Sherman's of South Haven — Restaurant in South Haven

This was a tough call for me. I know this is a very popular place and I wanted to like it…. however, I had a bothersome service issue that I’m having a hard time looking past.

The upside is that the ice cream was good and the service for everybody, but me, was fast.

The downside is that the ice cream is way overpriced, but more importantly, I had a service issue that I was unhappy with.

After my order had been taken, I had observed several people that were in line behind me were being served. I also noticed that they had been given a fob that lit up when their order was supposed to be ready. After watching several people get served ahead of me, I finally asked, “ was I supposed to receive one of those?” I was told not necessarily.

I watched what I realized was my order being given to somebody behind me in line…. His wife realized what was going on and made it clear that when she was handed her stuff with a duplicate item, which would’ve been mine in replacement of the item initially given to her husband, the staff told her that they couldn’t take back any mistakes and gave her husband the second ice cream that was supposed to be mine. Now I was left watching somebody who had two ice creams and I had none.

Through a few more comedy of errors I finally got my ice cream … somewhere between 10 to 20 people behind me were served first and I was a bit frustrated to say the least. No apologies from the staff for the miscommunication on their part, just par for the course…..I guess.

Slightly better, communication, and better handling of the overall situation and I probably would’ve given them four stars, but they really drop the ball at every opportunity that a correction could’ve been made.

I’m not...

This is the third time we have gone to Sherman’s to order Amaretto Cherry ice cream in a Hokey Pokey since change of management. The first and second times the current girls working have served the wrong ice cream. One time it was Mackinac Island Fudge, the second it was Black Cherry. In both cases my sister and I asked about the ice cream and they said the recipes had changed. Without offering to remake the sundae, we were stuck with what we got. Shortly after those visits, another local went to Sherman’s and ordered amaretto cherry and received the OG flavor so we were excited to learn that flavor had not been completely changed or discontinued. This last (third) time we ordered a Hokey Pokey tonight and received yet another (mystery) ice cream flavor than what was ordered (amaretto cherry) and the serving girls also added a weird red sauce to the Hokey Pokey that does not come on this sundae. It tasted gross. These girls have no idea what they are doing. We took one bite each only to realize the ice cream and toppings were not what we ordered and walked back to the servers to inquire about the ice cream flavor and the mystery red sauce; we thought maybe they had given us someone else’s order! The server argued that they changed the recipes of the flavors and changed menus recently so things are different. There was no customer consideration what-so-ever. We were so disappointed to be served the wrong flavor for yet a third time. So sad our home town...

It pains me to write my long-beloved ice cream spot a 3 start review after enjoying nearly 40 years of Sherman’s. This place just isn’t even remotely the same business it was 5 years ago. Change in ownership and the sale of the recipes to Hudsonville has completely ruined the experience for pretty much all my family and friends who have been patronizing Sherman’s for literal generations — back to when Mr. Sherman delivered milk off a horse drawn buggy to my great grandparents in the 20s. I now find reasons to avoid the long lines and slow service altogether — there is but ONE register at an outside window, no longer indoor service, a reduction in flavors, and more of a focus on “branding” the business than actually serving the best ice cream and offering the hospitality Sherman’s was once known for. This has been lost between the pandemic and the change in ownership and it makes me really really sad when I think about what used to be. Constructive feedback: get some more expeditors, hire aggressively next season, and open additional registers. I waited over an hour to get to the ordering window tonight — and additional 20 mins to get my order. I completely understand the staffing issues post-pandemic, etc, but I really feel more could be done and some more hands on deck would only increase...