Michael's Tavern & Steakhouse — Restaurant in Tuscarora Township

My husband took me out here for the first time for my 31st birthday on the 15th of March. I was impressed with the food and atmosphere immediately.

I was CRAVING steak and had high hopes as I live locally and had not had a chance to go since they opened a few years prior.

My husband picked my steak, A $65 New York, and told them medium, which we do at every restaurant when we order steak. The total bill was $130 with a $20 tip.

When I tell you my steak was BURNT, I do not say this lightly. It was, in my opinion absolutely ruined by black/crispy flakes. I thought it was burnt at first but we managed to get sat at the only table in the restaurant with a burnt out light (the waiter offered to move us after he realized the hostess sat us there but we were fine with the dim light so said it was okay)

The first bite into my steak, I couldn't help but complain and mention to my husband how awful it was. I hated to do that because even at other upper class restaurants we had never paid the high price of $65 for a steak (about $15 less for the same steak at most other steakhouses all around Michigan) and it was a happy day.

I only mentioned it to my husband and he had taken it from me to cut away the thick crisp edges so I could so I could enjoy the steak. The inside was fine, as expected but at that point the steak was tiny from how much he had to cut off on all edges. I REGRET not saying something to the waiter and I still cringe about not doing so.

The waiter stopped by 5 minutes after delivering the food to ask how everything was and at that point I still hadn't taken a bite of my steak, only the mushrooms.

I questioned the waiter when we were finishing up if it was normal for the steaks to be cooked like that and he said yes!! I'm not falling for that. I should have actually complained and not said it was my fault for not asking ahead of time, but thinking back I can confidently say there is NO desire for a steak to taste like mine did. If it wouldn't have been burnt I'm sure it would have been great.

Also $65 doesn't come with any sides and we paid $12 for a side of mushrooms. Honestly the mushrooms were bad too as they were heavily rosemary flavored. It was just too strong.

My husband ordered the $22 burger but only came in 8oz sizing and fries. It was okay.

We both left hungry and disappointed. We still talk about it a week later.

Overall I am upset to say we will not be returning. A lesson learned to speak up and I have it set in my mind they would have done something to make it right, but I failed to speak up and...

I usually don't post a bad review, but this apparently needs to be noted for others to see. On Nov 7, we had a group of 5 who decided to try Michael's. None of us have eaten there and were a bit shocked when we saw the prices. We were all there for vacation and decided to get steak. Everyone ordered the $48 steak, I ordered mine "blue rare". The others ordered theirs rare-med rare. My steak came out literally CHARRED on both sides and the inside was just as done as the next person. NOT the rare that I ordered. They re-made a steak, but a manager never came to see if my (our) food was ok, or they didn't say they were the manager. Our server did not bring out our meals, but a steak that charred should not be served, especially to someone that ordered it as rare as it could be. I have been a server for many years and worked with customers in all my working career and I would NEVER have served that steak to anyone unless they specifically asked for it charred. I wrote a note on the back of my receipt and put it in the payment book with the note up for someone to see as soon as they opened the book. I explained how I was not impressed with my meal with my name and phone number and haven't heard from the restaurant yet. To pay almost $200 for "2" people to have a steak dinner and be served the steak I was, I thought a manager would have at least came by to check on dinner and compensate me somehow. I would never let a customer pay full price for a meal that was so badly cooked, I would get the manager involved right away if there's any issue with a dinner, especially if I am going to pay almost $100 for ONE meal. I expect to get the steak the way I ordered it the first time from a steakhouse, when it is blue rare, that is quick and easy to make. The re-made steak was still cooked past rare, but I wasn't going to send it back twice. Needless to say, we probably won't be going back there to eat. It's sad to think that a restaurant of this stature would allow a customer to leave unhappy and feel like their hard earned money was not well spent. We go to Indian River quite often, but the customer service at Michael's is way below my standard and needs management training on how to keep the customers happy. Maybe after this review, I will finally hear from the restaurant about my concerns and my bad experience. Very unhappy customer that travels over 5 hours to get a charred...

TLDR: Absolutely go here! Great food, Great Bar, Great conversations.

The long version: In the area for business for a few days and found this gem as we were driving back to Mackinaw City. Sat inside at the bar with Cheryl as our server and she was amazing. Gave us a bunch of history of the restaurant and the area as well as a ton of ideas for what to do with our free time the following day. The restaurant itself is a recently refinished place that's originally over 100 years old. Some of the interior is saved from the original building, the rest has been beautifully redone by the new owners in September / October 2018.

The food was amazing too. Between my colleague and I we had the mushroom soup, baked white fish, wings, empanadas, Oreo beignets, and the cheesecake, and I honestly can't tell you which we liked the best. It was all amazing! The cream of mushroom soup had a ton of flavor and just a hint of parmesan cheese on top. The Baked whitefish was flaky and delicious on top of large couscous and with an amazing balsamic reduction over the top. The wings are never frozen and smoked for a long time on site before being flash fried and dipped in their wing sauce; the meat just dropped off the bones. The empanadas were flaky golden brown pastries that resembled French culinary delights more than the typical Spanish or South American pie crust that you're used to. The filling and remoulade were perfectly balanced to go with them.

And then there was dessert. The Oreo beignets are not something I'd normally get, but Cheryl absolutely sold us on them and Im glad she did. The light beignet dough encased the DoubleStuff Oreo that had essentially melted inside when it was cooked. They were lightly sugar coated and had an amazing sour cherry reduction to pour over the top. The Cheesecake was not a typical NY style cream cheese, but rather a fluffy and light cream cheese with sauce that made it taste like a Tiramisu. Amazing!

All in all, I'd absolutely go here again. And if we come back here, I'm definitely stopping in!

Sorry I forgot to take pics of the food, was so hungry after a day of paddling that I totally dived in before stopping to admire the amazing...