Kitchen 527 — Restaurant in South Haven

So, my boyfriend and I wanted to go to Clementines because like any local knows, it's the best place to go to in South Haven for food and drinks. However, they had a 45+ min wait (like I said, best place..). So we go to Kitchen 527 and there's no wait, plenty of tables available.

So we were seated right away. Although the table was super small and right in the middle of the main walkway.. But whatever, it's a table. No big deal. We weren't given a menu, and after a few minutes the waitress comes by and we have to ask for menus.

Neither of us were thrilled with the menu. Very limited choices. But we were hungry and already there, so we settled for the build your own burger choice. Oddly, the burgers are cooked medium if not specified otherwise. I've personally never seen medium the go to temp for a burger, but again, no big deal. I ordered mine well done. Boyfriend went for medium well.

We both got vodka cranberry drinks. They were very expensive, more than most restaurants. And both of us literally could not discern any vodka in the drinks. They basically tasted like watered down cranberry juice. I'll add that I order vodka cranberry everytime I go out, so I know what to expect. Side note, had to ask for straws too.

So when our food arrived, the server set the plates down and immediately walked off. Didn't even get the chance to ask for ranch, etc. Upon biting into my burger, I discovered that it was very pink... far from well done.

When we finally were able to flag down our waitress and told her I needed my burger cooked more, she snatched the plate up and said nothing as she took it to be redone. She obviously had an attitude and I didn't think I was asking for much. I don't eat pink burgers.. sorry.

My boyfriend was done eating by the time the burger returned. It was right the second time around. The fries were super skinny and more like chips in a stick form. Not a big fan, but that's just personal preference.

I'll also note that the server never asked how we were doing or if we needed anything else.

So.. yeah. Won't be returning. Definitely don't recommend. Wait for Clementines. Or go to Taste. Or...

If I could give this place 0 starts I would. We came in for dinner with a group of 10, so they sat us at two tables next to each other which we were grateful for. We ordered dinner, drinks, and were having a great experience... then the food for only two of the people at our table came, and the rest of us waited... and waited... and waited. It was over an hour. The waitress said that the kitchen works on a couple of plates at a time so they “don’t get overwhelmed”... so we were understanding due to short staff during covid. Our food came, finally, and it was mediocre. We ordered more drinks, which took forever to come. And then we asked for our checks. As soon as we signed, and were finishing our cocktails, one of the employees (maybe a manager ?) came and asked us to leave. He said he needed to clear the table and be able to seat other people... we had full drinks that we had ordered just before getting our checks and we had spent well over $1300 at this place... so we were annoyed but proceeded to finish our drinks and were gathering our items (we had two newborn babies with us) when the bartender came over and threatened to call the police on us!!! Stunned, we proceeded to ask why the police were being called on us to which he responded that we had been there for more than 90 minutes. We pointed out that our food had taken more than an hour to come out, and that we were never told there was a 90 minute time limit and had spent a ton of money. So after we got our items, we were leaving and guess what... no one was waiting in line to be seated. These people were SO RUDE and threatened our group with the police being called... the bartender was extremely hostile and I could not believe that he was speaking to us the way he was. Especially when we had two new moms with little babies trying to hustle and he was still threatening the cops, just unreal. And we were only there for maybe 2 hours. When you’re waiting on your food for over an hour this just seems so crazy to me. Don’t...

I've been in the industry for over 17 years and this is the worst service I have ever had. The server didnt acknowledge is for more than 12 minutes after being seated. When mentioned to our hostess, she rounded up the server. Server came and blamed it on not being told this was her table when she clearly saw us multiple times. Never introduced herself and asked if we were ready to order. She had a poor attitude and didn't engage in any niceties until it was time to collect a tip. Her attempted recovery was selfish and poorly executed.

All this to say, the food was good, not great, and her service over shadowed what could have been a great experience.

The aesthetic of the front of the restaurant, inside, and menu and wine selection, are not cohesive and very confusing. A messy chalk board that's hard to read had the specials posted, and you guessed it, our server did not offer to tell us what they were. She also blamed the 30 minute wait on our meal due to it being given away to another table, after asking "did you get your food yet?", when clearly there were no bus boys or food runners to deliver it. If the chef is the owner, then hire a FOH manager to button up the training on your servers so you can offer an exceptional experience to your patrons.

Also hire someone to expedite the meals so that there is a smoother flow, bridging the gap between the kitchen and servers. At this rate, your business will be short lived if you don't get this thing running like a well oiled machine.

This is coming from someone who has owned a restaurants a chef owner, consulted restaurantuers, designed and concepted restaurants, etc.

The poutine was good, but your demi was too salty. Walleye was good, lacked a dimension that could have added something brighter to compliment the dish, like an an aromatic herb that kissed the dish after...