The Tasting Room Restaurant — Restaurant in Traverse City

My wife and I have vacationed in Traverse City for about 40 years. The Tasting Room, next to the Tourist Information Center, is a newer restaurant. We ate dinner there for the first time.

We walked in with a friend about 6:30 Saturday for dinner. We had no reservations, but we were seated immediately.

The service was slow, as noted in other reviews, but normal for Saturday night in TC. We weren’t starving, we were there to socialize over dinner, unhurried is good. The restaurant is a little loud, but we could talk.

But there is a disconnect in this restaurant. The price and decor suggests that Tasting Room is a premium restaurant. The service doesn’t support this.

We were told that some of our orders had run out, but we watched people who arrived after we were served, who were given what we wanted to order. My order was incorrect, I ordered a NY strip but got a filet. I accepted the entree that was prepared. The waiter later provided a desert for free.

I did not look at the bill until I left the restaurant. I was charged for two items that waiter said were included with my dinner. It was not a large change to the bill.

The Tasting Room is not recommended at the prices charged. The Boat House is a little more costly, but The Boat House is consistently superior. The Apache Trout Grill is less expensive and superior to The Tasting Room. If you want a steak, try Harringtons. Harringtons is also a better restaurant for a lower price.

Unlike the three restaurants noted above, the Tasting Room has empty tables at 6:30 Saturday night. If you don’t care what you eat and are willing to check your bill carefully at the table, then the Tasting Room can be a worthwhile...

I would not go back here again. We had a party of 11 with reservations. They sat us at two tables and wouldn't let us push the tables together, despite them being right next to each other. They did not tell us they couldn't split checks until we ordered. That wasn't the end of the world since luckily we had one person who was able to afford to pay for all of us and we venmo'd them. However, the real issues were as follows:

-Waiter asked if I was 21 when I ordered my cocktail. I made a joke, while getting my ID out, about how I wasn't 21 (because I'm 34) and he got snippy and told me he had to card everyone.. which I respect and fully support. Until he took my partners drink order (4 years younger than me) and didn't card him...

-Everyone but my partner received a water. The waiter with one water left in their hand looked at him and walked away. When they came back we requested a glass for him and a pitcher for the table. The waiter brought the pitcher and no water for my partner. AGAIN we asked for a water for him. He came back to the table without a water and started to take people's orders. My Partner again asked for a water and finally got one.

One of our friends ordered a sandwich. Our end of the table had steaks and calamari (things that take longer). We had completely finished our meals and asked for a dessert menu before the sandwich was ever served.

When ordering dessert we told him what we wanted. He then tried to talk us out of ordering that many desserts (who tries to downsell customers??) and then ordered the wrong desserts despite us repeating a few times what we...

TLDR: really liked this place- the food and drinks are both good, as well as the service.

The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, with a nice bar and an attractive dining area.

We didn’t really do much tasting (no flights) but I would love to come back and try some things! The wine list is fairly extensive and the cocktails seems to be nice as well. I tried a GREY LINE (Vodka | Cucumber | Basil | Blackberry | Lemon | St. Germaine) and really enjoyed it. I’m not a huge fan of cucumber, but when paired with Basil, I can’t get enough- especially when St. Germaine is involved! It was a very tasty cocktail.

We ordered S. Pellegrino as well.

We must have had speedy service because I just realized I didn’t take a photo of the food menu, so I won’t have super detailed descriptions of that, but I did take photos!

I ordered the lobster bisque which had a good taste but was lacking in actual lobster meat, so I’ll have to say was not the best I’ve had, but definitely still good.

A couple of us ordered pizza: one of us got a simple pepperoni pizza, and another got one with cherry tomatoes, red onion and chicken. Since I don’t have a photo of the menu, I’m not sure if that is a “build your own” situation or if it was a selection from the menu but either way, everyone enjoyed their pizzas.

I got a little bowl of Lobster Mac and Cheese which I thought was very good, and it had a bit more lobster than the bisque.

I ended up getting a Crème Brûlée for dessert, and although I usually like it a bit more brûléed, the flavor of the crème was pretty divine!

I would definitely return if I’m in...