Vintage Chophouse & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Petoskey

Tremendously disappointed with my recent experience. Something has clearly changed, and after reading many of the recent negative reviews, it seems I’m not alone. I’ve dined at Vintage Chophouse four times over the years, making it a key part of my annual weekend getaway, but this visit was a complete letdown from start to finish.

From the moment I walked in, the hostess lacked any warmth or personality. She simply sat us down and walked away without a word. While our waitress was friendly and sweet, the meal was rushed beyond belief. Our salads arrived a minute after ordering, and within seconds, the entire meal was placed on the table. We barely started our salads before the main course was in front of us. We mentioned that we would’ve appreciated more time to relax and enjoy the experience, so the waitress took the food back to the kitchen. However, when it was brought out again 15 minutes later, the steak was cold, the risotto had turned into a sticky, flavorless paste, and the vegetables tasted like they came straight out of a frozen bag.

When it came time to wrap things up, our waitress placed the check on the table and our carry-out bag on the floor next to the table, which was truly baffling. What kind of a restaurant puts a carry-out bag full of food on the floor?

I had praised this restaurant to my guest, saying how amazing the food and atmosphere had always been, but this experience was nothing short of a disaster. To make matters worse, I called the food and beverage director to discuss my experience and never received a call back. This restaurant has gone completely downhill, and I won’t be back. I’ve had far better meals at chain steakhouses—this one is no longer worth the hype...

The experience we had was exceptionally disappointing. This place is little more than a hotel bar masquerading as an upscale restaurant. The atmosphere was loud, rowdy, and crowded around the bar. We had been looking forward to this weekend and getaway for several months. The hotel experience was amazing, but once we arrived at the “restaurant” our experience quickly deteriorated. We were sat in the bartender’s section, and she was so busy making drinks for the crowd of people around the bar and at other tables that she hardly had time for us. This is a management problem because the manager cut one of the wait staff just as we sat arrived. Our mistake was ordering an appetizer and cocktails to start, as the staff seemed content to leave us with that. We had to stop one of the other wait staff after waiting an unreasonable amount of time to place our soup order and then again to place our food order. As anticipated our food obviously sat under a heat lamp after being plated for some time before it was delivered. Again, the poor bartender was too busy to run her own food and was being assisted by the manager to keep up with drink orders. Why bother calling this place a “Chophouse” when the steak arrives cold and looking withered and lackluster? It is obvious that the chef and back of the house staff are great, as the food had amazing presentation and flavor, it was unfortunately just cold and mediocre once it arrived to the table. I would not recommend this place if you are hoping for a restaurant/dining experience. If the vibe you are looking for is rowdy pub with mediocre service on a Friday night, then this place is for you. Just make sure you book a reservation...

I want to leave an honest review. We read the reviews and most of them were positive reviews. The prices for food are very high but we figured if it's good food then the price is well worth it, it definitely was not. We ordered the crab cakes as an appetizer, they were very good, the homemade bread was very good as well. Our entrées were extremely disappointing, we ordered the Ribeye steak and the New York strip steak, both ordered medium rare along with the risotto as a side. The ribeye was cooked perfectly but extremely under-seasoned and it tasted ok, definitely not a steak you would expect for over $60, the new york strip was over cooked, very dry and tough, it had a good sweet sauce on the top but the steak itself was also lacking in seasoning, again not a good cut of meat for the price. Our waiter was polite but not very attentive and i am someone who likes my food dropped off, my drinks filled and that's really all I expect from wait staff, our drinks were not refilled once and we were unable to let him know about our steak bc he did not stop by until a while after our food was dropped off. The risotto was ok but honestly tasted like it came from a box kit you would by from the supermarket. Usually I read bad reviews from a restaurant that has a lot of positive reviews and just figure the people were picky, but our dinner was very disappointing; maybe the other entrées are better but I would definitely not order any...