Jean Bonnet Tavern — Restaurant in Napier Township

Those of you who have known me know that I enjoy both cooking and dining and when dining out I like to visit local and unique restaurants. After many decades of traveling across the state I finally made my first visit to the Jean Bonnet Tavern. This is a great historical landmark that yes does serve food, apparently two menus one Tavern food burgers, sandwiches and such the other a dine in menu which on my visit appeared worth the experience and the wait. That is correct we waited over 2-1/2 hours something I would not normally do for a location that could be considered out of the way. As I mentioned it had been decades and on a bucket list of places to visit. We were greeted by a hostess who couldn't have been friendlier and did mention there were two dining choices, we took what we hoped to be the dining experience of waiting. When we were finally seated, 2-1/2 hours later, we were greeted by Lynn who was an experienced waitress who took our entire order, that we had plenty of time to select. I started out with a seasonal soup which was good but could have been a little warmer, followed by their seasonal peroggies that were sticking together with frozen centers. I then had a house Salad, with rolls, followed by my entree a slow roasted prime rib, served luke warm, carrots, still raw that they could not be pierced with a fork, and a backed potato, which was actually baked. Needless to say I felt bad for Lynn who became the messenger throughout my dining experience. She reported issues throughout the meal, and was as frustrated with the kitchen as much if not more than I was. She told me she had worked at the Jean Bonnet Tavern for 27 years and found that the kitchen just didn't listen to her and just did what they did. I was offered a desert for the frozen peroggis before I ever received the rest of the meal with my response being no thank you I would much rather have the rest of my meal. I did meet the owner Brandon Callahan several times from when he first botched my name at introduction to the table being ready, then to view the frozen peroggis, only to say they haven't had this issue all day, then again to address the carrots that could not be pierced with a fork, being told they were acceptable to him, I didn't even address the highlight of the meal being the prime rib as I was by that point fed up with the time, the food, and the money spent. I am sure many have had better experiences dining between the two menu offerings at the Jean Bonnet Tavern but I can only suggest not going there with high expectations and considering going more for a visit to this...

My girlfriend recommended Jean Bonnet Tavern for a nice dinner while visiting. I'm a big American and Colonial history buff, so the food recommendation and the history of this tavern really appealed to me. The exterior of the tavern looks authentic to the late 18th century period, though the neon beer signs in some windows was a bit odd.

When you arrive, you have a choice of the main dining room, which is upstairs, or the tavern which is downstairs. We opted to head upstairs since we were there for dinner. It was open, lots of natural light, and a nice bright atmosphere, though the main bar was here. When we asked about the tavern downstairs, it was explained that it was a bit darker, candle lit, and had a different ambience, which actually sounded more appealing for our date. A short walk downstairs confirmed that the stone walled tavern experience was what we wanted, and reminded me of certain restaurants at Colonial Williamsburg.

We were seated promptly, and ordered our drinks and appetizers, along with a corn chowder for myself. The Beer selection is robust and can appeal to any palette (had the Yards Porter and Stone Stout). The fried green bean appetizer was flavorful and surprisingly crisp, and the corn chowder was rich and fulfilling.

For the main course, my date opted for the lobster ravioli topped with seafood Newburg, and I went with the 18 oz. prime rib, cooked "as rare as possible". The lobster ravioli were firm, and rich with lobster filling. The seafood Newburg sauce was decadent, with the shrimp and scallops cooked perfectly. The prime rib was absolutely cooked rare per my request, and has an incredible buttery texture and flavor. The crust was nice and salty with hints of pepper, and as you can tell from the photo here, it was as close to culinary nirvana as I've come to in a.long time. Our server was attentive, very friendly, and so personable (she stated my prime rib mooed on the plate as she brought it to the table 🤣), and was an absolute joy for our date.

After our wonderful meal, we patronized the gift shop, procuring the branded pint.glasses and a beautiful ceramic coffee mug. Overall, this was a fantastic dinner date and an incredible dinner. I cannot wait to come back, and possibly stay overnight in one of the rooms. This is a true gem for the history buff, couples looking for an overnight vacation, or anyone looking for a...

I’ve been to the Gene Bonnet Tavern several times. I cannot speak for the rooms. It looks like it might be a nice bed-and-breakfast, but I’ve only had meals here. Once in the dining room which has excellent atmosphere and the other times at the bar in the tavern upstairs. Generally, it’s the atmosphere that brings me back. But I won’t go out of my way to eat here necessarily. Tonight‘s experience is an example of that.

First off, the bartender was not overly friendly. She wasn’t bad, she was just so busy that she didn’t have much attention given to the patrons at the bar. She did bring the food and drinks out in a timely manner. And that says something. But the small attention to detail at most good bartenders have or lacking. You have to try several times to get her attention and she did not ask me for a refill on my beer or how my food was.

The beer that I chose tonight was called Walleye IPA. I gave it a 3.0 on untapped. It’s an OK West Coast style IPA, but could tell by the head that it really wasn’t brewed to style. Just had a bit of an off taste. The tavern can’t help that, but they could try the beers before they put them out on tap and on the menu.

What really disappointing me was the burger. I got the burger special for eight dollars. Burger and fries. The fries were really, pretty tasty. Nothing to really write home about but they were good. I requested a medium burger. And while the burger was tasty, it was more on the medium rare side. I tried to tell the bartender that I want a medium burger, but done slightly more, so she said, medium well? I didn’t have time to explain. I was looking for them to make sure that it actually was a medium burger. What I got was still pretty pink. I ate a little more than half of it and let it go with that. She did ask me if I wanted something to take it home and, to go, but I declined. Again, she did not ask me how it was.

I’m giving the tavern three out of five stars. It’s decent, and always busy. If you get an entrée, you probably can’t go wrong. If you sit at the bar and order local craft beers and the burger special, watch yourself.

The gift shop and the goats are a nice touch to the property. The outside seating also looks like...