We picked the Good Harbor Grill because of the great memories and meals along with reputation the joint has garnered through the years. And boy were we oh so wrong. As we walked into the nautically themed, carpeted, and especially outdated dining room, we noticed the vibe immediately. It seemed like the Good Harbor Grill has hired everyone who has signed up at the job fair at the local high school. As we sat down we couldn't miss the sticky, sudsy, and covered in sunscreen, table. As soon as I sat down I couldn't help but notice the crevice on our table from where the leaf had been risen, was filled with disgusting crumbs and sprinkles. It was extremely unappetizing and I have included the photo. The entire staff from what I understand, was not following health code because there were no hairnets or hats in the kitchen and I was seeing a chef if you will, scratch their head and wipe their sweat before getting back to making food. The rug had sloppy stains and the gross leaking kitchen wall (see photos) was very off putting. When the food came out it was very dry looking. Someone ordered a Turkey sandwich and they claimed it tasted like tuna, however it was clearly a cold cut on the so called bun. I have never heard of a restaurant GUVING a tortilla chip "medley" as the side next to a sandwich. It was very dry looking and resembled high school nacho chips. While the chef was cleaning the counter they shook out the sanitation rag and pieces of food flew at my table and I. After this abrupt flinging, I went to the restroom and I saw a dirty bathroom with toilet paper all over and a gross slime in the sink. I don't think I will ever return to this restaurant ever again. It is sad to see a local favorite go down to crap! read more

See all

I really wanted to like this place, but just couldn't. The staff was friendly, and its semi-local to where I live. The food I ordered the other day, came cold. We had to wait a while too, which bothered me. The vibe at the place is alright. Not sure If I'll return in the future. read more

All flash and no flavor. Sandwiches and burgers come with 2 different tortilla chips that taste the same. Why bother with both yellow circular tortilla chips AND blue corn triangular tortilla chips? This side dish lacks substance, unless you're a U of M fan, I guess. The Turkey Avocado sandwich lacked personality. Have you heard of chipotle mayo? The cracked wheat bread used is not what it's 'cracked' up to be. Their grass-fed burger was meh. To add insult to injury, it was served pickle-less. The service was good. read more

Good Harbor Grill is so good I have no words. And the service!! Everyone is always so nice and patient! They have a wide variety of food also! And overall I would 100% recommend, this is my favorite place to go in all of Glen Arbor. And the outside seating is super cute and the love the flowers that are all around the front porch! read more

If there's one word I can say about Good Harbor Grill, it would be DISASTER. If I could give them negative 5 stars I would. We walked in at 9:30pm and were seated after they set up the table. It was a large group and everything seemed fine; but then the problems started... As I mentioned it was a large group and they split us up across two tables. Totally understandable and not a problem. I'll come back to this one later. The menu actually looked great. Tons of variety with American, Asian, Italians, all sorts of variety. I was really looking forward to it. So we order and everything is still seemingly fine. First she brings out the drinks. My diet coke was completely flat and the sprite was just plain sickening. We tell her and she says, "oh, it must be out of syrup - do you want anything else"? She brought me a new diet coke. Hey... it happens. Everyone runs out of soft drink syrups at some point, right? So next, the waitress brought out some bread for the table. Well, I literally mean for THE table. Even though we were sitting at two separate tables, she brought out only one basket of bread and expected us to share across tables. So strange... The thing is, I was in such a good mood, I really didn't think anything of it. I thought it was weird, but we asked if we could get our own bread and she offered to bring us some. So OK, no harm, no foul. Same for the salad that's supposed to come with each entree. Just one bowl to shared across tables - again she agreed to get us our own salad. Next, she completely mixed up everyone's salad dressings. People who ordered ranch were given lemon. People who ordered the cherry vinaigrette got ranch. Just a complete mess. When we pointed that out to the waitress, she brought out the correct dressings and practically THREW the dressing on the table. I've never experienced such an attitude at a restaurant. It was really pathetic. One of my friends is really pissed at this point - and he's ready to go complain to the manager. Me and others were talking him down. We were all there to have a good time and figured we could just make it through the non-sense. Anyway, the rudeness continued and I actually said to our table that these guys must be trying to rush things because maybe the kitchen is closing soon. Little did I know... so he gets even more fed up and asks about the manager. The waitress points out the owner, who happens to be sitting at one of the tables eating and drinking. My friend politely told the owner that the service bring provided to us was rude. You can never imagine how the guy responded. His response was, "maybe that's how you SHOULD be treated". You people show up here just as we're about to close and don't order on time and this and that. He started going off at my friend instead of apologizing. This guy was piss drunk and probably the worst person to be running a restaurant. My friend's like, we didn't know you are about to close. Nobody said anything about that. Nobody informed us that the kitchen was about to close. He then has the balls to blame us for not reading the closing time that was written on the door. So that's OUR fault? Why the hell do you seat a large party of 10+ people only to provide them crappy service if you can't handle it? If you're not willing to serve the customer, then say it up front. Complete BS. These people are greedy SOB's that just saw the dollar signs they were about to make off of us. They thought they could make a cool $250 and treat us like crap. Well my friend that was talking to this guy had enough and said, we're walking out. We walked out to the sound of the old drunk yelling at us as we left. I have seriously never experienced anything like it in my life. I've all over the country and this place has definitely set a new low (BY FAR) for the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. Restaurants are a service business. If you don't know what customer service is, then you should shut down and go bury your head in the sand dunes. Don't waste peoples' precious vacation time. You are the worst restaurant in the country. Be proud of that title and shove it. read more

Amazing breakfast after our morning hike. Everybody got something different and loved their food. Servers were so kind and we didn't wait long for our table or food. Really recommend this place if you're looking for a tasty breakfast! read more

Popped over hear when our first choice was packed. Glad we did. Early fall and still nice enough to sit outside. I can't remember the name of my entree but it was a Greek pita with seasoned ground beef and Greek salad on the side. Really good. They were busy and Hazel was a great server. This will be my first choice next time visiting Glen Arbor. read more

Busy weekend (4th of July) but got a table within 5 minutes. Interesting interior, West Indies. Clean and pleasant. Fabulous wait staff, very personable. The food was great! I had the blackened white fish (un-blackened) and my cousin had the Cesar salad. All freshly made. Homemade braided wheat bread came with the salad. Yummy! Also had a slice of warm strawberry rhubarb pie. Wished I had opted for it ala mode...sigh! Great meal would go again read more

The food is okay really however the service is hit and miss. There are 2 excellent servers but the rest we've encountered are marginal at best. Roll the dice here. read more

4pm walk in for an afternoon snack. Ignored after seated for better than 10 minutes despite only four other customers between two to three servers plus hostess. If being unrecognized as a hungry patron was an indication of future service, I can only guess what might be in store for us if we remained. 4:15 walk out. Adios. read more

We're staying at an inn a block away. I phoned in my order, and picked it up 10 minutes later. They were at maximum capacity, inside and out, and on a wait. The staff worked efficiently and dined proper protective gear, masks, gloves. The food was hot and wonderful, enjoyed at a table but n front of our inn. Definitely recommend for breakfast! Enjoy! read more

Don't normally leave bad reviews in general but this one annoyed me too much. Called in advance to see how long an order for pickup would be and was told about 10 min but in an hour allow 20 min. Fine, so I called back an hour later to place a breakfast order and was told it would be 45 min. If I knew that I would've just placed the order at the time! You've been doing take out orders during Covid for months. C'mon get it together man. Okay, rant over. I'm sure the food is fine. read more

This place was an insult. We got one of the two dinner specials, linguine w clam sauce, which consisted of lukewarm, rubbery cheap noodles, canned clams, watery flavorless sauce w/no visible garlic or hint of white wine or fresh herbs, and very low quality supermarket Parmesan cheese. It cost $18.50 and ingredients couldn't have cost more than $4. I could google how to make this dish and do better. The Mediterranean Seafood dish was a bit better, but shrimp and scallops tasted frozen and a little over cooked, mediocre at best. The salad, veggies dumped in a bowl, at least had fresh homemade dressing. Really lazy terrible food makes me mad, but lazy terrible food at fine dining prices of $20-$30 a plate is just outrageous. Our waitress was very nice but the food was so obviously a rip off of naive tourists. I had great simple food in Empire so it's not like people around here don't know what good food is. This place just chose to rip people off. read more

I came here in November during an outing with my family. It was pretty late, probably around 7 pm. We just couldn't bring ourselves to eating woodpile fries or a $40 steak from Gordon Foods at Boones, so I said to myself, "self, I'm gonna get me some good ol' fashion home cookin' ". So my sons and I ventured across the street from where we could park (at Boone Docks) We came in and immediately noticed the beautiful decor of ship wheels, ropes, nets and B-B Guns Adorning the walls and ceilings. I was completely at rest knowing that I had made a good decision to eat here. As we ventured forward and found our booth. I noticed that the waitress was staring at me. I'm close to 300 lbs, so I don't think it was my six pack she was looking at. Several hours went by it seemed and we were starving, so I kindly asked the (70 year old) mannican staring at me if she will be serving us this evening. Long story short, we could hardly justify the prices of the noodles so we just ordered pie. I think they tried, it was just highway robbery pricing and the wait(er)ress was a real treat. Never been back. I live less than 3 miles from Glen Arbor and still visit the town consistently. Good Harbor Wretcheraunt, not so much. read more

We had breakfast here this morning and it was delicious! The place runs like a well oiled machine! The service was excellent and fast but we never felt rushed. Great coffee that was refilled often without having to ask. Everyone was friendly and efficient. Would love to go back for lunch or dinner too sometime if we're back in the area. read more

Just a small town grill in a seasonal area near Sleeping Bear Dunes NP. Chili is one of the best I have had. Totally unexpected. The other dishes we had were good. Friendly staff. Expect to wait for a table. Only negative was our hot tea was cold! read more

I have never left a bad review for a restaurant but this just had to be relayed... Restaurant has an open view of the kitchen where you could observe the cook pick up the food he was preparing for a meal with his hands and then plate it-no tongs/spoons/spatulas. I hoped it was a one time event but proceeded to watch it happen the entire time we were there. He had a helper that did the same thing. They both put toppings on the plates by reaching into a tub of some sort of seasoning and sprinkled it with their hands before the plates went to customers. Cooked grabbed tofu pieces from a deep container with his hands to put them on grill. Lots of apparent cross contamination if you have food allergies or aversions. If you want your steak/fish/tofu plated with a cook's bare hands eat here. I know choices are limited in Glen Arbor but the health risks posed here aren't worth taking, in my opinion. read more

As a vegan, it's very hard to find suitable restaurants in Northern Michigan, especially for breakfast. I was surprised and pleased to find that Good Harbor Grill offered tofu as a substitute for egg dishes! I forgot to specify no butter on my toast, and when the waitress brought the food out, she asked if I needed a full vegan meal and quickly got some dry toast. I really appreciated the service, and the food was great. Everyone in my party enjoyed their meal. We didn't have to wait long, but we did go on a weekday. I will definitely eat here again when I'm in there area! read more

Huge disappointment. Poor quality, significantly overpriced food, and uncooperative staff. Thai Vegetable Stir-fry tasted awful - no sauce. All meals were served with a side of green beans- unseasoned, not even salted. We had a party of 11 people and they initially grouped our bill as 1 and refused to separate according to what we actually ordered. Instead they broke it down into 5 checks, meaning the single guy paid the same as the family of 4 - some ordered drinks, others did not. They served dried out bread, but not enough for each person to even have a piece. The salad was served in a shareable bowl - also not enough to go around. Oh, and they also tacked on 20% gratuity! We would have eaten at Boondocks - which we highly recommend, but they were booked out. Good Harbor is in business because they were the only option. Do yourself a favor and leave town rather than eat there. I pity the unknowing. read more

Nice little restaurant! We ordered the salmon which was seasoned nicely but overcooked and a bit dry. The whitefish was almond encrusted with dried cherries and that was perfectly cooked and delicious. My kids were satisfied with their spaghetti and we all enjoyed the large bowl of salad with homemade dressings which were awesome. Their homemade bread is delicious and they were very nice to give us a second helping when we asked. The local Pinot Gris on menu was delicious and fairly priced. Overall a great meal! Highly recommend. read more

Good Harbor Grill - Salmon - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Glen Arbor, Michigan

See all

Iconic northern Michigan breakfast place. Our go to spot for 30 years. Menu always the same. Reliable like the rising and setting sun.

The cute patio and dining room exuded a very wine-country-esque, homey ambience to the place, which was the reason I chose to come for dinner while visiting Glen Arbor We arrived very close to closing time, so it is understandable that we were the only people eating there. The outside patio was very cute, except for the swarm of gigantic spiders on the window. The interior looked similar to a cafeteria, so I expected light, inexpensive food that is typical to a family owned restaurant. However, the menu was confusing with items from all over the world with very high price tags; most entrees were in mid $20. I opted for the simple red pepper salad, while my friend order the basil tofu. The shared, self-tossed salad with dressing on the side seemed like a lazy effort, mostly because the vegetable was cut twice the edible size. The pasta was a pathetic excuse with cold noodles tossed with watery red pepper puree and 2 slices of squash and broccoli. The basil tofu was basically a huge piece of barely grilled extra firm tofu with no flavor, served with an undercooked grilled 1/2 zucchini. The water on the table tasted and smelled like sewer, at which point I just stopped eating the food altogether. The place seemed straight out of Lord of Flies where it's staffed with mostly teenagers. Overall a very disappointing dining experience for a lovely beach town, but I should have trusted my gut instinct to avoid places where nobody eats. read more

I know what you're thinking. That place looks so cute. I'm on vacation & having such a good time walking around this quaint little town. But don't do it. Just don't. Trust me. Do not go here. You will regret it. I went here based on Yelp reviews, & this restaurant's reviews have got me questioning if I should even bother to rely on Yelp anymore. I share the concerns about the water quality with another reviewer. I'm stumped how this restaurant got a "$$" rating. Many of the menu items start at $25 & go up from there. I'd rate it more "$$$." The prices are not justified. The service was lacking. And the food quality just wasn't good. Some of my food was over-cooked. Some of it was under-cooked. All of it lacked flavor. Honestly, the best part of this place is the menu as a concept. The items sound interesting, but the execution just falls flat. I had major buyer's remorse after coming here. read more

Always consistently good food and excellent service. If you've never been there I'd highly recommend it!

Wow. Woke up this morning in the tent and all I could think about was eggs. Honestly the last couple of days all I could think about was an egg breakfast. We searched the area for a breakfast nook and ended up coming here. First of all, the ambience of this place was everything you could ask for. Flowers on the patio, beautiful Michigan setting, and white diner mugs with endless coffee. Yes I got eggs. I got the good harbor combo, eggs bacon sourdough toast patitos. It came out so fast I barley had a chance to blink after ordering it. And let me tell you it was SO GOOD. I dumped Cholula all over it. They also had ample jam selections on the table to rub all over your toast. Mmm. I cleaned that plate. I'm fueled up to hike the dunes and slip into lake Michigan's frigid waters. Oh and to add, we got a slice of coffee cake to go, it was 7$ but I can tell it was worth it as it was warm and approx 6 x 4 inches. I can't wait to enjoy it later. This place is an amazing all American breakfast spot and when I come back to sleeping bear dunes I will be eating here again. read more

Good Harbor Grill - This is my killer meal. As you can see the vibes were just right and look at the sunlight hitting the egg and butter toast. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Glen Arbor, Michigan

See all

My family and I stopped here after spending the morning at the dunes. Menu looked interesting, even if a little pricey. I'm glad I read other reviews (after we ate) because I didn't want to think our service had to do with the melanin in our skin. The server took her sweet time waiting on us and I felt like we were imposing on her to actually take our order. When we did get our tasteless food it was dropped off without so much as a word. We had to go to the cook to ask him to get her to come back to ask for mayo. That server should not work in a customer service job and the food had no taste. The restaurant was cute though. read more

Had breakfast at Good Harbor Grill this morning. We arrived about 40 minutes before breakfast ended. Even though it was a bit closer to lunch, we didn't feel our breakfast experience was compromised. Food was excellent. Everything was served hot. The Big Bear Breakfast skillet I ordered was very good. Potatoes were well seasoned and hot. Overall, a very good experience. We plan on returning next time we come back to the area. Thank you for the great food and atmosphere. read more

Highly disappointing customer service. We went in 10 min before it was about to be close and they told us they are open for orders but as soon as we ordered the food , they started rushing food to our table so that we eat quickly and they can close. They were even confusing what food needs to go to what table and were very rude. I have never seen such a disappointing customer service ever in my life. Highly NOT recommended, read more

This is a nice restaurant, they have a Caribbean type theme going on which I do not get as they are located on glorious Lake Michigan! I have eaten here for lunch and brunch, both times were average. The prices are a little steep, but on par with Glen Arbor standards. ::Begin syrup rant:: On the brunch menu they charge an extra 3.75 (or so) for real maple syrup. I'm sorry, that is just whack and (arguably) morally reprehensible. Basically don't get waffles or pancakes unless you are okay with paying an extra 4 bucks for legit syrup, or you can eat that artificiality flavored, thick, corn syrupy concoction (in which case, please try the real thing ((NOT HERE THOUGH (((unless four dollars means absolutely nothing to you))). ::End syrup rant:: SO yeah - the food is okay though, I got a chorizo Benedict on my last visit and was not offended by it. I do hope that one day Glen Arbor can get some Traverse City quality brunch spots. read more

This is the best restaurant in Glen Arbor. They have something for everyone. In our six day stay, we ate here for dinner once, lunch twice, and breakfast on Sunday. There are several vegetarian options for each meal. My wife and I enjoyed the Greek Falafel, and she liked the Portabello wrap as well. Heck they even had soy milk for my lactose intolerant kid! We both enjoyed the whitefish here, it was well cooked and perfectly seasoned. Service was friendly and adequate, except on Sunday morning. But the brunch was great. We'll be back, probably several times, on our next visit. read more

Decided to give this spot a try the other night with a group of 4. Pretty limited dining scene in Glen Arbor, in both quality & quantity. It's an expensive place, so at the very least we thought it would be above average. WOW we're we WRONG. I'll spare everyone the details, on the minuscule chopped up bone dry whitefish and chainsaw it takes to dig thru the trout. I'll also leave out the "potatoes" which come on the side, which were soggy, tasteless & inedible. Each piece of fish is in the $27.00 range...which is a non issue for something remotely good. The owner should be ashamed of himself. What appeared to be a boutique spot with decent food, wound up being a culinary experience I wouldn't wish on an enemy. Don't be suckered in. read more

Small portions, great food - you can tell you are eating locally killed animals and locally grown greens. I like that. Staff is friendly and I like how I can watch the cook make my food - just a perc on how very sanitary they are. BTW, bathroom looks awesome! THANKS GUYS! read more

Sooo good! Everything is so fresh, cooked to perfection! Great service and atmosphere! My daughter ate everything on her plate and the adults were satisfied! read more

Poor service and mediocre food. I had high hopes because the place looks quaint from the outside . We were there on a weekday for a late lunch and employees were inattentive to guests. Portions were small an the presentation was disappointing e.g. a handful of broken tortilla chips as sides. I had to adult grilled cheese - it was bland and greasy. read more

Good Harbor Grill - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Glen Arbor, Michigan

We had lunch here today after doing the dune climb at sleeping bear dunes. Glen arbor is very close to the dunes, which I was relieved to find since I worked up quite the appetite climbing the dunes! This place is on the main drag in glen arbor, with a convenient parking lot behind the restaurant. It is a small but cute little place. The service was okay (I think our waitress was busy when we first came in but then the lunch crowd started to leave as our lunch went on and she became friendlier as the meal went on). I thought the prices were also fair. I had the crab cake sandwich. It was very tasty! I saw in other reviews that they make their bread in house. I could definitely tell! My boyfriend had the chicken sausage gumbo, which he said was good but not as spicy as he was expecting. He had the grilled chicken sandwich which he said was fine, but a little lacking in taste. We split the cherry raspberry pie a la mode since we saw so many reviews about it and after all, we are in cherry country. It is definitely worth ordering. I was especially impressed with the pie crust. I am usually disappointed by restaurant pie crusts since they're usually too flaky and flavorless, but this crust was almost as good as my grandma's homemade pie crust, and she's been making awesome pies for over 60 years. Bottom line: great place to have lunch while you're in the area! read more

Had high hopes for this place as it was my first time being in "Downtown" Glen Arbor in over 10 years and it's super cute with the lounge ready out-door patio... Here's the downfall: very slow, indifferent service. No apologies for the food taking a million years to arrive. Took forever to get a refill on water.. had a guy refill one person's water at my table and then totally skip me. The upside: The food is tasty. I had a cheeseburger with farm-raised, all natural Leelanau beef with a yummy side salad. But, I did find it lame that it came with a side of tortilla chips (sans salsa) instead of old-fashioned french fries. The place has a hip vibe (cool coffee and beer selection and pretentious menu) yet it fails to fully deliver the goods. But, being one of the few restaurants in Glen Arbor, you're pretty much damned if you do, damned if you don't. read more

Very expensive. Kids weren't fans of the healthy gluten free multigrain pancakes or whatever they were! It was $11 for 1 pancake, 2 eggs, and a side of breakfast meat. I don't recommend the ham! All together dinner for 1 adult and 2 kids was $40. Not including tip. And fyi no kids menu. read more

I had such high hopes for this place based on several recommendations from friends. My mom ordered the soup of the day-new england cheddar and turnip but it was flavorless and lukewarm. Her side salad was good and the bread was freash. I ordered the grown up grilled cheese with Havarti, tomato, and onions on their grilled homemade bread. It was big and filling but again wasn't very warm and needed some more flavor to make it stand out. It came with store bought round tortilla chips. Really, store bought? For a place boasting an eclectic, organic vegetarian friendly menu nothing we had seemed that special or eclectic. Our server was a little on the rude side and had the attitude like she didn't need to work but was anyway. read more

My family has been vacationing in nearby Glen Haven since, well, almost forever, (D. H. Day came up here in 1878 according to my sources,) and we've been eating at the Good Harbor since I can remember. As far as I'm concerned, the Good Harbor Grill is the ONLY restaurant for dinner in Glen Arbor. I love the delicious fresh whitefish, the tasty mixed kabobs, and of course, the chocolate bourbon pecan pie. (I'm on vacation!) Another nice touch: dinner entrées come with a big salad, served family style, which includes zucchini, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries and your choice of dressing (lemon-basil, cherry balsamic, and spicy thai are all winners.) My one complaint: the fresh bread used to be served warm. It wasn't this year. (Minus 1 star) Overall rating: Yummmmm! P.S. Also worth mentioning is the Cherry Republic, great for a snack, icecream, or pie, but not to the same restaurant standards as the Good Harbor. (It doesn't really try to compete, though, so I still love it.) P.P.S. Shame on you if you go to Boone Dock's. Sick. read more

Such a cute place. Service was outstanding as well as the food. Homemade hot out of the kitchen. My husband had the special of beef stroganoff and the meat was so tender it melted in your mouth. My walleye was cooked perfectly. Pie and coffee for dessert and we were happy peeps. We will definitely be back again read more