The Southerner — Restaurant in Saugatuck

While I would prefer to leave a review on the quality of the food and the wait staff, we unfortunately never got a chance to enjoy a meal, despite the hour and a half we spent there this past Saturday. For a place that seems to pride itself on its “welcoming” environment, our experience from the front of house staff was anything but. The behavior of the hostess and manager could AT BEST be described as unprofessional and disrespectful.

I would like to make clear that I understand that The Southerner is a popular spot and long wait times are not uncommon. We all accounted for this likelihood before visiting as it was not our first time. I’m also not one for leaving negative reviews or airing grievances on the internet. I’m aware that what you see in these reviews is not often a representation of all facts and can represent a myopic viewpoint of everything that led to the negative experience. With that said, I can say with full confidence that at no point did anyone in my party raise a voice, speak an ill word or act in any way to deserve the dismissive and quite honestly offending behavior we encountered.

We added our party of 6 to the waitlist via web after concluding a boat excursion nearby roughly 10-15 minutes prior to our arrival. Once we arrived, we checked in with the hostess who told us there would be an estimated 30-minute wait time before we could be seated. 30 minutes later we attempted to get an update and were told the kitchen was backed up and the wait would be a little longer. 30 more minutes passed before we again checked with the hostess who told use there was no update. At the 90-minute mark, we again sought an update at which point we were told that a text had gone out to the number provided to which there was no response. With no response received, our name was removed from the waitlist and table was given away.

I want to make clear that we had been sitting less than 10 feet from the front door of the premises the entire time. We tried informing her that we received no text but before we even finished speaking, she responded by rolling her eyes and saying, “that’s a technical issue and not my problem”. It appears that the phone number was entered incorrectly when we added our name to the wait list, although we had previously verified our info, it’s obvious a mistake was made. I would assume that a place that touts its warm hospitality would try to find a solution or way to accommodate our party (which included 2 children) given the extended wait time. However, rather than working with us to try and resolve the situation, she was incredibly curt and dismissive when saying we could either be put in the back of the list or we could go to the takeout window. At this point, the manager stepped in, not to try to address the issue or clear up any miscommunication, but to tell us to stop harassing his staff. I again stress that no voices were raised nor insults lobbied. We were obviously frustrated by the lack of attention and eye rolls we received when trying to clear up the issue, but in no way would our interaction be reasonably classified as being rude or harassing. There certainly was no basis for threating to call the police when we stated our frustration with their behavior. Shamefully, the event caused a dark cloud to hang over the remainder of what had up to that point been a wonderful family trip.

Finally, I wish to emphasize that the experience was in no way reflective of the general hospitality and warmness we encountered throughout our weekend in Saugatuck and Holland. Although I look forward to our next trip to the area, I have no intention of ever visiting this...

We had a party of six and the customer service was terrible. When we had walked up there they were already giving us funny looks and mumbling things about us. They had us wait an hour first but we waited more than that. Hostess said the kitchen was backed up and made us wait extra. After a long while we were annoyed so my mother checked to see what was going on 3 times. Apparently my mom "gave them the wrong number" even though she made sure it was correct a numerous amount of times, they ended up taking us off the wait list. When my parents and aunt were telling them their complaints in a nice manner the manager and hostess said they were being rude despite never raising their voice and not being ignorant. I've read other reviews and people have had the exact same issues with the service here. 2nd time here and we will never and I mean NEVER come back here again. (Edit: I read more reviews on google and the owner mark is a racist and said he doesn't want to serve brown people, that's why they were staring at us, (Including the owner) and having a very racist attitude towards us, they need new staff or be put out of business, Shameful business)

Edited to add response to owner: Thanks for your reply but I must correct a few errors in your response. First, if you look through your reviews, you will see a review from 9 months ago referencing the racist remarks I noted in my original review. To state that I am lying is incorrect. Secondly, staff did not offer to put us back at the top of the waitlist. Instead, they insisted that we had to be put at the bottom of the list. Had they honored the fact that we had already waited over an hour then perhaps the entire situation would have been avoided entirely. Lastly, at no point did the manager on duty infer that she was handling a medical emergency. Had we been treated with a little respect or perhaps even been told to hang tight while she handles an emergency, we would have understood. Your response implying that we thought our wait time was more important than a medical emergency demonstrates the very same attitude that we have complained about in our initial review. I stand by my initial review, if customers want to be treated respectfully, I urge you to...

The Southerner was top on our list for dinner while visiting Saugatuck recently from Los Angeles. While they don't take reservations, the website offered an online waitlist -- you could see how many parties were ahead of you, and it allowed you to put your name in the queue. Figuring Saturday night's would be busy, we checked the waitlist at 8:30pm and saw there were only 3 parties ahead of us. So I put our name down, and got to the restaurant a grand total of 3 minutes later. In the parking lot, I got a text from the waitlist that there were now 2 parties waiting. But after checking in with the front desk, a totally put-upon hostess told us there were 6 parties waiting to be seated before us. When I showed her the text on my phone, she merely shrugged and informed me "Yeah, the system doesn't really work. Nothing I can do about it. Really? That's your answer? With most places in the area closed by then, we decided to wait...and didn't get seated until 40 minutes later. Both of us ordered the fried chicken biscuit sandwich. The waiter asked if we wanted mayo, lettuce, tomato and pickles...and we said "sure." Keep in mind that on the menu, there was a list of add-ons that cost extra...but we only chose the basics that waiter offered up. So it was a huge surprise when our bill came, showing that we were each charged $4.00 extra for standard condiments that would be complimentary on any sandwich virtually anywhere in the world. Nowhere on the menu did it state these would incur an extra charge. When I asked the waiter, he once again gave me "The Southerner Shrug," which is apparently taught to everyone who works there and is the only thing that comes free of charge. He replied that "yeah, mayo and stuff is extra." So here's my overall take on The Southerner: the chicken is good, but the rest is bullshit. If you offer a waitlist system, then it should work. If you charge for condiments that any fast food restaurant in the world hands out for free, then tell us on the menu. And maybe teach your staff to shrug less...