the cheese curds were still partially frozen, and the ranch dressing is avocado ranch, with no forewarning! Good thing I wasn't allergic... the tea I received was old and tasted like it was spoiled. I decided on broiled haddock with substitution of soup for the aforementioned sides(was told there was an upcharge but didn't specify cost) the food took about 45 minutes to come out and was the most disappointing thing I have encountered at any restaurant. The french onion soup was spoiled and putrid, the equivelancy of about a week past its shelf life. The smell was enough to enduce gagging, so I bypassed it and figured I would make an attempt for the fish. This was only slightly better as it didn't illicit a gag reflex, but the taste was awful, the only notable flavor was that of the inside of a freezer and was as ice cold as one as well. Completely inedible, having been a chef and kitchen manager previously, this is entirely unacceptable and inexcusable. At least the burnt burger, cold fries, and half-baked dry, still unopened potato my husband ordered were passable as "sustenance" (his comparison) I unfortunately, had nothing more than 2 bite2 of food out of the whole meal and he ate 3 bites of his burger and a handful of cheese curds out of pure hunger. At least they offered to make me something else, which I politely declined. They even took my meal off the bill! The service rating is based on receiving cold food,wait time in a restaurant with 2 sat tables and inattentivness. This was my first and last time at this establishment, and I recommend some serious training for the kitchen staff in food safety before this causes an outbreak of...

As a frequent patron of Doc Pierce’s for 40 years, due to new ownership, I felt a new review was warranted. This was (past tense) one of my favorite places to go for a nice dinner. Local, not a chain, great service, great food. Always Reliable. However, similar to what a few other reviewers have said, things have changed. Went there in January and few times since, but this review is based on a July 2023 visit, where the New Ownership changes are now fully in place. A bit good, a bit bad.

The Bad – The Potato Skins appetizer is a huge disappointment, compared to what it once was. The plate used to be covered in cheese, with bacon bits sprinkled over it all. Now, you get 4-5 potato half’s, served on a bread-board, with a fraction of the cheese, a few bacon bits, and a few scallions. Too much potato since it really is a potato cut in half; and Not enough cheese. Not even close. Sparse and disappointing. Won’t order again. Shrimp DeJonghe, the flavor is gone. Visually appears very similar to what it was, but the flavor has changed, mild, much weaker, unimpressive. Wine liter's are gone too. Liter of house wine was a nice way to enjoy dinner with some wine, at a reasonable cost. Gone. Bread has changed to... not surprised, but not as good as the old mini-loaf's. Not as hearty.

The Good -- I had the Steak & Shrimp dinner. I must say it was as good as ever; perhaps even slightly improved, as seasoning was added to the steak! Cloth napkins are back (this could have been a Covid thing). Service has always been good/great. Over the years, we've had many favorite servers (Tiffany, Hope).

Problem is, you go to a place knowing you can get your favorite dishes. When your favorite choices are no longer available, why go there? I liked my dinner; my wife did not (rating holds at 50%), then with the disappointing appetizer (Skins), we drop to a 30% chance of returning. Change is inevitable, but...