Java Joe's Cafe — Restaurant in Saint Ignace

I'm not sure what to say, to be honest. I arrived with my service dog out of his kit/vest because I had hoped the porch would be dog friendly, which was my first mistake. When told there are no dogs allowed, I did say I'm sorry, he is a service dog and I'm happy to go and get his vest and kit so there's no confusion, etc. There was an argument about whether or not he was a service dog because he is small (medical alert) and apparently they've had a lot of fakers. After proving that he was, I was offered to wait until a spot was open and they'd seat me, and they were helpful. I have mixed feelings because I understand how frustrating it is for people to be trying to fake their animals but I am so tired of encountering this everywhere. Then, when I came in to be seated when it was almost time, someone from the kitchen went off on me. Saying he'd been in the restaurant industry for eight years, and my dog wasn't a service dog, etc. I left but then I thought, they should see my trainer letters and doctor notes that I provide to airlines when I fly internationally etc, so they know that he was legitimate and maybe reconsider how they approach this in the future. By this time I was crying for the second time, which garnered some mixed reaction from the staff. I am sure if you've never been in this situation it's difficult to imagine how it must feel to encounter this sort of reaction almost daily when I was told a service dog would help me function more independently as he can alert me before I know if my blood sugar plummets. He was supposed to make my life easier, now I have to worry any time I want to go somewhere if it's going to be a fight or if I'll be turned away completely. I showed them the trainer letter and the original woman and one of the other staff were very apologetic (they were apologetic even before showing the letter) and offered to seat me, at which time I said I appreciated them taking the time with me, but I really just had to go, and I just wanted them to know about the dog, etc. While I think this was handled in a way that was incredibly distressing to me, I can respect the first woman eventually understanding and doing what she could trying to help and the other staff member also standing up for me. This was just upsetting and embarrassing for me and I'm sad I never got to try the food, as it's supposed to be fantastic! And I hope that anyone who thinks I over reacted or thinks my dog is not a real service dog takes a second to think about how much time and training he went through, how much hope I had when I first started with him, and how it would feel to be turned away from places you want to go because of a condition you didnt choose.

Edit: I did want to add, for the restaurant, you have an ADA paper printed out/laminated / highlighted so you probably already know this, but this might help catch some fakers:

Two questions are the legal standard: -is this a service dog -what service does it perform

However! Even legal service dogs have weird days. So, it is fully within the rights of the business to ask a dog to leave if he is behaving disruptively in any way, shape or form (barking, growling, running around etc) - even if it IS a legitimate, registered service dog. Those of us with service dogs know that while dogs our dogs, if our dog has an off day and behaves in a way not conducive to a public access test and therefore service dog, we can (and should) be asked to leave. Make note of why the dog was asked to leave and document it if there is a reasonable way to do so. Most service dog owners will be aware of that, though they've probably never had to deal with it as long as their dog was trained by a reputable company.

Edit: I have updated my rating because I did not fully process what a traumatic experience this was for me until later. Being berated by kitchen staff and told to stop crying is absolutely unacceptable. I showed all of my documentation despite not being legally obligated to and had to fight to be acknowledged as legitimate. Despite one woman trying to help,...

Quirky little breakfast diner where the hostess must have taught the master class for the Ed Debevic wait staff.

First off, I will say that given that our visit was on one of the worst possible days for any dining establishment within St. Ignace & Mackinaw City -- on Labor Day, right after the Bridge Run/Walk -- the staff here really moved people thru their little diner efficiently. The hostess seemed quirky & pleasant, at first, and kept everyone outside more or less entertained with her antics while telling waiting customers their table was ready & offering coffee to those waiting.

When we arrived, my husband put his name in. After what seemed like a longer than expected wait (yes, I know, Labor Day = busy) & seeing people who arrived after us get seated, I went in to make sure we were still on the list & didn't miss our name being called/get passed by. When I asked, the hostess threw her pen onto the counter & said, "I'm too busy for that, can't you tell? I won't look thru this list for names." Okay, fine. I stood there & looked at her list myself & saw that our name didn't have much further to go. [If you haven't mastered the skill yet at reading upside down, I highly recommend practicing.] I had honestly thought this was okay b/c others had gone in & asked as well. When we were seated, we were placed close to the counter & door. Let's just say that multiple people came in & asked about their wait time. All of them melanin-challenged, which I am not. They were not treated the same, were given approximate wait times, & were even joked with. IYKYK & I'll leave it at that.

If you follow my reviews, you'll notice a theme of me ordering biscuits & gravy pretty much everywhere I go. I'm probably even missing a few reviews, but will post them at some point. Anyways, I know my stuff. And, after doing the Bridge Run (just over 4 mi) & walking back (another 4-ish mi), I was fairly hungry, so ordered the biscuits & gravy, over easy eggs, hash browns, & bacon. I also had a chai latte to drink.

My food was fine, not anything that sets it apart from the rest. I will note that the gravy was a standard pepper, pan gravy. I was so hungry that I didn't recall whether the menu said that the gravy was a sausage gravy or not. Someone at a table next to us had ordered the same thing & asked their waitress about where the sausage was b/c it was noticeably missing. The hostess came over, argued with them that it was there & she could see it on their plate. She ended up leaving them & returning with a small plate of chopped up sausage link. Well, there's my breakfast photo. Do you see sausage? I didn't & didn't taste taste sausage, either, if they used drippings (though it likely wouldn't as white if they had). I just went with it b/c I was hungry, couldn't remember for myself, plus there's plenty of places that don't include sausage in their gravy. I bring it up b/c of how rudely this customer was treated & the gaslighting that was taking place. Completely unnecessary. If it didn't come with it, the staff could have just said so.

Another interaction we witnessed was a coffee customer who came to the counter to order a black coffee & a caramel macchiato. The hostess replied. "This isn't Starbucks, we don't serve that." She repeated that, then quizzed the girl ordering it what was in that drink. "I don't know. It's for a friend," & proceeded to type on her phone (presumably to text her friend or look up the ingredients). Regardless, this interaction was said so loudly that it's only purpose would have been to bring attention to it from every customer within earshot & earned laughter from some. It was extremely uncomfortable & that's when I decided that I was at the UP version of an Ed Debevic's.

As for our service, our waitress was good, pleasant, & attentive. Joe even stopped by as he bopped from table to table. There are only a handful of sit-down, non-fast food restaurants for breakfast here, so if you spend any amount of time in St. Ignace, you'll likely still stop. Just know that you may want to go in a...

Do not stay at Saint Ignace if you are of darker complexion visiting Mackinac Island Michigan !!!

My family and I visited this restaurant while on vacation and upon requesting to be added on the wait list with the host she began to put her hand in our face to fan is off and state we had to wait.

Waiting was not in question as that’s what we expected by asking to be added to the list (because we hard great reviews) however we did not expect to have her hand waved in front of our face. So at that point we already put together there was a prejudice notation apply due to our darker skin complexion , even still with that understood we laughed it off to continue to have a great family time and not allow her energy to ruin our family vacation.

Upon being seated all of my family members received their food and finish their meal and even 45 minutes later after all family members (but 2) had not received their food, One family member in particular stated she was still trying to be patient for her food to come and upon stating that the waitress called for the host (Who originally put her hand in our face while requesting to be added on the waitlist)

She approached the table in a hostile manner without open communication throwing the receipt on the table and yelled at me stating “ You are still going to pay ”!! There was never any communication stating I wasn’t going to pay I only stayed it I was still waiting for my food 45 minutes after my family received theirs and finished eating. So I was more so inquiring how long before my food came out.

Once the female host left a male host immediately followed her again without any open communication and yelled at the top of his lungs that we were still going to pay. Instead of communicating openly to the two family members that never received their food at a decent time to enjoy their meal with the other family members they were instead yelled at about still paying!

Two bystander sitting at the table across from us explain to us how they watched from the very beginning how we were treated unfairly. Upon all of my family members getting up from the table to head to the front to pay the bill both the male and female host had contacted the police already and lie saying that my family members were fighting them. The police also talked with my family and I to gain our perspective which was the same as the witnesses .

Once the police arrived and stated they were called for a fight the bystanders who at this point became witnesses testified to say there was no fighting and that my family and I were treated unfairly and rudely upon never receiving our meal at once and waiting 45 minutes after everyone had eaten for the other two meals to make it to the table.

To my surprise the police were very caring and understanding and they expressed over and over that the city of Saint Ignace is not known for this behavior and that it was completely unacceptable for the host to treat us as such due to being of darker skin complexion.

All and all do not stay at Saint Ignace while on vacation to Mackinac Island Michigan especially if you are of darker skin complexion you are not welcome and the energy reciprocates that the stay was not of high-quality nor were the people they’re welcoming and my family and I did...