Michaels Restaurant — Restaurant in Stockbridge

We read some mixed reviews about this place and we were hesitant about going. However, we had gift cards for the place so we decided what the heck. We were overall pleased with the food we got. The burgers were very good even though they were not cooked as we requested. Our daughter had the fettuccini Alfredo. There was a lot of it. She loved it but we thought it was just ok. We were surprised to see that we had to pay for bread. We bought the basket of garlic bread with mozzarella cheese. If it had marinara sauce it could have been pizza. The desserts were ok. Our son got the Apple pie with ice cream while our daughter got the chocolate cake. The pie crust was clearly store bought. Nevertheless, the pie was still very good. The cake was amazing.

The service left us scratching our heads:

1. While ordering our meal we asked about getting a side of veggies. We were told that they did not have veggie sides but we could substitute the veggies for the fries. So that's what we did. When we got the bill, we were charged with getting a side salad. When we addressed the apparent mistaken charge with our waitress she told us that the charge was for the substituted veggies and she FORGOT to tell us that there was an extra charge for substitutions.

2. When we were done with our meal, we were contemplating dessert. However, someone at the restaurant either thought we were done or they wanted us out. Another hostess came with our check without asking if we wanted dessert.

3. The bus boy dropped butter packets on our son while clearing another table no where near where we were seated.

4. The wait-staff didn't clear our dishes when we were clearly done with them to open up table space for the next course.

I got adventurous with the beer selection. I tried a Berkshire Rail beer. It reminded me of my days in college. It tasted like Keystones Beer. I then asked did Guinness. That was no better. It lacked the strong stout taste I associate...

I am writing to you as a tourism professional whose company visits the Berkshires often. We had a tour group visit Tanglewood on Parade last week. Naturally, our people loved Tanglewood, Chesterwood and the Botanical Gardens. However, we had the worst restaurant experience in 45 years of business. Our group had a dinner reservation at Michael's in Stockbridge. Despite careful planning on our part, numerous emails with Michael (the owner) , and 2 visits to the restaurant prior to our reserved time, the restaurant was totally unprepared. I showed the staff a table chart Michael had sent me. They had never seen it and were not briefed about it. Tables were not set based on the chart  I received. The worst part of the evening was that  they actually ran out of food, shrugged their shoulders, and never resolved the issue. They had entree counts in advance. We actually came in with 3 less people and they still were 3 dinners short. They ran out of spoons, and served hot water without tea bags. How does a restaurant run out of food (pre-ordered) spoons, and tea bags? While the quality of food is subjective, there was total consensus that the food was horrible. I asked to speak with Michael but he was nowhere to be seen. I was told by staff that he is never there when groups are scheduled. Michael basically told me that I picked the "bus tour" menu so what do I expect. Our people were on a bus tour! Regardless of the price, the food should be fresh and tasty.  When I  emailed Michael,  his answer to me was exactly the same he gave to another complaining customer - "we have been in business for 43 years". I have been in business for 45 years. My reputation and customer's trust in our company still remain our highest priority. Please do not recommend this...

After reading reviews and your answers I decided to post the truth. I was at the restaurant with One If By Land Tours. You were not. I witnessed the complaints and our tour directors asking to speak to you. I heard your servers consistently say "I am only a server. You should speak to Michael tomorrow". For the record, we arrived 15 minutes early. While our tour directors and two of our seniors went inside to place numbers on tables we remained on the bus. One of our directors went over our entree choices with us. He had everyone's choice on his phone. There was no confusion nor anyone changing an order. Stuart asked everyone to be patient with the staff because we were a few minutes early. The servers told us that a second bus was almost a half hour late which caused problems. I am not going to repeat how poor the food was and that three people did not get food until more than an hour. One person never received dinner. The server simply said "we ran out of food". How does a restaurant run out of food? We actually arrived with three less persons than entrees pre-ordered. So the restaurant was six dinners short. Michael claims they cooked extra entrees. If that was the case how could you run out of food? For the record, there were more than 80 people from tour buses at the restaurant and one coffee pot to serve everyone. Servers said they have complained to Michael about it without any success. This was the second tour to Berkshires with One If By Land Tours. I have been on numerous tours with this company. This was the worst food and service I have experienced. The answers by Michael clearly tell you why. ...