Pros: Loved the live music. The Grand Wine $70 was expensive but good. The ambiance was beautiful. Cons: Overall this is not a foodie town. So, my bar isn't particularly high. But when we metioned to the server that the noodles were undercooked and the wrong sauce was on the chicken, a shoulder was shrugged as if saying "and". So, at this point we finished our meal and enjoyed music and decided not to return. read more

The Gate House - American Near Me - Mackinac Island, Michigan

Food ended up being okay tasting, but definitely wouldn't return here due to a pretty poor experience for the following: - super long wait time at the front to be seated, despite not being terribly busy - waitress was not friendly or social at all - they were out of a couple menu items halfway through the day - once we finally got our order, it was wrong. And unlike most places that would have left the dish or maybe given a discount or something to sort of show their apologies for it, we got nothing but another long wait for a simple dish read more

Pretty bad. Came here for lunch. There was like 2 customers in the whole restaurant. We thought it'd be nice to sit on the patio but the music was SO obnoxiously loud. I felt like I was at a nightclub - we asked to move inside because it was so loud but inside wasn't much better. The food was pretty greasy and not very good. My sister had to send her chicken sandwich back because it was so greasy and burnt. My adult grilled cheese was disgusting. It was very very oily and the fries were burnt and not very crisp. Each meal cost us $40 which was insane. Not good. read more

Outdoor tables were so enjoyable on a mild breezy day. Our server Roman was terrific. The pan fried walleye sandwich was a winner. Great soft bread. Coating on fish reminded me of catfish coating but the fish was light, moist and way better than any catfish. Great house made kettle chips as side and tartar sauce was excellent add to dish as well. We also had the mushroom and charred corn enchiladas. The crispy enchiladas, although different texture-wise from typical Tex-Mex enchiladas, was not a negative. Loved mushrooms and the salsa verde added a terrific mild spice and pop of flavor to the dish. Only draw backs - 1) enchilada dish only had one small tomato sliced in half. Thought there would be more and corn, though good wasn't charred. 2) the singing guitarist needed to turn the volume down. Didn't go for the show, went for the food. Much more on this menu I'd love to try. read more

The place is clean and has a basic vibe. Our waitress was odd and made us a little uncomfortable. I definitely won't be back. The food was decent but I think the mocktail was the best part of the meal. Definitely recommend the fries! read more

The Gate House - American Near Me - Mackinac Island, Michigan

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After biking and walking all day, the Gate House patio was a welcome place to rest. We walked up to the host with a challenge - can my fella with a soy allergy eat safely? The host didn't know offhand, but went to check right away, and out came a gentleman who said he was allergen certified, and who let us know the cooking oil was canola, and therefore, safe for our allergic hero! We ordered calories for a week - the fried sampler platter with fried pickles, onion rings, fried ranch cheese curds, and hot pretzel sticks; the standout was the fried pickles! The onions were good - with real onion inside and flaky batter, but I'll be thinking about those pickles weeks from now.... We also got an order of the pierogis (yum!), and we also split the mushroom enchilada entree. The enchilada was delicious, with a green salsa, pretty and tasty whole (enoki?) mushrooms, and an interesting and pleasing slightly sour flavor profile I was really digging. It came with half of a perfect avocado sliced up on the plate - fresh, pretty, and a nice accompaniment. I didn't expect much from dinner on Mackinac Island, given the tourist nature of the spot, but this came in well above my expectations. Friendly, helpful service; spacious patio with shade options; allergy friendly; and a nice finish to our day. read more

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My wife & Family were seated outside upon request. Service was ok. We were at the establishment for an hour and a half. Before it's all said and done. The food was decent. Service was ok. The outdoor patio was clean and well spacious. read more

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For island options, this is a good one. Like most places on the island, it's a little pricey but the food was good. I ordered the filet which came with green beans and mashed potatoes. I subbed the roasted potatoes, which were tasty. The food was all cooked well and tasty but pretty oily. My friend had the vegetarian enchiladas and enjoyed them. She did order the sparkling rose which was completely flat but other than that, good food and good service. read more

The Gate House - Filet - American Near Me - Mackinac Island, Michigan

Visited here for a quick lunch. It took a little while for our server Katie to notice us - we chose to sit on the patio on an iffy weather day to keep an eye on my friend's dog - but once we were settled she was very friendly and helpful with selecting menu items (and even gave a great recommendation for finding a fudge shop)! Her service was great. The menu offers a pretty reasonable variety of options, and I went for the fish and chips to try a local catch. Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed by the quality - one piece of meh fish that was close to equal parts batter and meat, fast-food-adjacent fries, and average cole slaw. It was fine, and we absolutely expected to be upcharged as tourists, but I'm so sad I spent $32 on this. I will concede, however, that I tried my friends' clam chowder and it was excellent! Wish I had ordered that instead. In terms of location, the patio is large and great for people-watching. The inside is a little cramped but I loved the look of the bar. read more

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Amazing food and service! Just stunning! Wonderful friendly staff and refreshingly happy. Food and drinks were outstanding and along with the history, decor, just a must go to! read more

EDM NIGHT AT GATE HOUSE!!! The food was great here, and the burger and fries was particularly good. DJ provided good ambience and gave a great experience. The server was very nice, but food came out a bit slow-maybe 30 minutes at the most, which is a good amount considering my family and I didn't get too much food. The place was also very clean. This is one of the best spots to eat in Mackinac. Highly recommend! read more

Was very excited about trying this place as it had music yesterday, and it was a beautiful day to sit outside. I had my eye on the Chicken Pot Pie because I love chicken pot pie. I asked the waitress for a recommendation, and the she said the chicken pot pie ($28) was really good. When it came out, the "savory pie crust" promised on the menu was a puff pastry that sat on top of a bowl of cream-based chicken soup. I could have worn the pastry for a hot as nothing had touched it. When the waitress came to ask how our food was, I said was really disappointing, and it was basically a bowl of soup. No comment. No apology. No nothing. If that was the best option, I would hate to have tried something else. This is the second time a Grand Hotel restaurant has been sorely disappointing and way over-priced. I'll try a local establishment because I have not been disappointed at those. Try The Mustang. Delicious! read more

WOW, what an unexpected disappointment. We were quite excited to try this place since it is part of the Grand Hotel. The service was good and friendly and we had no wait for lunch, even on the 4th of July. Unfortunately, the food was mediocre at best. We had the Walleye sandwich (which was very fishy and had 1 thin piece of fish in a HUGE hoagie bun); the grilled cheese and bacon (which had 3 pieces of soft bacon) and an italian hoagie. Both the walleye and bacon were more than skimpy, which was very disappointing, especially for a Grand Hotel restaurant. The best part of each of our meals were the french fries, which were fried well. I dont know if this was an off day for the place, but it sure didn't deliver today. read more

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Did was good but the service from the staff was what made everything stand out. The music that they brought in, dueling piano's, was great read more

The Gate House - Potato and Cheddar Pierogies - American Near Me - Mackinac Island, Michigan

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Walking around the island and noticed a sign out front that the Gate House has karaoke on Saturdays. I made a mental note and shared with the group we were staying with to come back on Saturday to check it out. I was a little apprehensive about the Gate House since it was owned and operated by the Grand Hotel. Boy was I wrong! The Gate House seems to be the let your hair down kind of place. It is located between the long hill going up to the Grand Hotel and just outside the hustle of downtown. Tucked away if you didn't know about it. The place is much more casual than what I was expecting. Great outdoor seating, full bar, and inside seating. Showed up on Saturday night - ID's were checked after 9pm to be let in. The staff was awesome - drinks were delicious and by about 10p-11p this place was really rocking with folks from all over. Had a local vibe plus out-of-towners all enjoying themselves. The karaoke was also a hit, organized well, with tons of participants. We had a very fun night. Did not get a chance to try the food but plan on returning next season! read more

The Gate House - Awesome ceiling of the bar. - American Near Me - Mackinac Island, Michigan

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We stopped for lunch. The staff was friendly, checked on us. I ordered the chicken bowl and was very good. The fish and chips was a large portion with 2 filets. We sat on the patio and it was pleasant. read more

We spent a few days on the island and this was one of our favorite meals. Dwight was our server and he was very attentive and friendly. They were busy and our only option was to sit outside but it was a beautiful day. We were told that they were short staffed that day but you would never had known that based on the great service and food. Great place to go if you ever visit the island! read more

Bad food. Old dry ribs. Burger very wet and undercooked. Yuk! Never again yuk yuk double yuk

Not great. Burgers are good but not worth the price. It was ordered medium-rare and was very well done / even overcooked. The chili has NO chili flavor and should be advised as navy bean soup. They even asked "would you like to upgrade to French Fries". -- something that is so cheap they normally just use them to fill the plate. read more

Great food and good service, BUT TURN DOWN THE MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way to loud and people were mad about it read more

Read this review! First, this restaurant is owned by Grant Hotel! Second, this restaurant is affordable! Third, this restaurant is great for couples and families. Fourth, there is a large patio for outdoor seating. Fifth, the service here is awesome! My wife and I dined here for lunch 2 days in a row! Our first lunch we split the trapper burger cooked medium well with no tomato. The burger comes with fries. The burger had really good flavor and the fries were awesome! Our Second lunch we split the crispy chicken sandwich no tomato and with the Buffalo ranch on the side. The sandwich also came with fries. The chicken was moist and delicious. We also ordered 2 Shirley temples! The drinks were so good! We loved this place! This is definitely a great restaurant on the island. read more

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Nice outdoor patio and friendly waitstaff. My cheese enchiladas and my wife's lamb burger were excellent. However... the volume of the music that was being played both inside and out was painfully loud. Several other diners at other tables were complaining about the volume as well. The manager tried to be helpful but said that that he had no control over the volume. He said that the Food and Beverage director at the Grand Hotel which owned and controlled the Gate House wanted the very loud volume to create the atmosphere and attract an Appleby's crowd. Bring noise canceling headphones if you dare. read more

Very nice venue. Good vibe. Nice ambiance with the fireplace going, coupled with a view of the Grand Hotel. The service was outstanding. The food was good. Will definitel go back. read more

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An offshoot of the Grand Hotel operation, much more casual menu and to some degree a pub and bar style menu. Same quality service as up the hill at the hotel. Nice patio seating area. read more

Literally the worst place I've ever eaten. The music was so loud it actually hurt my ears. Staff said many people complain but manager won't turn it down. I had to put napkin bits in my ears. They even tried moving us to a new table but it was horrible everywhere. And there was nobody in the place! Why do you need music blasting like it's a dance club? The chicken sandwich was disgusting. Pooling with old grease and burnt. I asked for chips and got a pile of burnt greasy fries. I took one bite and had to spit it out. Thankfully the staff brought me something else. In the end I had basically a turkey sandwich with mayo lettuce and nothing else. They didn't even remember the cheese. And it cost me $33!!!! The staff was the only redeeming part. I think they are probably used to dealing with unhappy customers and so they try to be apologetic and helpful. I feel robbed paying $33 for a few pieces of deli turkey and some lettuce, and going deaf while eating it. Unreal. read more

Prices are Mackinac Island high but the food and service make it worth it. Dropped by for dinner on a Thursday evening. Server (Taylor) was funny and helpful. Food was delicious. Good beer list. Comfortable setting. read more

A solid place to grab both drinks and dinner. Can also catch a game on their television screens while you're on the island if that's something you'd like. (B). read more

My boyfriend got a burger and we both agree it was 100% one of the top three best burgers we've ever had. It was the Mac daddy burger, made with waygu beef. Scrumpdiliumptious. The pretzels and cheese and cheese curds were delicious. The inside and outside was beautiful. The service was fast and she made sure we had everything we needed! I got the Jibarito sandwich, which was a bit underwhelming compared to the other meals I tried. However, I ate it all and was satisfied. read more

Nice outside seating. Good service. Excellent calimari and nachos. Kids enjoyed virgin strawberry daiquiris. read more

The Gate House - Nachos - American Near Me - Mackinac Island, Michigan

The worst food and over all experience I've had in years. The hostess was horrible. Major rude attitude. Because it's located near the Grand Hotel doesn't mean your can slide. Bad food, arrogant staff and just nasty. Our waiter was adorable but that's about it. Don't eat there. I guess when you know everyone is transient you can be BS. read more

We just tried to eat an early dinner here. Place was pretty empty on the inside. Service was poor some reason. Coffee refills took 15 minutes. And came luke warm. Server disappeared long periods of time despite only 3 tables in entire restaurant on inside. Patio was filled up tho so not sure if it was understaffed issue. Our dinner never arrived. Over an hour and a half an entrees never came so we left early. Food ordered Kid chicken fingers - fries were cold. Chicken fingers were alright. Hamburger - fried were cold. Burger was pretty good. Appetizers Calamari - really bad. 90 percent breading. Pickled veggies took up 60 percent of plate. We sent this back Pretzel bites - pretzels were good but cheese dip tasted like warmed up Tostitos dip from the jar. No flavor. Overall, the service was bad and the food was worse. Extremely overpriced cheap diner food. 30 dollars for a cob salad with protein lol. Save your money. Do not go here unless you plan on just having drinks at the bar. 1/10 read more

Just unsanitary! I'm not talking about the establishment as I have not inspected the place (which, could be a whole other issue); I'm referring to the servers. My server was handling the trash and the ice bucket he used to fill up the ice box, and then, in a matter of seconds brings out our food with his filthy hands and nails. To top it off, his thumbs were in our plates when he brought them to the table. It was just gross! To make a long story short, we ended up taking most of our food to go only to discard it when we got to a gas station. So upsetting! The server, he is a nice person but there has to be some sanitary standards that are enforced at all times. Honestly, I can't recommend this place. read more

No dogs on the giant patio WFT. Service iffy food so so. Don't bother. Slow, Over priced on the way to Grand Hotel only reason it exists

I wasn't expecting a ton out of this place since it looked like a basic American restaurant. I was recommended this spot by one of the city workers because he saw we had dogs and they allow dogs outside of the fence. We went there right as it opened at 11AM. Later that day we went on the tour at The Grand Hotel and found out that this restaurant is owned by them. It's a nice location at the bottom of the hill from the hotel and is a great people watching spot. The food was actually better than we expected. The prices were more reasonable that I had thought. So overall it was a pretty good experience and I would go back next time I'm on the island. read more

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Was very weary of eating out due to COVID. We are at an off time and were able to be away from the main dining area across from the bar with only two tables and socially distanced. It felt safe. It wasn't crowded since off time. The food was excellent. The mojito was the best I have ever had and recommend that as a refreshing drink. All the food was served no and delicious. My partner liked the white fish and the black bean burger was delicious. All of the food servings are large and leftovers were boxed and packed nicely. The French fries are amazing here. Dessert was a recommendation of the waiter and also very good. We would eat here again. Cost effective and good quality and delicious. Good service. read more

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Best ever chicken sandwich!! We would go back just for that!! Nice service and prices for the area are reasonable.

Emines was fantastic and not only that... the lamb burger was top 5 best things I have ever eaten. I usually get a box but I could not put it down. read more

I was very impressed with the outstanding food served at The Gate House. I had the fish sandwich. It was very tasty and the price was very reasonable. I highly recommend you give it a try. You won't regret it. read more

Here's what I love about The Gate House. When everyone else gets off of the ferry and turns either right or left to crowd the restaurants I keep walking and head right to the GH. I get right in and sit down to enjoy my morning Bloody Mary (of course the house made not the classic). The service here is always excellent and the food and drinks are fantastic too! It is my traditional start to the Mackinac Island experience. read more

The Gate House - Bloody Mary - American Near Me - Mackinac Island, Michigan

We were visiting Mackinac Island for the day and planned to eat at The Grand Hotel grand luncheon but were turned away due to a convention at the hotel and no one else was allowed to visit the hotel that day. As we wandered back down the hill we passed the pretty patio seating at The Gate House and decided to dine al fresco. The food was excellent and they were able to easily seat our party of 16 on the sunny patio (with shade umbrellas) at 2 tables for 8. The service was courteous, efficient, and attentive. Refreshing non-alcoholic beverages were available and delicious. We tried the Strawberry-Rhubarb Lowball, Blueberry Limeade, Virgin Mango Mule, Virgin Piña Colada, Draught Rootbeer, Draught Rootbeer Floats. They had a full bar with a large selection of adult beverages as well. The 8 kids and teenagers in our group found plenty to please both the adventurous eater and the picky eater. Local Walleye Handheld with truffle fries, Grilled Lamb Burger, Mushroom and Charred Corn Enchiladas, Spinach and Strawberry Salad, Brisket Tacos, Poutine Fries, and Fish w/ Chips were all given two thumbs up. The Brisket Nachos were rated as a little dry. Dessert also did not disappoint. Michigan Sweet Cherry Cobbler and Bumpy Cake. Will plan to visit The Gate House again when we are on the island. read more