The Southerner Reviews

Amazing biscuits and most everything else. Very consistently delicious bloody Mary's.

Five star for food. Three star for service - hence the four star review. Fried chicken was outstanding - crispy outside, moist inside. Mac and cheese was delicious and the sides were tasty and a perfect compliment to our entrees. As for the service, while the place was very busy, we shouldn t have felt rushed (which we did). The service didn t have the southern hospitality we would have expected. While we understand that the restaurant doesn t offer dessert, we could have been asked if we would have liked another drink ... instead our waitress silently placed the check on our table and walked away.

Wow! Chicken biscuits, honey butter and Nashville hot, were phenomenal. Best grits north of the Mason Dixon line. Lives up to its name.

It's a quaint little restaurant... definitely must stop in for a summer cocktail.

What is there NOT to like at the Southerner, we are talking southern food and the fried chicken is to die for. Come hungry, because when you leave, you will be fully satisfied and happy.

A lovely place to eat! I highly recommend getting a lot of their delicious honey butter!!

When we arrived, the air was filled with the scent of a deliciously complex and mouth watering BBQ wafting from an onsite smoker. From the street, it is a humble and unassuming building. Walking through the door, we were greeted by a bright and beautiful view of a small marina, a river channel, and the wonderful homes across the water. Large windows, in a classic southern style, run the length of the restaurant giving an unobstructed view of the maritime scene outside. The staff were very friendly, courteous, and enjoyed helping us with the menu and daily specials. I had a wonderful pulled pork sandwich and my friend sample the famous southern fried chicken that appears to be the favorite of many patrons. We ordered extra side dishes which were served as healthy portions in their own bowls allowing them to be shared family style. The food was absolutely amazing. I enjoyed everything about this restaurant and will return again soon. If you are in the area, stop by and check it out. You will not be disappointed!

Overall the food is good.

The drinks were really good, just a bit overpriced, but nothing out of control :)

Quaint and amazing. Great views, and charm. Food is phenomenal.

Very eclectic restaurant. Great chicken, but a little pricey. Very low keyed homey place.

Best you like fried chicken, which is outstanding here, cuz they really don't offer much of a variety. Chicken is a bit overpriced at $20 per plate with a pick of two of their very good sides. BTW don't ask for a seasonal Sam Adams unless you want the waiter to roll his eyes at you.

Go here! It is fantastic. I want to plan a trip to Michigan just to eat here again.

Ridiculously delicious pulled pork sandwich. I WILL be back!!

My absolute hands down favorite place to eat when we visit Saugatuck. The venue can feel a bit cramped, but we come for the good cocktails and amazing food.

Amazing food, great service, and nice outdoor seating!!!!

Good place, almost comparable to Bobs Business up on campbell RD

Damn, this is some real southern food. Great service, excellent flavor. When they say hot chicken, they means it. Black eyed peas and braised greens are the go to sides.

The food and service was good. If you like southern cooking you will enjoy eating at this restaurant.

Best chicken biscuit I've had. The service was friendly and helpful. Our food took a bit, but the quality was worth the wait. Great sweet tea too.

We always get the half chicken....absolutey the best! Tables were socially distanced....view of marina was great!

Wow! This place is amazing! The best service (thank you Barry!) The food was amazing, the cocktails and bourbon list is fantastic! The amount of love and effort that goes into this establishment is a rare find. Thank you for the awesome experience!

Unique atmosphere. Friendly service. Awesome food. Hot chicken sandwich was amazing.

Our first time here for date night. Great food and excellent service! There were 6 of us each trying different things on the menu. Everything was delicious! We ll be back!

If you are in the mood for a fantastic meal, this is the place to go.

I've been here three times now, and I have yet to have a starter or an entree or a side that disappointed in any way, and neither has anyone else I've eaten there with. I could list off how good each individual thing on the menu is, but it eventually just turn into the entire menu. Even the mixed drinks are of high quality.

I haven't been here for breakfast or lunch yet, but I imagine it's just as good as the dinner menu.

I can't recommend this place enough!

The fried chicken was amazing! The cinnamon rolls were cold and tasted stale.

This place was so delightful!! I had the Catfish PoBoy and crab cakes... absolutely amazing! The service was wonderful and our waitress was very helpful. The bathrooms were clean and spacious. Go! Go! Go Here!

We ordered the catfish and half chicken dinners. Outstanding! Service was attentive. The half hour wait on a Monday night was worth it!

Absolutely wonderful restaurant. Truly laid back decor and ambience but top notch food. The whiskey list will have you swooning, as will the mac and cheese.

Wife is addicted to the chicken biscuits here. A must visit Everytime we are in Saugatuck

The food was delicious and the service was wonderful. A lovely restaurant with southern charm and a great atmosphere.

We were so excited to try their Summer Smoked Meats. So terribly disappointed, very salty, their BBQ Sauce killed the natural smoke flavor. Awesome fried Fried Chicken & Biscuits. YummY

Great food, cute dining area, beautiful view of the river

Nice atmosphere, love the eggs Benedict. Will be coming back again.

Great fried chicken!
Wait staff is very good.

Fantastic good! I got the Nashville hot sandwich and while it melted my jaw off it was the best chicken sandwich I've ever had. The biscuits were fanatic and the pepper jam was super tasty and unique.

This place was recommended to us by a friend and it did not disappoint! We shared the 4 piece chicken (1/2 Piedmont 1/2 Nashville hot) and got the biscuit and mashed potatoes as our sides. Huge chicken pieces made this serving plenty for the two of us. The chicken was outstanding and flavorful, and the biscuit with honey butter reminded us of a recent trip down south. Hopefully next time we re in town we can eat at the restaurant (they were only doing takeout), but braving the snow was definitely worth it!

Absolutely love this low carb ultra healthy breakfast dish! Southerner has great food, good service and a relaxing ambiance, 5 Stars!

Excellent dinner! Lots of porch or outdoor seating. Workers were doing a fine job of observing safe practices. In our family, we enjoyed the shrimp and grits (very good with the country ham seasoning), the fried chicken biscuit with egg and bacon, and fried chicken. All were excellent. Also folks enjoyed the corn salad and greens. Very good service - our server handled requests and checked on us nicely. Would highly recommend and definitely return.

They don't have cream for coffee. They are a bit pricey

Can't speak to the food b/c when we called the hostess told us they were on an hour wait. We got there and they corrected the statement telling us that they told us to show up in an hour. We waiting another hour and they told us it would be another 30 min. The place is not close to downtown so this seems to be the way they rope people into coming when all the other places are on a long wait in town. Not an honest strategy.

Good reading home cooked food and cool comftorble vibe

If you are in Saugatuck for the weekend, definitely put this place on the menu for breakfast. This is good old fashion cooking, so if you are doing glutton free or vegan, not sure this is the place for you. There can be a bit of a wait, so I suggest getting there early as the wait times can be up to an hour and a half for dinner.

This review will be for breakfast only as we have not dined there for dinner. First let me say that their Mimosas are to die for. They are made with L. Mawby 'Sex' sparkling Ro e and Natalie's Blood orange. Not sure who Natalie is, but I want this juice for my mimosas at home. The presentation is gorgeous as it presents itself like a sunrise in a glass.

For breakfast I had a cinnamon roll and the Benton's Benedict (biscuits, Benton's aged ham, two poached eggs, whole grain mustard hollandaise). This comes with one side. One of my biggest issues with this dish in general is most places do not get the sauce right...it is either too buttery or not enough twang to it from the lemon juice. The Southerner hit it on the nail...I think the addition of the whole grain mustard takes this sauce to a whole new level. It was good and when I asked for extra, the plate was swimming in it, just how I like it. For those that don't want a pool of sauce, I would ask for it on the side. Biscuits were great and the cinnamon roll was very nice.

My friend got the biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs. It came with two big biscuits split in half and covered in gravy. My friend gave it two thumbs up. I had some of the gravy and it was nice, creamy and peppery. Another friend had the Grits and Greens (Anson Mills Antebellum grits topped with greens stewed in tomato pot liquor with garlic and miso, and two fried eggs). He raved over it. For me there looked like too much going on in that bowl for breakfast, even though it contained things I love.

The view is very nice as it is on the water and every table in the joint gets a view, including the bar. The next time we are in town, I have got to do the fried chicken to see if it lives up to the hype. Overall, this is a place I can go to when in town and have a great meal.

Went on a Monday around 6:15 and waited for 45-50 minutes to be seated. Food is excellent but the wait for our food was about 30 minutes.

This place does not disappoint. Great food. Great service! Just an amazing visit every time!

Finally made it in for dinner! Spectacular. Long wait but food was amazing. Great service - Daphenie was great fried chicken, baskets, everything!!!

I want to drown in pepper jelly and float off into the warm embrace of those cheesy cheesy grits. 10/10 my giblets are tickled.

One of the best places for southern food outside the south that I ve been to. Amazing food and drinks. If you like hot and spicy food you absolutely must try their Nashville hot fried chicken.

the bacon was burnt

and I got stabbed in the parking lot

GREAT fried chicken, and my favorite mac and cheese are over the top. Great menu selection of true Southern dishes. Prices are a tad high, but not a deal breaker. Service is always great, and depending on how busy they are food comes out reasonably fast. Would give it 5 stars, but can't due to the noise factor. There is nothing in the restaurant to muffle the conversations, chairs scraping on floor, kitchen noise etc..You can barely hear the person next to you talk. Some nice big area rugs would help immensely, along with some insulation of sorts in the ceiling. The place is charming in its simplicity nonetheless.

They are giving the local children free food during the self quarantined times . What a fantastic gesture to our community. Thabk you!!

Cute place with great service and excellent food. The fried chicken was some of the best we ever had and the mac & cheese was gooey perfection. Creative and varied cocktail menu as well. We live in Chicago and are already planning to come back!

Way too loud. I could not even hear my friend on the other side of the table.

The food here is down-home good. You really can't go wrong and the servers will offer advice as to best choices if you're stuck.

The place tends to go a little far with its unpretentious pretentiousness. It's also a little uninviting to out of towners, especially in the off season.

This was my second September visit to the place. The service is poky, which you could take to be a part of the southern charm, but also a tad negligent (I heard the waitress offering a special of the night we hadn't known about to a couple who came in an were ordering after we arrived and had ordered). We also had the worst table in the place and got to listen to all the dishes being washed at 800pm when the place was shutting down for the night.

The food is good enough to forgive most everything, but the similarities of the service experiences was enough to not make it a one off. Definitely worth a visit when you're in town.

Splendid place and amazing fried chicken, lot of wait time though

Food excellent, very casual very friendly. Will return.

Clean facility, very competent waitresses who accommodated our group. Southern cooking served as one expects. Prices are as expected in a tourist destination, but not unreasonable. Certainly a refreshing change from the overpriced offerings in Saugatuck.

The fried chicken was fantastic. If it is your first visit, you have to get the chicken. Service was great. Fast and friendly.

Would highly recommend. Fried chicken was great, mac n cheese was awesome, most of the employees were very friendly. Besides our server who must of been having a bad day and cranky she didn't smile.

Best biscuits ever, and they're served with delicious honey butter. The bloody Mary is pretty spicy (which I loved). I also ordered shrimp and grits for the first time ever. Everything was great. My sodium intake was through the roof, but I'd do it all again.

Great food, friendly staff, fast service and bloody Mary at 8am!!!

Honey butter chicken biscuits, tater tots, and Biscuits and gravy.. what else could you need???

Steve at the bar is an excellent mixologist! Try the Mule, fabulous! Thanks to Katie and her friendly crew, we did not mind the wait...it was worth every savory and succulent bite! Thank you Southerner Staff! Best wishes for a great 2017 season!

Delicious chicken, either original, honey/butter or Nashville hot. Beware, the Nashville hot is VERY hot! My husband had it. He loved it, but he turned beet red while eating it. I loved the biscuits. Family loved Mac & Cheese. Good drink menu, too.

Come here. Amazing food and service. We visited during covid time and the dining room was well socially distanced. Staff was attentive and the food comes really fast. Our cocktails were great, the food was really tasty. Can't wait to return.

Cynics expecting substandard southern food at this cozy waterfront establishment will be blown away by mouth-watering chicken, both Nashville hot and original -as well as all the fixings one could want - alongside a variety of other southern favorites. Be sure not to miss the flaky biscuits with honey butter; they are the stuff that dreams are made of.

With a bourbon list to please even the most discerning (Rip Van Winkle 10 & 12) enthusiasts, a variety of cocktails, domestic drafts, and non-alcoholic beverages, there's something for everyone to drink, too. Wait times can run up to an hour or more on weekends, but their bar and patio have open seating, where you can sip a sweet tea while you wait.

We were in Holland for the evening but the combination of Tulip Time and Hope College's graduation meant we sought other dining options. Coming to The Southerner confirmed that was a great choice!

I love this type of atmosphere: low-key and no BS. The outside is unassuming and features a large patio with several picnic tables. On the back of the building is a screened-in porch with several more picnic tables; you can wait for your table in either area (after first visiting the bar). Board games are a great option for the kids (or adults!) while you sit outside. Given that the weather was perfect, we didn't mind waiting at all. A cold PBR for me and a Mexican Coke for the better half was a nice way to kick things off.

For dinner, my wife and I both had chicken on a biscuit - traditional buttermilk-marinated for her, Nashville hot for me. The kids had grilled cheese and chicken tenders - from what I could tell, those options were nothing special, but neither would I expect anything remarkable on the kids' menu. It's a smart business choice. The chicken sandwiches were fantastic and the biscuit itself - house made - was wonderful. Be warned that your food will spend very little, if any, time under a heat lamp; I think my chicken may have come from the fryer to our table in about 15 seconds, to judge by the temperature. And that is a good thing! Baked beans as a side for me, with a local ham hock in the mix, were fantastic. My wife chose mashed potatoes (which were fine on their own, but she is not a gravy fan - I enjoyed that part myself). I washed mine down with a Saugatuck Paled It IPA, which I am not ashamed to admit I chose for the price - non-mass-market beers here can be pricey, but I wouldn't hold it against them. There is something at every price point.

Somehow, despite tables being fairly close together, you still can maintain a sense of intimacy at your table without being drowned out by neighbors. As I said at the top, this is all no-BS: it's two big dining rooms and everyone is having a great time. Once we had been there a while - say, by 6:30 or 7 on a Sunday evening - the line was starting to get long, so this is clearly a hot spot.

The Southerner is a must-visit for Saugatuck. You won't regret the time you spend there porch-sitting and taking in the Kalamazoo River out back.

Best fried chicken and flaky biscuits I've ever had. Cocktail list is amazing too.

Sensational fried chicken! Also highly recommend the biscuits and home fries. If you're in town and looking for good cooking, you really can't go wrong here.

Food was fantastic. A bit of a wait to get it, but it was rich, filling, and worth it. Smaller portions but you left feeling perfect. Thanks!

My expectations were really high. The food was okay. Great views.

Buttery, beautiful grits! The short rib sandwich special was on point! Worth the wait.

The food was great and we love going here. The service was not the best this past visit. Our server was too busy showing another table pictures from a wedding. We did not get checked on and had to ask twice for coffee refills.