I have been here many, many times - it's in my top 3 favorite SSM restaurants. Â Most recently I went with a group on Thursday July 11. Â The Palace is conveniently located right downtown. Â It has lots of seating but still a cozy vibe. Â It's super clean. Â The decor here is really nice and feels kind of upscale now. I would say that this is the best decorated restaurant in SSM, whoever chooses the decor keeps it has a real eye for design - right down to the details, like the candles on the tables (although I miss the old red lights on the walls!) and the bathroom mirrors & fixtures.
Good service, even when they're super busy. Â The food is good. Â The con queso is simple but delicious. Â We order it every single time we go! Â The quesadillas and fajitas are also good, and my friend who had the Seafood Nachos when were there last Thursday night said they were amazing. Â On my last visit I ordered the 7 Layer Dip and it's the only thing I've really had there that I haven't liked & wouldn't recommend. Â My friend and I both ordered it and we both thought the exact same thing - there was way too much sour cream and not quite enough beans. Â But it's a new menu item, so it's possible that they're still tweaking the recipe. Â ;)
If you are looking for Mexican food that is in any way authentic, this is not your place. To be frank, the food is not very good. It is about cafeteria-level food, maybe a little better. It's very heavy and greasy, and pretty pricey all things considered. However, I'm still glad the Soo has a Mexican restaurant because there isn't much selection around these parts, and they DO have a nice atmosphere if you're looking to do some drinking.
Review Source:Not very impressive Mexican food, but for the area there isn't much to choose from.
Every little add on has a charge... guacamole, sour cream, extra tortilla shells.. etc. My fajitas came with only 3 tortilla shells so of course I asked for more and they cost about 25 cents each I didn't know that until the bill arrived. Fifty cents isn't that much but do you really have to nickle and dime everything you add to an already pricey entree.
The fajitas were ok. The Mexican rice that came with it had cheese and mushrooms in it and was really overcooked. They also came with lettuce, cheese, and tomato which doesn't usually come with fajitas... I would rather have the sour cream and guacamole included instead of that stuff.
The queso cheese is the reason to come here! With your choice of corn chips of fried flour chips they make in house.
Their margaritas were nice and strong and cheap during happy hour.
Cold Michigan beer, spicy chips (we got half tortilla and half flour + guacamole), workmanlike fajitas (we got the special and asked to do half chicken and half steak) - our server Elyse was first class and we had a window seat to boot - it is a little slice of Mexico in The Soo.
The mirror behind the bar is adds a touch of class too!
For a tex mex restaurant this is very expensive and the quality is sorely lacking. Â The queso dip they brag about isn't more than some velveeta and a can of rotel, my chips were stale and the rest of our food had the same lack of quality. Â I used to eat here as a child and enjoyed it, until I grew up and had real text mex and discovered how great it CAN be... This is not it.
Review Source:Without the help of Yelp! or the extraordinary Twilight Walking Tour, I never would have found the Palace Saloon. The locals certainly know about it and keep the secret mostly to themselves.
The Palace is an old building, hearkening back to the days when smugglers ran "ice cream" (aka: booze) across St. Mary River from Canada. I love to think of how many tunnels riddle the old downtown core. Supposedly the saloon hosted its own speakeasy downstairs and has a resident ghost who likes to sit in the back corner booth among the hot pepper Christmas lights, and guess where the beau and I got seated... The next booth over.
Mexican standards abound here: burritos, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, you name it. The flour chips handed out completely floored me for crispy deliciousness, though the three-flight salsa ranging from hot to scald your eyes off speaks to authenticity and not the bland stuff served from an El Paso jar. This is the real deal. My water glass attested to how much I enjoyed the spicy varieties.
The beau ordered beef and pork enchiladas. I went for soft tacos. We were not disappointed; the meat was seasoned and piping, the cheese just starting to ooze into the concoction, and getting nicely stringy. Helpings of the salsa kicked up the excitement factor. Our beans and rice were less exciting but they sure beat bland alternatives, and the rice was quite fragrant. Several of their side dishes and appetizers promised spicier and richer alternatives for discerning palates.
I topped off my night with a sunset-hued margarita rimmed in sugar. Holy hell, that thing packs a punch. They don't stint on alcohol here, that's for certain, and you get your money's worth.
It's a fun corner to enjoy yourself for the evening and watch the night swirl by in the Soo.
You don't expect to find a lot of outstanding food when you visit a smaller town like Sault Ste Marie when it seems a lot of the income is based around summer tourism and winter hockey and snowmobiling. I really didn't expect to find Mexican cuisine up here in the frozen tundra of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
I've eaten there three times during the weeks I've been up here working. Every time I've tried something new and each time it was delicious. I wouldn't call it the best, most authentic Mexican food I've eaten, but I will certainly rate it higher than the chains like On the Border and Border Cantina that we have around Detroit.
If you're in town and in the mood for Mexican you won't be disappointed. I'll definitely return to the Palace Saloon when I'm back up here again next winter. Just be sure to get to dinner early because it isn't an enormous restaurant and it fills up quickly.
Absolutely disgusting. Â I really don't write on here often and am not one to complain about food, but this restaurant just blew me away with its level of gut wrenching cuisine. Â
My wife and I started off with the chili con queso, which was nothing more than Rotel and Velveeta with a side of stale tortilla chips and limp flour chips. Â I ordered the beef taco and beef enchilada with rice and beans and all I can say is that I can't remember the last time I wanted to spit out my food. Â Everything was either extremely bland or a soggy mush of flavorless, cheese covered mess. Â The beans were dry, lumpy and flavorless. Â The rice had the same consistency as gruel only covered in American cheese. Â The tortilla used for my enchilada was also stale and tasted like rubber. Not only that, but the meat they used had absolutely no flavor or spice. Â How hard is it to throw in a packet of Old El Paso (which isn't great, but at least it's something) into your frying pan!
As for the taco, well let's just say the taco wasn't any better.
It's sad that this is what people up here consider Mexican food. Â I feel sorry that the people in the UP have never experienced how fantastic Mexican food can be. Â You guys really don't know what you are missing.
We definitely will not be going back to this restaurant.
I made a trip to the Upper Peninsula and Sault Ste. Marie. Â It was neat to see the locks working. Â The Palace Saloon is walking distance from the locks and is in an older building. Â I tried the Mexican Grill. Â It was a sirloin steak, chicken breast, skewered shrimp and a side. Â The steak and chicken were cooked just perfect and tasted great. Â The shrimp was not well prepared. Â They seem to be cocktail shrimp put on a skewer and served lukewarm and not grilled. Â Stay away from the shrimp. Â The atmosphere was fun and the wait staff was very pleasant. Â I recommend trying The Palace Saloon when in the U.P.
Review Source:I had pretty high expectations based on the other reviews and it's a cool looking old place, but sadly not all that great. Â Don't get me wrong it was OK, but nothing very special. Â The queso that everyone raves about - pretty much rotel dip - the can of rotel and velveeta. Â The margaritas were pretty decent, but my wife's mojito wasn't very good. Â The food was typical run of the mill Tex-Mex the kind of thing that you can get at so many chains. Â They do have a lot of non-Mexican items as well, but we stuck with what they seemed to specialize in....
Review Source:I've been to The Palace twice now--I only go to the Soo once per year for the I-500 race with friends. Â My friends went to school in the Soo so they know where ALL the good places are to eat---this was one of them. Â
Yes the Queso is amazing--as well as the mixed chip basket that comes along with it. Â Heaven. Â The dip is enough to share with 4 people. Â Although you may want to order a 2nd round :)
I got the wet burrito this time and ate the whole thing- not too large to make you feel uncomfortably full, but just right. Â Very cheesy. Â Decently priced margaritas as well- strong enough for just a couple! Â I really enjoyed the atmosphere here. Â It's a good time, every time I go to The Palace!
Three words: chili con queso. Â To die for. Â I've had better Mexican in more urban areas, but nothing can touch the con queso at the Palace. Â It is definitely worth any wait you may encounter.
I've always had good service and can't complain about anything I've had off the menu. Â They currently offer a great burrito special on Thursday nights - something ridiculous like 3.95 for a wet burrito. Â Definitely a must-try restaurant in the area.
We have kids and have no problem taking them into the Palace for dinner, even with the full bar. Â They have a good division between the bar area and the dining area. Â And they have a great kids menu.
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