The Beacon — Restaurant in Petoskey

We went to the Beacon because my husband had a good experience the week before, so maybe their issues were a fluke, but we were disappointed on many levels last night. Whenever I see a jalapeño craft cocktail I order it because it is my jalapeño is my absolute favorite. However, the Beacon’s margarita was not drinkable! Not only was there zero sweetness but the jalapeño was so overwhelming that we had to send it back after two sips my lips were on fire. And for a $16 dollar drink that was about to spoil my entire meal with it burning my mouth, no thanks. The worst part was that the waiter was not happy with me at all and quite intimidating. (My husband tried the drink and agreed with me also.) I ordered a Diet Coke instead. So this Diet Coke came and it was syrup and water and ice. Not sure who the bartender was, but he needs to pay attention. The worst part is I didn’t feel comfortable sending it back after the waiter since he gave me his death stare the first time. My husband ordered the beef stroganoff and he said it was “Ok” as he struggled to find the beef in the dish. I ordered the roasted squash salad with grilled chicken. It comes with a Greek honey yogurt dressing. Other than the chicken being slightly pink inside, the “roasted” squash was definitely not roasted, skimpy in the salad and mostly the dressing was a disaster. Now all this complaining may seem like I’m hard to please but I’m not that hard to please. I would have been happy with a side of ranch at this point because the honey yogurt tasted like they ran out of some stuff (like honey and yogurt). Instead, what I got was more like milk and sugar with a lot of mint. Nasty. It’s obvious chefs and bartenders are not tasting what they are putting out. You should check your spice level of jalapeño, your carbonation level of your drinks and if your going to make a homemade dressing you should never let it leave the kitchen without tasting it. I watched my husband eat his dinner, took my salad home and ate it with dressing from home. I wasn’t comfortable with our waiter to keep sending stuff back, which is unfortunate because it really wasn’t his fault and the restaurant should be made aware. I gave it two stars instead of one because of the view and the menu is upscale which Petoskey needs more of and less bar...

My friend and I found this restaurant when searching local options. We were hesitant because it was a little on the pricey side of what we were looking for but went for it because we wanted the view of the Bay. I looked up reservations on their website and saw openings all evening long, every 15 minutes. Based on that, we figured walking in would be fine. When we arrived there were a few people outside, no one in the bar area. The hostess asked if we had a reservation and I explained why we didn’t. We asked if there was anything open and we were told not until 7:30. I asked why their website didn’t reflect that but she didn’t have an answer. We were able to get full dining service at the bar. After ordering our drinks I went to the restroom and saw the whole dining area except 2 tables was wide open. Our bartenders were AMAZING and they worked so well together! My friend ordered the burrata appetizer and I had the shrimp scampi linguini. Both dishes were good, nothing extraordinary. After eating, my friend went to the restroom, still plenty of open tables. We were both kind of upset because we would’ve been in and out before the dining room filled up. We did end up speaking with Josh, the restaurant manager who was really great and explained that the reservation system they use and the website aren’t linked or something to that effect and that they had limited control over the website which is managed by the owner. We weren’t expecting anything, just wanted to express our disappointment with the situation. He ended up comping our meals and providing free dessert! That was completely unexpected and above and beyond. They did allow us to sit outside with our drinks afterwards and we made sure to adequately tip both our servers. I’d go back again but HIGHLY recommend making...

Delicious food and speedy service. It was pretty clear that the staff are built for speed. Our waiter and the other staff were attentive and quick. The only reason that I removed a star is because our waiter, while attentive, didn't always stick around long enough to get an answer to the questions he asked (e.g. how was the appetizer?). The drinks came out quickly and the food followed without a gap. Our elapsed time on a Saturday evening was about one hour, which is quick but we didn't feel rushed.

Now, about the food/drinks. I had the Maple Manhattan. The maple was there, but you had to search for it. A bit on the sweet side, but plenty strong and quite enjoyable. Next, we had the Brussel/squash appetizer. It was delicious! Maybe the best thing we had! The bacon and warm spices were very tasty, but more importantly the veggies were cooked perfectly. Not crunchy, but still firm.

There were two of us. My wife had the Mahi Mahi and she loved it. The coconut and ginger really enhanced the flavor of the fish without overwhelming it. I had the pot roast. It was perfectly cooked. The mashed potatoes had plenty of dairy goodness in them and the gravy was right on the money -- not overly salty, but packing plenty of umami flavor. Once again, the veggies were cooked perfectly! They may change them out, depending on the time of year, but we had broccolini and some version of cauliflower, which I would call "caulifowerini" as it was thin and delicate with green stalks like the broccolini, but with white flowers. Both unexpected and...