The Southerner Reviews

Best fried chicken in michigan! Just dont tell my grandma that lol

Best friend chicken this side of Nashville. The mac & cheese, and sides are all top notch. Home cookin' at its best.

Wonder fried chicken on a biscuit breakfast sandwich

Best breakfast this trip! The biscuits and honey butter... Yum!!!

Totally overpriced! Service was good. If you don't like spicy foods, avoid this place.

This was the second time we went there. First time we weren't impressed. This time the food was better. Drink specials are nothing to brag about. We'll need to go again to give it another try.

I can see how you would get chased this far north for serving portions this small of flavorless food for twice the price. Dennys does southern food better justice.

Ordered the special... Short Ribs with biscuit and greens as sides. Also quail with mashed potatoes and biscuit. Ribs lived up to expectations... Melt in your mouth meatiness. First experience of quail ever... richly flavorful. The sides.. Since all were outstanding, none stands alone. We can also vouch for the pork rinds (warm, puffy, crunchy spice), pepper jelly and raspberry apple crisp. Yes, we even managed dessert. The service was excellent as well. Comfort food extradinaire.

We had a fantastic dinner at Southern...easily the best we had on our trip to Saugatuck. The staff was super friendly and understanding when we accidently broke a glass. Drink selection was excellent and we enjoyed our beers and cocktails. The Nashville Hot chicken was huge and delicious. Sides were good. The rest of my group enjoyed their entrees just as much. Definitely plan on coming back on any return trips to the area.

Great classic southern comfort food. Seriously the honey butter an biscuits were so good.

Get the Nashville hot chicken breakfast sandwich with a side of honey butter. This place is amazing, the fried chicken and biscuits are so good, I prefer breakfast to dinner menu.

Great food and service. The chicken, grits , biscuits, beans and slaw are authentic and wonderful. Chicken is not dry at all!

Delicious. Everything I have eaten there is yummy. A bit expensive.

The food is amazing and the service is INCREDIBLE. My boyfriend and I go every Monday to see Jill for lunch. Easily the best chicken in Saugatuck

My new favorite place. Amazing food. I recommend doing the call ahead they are busy but it is worth the wait. The service is excellent. You must and I say must have the biscuits they are out of this world best I have ever had. The fried chicken is excelen I would have the spicy one it is very spicy but you just cant stop eating it. Theu also make their own B&B pickles!! Yumm!! Love the views and the decor. They gave us connect four for the kids to play while we waited for our food. I will be going back very soon to try the breakfast.

Amazing fried chicken, ribs, mac & cheese, and biscuits. Food takes a while, but it is well worth the wait. Service is a little slow, but still informative & courteous. Overall this is a definite stop whenever you're in Saugatuck.

One of the best in Saugatuck! I've been coming here for 9 years and rarely had a meal that good. The chicken is very hot but worth it. Also, not sure why people are saying it's not a southern restaurant. I'm from Appalachia and also lived in Memphis this is southern cooking done well. They have some their own take on some of it, but this is southern cooking.

Great food and awesome service. It's always on my list of places to eat when I'm in town. Breakfast and dinner are both excellent. I've never had a bad or even average meal here. It's a unique, comfortable little restaurant with a nice view of the water. I've always planned trips here during slower periods... bc it's not a huge space... so I'm sure some impatient patrons might have complaints about waits during peak hours... but it's worth the wait!

The Southerner was Good. The server was was polite and everything was clean. We ate inside and were seated by the windows with and amazing view of the lake. The atmosphere inside is nice and their farm style decor is cute.

Amazing!!!! Might be the best friend chicken ever.... And I lived in the south for a while.
I'd give it ten stars I'd I could!

Fantastic breakfast. Respectable selection. Free coffee while waiting for a table.

Food was awesome!!! Everything was homeade and delishious!

Great place for down home Southern cooked food! Great variety

Great Food ... Wonderful Setting .... Great Drinks !

If this place isn't already an icon, it will be soon. The best fried chicken I can remember eating for LONG time. Really cool southern atmosphere with a decor like Grandma's Living Room! On the channel and just blocks from the heart of downtown Saugy. Everyone I've talked to that's been here raves about this place.

The best chicken sandwich I've ever had nothing can compare. Will definitely be back again.

Our first trip here was back in 2016, we were visiting saugatuck for a long weekend. We loved their food so much we ended up eating there three times during our stay. Now anytime we are in the area we make sure to stop there. I highly recommend the chicken and honey biscuit sandwich.

We have been here twice for breakfast, and we looove it! They have great Bloody Marys, and probably the best cinnamon rolls I ve ever tasted! Can t wait to come back and try the fried chicken!

The Southerner is an excellent and captivating dive into southern cuisine. The semi limited menu insures that each item is prepared to excellence, and they use local products at almost every turn. The bar menu is also a fun and thought out high end experience worth indulging in. Over all the Southerner stands out as one of west Michigan's best restaurants and a hidden gem!

I will dream of these biscuits and chicken ....forever

Pretty good boasted chicken, but too spendy for chicken. Sides were average, had grits, waffle fries and $3.00 each biscuits.

Awesome food - made from scratch. Don't come here to lose weight. Deep whiskey list and top-notch cocktails too.

One of the best restaurants I have visited in the last few years. Fantastic food, service, and atmosphere. Attractive wait staff.

Two years ago we visited The Southener and the fried chicken was outstanding. This place was on our itinery this past Columbus Day weekend. Friday night it was a 1 hour and 45 minute wait for takeout or a 40 min wait to dine inside. Not wanting our 83 year old mom to dine inside and having her wait til 7:45 pm to eat dinner, we opted to come back on Saturday. Placed a takeout order at 12:30 pm for a pick-up at 2:00 pm. At 1:30 pm we received a call that the macaroni and cheese is not available for brunch, so the vegetarian in our group wasn't left with much of an option. Their online menu, which was what we used to order from as we are traveling was COMPLETELY different from the menu that we picked up when we picked up the order. The chicken looked and tasted NOTHING like 2 years ago!!! AND the order was missing 2 biscuits, which we had to drive back to get, and that was after a worker came running out to give us the order of pickles they forgot before we drove away!!! Definitely not worth $18.95 for four pieces of chicken!!! I don't know if this place changed owners, but I will not be back. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT! At least upate your website.

If you like southener food, you will not find better. The food was delicious and very well prepared. The Southener actually reminded me of the 30s jazz joints by the Mississippi river in the south. This one is right on the bank of the Kalamazoo river.

Poor communication, long wait times and lukewarm food. The biscuits were good, but the rest of our meal was unimpressive. Do yourself a favor and make your meal at home.

Absolute gem! Perfect biscuits, attentive staff, charming spot all around.

Bfast, lunch or dinner you will love this place! Great views and phenomenal food!! The staff is very friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend!!

Carefully made food from scratch. Great cocktails attentive service. Reasonable prices 4 such quality

The atmosphere is perfect, relaxed and food is great!! Love the bar options too

I don t get emotional about food very often but that hot chicken biscuit with egg and chee made me shed tears and think about my life and how grateful I am to be here.

Oh man this place is amazing, the service, the chicken, the setting is on point! We will be back

Best biscuits and gravy ever! And don't leave without a cinnamon roll

Great fried chicken in a great environment. Would highly recommend.

Great service and interesting, but very tasty, menu.. We had coffee with our breakfast, and when we finished with our meal, our server offered us more coffee to go. We've never had that offered to us before. Needless to say, we will return.

We always get excellent food and great service at The Southerner, but tonight was exceptional. We came in just before the dinner rush with a larger party and received warm and consistent service from start to finish. Our friends who joined us for the first time absolutely loved the atmosphere and the view. And the food Oh the food! Just stop reading this and go :-)

Excellent Bloody Mary and Nashville Chicken Biscuit Sandwich! Can't wait to go back!

If you read a few of my posts (99% restaurants), you will see that there are not many places that I give 5 stars to.

Dear The Southerner,
Such a well deserved 5-Star rating for me to post here. Between the food and staff, I would drive the two-hours from Chicago just to come there for breakfast! And yes, I plan on returning just for breakfast!!

For those of you that like fried chicken for breakfast, do it! Now, just so you know, I am not much of a chicken eater and neither is my gf. Something told her she had to try it (no recommendations). What a gift from the food gods (The Southerner cooks of course)!! All we could say was wow!!

We were there for breakfast and the only word that came to mind was "fresh"! The eggs, the bacon, sausage, chicken, and the grits... oh the grits!!

I need not say anymore. Oh wait, get there early if you can... it gets busy and for good reason. Thank You The Southerner!!

The hospitality, the atmosphere, and food are a great showcase of the southern life. Always happy to stop by for a bite.

Love this place We both had the half chicken and many different sides. All of it was wonderful!! It was a little chilly inside and the waitress offered a blanket for both of us. I love that!! Even if I didn't use it, the gesture is exactly what you'd expect from a southern charm of a restaurant. I felt like I was having dinner at my grandma's kitchen table, but with a beautiful water view. We will be back

Went for breakfast. My husband had a chicken honey butter sandwich and I had shrimp and grits. This place is excellent. Good service, good view, good prices. Worth a visit if you are in or near Saugatuck. We will be coming back :)

Food on the water, great ambiance! Service and meal were both awedome!

Homemade food of the Appalachians and Bourbon. Momma would be proud.
I got the grass fed beef burger and my wife the pulled pork. Naturally, that means I got to have a bit of both. Both were very good, but that pulled pork with slaw and homemade baked beans took the blue ribbon. Then there was the bourbon... I went for the old fashion because I could tell this would be the place that could do it right... and they did. Sit at the bar and enjoy.

Ya'll, this is located a couple of blocks from downtown. The staff were friendly, the food was great, and we chose to sit outside and watch the activity on the river.
They are known the thier fried chicken which I would recommend. It is a quaint little place with southern charm. I would go back!

Incredible food made exactly the way that food should be made -- carefully, skillfully, and with great ingredients. The Southerner is easily one of the finest restaurants in West Michigan, and every item on the menu is a success -- I know, because during my first visit I ordered practically everything on the menu, and it was all amazing... the grits, the hot chicken, the beans, the biscuits, the sweet tea, the coffee, the biscuit sandwiches, the homemade pickles... I'm going back as soon as I can.

I haven't seen inside the kitchen, but I'm pretty certain there are a group of cherubs back there, taking clouds from the sky, baking them into biscuits, and slathering them in honey butter. Or maybe somebody's grandma.

This is such a beautiful little diner that's offset from the road and I nearly missed it at first glance. Very happy I doubled back. Stepped inside and was greeted with happy employees that you can tell love their jobs. It wasn't crowded (bc Covid) and the diner itself sits directly on the water with outdoor dining options. It was too cold for that today, but our table was right along the windows so we could look out and watch the ducks. When we stopped we really didn't know what they offered besides chicken, and having never been to a true "southern style" restaurant before, we weren't sure what to expect. We started off with the crab fritters (actual name is alluding me) with the creole sauce and ommmggg SOOOO GOOOOD. I had tenders and my wife had the pulled pork sandwich and they were both AMAZING. The fries were some of the best I've had in awhile and I also had the homemade B and B pickles - recommend those if you like sweet bread and butter pickles - these aren't overly sweet and hold a nice tang that I enjoyed. All in all, I recommend this place 10/10.

The fried chicken and biscuits with honey butter are amazing. I kind of wish they had some better sides but the mac and cheese is pretty good. Service is always really good though. It's not a huge place so if you're there on a busy weekend make sure to get there early because it fills up fast. Definitely worth the wait though.

I very much hate this place, i only like the biscuits and gravy.

We loved the cute, clean, country feel of this place and the nice view of the harbor. The fried chicken, biscuits, and honey butter were delicious. We struggled to find sides we would enjoy though. We typically would enjoy simpler sides such as corn, green beans, potatoes, etc with fried chicken. All the sides here were much more unusual.

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.

My brother and I stopped there about 3 weeks ago to check it out for a larger gathering of my siblings. We found the ribs to be over cooked and dried out, almost not eatable. The side of beans tasted out of a can, not the kind of beans your use to with this kind of food. The sausage was very good as was the mashed potatoes. Bread was old and dry. We feel we may have just caught them on a off night. The six of us plan on going back this Sat. 8-15 for a second chance. I am hoping for a better experience. Les Dykema

Absolutely delicious. Always a treat. Love sitting outside with views of the water. Margarita slushie for the win, not to mention the amazing chicken!!

Great experience! The Southerner was an unexpected joy. After starting a family vacation with a greuling drive, finding such a friendly, delicious and scenic spot brightened our day. The food is approachable but that belies the craft and quality of ingredients. The fried chicken is on point, the cocktails bracing and the biscuits border on naughty. Family friendly but still has a sophistication that was welcome after driving through a sea of chain restaurants and coastal tourist traps.