Old Channel Inn — Restaurant in White River Township

TLDR: It was decent. Most everything was good except there was a long wait, (not nice waiting area) undercooked shrimp (can’t eat that…), an undereducated bar staff (at the time we visited) and a very dark atmosphere. The staff was nice and the food (except for the shrimp) was tasty.

We were visiting family who brought us here on a recommendation. We started with drinks- I ordered a Nonino Sour (Amaro Nonino, Fresh Lemon and Lime juice with Our Simple Syrup). It was fairly tasty and not too strong. Definitely different. We also ordered Our Old Fash-Inn (Makers Mark Bourbon, Maple Syrup, Angostura Bitters with a twist of Lemon and Orange) which was reported to me as being “vey small for a $12 drink”- you can see my photo of the drink before anyone took a sip from it, and I’d have to agree that there wasn’t much there.

For appetizers we tried the Smoked Salmon Spread (House smoked fresh salmon spread served with fried naan bread and pita chips) which our table shared- it was about 50/50 we liked it/didn’t like it. I was of the half that liked it 🤣. We also tried the Pretzels and Queso (Warm, soft pretzel bites served with our own fresh made cheese dip). I am of the mind that you really can’t screw up pretzels and cheese- and they didn’t! It was good- everyone at the table loved it.

Dinners came with two sides and the Caesar Salad (Romaine lettuce tossed in Caesar dressing, sprinkled with grated parmesan and topped with croutons) was ordered by a couple people at the table- both reprint back that the salad was perfect.

The Spinach Salad was ordered (Fresh spinach, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, feta Cheese crumbles, topped wich a champagne vinaigrette with added grilled chicken) and was reported to be very tasty.

We had ordered the Black and Bleu Burger (1/2 lb blackened beef topped with melted bleu cheese) and it looked and tasted exactly as described.

Someone ordered the Grilled Salmon (Grilled salmon filet served with melted lemon butter and your choice of two sides) with a baked potato and one of the Caesar salads, and she said it was very good.

Someone else ordered the Smothered Chicken (Vegetable of the day and garlic mashed potatoes topped with two tender grilled chicken breasts which are then topped with sautéed onions, bacon, melted cheese, and drizzled with BBQ sauce) and raved about it being quite delicious. It definitely looked like an old fashioned home cooked meal, and he was quite pleased with it.

I ordered the Tomato Vodka Pasta Pasta topped with our tomato vodka sauce, shaved parmesan and fresh basil and requested to add shrimp, which they happily agreed to. Unfortunately, some of the shrimp were not fully cooked and were slimy in texture. I picked those out and ate the rest, which were tasty and not overcooked 🤣 which can happen a lot but not this time! The pasta was cooked well.

I finished my meal with a drinkie as dessert: Light House (Amaro, Passion Fruit Liqueur Luxardo Cherry and Champagne). I have to say, it wasn’t my favorite. We were told that one of the bar staff was new, so we figured our drinks were maybe made by them? Hope so!

The service was good, and our server in particular was very nice. The overall vibe is nice, but I feel like it’s just a bit too dark. We weren’t there that late, but it was so dark that it felt like we were at a late night pub. I used the flash for many of my photos, but they’re not as good as normal because it was so...

Extremely disappointed!!! Read the entire review.

The first indication that there was a problem was when we arrived at the height of the dinner hour and found empty spaces in the parking lot. Typically, on a Saturday night at the height of the dinner hour, the lot would have been full and cars parked all along the side of the road. The second indication was there was a wait despite there being empty tables. Next, we found that our favorite server was no longer there. In fact all the mature servers that had been there years and provided impeccable service had been replaced by young girls, Clearly an attempt to cut expenses. I ordered the house specialty, the perch dinner, arguably the best perch in the state of Michigan, or at least it used to be. In the past the perch was always fresh and had a very light breading. After over 40 minutes of waiting, what arrived was very heavily breaded oily perch that had no taste. You could only taste the oil the breading and the seasoning. The perch was bland and clearly was frozen. There is no question that the old traditional recipe was no longer being used. We also learned that the salad bar which in the past was always included was now a $7.00 upcharge. In the entire time we were there not a single person had been to the salad bar. How could what was always fresh remain fresh if no one was eating from the salad bar. Not only is the salad bar missing, but no longer is bread served with the meal. During the over 40 minute wait for our dinners, what appeared to be the chef appeared at the end of the bar periodically gazing around the room, chatting with the wait staff and the bar tender, clearly not cooking. Our server apologized repeatedly for the poor service and at one point claimed that the new technology they used to place orders had delayed transmission of the orders to the kitchen and delivered them all at the same time. Based on the other negative reviews here, it’s clearly an excuse that has been used for a while now.

We own vacation rental property in the area and have always referred our guests the the Old Channel Inn as the best casual restaurant in the area. Most of our guests like to dine out once or twice during their week with us and most do dine at the Old Channel Inn. Based on our experience tonight we can no longer make that recommendation.

BTW, did I mention that the Old Channel Inn is under new ownership. Ownership changed within the past year or so. If things don’t change, I predict they will be out of business in 2-3 years. The summer business will mask the fact that they're loosing their local patrons and they will find it difficult to make ends meet during the off season when the Illinois people are no longer there. The previous owners worked hard, and delivered an excellent product at a reasonable cost. It’s clear that the new owners are trying to cut costs and increase profits at the expense of the product they are delivering. Finally, based on the other negative reviews here, it’s clear that the new owners are not paying attention or just don’t...

Old Channel Inn had become a favorite place of ours over the past 20 years. We loved the atmosphere and charm of this old home-turned-restaurant, and sitting by the fireplace in the winter was always a treat. The owners, who always greated everyone at the door, and were always conversing with everyone in the restaurant were a real delight. We loved the quality of the food and the robust all-you-can-eat salad bar which came with each dinner at no cost. We arrived tonight in anticipation of all of these endearing qualities but slowly began to realize that things are now very different. The owners were no longer there at the front door (we figured they must be on vacation). We were seated and handed a menu and quickly noticed that the selections were very different and somewhat ordinary. The menu also made it clear that the salad bar was now $7 on top of the price of your meal… and you only get ONE TRIP to the salad bar for that price. If you want to go more, you now pay $11 for unlimited salad bar access. WOW! When I asked my waitress to confirm what I thought I was reading in regard to the salad bar, she stated in a very matter-of-fact tone, “YEP” as if she were really annoyed by my question. My wife loved the salad bar, so foregoing a traditional hot meal, she decided on the $11 unlimited access, but much to her dismay, the plates were smaller (5”) so you couldn’t get as much, the items on the salad bar had been reduced by at least 25% from what used to be available, AND 4 containers on the bar were actually empty when she got there. Thank God she didn’t get the “one trip” to the salad bar, or we’d have paid $7 for a minuscule plate of lettuce and a few toppings. They’ve also removed all sweet selections from the salad bar… no fruit, puddings, jellos, cool whip salads, etc. She visited the salad bar twice filling her microscopic plate trying to get her $11's worth, and then we sat there and waited for my hot meal to come out of the kitchen… for 50 MINUTES! There were only about 15 people in the entire restaurant when we got there, so it WASN’T busy, and as a matter of fact, I watched people arriving after us, get seated, get their food, eat and leave before my food was ever delivered. To be fair, the food I ordered was actually very tasty, but the salad bar (used to be free, now $11) was a very bad move, and the slow delivery of food was EXCRUCIATING. We decided even before we got our bill that it would be the last time we’d ever go there. When we got home we googled the restaurant ownership, and sadly it appears the original owners of 28 years retired last year and sold their business. It shows. Good bye Old Channel Inn. We loved you, but...