Skip's Restaurant and Catering — Restaurant in New Buffalo Township

Update summer 2025 So, we went back. We were seated in the dining room, had great service, and the food was good. I really appreciate a dining room with carpet and tablecloths, not only does it look nice, but it helps keep the noise level down. Padded chairs are comfortable and very much appreciated by those of us with bad hips and back. They're not trying to turn over the table as fast as possible and that's refreshing. The dining room is a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience. I'm adding a star to each category, and two to service, to reflect the improvement.

Update summer 2025. Went to Skips for a date night dinner, they sat us in the bar at a tiny little two person table pressed up against the wall, with no elbow room, between a large table of loud, obnoxious, 60 year old frat boys, and a family with small children. The food was okay, but not up to their usual standards at all. The steak in my salad was not properly trimmed or as tender as one would expect. The service was abysmal. It was probably 45 minutes before the server even took our order, and they did not appear to be busy or understaffed. Every aspect of service went that poorly. She took forever to bring us drinks. Brought the appetizer then it took a very, very long time for dinner. We drained every glass on the table, including water and ice, she NEVER came back to refill drinks. Didn't clear appetizer dishes from the tiny table when delivering dinner. We asked for the check and boxes and didn't see her again for ages, at least a half hour. When we were seated we didn't complain because we assumed the dining room was closed. But after we arrived they started seating people in the dining room. I wish we'd been given an option. When a couple is obviously dressed for a date and a nice dinner, they might not want to sit in the bar, especially not at the worst table in the bar. That decision is on the host. It could have been redeemed by good food and service, but things just kept going downhill. It was such a disappointment, I don't know if we'll come back.

Summer 2024 Food and service was excellent and it was nice to eat in a restaurant with carpet and tablecloths again. In an age when everything is casual and loud, Skip's is quiet and refined but still comfortable...

We hadn't been to Skip's in (probably) 12 years. We remembered it was good, but pricey. And, the next generation of family members has taken over since we were last here (if I remember correctly). The verdict:

Food was good -- but very pricey. We each got the Surf N Turf at $40 ea. This was certainly not the most expensive item on the menu. But, it gives you an idea. ( You can spend $80 on an entree.) Soup or salad included, plus one side (mashed potatoes, baked potato, etc.) . One of us got steak, one got prime rib. The steak was ordered well-done, and the prime rib was ordered as Medium. The steak was medium (had too much red). The prime rib was rare. I sent it back to get it cooked more thoroughly. It came back a little better -- but still rare. I didn't bother to send it back again.

Apparently, if you really want your steak or prime rib cooked with just a slight amount of pink, you must order WELL DONE.

Service was amateurish. When pretending to be a place for "fine dining" we expected more. But, to be fair, all restaurants are having a tough time finding help. All restaurants in the Harbor Country area seem to have reduced their operating hours (usually taking off Mondays & Tuesdays, maybe Sundays). Plus, most restaurants in Harbor Country are still at 50% capacity -- not likely due to caution over covid. Rather, the reduced occupancy is likely due to lack of ability to hire staff.

Our waitress was nice, and served our food/drinks promptly -- but seemed more suited to a diner experience. She was clueless about the "Special" drinks/beers/ cocktails that were posted/ highlighted in the lobby on the blackboard. She did not offer to identify if there were any specials, what the soup of the day was, what the vegetable of the day was, any special cocktails, etc. This info should be automatically presented to the customer. So, yes, quite amateurish.

The atmosphere upon entry into Skip's is quite a let-down. It looks dowdy. Definitely needs a major make-over. To sum up: the food is good but over-priced, the service is amateur, the atmosphere is dowdy. It's not a terrible restaurant -- but, you can do better (unless all the other places are...

My family and I have been to Skip's Restaurant three times now. The first two times were awesome experiences and we throughly enjoyed our food and service. However, after this last visit we are a little hesitant to come back. My husband is a burger guy and that's his go to food choice to order at restaurants because it's usually consistent and a safe bet. Today's experience was completely appalling and left us disgusted. My husband always orders his burgers well done, with cheddar cheese and pickle...nothing else. He makes it a point to state well done on the cook temperature because we do not like our meat raw. Upon receiving our food, my family began to eat and enjoy our dinner...well sort of. After taking a couple bites of his burger, my husband quickly realized that his burger was pink inside!! I'm not talking a little pink, like medium well. It was pink as in raw. He quickly spit out his food and I went to find someone to fix the issue (I wish I would have gotten a photo to add in for context). They offered to remake the burger, but at that point he had lost his appetite. We opted to get the burger to go and the kitchen got started on it right away. The rest of my family had a hard time enjoying our dinner because we felt bad about my husband's experience and felt awkward eating in front of him. Also, my MIL ordered a chicken salad and requested crispy chicken...it came with grilled. When approached by staff we were just met with excuses and no one was really owning up to their mistakes. The restaurant was not busy, especially for a Thursday and there was no rush put in on our food. The original burger my husband was served was cooked for a couple minutes, tops. We were not given any discounts and there were no changes on our bill for such a big hassle. I believe we were given a free dessert, but that totally doesn't make up for this unnecessary incident. I myself really enjoy the Black and Blue Pasta, but I don't think I'll be able to convince my husband to go back...