Nice view!
They have a beautiful view of the water. There were some sailboat races going on that day so it was a perfect seat.
The tuna appetizer was fresh and delicious, especially the sauce that came with it. The avocado egg rolls were ok, not as flavorful as I would have liked, but crispy. I had the shrimp tacos which were amazing, the shrimp were lightly breaded and fried with a great flavor. My coworker had the chicken wrap which he said was just ok.
Service was slow! Seemed like we waited a long time for everything.
We went to this restaurant, on recommendation of another restaurant, because we wanted to take our service dog. Â We called first and confirmed that a service dog would be welcome. Â Upon again upon arrival and were directed to the outside deck lounge. Â We ordered, and when the drinks arrived the server informed us that we could not have our dog on site and needed to "make other arrangements". Â We asked for our check, paid, and left. Â At the end the server tried to walk back the situation by stating that she did not know our dog was a service dog - Too Late. Â We would not recommend this restaurant for other service dog owners.
Review Source:Great view........You cannot dine outside, but if you snag a front table, you are rewarded with a devine view. Â
Great service.... Super attentive. Â A different server came by and explained about which fish were locally caught when I asked. Â Very nice!
Food......The food is very good here. Â I had the whitefish sandwich with warm potato salad---FABULOUS! Â Would get again! Â I also tried the white fish dip, which was smokey and beautifully presented. Â My husband had pasta with white fish on it, and he loved the dish. Â The finale was an amazing, moist carrot cake. Â Very well done!
This place gets very crowded, so come early!
Can't wait to return!!!!
IM giving a better review than previously.
Ordered the shrimp tacos-very good. and the bisque=very good and VERY thick(too Thick???)
Parking is still bad-not enough. Â
Went early and thought it was seniors night.. could use a slightly younger crowd-I was uncomfy with the age until 7 ish.- I felt out of place.
Still felt the service staff could use some training in customer service. HATE the OVERHEAD LOUD pagers for tables-so 1980s...
The walnut/cherry salad was delicious with the house raspberry vinagarette. Â Walleye was very lightly coated, and the burre blanc was great! Â As another poster said (and what got me to choose Apache Trout Grill... "LOBSTER BISQUE FOR THE WIN!"...
The server was knowledgeable, and made excellent recommendations.
While vacationing in nearby Glen Arbor, my husband and I came here for their Sunday brunch. We waited about half an hour, but were soon seated inside at a booth showing views of Grand Traverse Bay. It is an upscale rustic restaurant, cozy and sophisticated at the same time. We both enjoyed their brunch- scrambled eggs with veggies, cheese and meat, potato wedges, cheese blitzes, pancakes, sweet potato French toast, Parmesan crusted whitefish, wild rice with feta, mac and cheese, chicken, perfect crisp bacon, a carving station, omelet station, crepe station and fruit. All was delicious- the whitefish especially! At $17, it was a good deal. Next time we vacation in the area, we will be back.
Review Source:As a warning, I'm still picking strands of tough steak out of my teeth as I write this.
After a lackluster meal last year, we decided to give this place another try. Big mistake. The wait was 2 hours on a Sunday night, but I guess that's expected (and the tiki bar ended up being the only redeeming part of the night). Â
My husband was leaning towards the prime rib, but our waitress said that he "had to" get the special: locally-sourced strip steak. Â The piece of meat was huge and it looked delicious. Â I saw my husband's eyes light up as our waitress placed the plate in front of him, and I watched him eagerly cut in. Â And continue to cut, and cut... And cut. Â And when he finally managed to get a bite, I watched him chew and chew. Â The piece of meat was awful. Â I mean, Ponderosa would not serve this stuff at their restaurant. Â
My husband hates to complain, but he finally had to say something to our waitress. Â "Well, how's the flavor at least?" she asked. Â "Kind of hard to get past the chewiness." After we complained, she to told us that other servers have been hearing the same thing all night, and they no longer were going to serve the meat. Â And then she handed us the check: including the charge for the $30 steak that they were no longer going serve. Â
We asked her to talk to her manager about the price. Â They ended up giving us a whopping 30% discount. Â Still ridiculous.
Overall, this place has mediocre food and below average customer service. The only reason they are not out of business is because of their location on the bay. Â
I still gave it two stars for the view, tiki bar, and lobster bisque.
Visited (usually do so this review encompasses past visits as well) on a recent trip to TC. This place always fascinates me. It is immensely popular, extremely friendly, full of waits for tables, has incredible people working there. It all mixes well, works well and usually has a great outcome. This last visit was no different.
We drove past on our way to do something else. It was early (just before 5pm) and the lot was just 2/3 full. My wife suggested we stop on the way back and get in "before the rush". In less than 1/2 hour we returned.
After circling the parking lot 3 times I was glad we had our little roadster, and  I snuck into a spot no other vehicle could fit. We wound our way around the other "circlers" and gave our name. A 20 minute wait. OK -- We retired to their Oh So cool Tiki Bar (Pier-side overlooking a marina with some great looking sailboats and the always wonderful sight of The Bay). We ordered drinks and waited... True to quote we were seated about 20 minutes later.
This time we both went with Whitefish. I went with the traditional (Lightly seasoned, breaded and fried),, my wife went with the Special; Whitefish Parmesan. It too was breaded and fried but with a different season and covered with Parmesan. We had the lobster bisque (good) and after the salad we found the challenge too big for either of us to finish the delicious Whitefish.
So, Let's summarize
Come hungry.... Come early, or "off times" but still be prepared to wait. Now I don't want to hear whining about waiting -- you've been warned and the deck/bar is fun in itself.
Ask if you have any questions - as the staff is helpful and knowledgeable. Heck we've been here many times over 12 years and many of the staff are still there. There is usually good reasons to stay with a place that long.
Everyone offers whitefish - don't pass it up but I can say I have tried well over 1/2 the menu and have never been disappointed.
Be cool, have fun and dine well...
I've eaten at this restaurant for the past 3 years during the summer while visiting Traverse City & each time I'm there the place seems to slide a little more downhill. Each time I go, I tend to have some type of seafood and a Filet Mignon. During my past visit this summer, I ordered scallops - they came out burned (Gordon Ramsey would've sent them back) and the Filet Mignon was overdone (even though I asked for it medium). Not to mention our waiter wasn't the most joyful person on the planet.
The first time I visited the establishment
(3 years ago) the food was really on par - causing my to go back 3 times during my 5 day stay. This time, however, the food was less than par & never went back during my week trip there, even though the atmosphere is nice - right off of a dock on Lake Michigan with great views.
It's too bad too because the other seafood restaurants in the area are terrible in terms of food & service. I just hope that management notices its issues before it's too late.
Lots of hype, expectations high... But our food-loving family of four agreed that it was basically a safe-bet-for-grandparents kind of restaurant.
Food was solid and well prepared, but ultimately unspectacular. Very good steak, tender calamari, attentive service, and a beautiful location but overly breaded/crusted whitefish and tough and excessively sauced bbq shrimp. Good, but not really worth the standard two hour wait, hefty bill, or a long drive. If we could give Apache Trout Grill 3 1/2 stars, we would.
Still your destination? Try getting there at 5:00 for an early meal.
If you want a more creative menu, better beverages (!), and a more relaxed atmosphere without sacrificing food quality, try North Peak Brewery.
High quality food. Everyone at our table of 6 was impressed with the food. Very tender fish dishes. I had the macaroni and cheese with chicken; billed as the best I'll ever eat. They were close - I'd call it the 2nd best I've ever eaten (and I've eaten this dish a lot!). Almost like a macaroni and cheese goulash or even stew with all the other items added to the dish. K.N. had the goat cheese salad and was very impressed with the quaility of the goat cheese. Great view, clean dining room, and the wait wasn't too long. Based on our visit, I'm suprised their overall rating isn't higher.
Review Source:I ate here with friends for birthday - partially because of the good reviews and also because of the great setting. It's a very nice place and the main dining room has a great view of the bay. Our service was great and all four of us enjoyed our meal. The roasted brie & goat cheese dip was good but definitely more goat cheese in flavor. The avocado eggrolls are delicious!
Review Source:They have a beautiful view of the water. There were some sailboat races going on that day so it was a perfect seat.
The tuna appetizer was fresh and delicious, especially the sauce that came with it. The avocado egg rolls were ok, not as flavorful as I would have liked, but crispy. I had the shrimp tacos which were amazing, the shrimp were lightly breaded and fried with a great flavor. My coworker had the chicken wrap which he said was just ok.
Service was slow! Seemed like we waited a long time for everything.
This is one of the  restaurants we take out of town guests to to show off our area.  The location is amazing, right on the shore of West Bay.  In the summer you can have drinks outside right at the waters edge while waiting for your table (and you will wait).  Parking can be an issue, you can park across the street at the consignment shop.  The food is excellent, nothing is going to be the "best thing you ever ate" but it is going to be excellent.  I have one vendor rep who insists on going here for the prime rib every time he is in town.  I enjoy any fish dish that they have, also the barbecue shrimp is excellent (anything wrapped in bacon is a hit with me).  The only thing that I don't get there is the Caesar salad.  They serve it with a flavorless dressing and they put raw mushrooms on it.  This is the only place I've seen mushrooms on a Caesar and I don't like it.  I'm sure others think it's a genius move, just saying not for me.
Overall one of our favorites for location and great all around food.
Service and food were on par.
I enjoyed the Salmon Caesar salad which included tons of Parmesan cheese. Â The grilled salmon was perfectly cooked, not too well done. Â Would definitely recommend this salad. Â
Their signature Apache Poma martini was slightly sweet and fun to drink.
The view of the bay is priceless. Â
They don't take reservations, so expect a long wait during summer tourist season.
I just moved to town last week and have been eating out for lunch many days due to work, and today was no exception. Â Nothing remarkable about this place but I probably should have ordered fish, but I wanted a sandwich. Â I had their version of a turkey rueben which was at best fair. The coleslaw however that I had instead of fries was great. Â I usually don't give a rats behind about coleslaw however this wasn't swimming in mayonnaise and was perfectly balanced.
The service was fine for lunch, the server knew the specials and kept my water full. Â Since this was a business lunch I'm happy the food wasn't rushed and we weren't hurried out of there. Â Next time I will try some of their fish and maybe a better review could be in order.
We've visited the Apache Trout Grill numerous times and had very good meals. Unfortunately this past Sunday (9/25/2011) evening our party of five all experienced an awful meal. My salmon was extremely soaked in it's sauce, to the point where even the vegetables were swimming! Â A rack of ribs ordered by one was just a terrible cut of meat. More fat than meat! Â Another ordered the whitefish which also was horribly over loaded in it's saucing. Finally everyone's baked potatoes were burned.
Probably should have sent back the meals, but really if you have to send back all the meals what chance do you think the problem can be corrected. Usually we give a place two visits in the event of a bad meal, but after spending in excess of $120 I just can't see us giving this place anymore money!
The one star is given as the view was still outstanding.
This place was a gem for us. Went on a Friday night for our anniversary  after we found our old TC favorite closed and expected a long wait. They got us a table right at the window in about 30 min. The atmosphere is great with the high ceiling and wood girded design. While the window faces east over West Bay, there was still an awesome sunset glow over the bay.
The food stood up to the view starting with a cold draft Oberon and the Western BBQ Shrimp appetizer. This may have been the best item of the meal so don't miss tasting that winner. We had a lot of fish that week so tried their Tomato Basil Sun-dried Ravioli and the smoked cheese filling was quite tasty while my wife's Tequila Lime Chicken Pasta
was even better. The waitress was more than pleasant, friendly and helpful with the menu which made it a 3 for 3 (atmosphere, food, service). We'll be back!
Apache! A classic Traverse City spot! Fun fact- owner Mike Connors named the Apache Trout named after the first fish to be put on the United States endangered species list.
They have the best ribs in town- hands down. I do admit I miss the outdoor dining area from back in the day, but they revamped the interior a couple of years ago and have more year-round, slightly more upscale indoor seating. They also have Sunday Brunch, the infamous Tiki Bar outside, and an option to bring in your own fish (that they cook FOR you with their wonderful sides!).
My recommendations:
*Western BBQ Shrimp
*Roasted Brie and Goat Cheese Dip
*Nine-layer dip
*Cajun Whitefish Quesadilla
*Shrimp and Lobster Bisque
*Tomato Basil Sun-dried Ravioli
Oh, and I also worked here when I was 17 :)
Apache Trout Grill actually gets very high reviews on another travel focused website. The restaurant doesn't really carry anything local for wines or produce. The best I could do was the Lake Superior Whitefish, which was definitely frozen and deep fried with sliced cheese on top. This is not how I envision Parmesan encrusted and not how it was served the following night at a much better restaurant (Jolly Pumpkin). The dishes were fairly unappetizing and focused on size over quality. For deep fry lovers, the breading is standard but even the crab cakes seemed limp and flavorless to some degree. They were served over ravioli with a creamy  sauce. In fact, there are a lot of cream sauces and pasta on the menu as well, but I have nothing remarkable to say about the ravioli.
The BEST reason to show up here is drinking outside at the dock. Most of the crowd outside was having a blast breezing through Coronas. It is the wrong side of the bay for a sunset, but seems like a fun gathering spot.
We went here as a recommendation from a local for a good place to have dinner and we really enjoyed it! Â I thought the everything was good and fairly priced for the size of the entrees (which wasn't ridicuously huge). Â I had the sun dried tomato raviloi with a crab cake and thought it was good. Â
You can beat the view! Â Our service was a little slow, but they were really packed when we were there.
Don't drink the cool-aid. Apache is not the best restaurant in Traverse City.
The food here is a little above average. The menu is terribly small which really limits the experience.
The location is awesome. West bay views and great breeze in the summer. Also a nice quaint place to stop on a cold day in the winter and gaze out on the bay.
I've been here many times and I only go back for the atmosphere. If your not looking for a mouth watering dinner and are more focused on a nice night out, check it out.
On a friend's recommendation we checked out the Apache Trout Grill on our vacation to Traverse City. I had commented the night before how it was too bad that there weren't any restaurants in TC with a view of the bay, then we found this place and were wowed. Â What a great little spot.
Don't let the authentic stuffed Bobcat in the lobby scare you from dining here. The carved log stools in the bar area are charming as is the all-windows big room on the bay. Our server was cute as a button and extremely helpful.
From the soft as butter bread served with a delightful Pesto to the delicious garlic mashed potatoes our meal was really nice. I had the Parmesan encrusted whitefish which was very fresh, and my boyfriend had the Ravioli with chicken in a creamy tomato sauce. Â Both dishes were very good. My only complaint was that the fish seemed to be a little undercooked for what it was, but I'd rather them error on that side than serve me a piece of dry-ass whitefish. Â
We'd go back here in an instant.
I've only been to Apache Trout Grill for drinks, so I can't comment on the food. A friend who lives and works in the area took my group there for drinks. This friend works in the local service industry and is helpful for knowing where to go when in town.
We sat out on the Tiki Bar which is right on the west bay. There's even a dock that goes out from there if you want to dock your boat and go into the restaurant/bar. The Tiki Bar in particular seems to be very popular with the local service industry. We had excellent service for the entire three hours we were there. Our server was quick and attentive despite having many customers.
The prices seemed decent, too. And they do allow smoking out on the patio/bar.
The only downside I could see is that their parking lot is small and fills up fast.
I lived in Traverse City for about 2 years...and I gotta say I loved this place.
It makes me sad that they got bad reviews. I mean...Bruce Willis loves it here you should too!! :) The wait during the summer months can sometimes be a bit harsh...but there is a pretty big bar that you can chill at.
They have the most amazing sweet potatoes. They are humongous and have brown sugar and walnuts. They are out of control good.
I HATE bacon...but for some reason the bacon wrapped shrimp was super tasty.
I miss you Apache Trout Grill...hope to see you soon!!
If you're a tourist you probably will like Apache because it's on the bay and people who are visiting typically expect to spend lots of money. The restaurant is small, the food is overpriced for what it is, the menu is small without a lot of variety, and the wait staff aren't anything spectacular.
The food is good, but you can get equally tasty food at another establishment. The outdoor patio easily turns into a nice summer party spot and that's the only reason I'm giving 2 stars, but the drinks aren't cheap so bring lots of $$.
I do not recommend this place. Â Yes, they are located on the bay, and the outdoor seating is fairly nice; but, the food is NOT good. Â Whatever you do, do not order ribs or fish. Â Quite disappointing especially considering the price. Â They do serve large, larger than necessary portions. Â But who wants to pay for a lot of bad food? Â
Interior decor is a mix of fishing themes, (some from the oceans?) and boundary waters cabin kitsch. Â
The staff was friendly enough. Â
Parking is limited as the place gets crowded. Â There's no accounting for some peoples. . .
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