HorseFeathers Kitchen & Cocktails — Restaurant in Putnam Township

We were super hopeful. We read the reviews. We were looking forward to our Anniversary dinner. Driving down the winding entrance, the area is beautiful. Entering the restaurant, it was tastefully decorated. We were promptly greeted and sat with a reservation under our name.

Strike 1: We waited 15 minutes at the table before we had a drink order taken. We showed grace as they appeared busy. Strike 2: It took 15 more minutes before our drinks arrived and our order was placed. Again, we showed grace as they were busy. Strike 3: We ordered 3 appetizers, 1 soup, 1 coleslaw, and 1 calamari. And also ordered 2 steaks for our main meal. We waited, and now 50 minutes after waiting for food, we enter the next strike. Strike 4: The Manager walks out with our Steaks. We looked astonished and said, "we haven't even gotten our appetizers yet". He angrily rolls his eyes, speedily turns and heads back to the kitchen with our steaks. Strike 5: Manager never apologized. A server, other than our own, brings out the soup (now cold), the cole slaw (now hot), and the calamari, now soggy and cold. She apologizes for the mix up. Strike 6: We couldn't finish the calamari as what was supposed to be crispy fried was soggy/gross/cold. Strike 7: Another Server brings out our steaks, we were starving by this time. We take knife to meat, and my steak that was supposed to have been medium rare is now a well done. And cold. Yes. Probably sitting on a counter somewhere while we waited to eat our cold appetizers. I put my fork to potato, and same, cold. Husband indicates the same. Cold. Strike 8: Server comes by. We tell her it is cold. She apologizes and takes our food. I ask her if they could be mindful not to cook it even more than the well done that I was presented with. She says, rather flippantly, well, they could fire another one, but that is going to take a half hour. We said never mind as we were again starving. She takes the steaks back and we wait about 10 minutes and they return. Hot this time, and extra well done.

A couple of learning lessons here: 1) When the manager brought out the steaks, he immediately should have paused and apologized. He didn't even ask if we just wanted to take the appetizers off of the bill, since we didn't receive them, and go ahead and eat our steak. He never came back to the table once. 2) If you are under staffed or too many tables assigned to servers, you don't seat additional guests. 3) Manager, you had every opportunity to make a wrong a "right", but no acknowledgement, left a very bad impression.

Recommendation: slow down, train your staff (including manager), create a true reason for people to want to return.

We will take our $150+...

My husband and I tried Horse Feathers for the first time last night. We were extremely surprised. The food was excellent. We ordered the bread, mussels, prime rib ravioli, and the skillet cookie. Everything we had was delicious. The ravioli was hand-made and packed full. There were some interesting components on the plate that you don’t normally see in the Pinckney, Brighton, Howell area (like roasted parsnips and carrot puree), and most importantly, everything was extremely flavorful. I’m the type that usually adds salt to everything. I did not have to do that here. We also had beer and cocktails which were great. Service was a 10/10, we sat at the bar with Marissa, and Emily, one of the managers, is wonderful and will make sure you get everything you need. Additionally several staff members approached us to see that we were satisfied throughout the night.

My only constructive feedback is the atmosphere. I didn’t think it matched the quality of the food. It was like old school meets new school. The bar is nice. I like that the lighting is dim, but the light fixtures themselves aren't interesting (a bit of a missed opportunity) and are a bit odd, and the booths and chairs were a bit old school. The facility and grounds are beautiful, but we peaked at the event center and it was a bit underwhelming. A little work on style and interior design and this place would hold up in Ann Arbor. But honestly, this is me fishing for something, and my feedback is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.

Give Horse Feathers a try! Don’t get hung up on the prices. Good food is worth it! The best way to enjoy it is to order a lot and share plates. You won’t be disappointed. We were certainly be back! Thank you to the staff for a great experience! We wish you...

We booked our anniversary dinner here, with high hopes.

The ambiance here is very nice — warm lighting, stylish decor, and an inviting vibe that had us excited for a great night out. Unfortunately, the service didn’t match the setting.

After enjoying a wonderful interaction with Marissa at the bar (a clear highlight of the night), things quickly went downhill when we got to our table for our reservation. Although our server was friendly, she had no sense of urgency or concern about our experience. We waited 30 minutes after finishing our appetizers just to flag our server down and ask if we could finally order our entrees. Then came another 45-minute wait for the food to arrive.

All the while, our server (and someone who appeared to be the manager) walked by our table multiple times, ignoring the stack of empty plates and increasingly frustrated expressions. For a restaurant aiming to be upscale, that kind of oversight is hard to overlook.

The only thing that made up for the entire experience was that the grouper entree was absolutely delicious.

We skipped dessert (even if it had been offered to us, which it wasn't).

By the end, we were left wondering how this meal managed to add up to $150 — and wishing we’d gone somewhere with...