The Bank 1884 Food & Spirits — Restaurant in Port Austin Township

I think I've only ever reviewed a handful of businesses ever but after our recent trip to Port Austin and dinner on Friday night at The Bank, I needed to say something. First, it's a really great building right downtown Port Austin. Super easy parking and you walk into a well restored old Bank with nods to the sleepy old fishing towns of the thumb area. Then, our hostess took us into another room that was an addition at some point that seriously lacked the charm we expected from The Bank. We may as well had been in any old restaurant in any old town. Now the food...and I am NOT picky in any way, have absolutely no food aversions, I will literally eat anything: we started with the crab cakes, they were mushy, not crispy and tasted like a scoop of soggy tuna fish. Then the loaf of homemade bread, while piping hot and crusty on the outside was somehow not nearly cooked on the inside. The french onion soup was very, very salty. My husband ordered his burger "medium" and it came out grey and well overcooked. He only ate half because the flavor had been cooked completely out of the burger. My house salad was good. My perch was also ok and my veggies were nicely cooked. But, the rice tasted as if they scraped the edges of the bottom of the pan and scooped out the last of the days rice for my plate. I might still have a crunchy piece of saffron rice stuck in my molar. To top it off, after tip our bill was $120. Yes, $120 for what may have been the worst meal of my life. We honestly do not care about what we pay for our meal but when you order an app, a bowl of soup, a BURGER, an entree, and 2 beers and 2 glasses of wine and the bill is $100, and the food was super sub par well, you write a yelp/google review. The only rose in this thorn was our super sweet and attentive server Kimmie. Thanks Kimmie for the service and your smile. And in contrast, we went to The Farm for dinner the following night, had a beautiful table with THE BEST meal of my life. Ate/drank the equivalent and the bill was $10 less expensive. Skip The Bank, head to Bird Creek Farms for tacos, eat every meal at The Farm, even The Sportsman bar had a better burger than The Bank. Such an incredibly missed opportunity for that historical building and the city of Port Austin. And while we were out and about talking with local folks and other tourists our experience is common, although many probably just don't say anything and just don't go back. (I probably should have said something or sent things back or given the owner an opportunity to fix it but we were on vacation and I would have literally had to send back every single plate/bowl that came to our table except the house salad.) AND another thing if the owner/manager is reading this...the ladies restroom needs a hook for a purse. I DID tell Kimmie about that and she said, "well, now that you say that I have to drape my apron across the sink when I use the bathroom." I JUST realized as I typed that how gross it is that my servers apron, so close to my food was draped over a public bathroom sink.... (*just reading all the other reviews...trending: overcooked meat and...

Understand it's a tourist town. BUT The food was very overpriced. On there website only their afternoon lunch menu was shown which I thought was their standard menu. If I had known this I would not have went there. For being such a overpriced establishment. I would have expected that the hostess would have had a better dress code instead of a house dress. That a on or off-duty waitress would not been hanging around the outside of the hostess, waitress station jokin around. They're cold beverage refrigeration was in view. I wonder how much they were charging for a glass of Walmart milk? I was a chef by trade. The au gratin potatoes were about the best I can say about the dinner. And they didn't have much taste. When the waitress took my order I did not realize the soup and vegetable was extra for the price I had to pay. I was not informed of an extra charge. The perch dinner was tasteless and greasy. $32 for greasy perch fillets and a baked potato. Soup and vegetable was extra. Brussel sprouts were over sauteed. And in my opinion they had left the outer leaves on the brussels. I have never done because they have a bitter taste which overpowered the dish. But of course restaurants have their own presentation. Next day I went to the Fireside restaurant and had the same dinner for a much lower price. The perch was very tasty and had more fillets. Noticing on more topics they don't even show dinners. What's up with that.? I would have been more happy with an overpriced perch sandwich. Which is listed,. Kind of like a bait-and-switch to me. I worked in five different. I've dined in some of the best restaurants in Buffalo N.Y, Puerto Rico, Miami, Fort Lauderdale. Now again remember this is only one person's opinion. But if you put it out there you better expect to...

Visited during a long weekend at Port Austin. We were promptly greeted at the door by a woman who did not say "Hello" but simply: "Our staff doesn't wear masks, is that OK with you?" and I asked if that was legal and she only responded that the owner said it was OK. I was a little annoyed but more importantly, they are putting their staff at risk every day by putting them in contact with tourists from Michigan and beyond. Our kids were starving after a long drive so despite this blatant disregard for their employees wellbeing, we agreed to sit outside (in OUR masks) as many of the tables were spread out and we felt more comfortable in outdoor seating.

The service was slow, (took 45 minutes for two grilled cheese, a burger to split and a salad), the vibe was weird, and the menu is VERY expensive. An entree is $28 - $37. Not what we expect when dining out for a causal dinner in Port Austin. My husband had to flag down another server to ask for bread because the kids were complaining non-stop. We almost left. But then our food finally arrived. The food is good, no doubt about it. But unfortunately we will never return because of our experience. There are lots of really great places to eat in Port Austin and Caseville. No need to go back.

We did observe the snarky note on the front door on our way OUT that claimed that patrons did not have to wear a mask because of HIPPA rules. False. I checked with my neighbor who is an attorney and she said that is absolutely not the case and is 100% illegal to not follow the state mask rule. This place should be shut down until they can comply with state rules because obviously the owner of this place thinks they are...