Torch Lake Café — Restaurant in Torch Lake Township

Good service, awful bathroom. My partner & I had a decent time celebrating my birthday here recently, a few things could have been better. First, the stalls in the bathroom are impossible to secure with the given “locks”. These pairs of saloon style, swinging doors for each toilet can (in)conveniently be opened while locked— either towards you or away from you! A simple bar lock or hook latch, both of which are in the ladies room, functionally can not keep these two swinging doors from being opened. So, any time you want the privacy and promise of not being caught with your pants down, you’ll have to save it for home.

Next, the Alden Millhouse cole slaw that was offered as a side for mine and my partner’s entrees was inedible. I don’t know if it had been sitting out for too long, or was too old, or what. But, I do not claim inedible lightly— the taste of the dressing was not like any cole slaw I’ve ever had (in a BAD way) and the greens seemed more like wilted, chopped salad mix instead of shredded cabbage and carrot. I spat it back out into the cup it was served in.

It would have been nice, considering one of my sides was disgusting, for my addit order of sweet potato fries ($6) to be comp’ed. But, not even for my birthday, the manager said the only complimentary (bday) dishes they offer are desserts. It would have been classy and left me feeling more satisfied if they had just taken the $6 off my bill instead of pushing $14 flourless chocolate cake on me—which I’m not going to eat. The dessert options for someone with dietary restrictions (GF, DF) are pathetically slim, like at most restaurants.

I’ll say that, unlike most restaurants, they did offer a range of mocktails. I would be okay with them excluding the non-alcoholic spirits, as I’m drinking a mocktail partially because I don’t like the taste of alcohol. I ordered the gin sunrise and I didn’t like it much, but I drank it all because it cost $14. I may try an alternative mocktail from their menu in the future, but I won’t be going out of my way to visit again soon. Unfortunately, if you stay on the lake, you know that it’s either this place or bar food at the Dockside—unless you wanna make a drive into town or around the lake for dinner.

The atmosphere at this location has been improving and refining over time, as has the menu. They offer more dietarily restricted options than most places around, but it was sad to not have more than two dessert options for my “birthday treat”.

The highlight of the experience was our excellent server, Jack. He was perfectly attentive & offered a positive energy to our interactions. I appreciated the happy birthday wishes from him more than the dessert offered by his manager. I may need to get comfortable with speaking to a manager before my next trip to...

Update 2021:

Have tried to give this place a chance this summer and fall with 4 separate visits, but quality has taken a dive while prices have jumped. The chicken parm is amazingly bland, the soup and fries come out cold, but the wings and flat bread pizza are fairly tasty. Why are the truffle fries different from the other fries? They are definitely frozen and not worth the $5 upcharge. I guess I just expect food quality to be consistent. I'm not purchasing a $55 meal if the appetizers are cold. Forget about ordering desert, unless you place the order with your app order. After a 30min wait for a simple plate up of a pre-made desert, we had to cancel. If you choose to eat here, it's a gamble on quality of food and service. So very sad how disappointing this place has become. It was much better before they moved into this location. Most owner replies state they will look into said issues and look for improvements. It's been over 3 years now, and no improvement. It's going to be a rough winter if the locals won't support you.

On a positive note, they have toned down the music a bit.

Original post from 2018: What? What did you say? Turn the music down, I'm not at a concert! When the band's start playing, we hit the door. I don't mind background music, but when I have to yell to the person sitting right next to me, that isn't enjoyable, and I don't really like the music played. When we have visited, the music is quite dated. We tend to stop in mid afternoon to early evening, every few months. Everyone has their preferences in music, mine is 70's to current. This ain't that.

Food is OK, service is OK, ranch dressing is superb. We were excited to hear they were expanding to the new location, but we're not impressed with what has been presented thus far. Owner tends to showcase herself and her musician friends. We try to avoid that. It might be for some, but not us.

They do offer take out, so that's an option. Pizza is pretty good, but nothing special. French fries are the smallest I've ever seen, but decent flavor if you like crisp fries. Turkey wrap had no pizzaz....pretty bland. No wow factor here, just simple food. For what you get, prices are a bit steep...

I can't totally recommend this place unless you know what you're in store for, which is the main problem to begin with; it was very misleading. My girlfriend and I had driven 6 hours to our vacation spot and this place was listed as a popular local spot, and with a name like Torch Lake Cafe, we anticipated a nice place with a decent selection of food and drinks, but we were unfortunately mislead. According to local conversation, this place used to be a local Hotspot and "watering hole" but their was a change of interest in business direction.. Regardless of the situation, with an average price point at 25 dollars, and the selection no more than 8 items with very vague descriptions. At the end of the day, the biggest feeling that stood out was "contrived". I ordered the 26 dollar Mushroom and Wild Boar Ravioli, and while it was not bad, I had some reservations with the lack of sides/pre-dinner options to come with the meal. My girlfriend ordered the Fettuccine Carbornara, with Wild Mushrooms, at about 28 dollars, without a pre dinner option such as soup or salad. Unbeknownst to us, however, was the appetizer, which was two pieces of corn bread, with a side of chili sauce topped garlic butter, which was very good, but quite small. My girlfriend said her meal was quite good, however the portion was small, which I would agree with, as well. While my girlfriend said her meal was delicious, I would have to say the Wild Boar Ravioli was a bit too rich, and the Ravioli itself tasted like a Pierogi, so perhaps not freshly made, not too sure. The desert list, as well was short and this is what solidified my experience, as there was not even basic pie or ice-cream. We settled on the Berries Tiramisu, which was plenty for 2, and was very good.

The experience could be blamed on our expectations, I could understand, but a restaurant rebranding is very difficult if you are being heavy handed with the changes. My thoughts on a solution would to, st the very least, allow for a few more "comfort" dishes, and be generous with what people are paying for with slightly larger portions, and soup and salad options with the...