The BARge — Restaurant in Saugatuck

So before eating here, I thought I’d do my due diligence and check out the reviews. I didn’t really get into reading many of them though, as a picture of the stuffed peppers caught my eye and I was already sold. This was our first time here and we were pretty excited to try this place.

We of course ordered the Baked Stuffed Jalapeños, the Ahi Tuna Poke, and the Blackened Mahi Tacos and Crab-Stuffed Shrimp.

The stuffed peppers: I did ask the waitress if it was really spicy and if the peppers were deseeded because I cook with jalapeños frequently and I know that jalapeños can get pretty spicy if you leave too many of the seeds or stem in. She said that they were and that the peppers aren’t really that spicy. When we got the peppers and tried them, they were extremely spicy and the spice completely took over the great flavor of the filling. I know that levels of spice are tolerated differently with different palates but I don’t shy away from heat and I love spicy, but this was the kind of spicy that gives you a stomach ache and heart burn if you eat too much of it type of spicy. Then I saw the jalapeño seeds on the dish. We had to send the dish back because it was just too spicy to enjoy. I was disappointed that we couldn’t finish the dish but honestly, I would order them again if we decided to come back and give the peppers another try since it could’ve just been a situational fluke.

The Ahi Tuna Poke: This was the meal of the day! I would come back to this place just for this dish. It was definitely a winner with flavors and textures and the sauces that came with it. If you like Ahi Tuna, this is one of the best ones I’ve tried. Chef’s kiss on this one.

Blackened Mahi Tacos: These come in a set of 3. Unfortunately, these didn’t make the cut for us. They really just didn’t have any flavor which was a bummer because when you have the spectacular views that this place has, you expect the seafood to taste up to par or fresh and flavorful. We shared this plate and didn’t even finish the last taco.

Crab-Stuffed Shrimp: Another dish that looked amazing but was just “ok”. The shrimp tasted bland and the crab in it wasn’t recognizable (if it didn’t say crab in the title, you wouldn’t know you were also eating crab). The cheese was thick and a bit chewy rather than melty and stringy as you would expect for a dish like this.

The atmosphere here is very pleasant, the views are beautiful, and the staff is friendly. Unfortunately, only 1 out of the 4 dishes we tried here was...

We had a group of 11 (three were kids) we sat at a big table that had 8 chairs, we needs three more so we make room and added three more, than we got asked if we were told we could do that by a waitress there, she said we couldn't do it bc we would have no room, we told her three people are kids so they won't take up much room (we were there for a bachelorette dinner) , shouldn't that be up too us if there isn't enough room and not for her to just tell us (by the way there was more than enough room for us to sit and eat with 11 people. Since we questioned her about the table the rest of the night she was rude and gave us such bad customer service. She came over and took our drinks orders one by one, never smiled once. I got just a water and no joke it took her about 20 minutes to come and give me a refill, she walked pass our table at least 10 times and never once stopped to ask if we ever needed refills. When our dinner came I mentioned to her I got something different and she told me no I didn't and left, I ordered a sandwich and I got a salad that had egg, avocado, blue cheese on it I hate all that stuff I never would of ordered that to eat. I ended up just eating the 6 pieces of shrimp that came on top of the salad. She never once came over and asked our table how our food was. She again walked pass our table over and over and nothing! When it was time for our bill we sat there with the table cleaned off for a good 15-20 minutes before one of us had to go up to her at the computer that was right next to our table by the way and ask fo our bill. Needless to say the service from this one waitress was so unprofessional and so rude, I'm not sure if she was having a bad night or just hated us but she made us all feel uncomfortable being there with her as our "waitress" (if we can call her that after the way she barely helped us)

Please teach your staff to smile more and no more RBF would be lovely , also make sure you ask your tables if they need refills would also...

When we arrived is Suagatuck The Barge was was right across the river from where we were staying. On the surface it checked all the boxes. It was on the water, outdoor seating and plenty of people. Once we were seated, we talked to the waiter about options for our meal. We settled on the pizza and two Caesar salads. When a different server brought the entree size Chicken Caesar salads, we immediately said we didn’t order these we order just Caesar salads. She said that it gets confusing because the Caesar Salad doesn’t specify chicken. Per her suggestion we were told to keep them and they would take off the chicken up charge from the bill. The problem started when our waiter came and asked if there was a problem. We told him that we didn’t order the entree size salads but the girl that brought them said you would just take the chicken up charge off the bill. He wasn’t rude but said that wasn’t possible. I tried to explained the reason we went with the salads and not another entree was because he said the pizzas were pretty big. His response was that “I didn’t say side salad” implying that the mistake was ours. Keep in mind, I never said Chicken Caesar Salad also. Thinking about the previous waitress saying the “menu doesn’t specify chicken on the entree size Caesar salad.” I excepted this as a 50/50 mistake with poor customer service on our waiters part. After looking at the menu the next day it clearly says “Blackened Chicken Caesar Salad” I wouldn’t recommend anyone dining at this location unless you enjoy...