I rarely write reviews but in this case, I feel it...

I rarely write reviews but in this case, I feel it's necessary. Even though the prices seemed a bit high, we thought we would give this local restaurant a try. There are 2 seating areas, both of which a very small. The screened patio has picnic tables. I'm sorry, but sitting on a wooden bench is not comfortable for many people and not expected for what we believed was an upscale restaurant. There were only a couple of lights in the entire place. We could hardly see each other. There was no decor, the concrete floors needed a good scrubbing. The views of the river however, were wonderful. We sat inside but there were several flies I kept chasing away. The waitress brought us mugs with water which had no ice. On a summer evening....or anytime, when does ur water come warm? I ordered the fried chicken which was their signature dish. Since I suffer from severe GERD, and have ended up hospitalized from aspirating food into my lungs. I asked the waitress if the traditional chicken was spicy as I can not have any spice at all. She said no, but when my lips are left burning after the first bite, that's spicy. Needless to say, i couldn't eat it. The baked beans were extremely spicy and undercooked, tasting like mush. Since I was explicit about not being able to tolerate any spicy food, i strongly believe that she had the responsibility to warn me about the beans, just like someone who asks in regards to an allergy. My husband is a big eater so when he ate only half of his pulled pork sandwich, I figured he was either sick or didn't like the food. He told the waitress that there was very little pork and that the meat had no taste, was dry and that the baked beans were terrible. She seemed quite indignant explaining that the beans tasted that way because they were freshly picked. Come on. Over cooked is over cooked, freshly picked or not. The waitress claimed they never have complaints, that everyone loves their food. No manager or anyone else apologized or discussed our dissatisfaction. The waitress did take everything off our bill eventhough we were willing to pay for the sandwich. We have friends who claim that they had the worst experience here and would never come back. Yet, know others who came to the Southerner and enjoyed it. As for us, we definitely will not be back and as a local, will enjoy the many fine restsurants Saugatuck has to offer.