LakeHouse Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Saint Joseph

I normally do not write reviews, but the owner needs to hear this…and I hope this helps because you have potential! Your restaurant has a great patio area overlooking the lake and the view is spectacular at sunset.

First, everyone was nice, but nice does not translate to good service and food. The service was extremely slow, even to get water. Then we ordered drinks that took forever to come out and it was just soda and wine, both are quickly poured. It did not seem overly busy to have this long of a wait. Also, when someone finishes a drink, the empty glass should not sit forever. Offer another right away-you’ll make more profit! The appetizer dishes should be cleared when everyone is done.

Next, the menu is from around the world: Chinese (egg rolls), Mexican (quesadillas, tacos), Italian (Bolognese), Indian (Butter chicken with naan), pick a theme or better yet, just do traditional American and utilize your location on the lake to serve lake fish.

Last, the food was obviously frozen and not fresh. Please, go to your local marinas and purchase fresh caught lake fish. This is why people are here! The lobster bisque was not freshly prepared, luke warm with a skin on top and the calamari appetizer was burnt to a dark, overdone crisp. The shrimp tacos were like cold tortillas filled with liquidy cole slaw and then topped with a few, not fresh shrimp. The side was chips out of a bag with store bought salsa (make it fresh! It will taste much better, I promise!) and make Lake Michigan fish tacos. The roast beef sandwich had rubbery meat and was difficult to eat and chew. The New York strip must have been thawed from frozen, was old and chewy. Hire a professional chef-let them develop a menu. It will be worth the money.

This was the first time my family of four was unable to consume even half of our meals and we were starving! We went back to our hotel and filled our stomachs with chips and cookies. Very sad, but please take this review and make changes or call Gordan Ramsey and apply to be on Kitchen Nightmares-let him help you!! Think of just a few fresh appetizers and soup of the day-made that day. For the mains have a fresh roasted chicken, fresh catch of the day-king salmon, walleye or lake trout, a pasta dish and good quality filet mignon or skirt steak. The handhelds, consider breaded (Lake Michigan) walleye sandwich, quality meat burger and fish tacos. Have an array of sides to choose from like fresh cut parmesan truffle fries, fresh lemony green beans, chop house corn, sautéed mushrooms, mashed potatoes, crisp Brussel sprouts. You will be able to charge more and make more profit! People will return and your...

Our first visit here was 2 years ago, preCovid, and it was amazing as my review then reads. Sadly our visit this weekend, an hour plus ride from home, was not. We arrived there about an hour before they were to open at 4:30 as the website says. While waiting at a little park across the street, I thought I would call and just ask if reservations were needed, this was at 4:00 and was told no reservation needed but recommended especially because it was a Saturday. I made the reservation for 4:30 when they open and was told we just opened at 4:00 so just head on over. (Please update your website) Our waitress, Destiny was fantastic! Very polite, and deserving of every bit of the tip we left her. My husband ordered the salmon with a side house salad and enjoyed every bit of it. I, unfortunately cannot say the same of my Ribeye steak that I ordered cooked medium. The presentation of both plates was great yet my “medium” cooked steak was more on the rare side. I explained and showed Destiny that it was not cooked to medium and would like it to go back with a a little longer time on the grill. She apologized and took it back only to return with it in less than 5 minutes and without a whole lot more of cooking. The middle was still quit red and not very appealing. I ate the delicious mashed potatoes, grilled summer vegetables and most of the salad. When Destiny checked in on us again I told her the steak was still more on the medium rare side. She offered to take it back to the kitchen again but I said no, I planned on just boxing it up but that I would like to talk to the manager about it before we left. He, didn’t catch his name, came to our table about 10 minutes later and apologized, offered to have it cooked more or asked if I wanted to try something else. I turned the offer down saying I’ll just take it home as is and cook it up at home for the next days lunch. Again he apologized and said that the steak was on the house, wished us a Happy 4th and a safe ride back to Kalamazoo. When Destiny came with the bill she showed us that 1/2 was taken off for the not cooked to order steak. At this point my husband was done with his meal, and the 2 pesty flys (that we forgot to bring to the managers attention) said we’re done here. So we paid our bill which if the entire meals were what we were looking for I wouldn’t have a problem paying for, but a 30$ steak that wasn’t cooked as ordered, twice, and a failure to compensate the entire price of the steak was quit...

As a new St. Joseph Resident, (from Toronto!), my Fiancé and I have been dying to try this beautiful spot. We decided to do a staycation at the holiday inn express next door for the weekend while our house gets painted. After tonight…. Oh. My. Gosh. You must go immediately!!!!!

First and foremost, our darling waitress, Katherine with a K, was unbelievable. Witty, knowledgeable, confident. I mean, I wish I could hire her as my own little personal assistant, (or daughter in law! Knockout!).

Food-wise, I ordered the lemon butter perch. Super duper yummy. We also had the bang bang shrimp, garlic Parmesan wings, and calamari as appetizers. Fabulous. My fiancé had the grilled Cajun salmon which was out of this worlddddd. Seriously good enough to be a death row meal.

The only downfall…….. our drinks. I am a bartender, but I SWEAR I am not a snob about drinks. We wanted to try a bunch of stuff, so we ordered the following throughout the night:

Lakehouse sunset, and the lakehouse aviation were both so yummy. I wish I could have the sunset at brunch! My fiancé had the draft beers. Oberon and Kona big wave. He is a man of few words and said they were good. Ha!

The lavender bellini and pain killer were literally the size of shot glasses. I was so confused why they would serve these cocktails in such glasses. It was crazy considering the price point.

I feel like the entire restaurant could level up if they upped their drink game. It took for-ev-er. Katherine had to apologize multiple times because of it.

Overall this place rocks. SUPURB service from a cool local kid, a view of the sunset over the lake, free parking, good food, good beer. What more could a woman dream of. So blessed in this tiny beach town in...