Ignite Tavern — Restaurant in Orion Charter Township

Great 80's music and...really that's about it. Everything else was either OKAY or NEEDS IMPROVEMENT. We went on a Tuesday night around 8pm and the place was mostly empty. Our waitress was quick to seat us and take our drink order. We started with two Ignite Margheritas (the only margarita on the drink menu). They were okay at best; nothing noteworthy. We next ordered Chips and Salsa which I would highly recommend as the salsa was very tasty! Now as we munched on the chips and salsa we continued browsing the menu when our waitress came to check on us and take our margarita glasses before they were finished (Strike 1). We stopped her, told her we were still working on them and ordered Ignite Fajitas. Now the picture of the fajitas in their menu showed beef strips (which makes sense) but when it arrived it had beef chunks which don't roll as well in tortilla shells as beef strips so it must be a Getty image that Ignite owners used in the menu creation. For our next round of drinks we ordered martinis but our waitress turned to leave before I completed the order and I had to call her back (Strike 2). My wife had an Ignite Peach Martini (very tasty) and I had an Expresso Martini (very bland...don't bother with this one). As we continued to browse the menu we spotted a posting off to the side: "Prices are for cash only." This means you will be charged more for using plastic instead of paying cash (Strike 3). Credit card transactions are a cost for doing business and for such a mediocre tavern to announce it will pass some of its expense on to the customer is out of touch. What I'll do on my next night out is go a little further to Sage Brush Cantina in Lake Orion, MI where they don't pass credit card expenses on to their customers and they have awesome Jumbo Presidente Margheritas. We won't be back to Ignite anytime...

I gave this place a second try for carryout after they messed up our first order a few months back. Made sure I ordered something different to change things up a bit and asked that it be ready a couple hours in advance. I got there early so I sat at the bar.

While having a beer, I heard some people along the bar making comments on things that some sensitive people may not agree with or may be offended by. It concerned me but I brushed it off since it had nothing to do with me directly and I don't agree with starting confrontation. It does make me wonder though what other customers they let sit at their bar and if they doing anything to control the atmosphere based on the customer's strong opinions'.

Once I got my order, I stayed for a quick minute to finish my beer. Before I could leave, they came up to me about how my order may be wrong. They accidentally added someone else's carryout order to mine. Pretty bad considering how slow they were on Super Bowl Sunday.

After getting home with our order, my wife was missing some vegetables in her sandwich which the menu clearly says is included. I did not bother calling to correct them since it's clear that carryout orders get messed up frequently and my call warning about the accuracy of our order didn't matter to them. A while back, our first carryout order had a burger with condiments. I was charged extra for the condiments and didn't know they were missing until I got home.

The food here tastes good but I would not recommend doing carryout if you're worried of missing anything on your order. If you're sensitive to what others may have to say or don't want to hear other's strong opinions on sensitive subjects, you may want to try avoiding a...

Average vibe, good food, cold beer, kinda pricey.

Food - got a burger and their mac n cheese. Burger was $13, it's a half-pound, doesn't include fries .. that's $4 more. Note, the exact same burger is $12.50 at Old Detroit, includes fries. Same size, too. The burger itself was very good, but not $17 all-in good. For the pricing I'd go somewhere else for the same thing. Mac n cheese was bland and watery, but definitely homemade. Just didn't have much flavor despite peppers, homemade sauce, and chicken.

Drinks - one size only for draft beer. A 16oz. Blue Moon was $5.50, kinda steep for a domestic pint (it's made by Coors). Bud Light drafts were $3 .. that's the right price for a domestic. Beer was cold, glasses were spotless, and taste was fresh. Bartender wasn't the nicest, but she did her job.

Vibe - not bad. A little cold (like, the opposite of cozy / inviting) but colorful. Cool signage and decor, nice guitar hanging by the bar. It doesn't feel like it's in a strip mall once you get inside. They did a nice job here, but it could be a little more inviting. We didn't feel the most welcomed by the staff once sat at the bar, but we were served. The owner said hi, he seems nice.

Overall not a bad place, just not dying to go back knowing there's better food and more reasonable prices nearby. I'd return if my buddies suggested it as a group outing or something, but probably wouldn't choose to go there on my own, given other choices nearby. The place has a lot of potential, just needs to get dialed in and work through...