Bentwood Tavern — Restaurant in New Buffalo

My husband and I came here because it seemed like a really nice place to sit by the water. Upon coming in it was beautiful but then once we were seated at a table on the inside it was pretty outdated and felt like we were at an old diner. The seats even had stains on them. We really wanted to sit outside by the water too. Then our waitress was not the friendliest and was a bit pushy with wanting us to get an appetizer to start with. She kept leaving us to give us a few more minutes to think about what appetizer we wanted even after I said multiple times we only wanted to get entrees and no appetizers and that we were ready to order. Then when she came back for the third time I told her what I wanted and she ignored that and asked if I wanted a soup or salad to start with first. That was pretty frustrating. Also my husband didn’t want to spend $51 on a entree that had several seafoods on it because he did not want most of it so asked if he could just get a side of the mussels to go with the lobster roll he was ordering. She immediately was like no and proceeded to walk away. For a place that seemed like it should be upscale I was very disappointed. Update this waitress did the same thing with asking us if we wanted a dessert as she did with the appetizer in the beginning. My husband told her nicely we were done and were ready for our check after she asked if we wanted dessert. Then she left and came back a few minutes later but did not have our check but instead the desert menu. She laid it on the table and my husband was like no thanks and she literally just walks away. When she finally came back she asked what dessert we wanted…I was so annoyed with this waitress but did not get rude with her but told her once again no we do not want dessert we just want our check. This lady was so extremely pushy and we did not like it one bit. Sorry but because of that she did not get a tip from me and we will not...

We were visiting New Buffalo for a weekend getaway and decided to try Brentwood Tavern—it was on our list of places to check out. Unfortunately, the experience left a lot to be desired.

When we arrived, the host asked if we had a reservation. It felt a bit awkward since the restaurant was completely empty, and we were the only couple there. Then, the host asked us where we wanted to sit. Isn’t that their job? It was a strange interaction, especially given the lack of other diners.

I ordered the steak and frites, which sounded promising, but things went downhill from there. The steak had a faint fishy smell that made me question its freshness. On top of that, the kitchen had pre-sliced both my wife’s and my steak into five pieces—why? We’re perfectly capable of cutting our own steak. They gave us steak knives, but by that point, it just felt unnecessary.

The fries were shoestring-style and seemed low-quality, almost like they came from a can. They were awkward to eat—too thin to dip easily by hand and frustrating to handle with a fork. The homemade steak sauce also had a funky taste that wasn’t enjoyable.

The worst part came later—my stomach was in knots the next day. It made me wonder about their food storage practices and whether there’s cross-contamination in the kitchen.

While the atmosphere of the restaurant had potential, the food and service didn’t meet expectations. Based on our experience, we wouldn’t recommend...

I do wish I would've thoroughly read the reviews before we went to Bentwood. I would've noticed the words "swanky" and "chic" and might have not gone, but silly me, I just looked at the menu (with pricing, so I knew what we were getting into.) First of all, I'm 32 with two toddlers, and I was visiting with my brothers and their spouses. We all look a bit on the young side, so I'm sure that's why we got the looks that we did. Maybe you know what I'm talking about, maybe not - the look of "why are these people eating HERE?" from the hostess and the bar staff. Thankfully, our server was extremely nice & did not look at us like the rest of the staff, but the rest need sensitivity training - just because we don't look like the rest of the people in your dining room doesn't mean we can't afford to eat there. Anyway, on to the restaurant itself. It's beautiful! The ambiance is so relaxing, I could've sat there all night drinking wine and just looking out the window. The food is delicious as well. The kids menu is limited and I did not love paying $10 for a grilled cheese for my 1 year old, but I think that's just the nature of this restaurant (and note: I did pay for that and for another $10 kids meal for my 3 year old - I'm not a Karen). Overall, I would recommend this restaurant to someone looking for a great ambiance, who doesn't mind paying a bit extra for...