Village Baker — Restaurant in Spring Lake Township

I honestly never share negative reviews because I am in the industry and have been for many years. I do not believe in bashing other restaurants and making them look bad for mistakes. However, the experience my family and I had this morning at the Village Baker in Spring Lake, MI was horrifying, embarrassing and unnecessary. This was in NO way a mistake, this was straight rudeness and just plain MORTIFYINGLY horrible service.

We were in town from Chicago for the week and this was our last day in town. We had an incredible week and a wonderful experience up until this point. We were looking for places to have a late breakfast and we found the Village Baker online. We thought it looked wonderful and loved that they also have fresh baked goods that we could buy and take back home with us.

When we arrived, we let the hostess know that we were 8ppl,(3 children and 5 adults). We also let her know if we needed to be split up that was completely fine. She asked if we had a reservation,(which I have NEVER made for breakfast anywhere). We said that we did not and she let us know that it would be about a 20 minute wait. We said that was no problem and proceeded to the bakery area to look at and purchase some baked goods to bring on the trip home.

About 5 minutes later the same hostess came up to us and said, I’m sorry, after all we will not be able to seat you this morning. When my sister asked why not, she said, “Well, you didn’t make a reservation and we are very busy this morning and will not be able to fit you in at all.” My sister asked why she had told us it was no problem and would be a wait and now they could not fit us in at all. The hostess just replied that we should have made a reservation and they could not seat us at all. I asked if she was refusing to service us and she replied yes because we didn’t make a reservation.

All the while this happened in the middle of a crowded restaurant and bakery in front of all the other guests. This is NOT a reservation only restaurant. This was humiliating and embarrassing. Not to mention rude and unnecessary. We left and went to an amazing restaurant called Morning Star done the street. Now, if you want an incredible breakfast, including the BEST cinnamon rolls EVER!!!! Hit up Morning Star cafe!! Amazing service and incredible food. Unless you make a reservation for your breakfast and are in the “inner circle” of Spring Lake… DO NOT even bother with the...

VILLAGE BAKER- POOR experience. BAKER'S WIFE- AMAZING!

We went to the Baker's Wife downtown GH for our first time recently. Loved it. The smells, the food, the sweet treats, the lemonade. The staff was super friendly and very accommodating. When we showed interest in their brochures and menus for Village Baker they gave us all the information on it and encouraged us to check it out. Edward told us to go there and they will take good care of us.

We finally made our way out to the Village Baker just this week. We did not know where to go or what to do... so we walked in through the back door. People kept walking by us but not helping us so we walked around lost. Finally someone decided to acknowledge us and said they would be with us shortly. We stood around waiting to get seated although there was no line. After we were seated we ordered or drinks and food. Food, amazing. Definitely not let down there. Problem was by far the service. Worst service we have had on any of our weekly date nights. Don't expect water refills. (Even on a hot day...and if their AC is out... which I am pretty sure it was) I went over half my meal without and ended up having to take my half of pizza home because I wasn't going to keep eating without a drink. Then, we waited 13 minutes for our check after we stacked our plates at the end of our table while our server kept walking past us helping other people out. Sadly, we are strong advocates for superior customer service and were grossly appalled by the service and treatment we received on our date night. We would go back for the food because it was that good, but service.... much room for improvement. Hard to recommend it to someone with such an awful experience.

I would encourage people to go to Baker's Wife though. Entire staff was very friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating. Only problem is-- their delicious pizzas are only at the Village Baker. PLEASE GET BETTER SERVICE! The food is too good not to have the service...

First off, I love the Village Baker. They have terrific cocktails, great flatbread pizzas and much much more. But this story is not about the food or the service. This story is about a floor manager named Ed. My wife and I came in about 6:00 p.m. on Friday February 3rd. We walked in through the back and saw four chairs available at the bar, we asked the bartender if we could sit there, order drinks and food and he said absolutely! As the two bartenders were making our drinks, a little man named Ed in a beret came up and started brow beating the two bartenders for letting us sit there. He said why did you let them sit there we have reservations at 7:00 p.m. . The bartenders replied, we know this but we let them sit there because we didn't think they would be there all night. He then said to them, do you think they will leave in an hour? Then he said, you don't let anybody sit there you have to tell them to go up to the front desk. All of this was in front of me like I wasn't even there. How disrespectful to me, the other patrons, and these two wonderful bartenders that were so kind and friendly to us. I told the two bartenders we will be certain to be out before 7:00 p.m. as not to disrupt reservations. I asked to see Ed as I was leaving, and I told him how incredibly insensitive and rude he was to me as a customer and to those two wonderful bartenders. Ed has no business being a manager of anything, he has a Napoleon complex and terrible people skills. He could have kindly taken the bartenders aside and asked that in the future they send patrons to the front desk area for seating. I know there is new ownership of Village Baker, and if this is their policy on how they treat their employees and customers, I will hesitate to return. If the new owners are reading this? Keep in mind, I have a lot of other places I could eat, and those bartenders have a lot of other places they could work. Enough said.

PS: reservations for bar...