CHOP — Restaurant in Sister Bay

As a recurrent visitor in Door County, I had been looking forward to trying Chop for the first time on this year’s trip. My wife and I had made reservations for their rooftop, and called to confirm availability for our chosen section. When we arrived, there was a long line at the hostess stand where a number of walk-in diners were requesting tables. I let the hostess know that we had made a reservation and was assured that when they had worked through the line of walk-ins we would be seated. After about 20 minutes of waiting in line and watching numerous others seated at the rooftop, we were informed that they had given our table away and no longer had room for our rooftop reservation. We expressed disbelief that they had given away a table that was reserved and confirmed multiple times. After some debate with the hostess, we were told that they guessed they could stick us at a table intended to seat larger groups of 6.

The service did not improve once seated. We were made to feel like an unwelcome imposition on the staff, who frequently rushed us in what I presume was an attempt to clear the table faster and make room for a large group. Our reservation was made to coincide with hours for their prix fixe menu, but we were told that we must order everything immediately as the wait for our table caused us to miss the prix fixe time. We had looked at the menu ahead of time and placed our orders. Our steaks arrived without the sauces we ordered and I inquired if this was still coming. The waitress was snooty and rather than simply saying they don’t have our requested sauce, she made a fuss to argue that we had never ordered it and if we had we couldn’t get it anyway as they don’t carry them. She insisted on taking our steaks back, which we stopped her from doing as there was no point.

When the time came for dessert the waitress was again quite pushy in trying to get us to take dessert to go; she asked if we would like a doggy bag for the dessert, and then again if we would like to just take our dessert to eat elsewhere. After being told no both times she again insisted that she pack dessert up for us despite our answers. After much back and forth she agreed to bring dessert to our table and left the check. At this point the rude service had made us feel more than unwelcome and I paid for our dinner without leaving a tip for the staff. My wife went to use the washroom but was accosted on the way by another staff member who made a rather public scene in scolding her for not tipping. She was told that we were not welcome back to dine at Chop - although given our experience I think we were at no risk of subjecting ourselves to this...

First I want state that my family has frequented CHOP and Lure on many occasions as my dad and step mother live in the area. On Thursday evening 7/6 our family of about 12 went to CHOP to celebrate a family dinner for my dad and step mom as they were getting married that Saturday. We had reservations and arrived at 4:30, when asked to arrive. We went to the bar section and a bar tender told us rudely we needed to wait outside till 5. We proceed to wait outside and when 5 was nearing a member of our group walked in and that same bar tender again rudely told him to get out and proceeded to lock the door for the remaining 5 minutes. Dinner service was great and the food and drinks were good, per usual. As we are checking out there was an issue with the our gift certificates, as you get so much off of how much ever the bill was. When the certificates were bought online, the only thing to come in the mail was the receipt of the purchase. When checking out, the rude bar tender approached and accused us of trying to get away with some scam due to only having the receipts that were given to us. When the rude bartender was addressed by my step mother and made known that she had been unnecessarily rude the whole time we had been there, the rude bar tender proceeds to respond with that she hadn't been a f** delight either. My step mom left the restaurant in tears. My father then goes in to talk with the manager about what just happened. When asked why his fiance was crying, all the manager could repeatedly say was she wasn't the one that made her cry and took zero responsibility for the rude bartenders actions/words. There was nothing done about the situation as far as I know. I would hope that since its been almost a week, and I'm sure the owners were called by my father and step mom, as they know them because they frequent their restaurants often, something has been done and at the very minimum the rude bartender was let go of her position. The bill was very expensive and the way we were treated by the rude bar tender and the manager who took no responsibility for their actions is frankly upsetting. I would also like to add that CHOP and Lure were on the gift registry for the wedding, as I said before, is a place where the family frequents often. Unfortunately, hundreds of dollars were lost to the restaurant as word was spread fast to local business owners and guests of the horrible experience and to no longer purchase gift...

The food was absolutely delicious! We had surf and turf with lobster. It was great. The Chop old fashioned was good but I like my Brandy sweet. We had filet with the lobster and it melted in our mouth (cooked to medium). The pop overs were OK but I like regular rolls better. The salad was great with Chop dressing, my daughter had the creamy potato soup and it was excellent. My other daughter had a Cesar salad. It was great too. The dessert (Key Lime pie and Banana fosters cheese cake were absolutely wonderful. They even had Malibu Rum and pineapple juice which is my favorite. They have an extensive bar selection. It was my 50th birthday so I got a birthday candle on the cake (do it for all birthdays) . Our server was great. I only give it a 4 because of our initial experience. I almost walked out. I made a reservation online. It only gave the option to be outside because of Covid which was fine. I booked the table, we get there, they don't have a table for us ready. They say it'll be 5 minutes (I called at 7:30pm to make sure my reservation was there for 8:15pm...didnt ask if it was outside as it said it would be and I had no option to choose otherwise). They came and said they only had seating inside and I'd have to wait until 9:15pm to eat outside (our reservation was for 8:15pm)! They were very sassy, the manger did not come speak to me, spoke through the hostess and she was very rude. I had a milestone birthday. It was a big event. A couple came and told us they'd eat inside and we could take their table but they had two people. I don't know what he did but he did convince them to make the table for 3 and change with us. For an upscale restaurant they need to make sure their website reflects their seating options if allowing reservations. I know things can change quickly right now with Covid but they'd been seating inside for 2 weeks and never changed website! Their website needs to reflect it. I wonder how many people were upset by their seating being inside and how they were treated? I almost gave a 3 because the management was horrible (should've come to us them self not through a hostess) and the air and rudeness by the hostess and manager but the rest of the experience was wonderful (our server was delightful). I know I will always call for reservations from now on there or anywhere. No more online reservations for me no...