Stopped here on a Friday night and enjoyed breakfast for dinner. The biscuits and gravy were great, my wife loved the pancakes, and my son enjoyed his omelette. Our waiter could not have been any nicer and Shirley was kind enough to welcome us personally. read more

Great breakfast that reminded me of mornings at my grandmas!! They have great cookies and desserts as well. We loved the molasses cookies!! read more

Good food at a good price. The homemade bread is excellent. I will definitely return when I am in the area.

One of the joys of travelling is stumbling upon a an out-of-the-way local gem. Such is Shirley's Cafe in Mancelona, MI. Shirley bakes her own bread, roasts her meats, and makes her own pies. She brines her chicken before roasting and makes her own mashed potatoes and gravies. Making the rounds of tables at lunch she regales customers with culinary tales and tips in a way reminiscent of Lucy Ricardo from the "I Love Lucy" series. Ingredients are sourced locally and dishes are all prepared from scratch. My Billy Jo wrap featured roasted chicken pieces, pecans, fresh spinach, tart cherries and cream cheese. I washed it down with locally made root beer. A bit of local heaven! read more

Really great food at great prices. Had the Ruben, bread was awesome. Kids portions where large. Wife had grilled cheese on sourdough, she said it was good. Bought a loaf of cinnamon swirl to take with us. We'll be back for sure! read more

We decided to go out to the fish fry everyone is talking about 2 weeks ago.Shirley was there and came and said Hello to every other table around us and totally ignored our table .While the food was great the service on the other hand was not..took about 10minutes to get menus and water, did not come back to check on us or see if wanted more fish until after fish was all gone which means we had to wait for 5 minutes or so until got more but of course it was friday night and very busy including a table of about 15 which were seated about same time as us so we decided to give it another try for the breakfast buffet this morning but they no longer have that ...bad idea They were NOT busy, only about 6 other tables (only 3 of which our waitress had)..took 10 minutes to get drinks ..food came faster this time and was very good but again had to wait until end of meal to get more coffee and even then it was the busboy(busman) that gave it to us...the other waitress was running around trying to keep up with everything but our waitress would disappear into the back for long periods (least 10min) at a time... We love the food but the service just sucks and ruins the whole experience ...We live in town but won't be back.. read more

We haven't been there in a while because of a bad experience the last time and this time was worse. We had menus thrown at us. Someone brought us our coffee but we had no silverware and I could not stir my coffee with cream and sugar. My husband ask for a spoon we got 10 minutes later which he had to clean before handing it to me. When she tried to give us food we did not order then when she brought our food out my order was right but my husbands was not. He ate it anyways because he was hungry. When I went to pay our bill the waitress came up to order window with the sandwich my husband was suppose to get and told the cook the order was wrong and the people where leaving. The cook told her that sandwich was to go to table one and the waitress said my husband got what he ordered which I told her no he did not. It was a total joke at that place. They need more then 2 waitress working when it is that busy. Then again it wasn't that busy when we first got there but people sat there waiting to be waited on for quite a while. We won't be going back that I know for sure. I think what gets me the most is we were not offer any thing for having what they gave us and not what we ordered. read more

The breakfast is great and reasonably priced, and the bread and pancakes are not to be missed. The owner makes them herself and it shows.

We eat at Shirley's about once a month. You can not go wrong with the pork chop dinner or the hot pot roast sandwich. We love those so much, we rarely order anything else off the menu but when we do, it's always good portions and good food for a decent price. The wait staff is generally pretty good. There have been a few who just can't handle things when the place is full but we've lucked out for the most part. problem. Love being in there when Shirley is baking. She likes to share a sample or two. Her cranberry bread is INCREDIBLE! And, she really needs to sell her oatmeal raisin cookies! read more

Very high quality food and pleasant service; reasonably priced. When visiting, we go as often as we can. It IS as good as it gets...for a small town diner, it is a jewel. AND there's another on M-72, between Kalkaska and Grayling! read more

This is definitely a place I would recommend to anyone looking for a great home cooked meal. The owner went to great lengths to tell us her philosophy on healthy and natural food. Everyone in our group enjoyed their food and we are planning on stopping by on our way through again. They have the best selection of home made breads I have seen at a diner. This place is a great value and you should definitely give it a try. They are serving up breakfast, lunch, and dinner all day. read more

Great restaurant and good home cooking. Everything is made fresh and the selections might surprise you. (how about an oyster poh-boy sandwich?) But the fried chicken is excellent too. Check out the various types of breads and pies... again, all homemade. read more

We came in for brunch on Saturday, granted it's a very busy weekend but the lady, who said it was her first day and she's related to so and so was extremely rude! We sat at a table and she immediately told us to move, didn't ask, told us to move to the back and if we didn't like it to leave! She brought us 4 glasses of water and a pitcher of ice, no water in it just ice, how do you pour out ice? We had coffee but no silverware, were we supposed to stir with our fingers? She was not the type of person you want running your establishment, we've been eating there for years and when busy we'll go over to the Iron Skillet, she literally came over to our table and said out loud in a manly deep voice if anyone disrespects her staff they will need to leave, we only seen the waitress once and that was to order coffee, we have no idea where that came from or what it was directed at, at this time we had had enough of this so called management in charge and we left, we have never had such horrible service at either of the Shirley's restaurants before this woman stepped into the facility. If she continues to work at that establishment your business will never be the same. The Iron Skillet gets all of our business from now on! Word up to the blonde chick related to so and so, you're not a people person at all and should not be in the restaurant business, maybe washing dishes is more up your alley! read more

We stopped for lunch en route to Chicago. Great service! They even had gluten free bread! What a gem!!

We tried the place a couple of years ago and the owner spent most of her time in the dining room raving about her home made food while our food was inedible. I found that little has changed. The bread is really good...so is the sausage they serve...everything else from the runny eggs to the overcooked eggs, to the canned corn beef hash...raw pancakes that we had to wait for...I still don't get the young staff...most of whom spent their time hovering around a bar area...our waitress was nice, but had to wait for refills and my biggest pet peeve, I had to wait for the check... read more

I visit my cousin in Bellaire at least three times a year and we never miss a chance to eat at Shirley's at least once, usually twice. So I have been there probably 15 times in the last few years. Service has only been slow once but the food has always been top notch. And always homemade. The pancakes are my favorite. Although it is really hard to have a favorite since everything is so good. I had the crispy (or is it crunchy?) salad - lots of dried cranberries, feta cheese etc. I have no personal or financial connection to this restaurant. For those few who did write bad reviews, I noticed they didn't even attempt to make things right with the waitress or manager. read more

The food was great and the service was great. The server was very friendly and gave us root beer on the house!

Buffet food was cold and not very good. everything claims to be homade but clearly is not. I will not return.

I love this place and eat there often. As other say, the stuff is all fresh and homemade. The waitstaff is friendly and fast, the food is excellent and the prices MORE than reasonable. By FAR the best casual restaurant in Antrim County. read more

A beautiful surprise when the meal was served. Ruby our waitress was wonderful. My lovely wife of 64 years had the egg sandwich on potato Rosemary bread she said it was excellent served with homemade chips. I had pancakes with pecans they were awesome. We shall return. read more

This place has the best breakfast! Sam's special is on point. So is the pot roast breakfast. Friendly staff. And they like to joke around. Pumpkin bread is delicious and freshly baked. Clean comfortable and busy!! A must stop while in Mancellona read more

So good. Homemade breads, specials and Shirley's personal service make this a winner. Everything I'd want in a small diner. Stop there every time we head north from Grand Rapids. Keep up the good work Shirley. read more

We go here every morning for breakfast and love it. Any time we bring friends who have never been they can't stop telling us how much they love it! Anything on the menu is A+ not to mention the staff is absolutely awesome!!! Everything is homemade as well. Don't forget to try her bread, it's to die for! read more

Shirley's Cafe. A little restaurant run by a woman impassioned about well made, wholesome food and the power in making excellent bread. This woman loves her role and speaks of "impowerment' when alluding to following your dreams and making things right. The food is terrif, the atmosphere is pleasant and the welcoming aroma of baking bread makes this place feel like home. read more

I have eaten in this restaurant three times. The first two meals were excellent, the third, a real disappointment. My wife has had three exceptional meals. My first two meals were home-cooked wonders. My third, the wet burrito, was very poor. The refried beans were literally tossed into the wrap in a chunk, were extraordinarily dry, and inedible. I was able to fold the glob out of my burrito, and eat some of the remainder of the very dry "wet" burrito. Insufficient sauce, but the sauce that was there was very tasty. I really like this place, but was very disappointed in this meal. I suspect that the owner was "off site." The first two visits we made to this restaurant included visits from her. She is absolutely delightful. However, I suspect that the quality of food is significantly diminished when she is not on site. read more

excellent breakfast ... especially the hash browns. they are real, fresh potatoes. never frozen. prepared perfectly. i could make a meal of them. read more

Shirley herself is a sweet and caring mother type with tons of stories to go with her pictures and the restaurant. Her food, however, isn't what she claims it to be. I can tell you the only things here that are actually homemade are the breads, which about half of these are brought in pre-made and frozen, and pies. The rest of the food comes in pre-cooked and pre-packaged and what is brought in fresh, as in carrots and peppers, is processed by the staff and immediately frozen. Frankly everything for the pies comes in pre-packaged and frozen as well. The crust, the fruit every bit of it but the dry ingredients are frozen and NOT homemade. Even the sausage gravy comes in a dry powder mix and put together with simply water and sausage. After reading her mission statement then learning that she didn't actually stick by it I became disillusioned and very disappointed. She has the ability to work with 100% fresh and natural foods but lack in confidence in staff and herself is what keeps her from doing so. I know she has brought in numerous people to help her with this problem but one of two things happens: Either the existing staff find a way to run them out or she can't accept the change and would rather do what she has done for the 5 years she's been open. I don't blame her though. There is virtually no sanitation, except for the dishes which are overly sanitized, done by the employees and cleanliness is very lacking not to mention the lack of knowledge of her kitchen staff. When your head cook tries to serve undercooked shrimp and other foods it makes one leery to eat there themselves. In my professional opinion the food is dry, bland, and lacking the care and professionalism that every kitchen deserves. If you enjoy a greasy spoon, truck stop type of dinning experience with little flavor and a home type flair then this place is for you. Otherwise, I would suggest saving your money and driving a bit further and spend your money on some REAL homemade foods and food that was made care and knowledge. read more