The Deck — Restaurant in Muskegon

Here's a LABOR DAY secret for everyone out there. DO NOT JOIN THE WAITLIST...ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SLIP THE HELP $100, AND YOU COULD AVOID WAITING. HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR GROUP on Friday before Father's Day...

We joined the wait list... we were #79 on the list. Roughly 2 hours later, we were finally seated. As we were getting our food, a group of 10 were finished eating, and the busboy was clearing the tables. A group of 5-6 people were walking around the restaurant looking for a table. THERE ARE SIGNS ALL OVER THE RESTAURANT TO NOT SEAT YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU NEED TO REGISTER AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE TO BE SEATED. SEATING BY HOTESS ONLY...

We were # 79 and waited nearly 2 hours. Well, this group of 6 asked the busboy if they could have the table. The busboy told them that THEY COULD NOT BE SEATED UNLESS THE HOSTESS BROUGHT THEM FROM THE WAIT LIST. Just then, a couple of waitresses came over to help clean the tables off. A man in the group then offered $100 to the waitresses if he could be seated... HE STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DECK YELLING HE'D PAY $100 FOR A TABLE... I WAS 3 FOOT AWAY FROM THE CONVERSATION AND HEARD EVERYTHING.

THE WAITRESSES TOOK THE MONEY AND SAT THE GROUP...BYPASSING THE 2 HOUR WAIT LIST.

A few minutes later, after they were seated, I asked for a manager to come over to my table. The young black lady with short blonde hair asked me what the problem was. I told her how I watched the bribe payment for BYPASSING the wait list and she tried to lie to me saying that they were on the list but just waiting for a large table to open up...I told her that was BULLSHIT because I watched and overheard the $100 bribe go down. The manager finally admitted that they did take the $100 and seated the group WITHOUT being on the list. "But what do you want me to do?" She asked me. I told her I wanted my food "comped" for following the waitlist rules when all I could have done was bribe a waitress and avoid waiting 2 hours for seating.

The manager said she couldn't do that, so I said I would "leave them a good review" and went back to eating.

About 10 minutes later, a second male manager came over to our table and tried to tell us the same lie that the group was on the list waiting for multiple tables. I called BULLSHIT to his face and told him to stop talking. I watched and heard the $100 bribe get paid to the waitresses. They even gave the $100 bill to one of the 3 waitresses to get change so they could split the $100... the male manager then said he'd have to check out my story... he returned about 10 minutes later and ADMITTED THAT WE HAD BUSTED THEM, TAKING THE $100 TO BYPASS THE 2 HOUR WAIT LIST..."But what do you want me to do... make them get up and wait?"

I SAID YES MAKE THEM GET UP AND WAIT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE

OR COMP, MY FOOD.

The male manager said he'd have to think about it and would get back to us. He came back in about 5 minutes and said that he "wasn't going to comp our food and we could just leave if we didn't like it.

We got our check from our waitress, and I asked the waitress for the 2 managers' names, and she responded that "she doesn't know and we need to leave."

I tried to contact owners Fred Scharmer & Michelle Harris by leaving at least one message a week from Father's Day weekend until August 20th but NEVER GOT A CALL BACK.

SO DON'T USE THE WAITLIST THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND...JUST WHIP OUT THE $100 BILL FOR...

I showed up at what was a weird time, I suppose. It was right as they were switching shifts. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to get a seat at th first, but I was really hungry at ine it was late afternoon, and I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so I kept trying. No one was at the hostess spots out on the sidewalks, and without a person standing there, I didn't even realize those were the hostess stations. I walked right past them. I wound up walking up the steps on the left side of the building and asked the guy behind the bar where I could find a hostess and he directed me back "down the steps to the red tent." Went back down the stairs: no red tents. No hostesses. Finally saw the red signs over the tables, and remembered from the one time we'd been here a couple years ago, that's where I was supposed to check in. Since no one was there, I would up going over to the right side of the restaurant. There, I saw an employee coming down the stairs. When I asked if she could help me know how to get a seat, she said she could help me, and that they were just changing shifts. Finally, I understood why I couldn't figure out what normally would be easy to understand. She grabbed a menu and took me to be seated right away. It was a gorgeous afternoon. I had the fish sandwich, and the sweet potato fries were the best I've ever had. My waitress was even kind enough to bring an extra water after I went to the ladies' room since I was all on my own, and my momma always taught me not to leave a drink unattended. The food had been so delicious, that I ordered the sampler meats to take dinner home to my hubby. It was so plentiful, I also got to try everything Is ordered for him. Everything was delicious, although the corn side dish would have been better had it been made with fresh corn instead of canned or frozen. Loved everything else we...

Local with 30 years experience in hospitality. I’ve taken the family and out of town guests to the Deck numerous times and we have had great BBQ and beach friendly meals every time. Our visit in August 2025 left much to be desired. Prices are relatively high but we’ve always been ok with that as the beach setting is unique and the food has been good overall.

Unfortunately, the food quality was seriously lacking at our last visit. I ordered the chopped brisket. This cut of beef was likely not brisket (looked like pieces of a roast) and/or not prepared and fabricated correctly. There were long pieces of meat cut or pulled with the grain of the meat and about 1/3 of my portion was inedible connective tissue. The remainder was greasy, stringy and not like any BBQ brisket I’ve ever prepared, seen or tasted. If you are going to serve beef brisket, do it correctly, especially at these prices.

My son ordered the pulled pork tacos. He received a greasy, yet still dry in texture corn tortilla with a small slab of pork that was definitely not pulled pork. It was a chunk about 4 x 2 inches hastily placed on the tortilla. The pork was dry and not seasoned. His sweet potato fries were overdone - dark and bitter due to overfrying. No sauce, garnishes, or anything else on his tacos.

The ordering system for the beach area is similar to ordering to go food, but you have to wait in line, order your food and then wait at a pick up window. You then take your food to a picnic style setting to eat. No servers, bussing, or management greetings or “two bite” check ups from front of the house. The burden is then on the guest to leave the table and wait in line to track down an employee or manager to communicate issues with food. As the food prices increase at the deck, this model is more difficult to let pass when the food...