Like most dining places on the main street on Mackinac Island, this place was tiny with limited seating. We sat by the bar and there was cold air or a draft hitting me the entire time. The bartender started out nice but disappeared for the rest of our meal. The portions are rather small, as in their entrees are the size of appetizers. At least it tasted decent, not great though. Overpriced. Decor is nice and I think it's one of the classier places on the island.
Review Source:We were disappointed to find Chuckwagon closed at 3:00, but we were so glad that it did! Nice wait staff, oldies on the radio, and very clean. I recommend the macaroni cheese balls, the chicken salad sandwich...and the burger is pretty solid. The sweet potato fries are fat wedges of goodness.
Review Source:This place was one of the better eateries on the island. The greeter was a little ticked that we didn't want to sit at a ledge behind the bar seats, but she apologized before she seated us at a booth blaming it on a stressful morning. No biggy.
My wife and I shared two lunch entrees. The lobster and crab seafood sandwich and the open-faced gyro.
The seafood sandwich was good, there was ample lobster on it and the bread tasted like it was freshly made, it was a little light on the herbs. I think it would have had it even better if they put a bit more in to cover the powerful mayo flavor of the filling.
The open gyro was acceptable, nothing you can't find down-state in the Detroit Metro area. The waitress said the meat was homemade, but I don't know if I want to buy that until I see it. Whatever they want to call the sauce, be it Tzatziki or something else, was kind of tasteless. The side salads were normal fare and the "horseshoe" fries (or whatever they were call) were good. Â
Everything else about the place was nice and pleasant. Not a bad place for decent food.
We loved everything about this restaurant! The staff was great, the beer was cold- and the food was delish upscale bar food. Wonderful beer cheese app, awesome grilled whitefish and sweet potato fries, good burger ( but you have to love intense hickory BBQ Â flavor!) peanut butter pie was homemade and just addictive! Great location on Main Street!
Review Source:Nice place, interior is nice and warm, had the durby burger which was very good and the wife had the whitefish chowder bread bowl which was also good. Â Food came out fast. For dessert we had the apple carrot cake delicious! Â Prices were decent as well no worse than and Applebee's or Chillis.
Review Source:We stopped in here for lunch on a recent visit. The beer cheese dip was a great way to start our meal. We enjoyed the fish tacos and Triple Crown sandwich. The bar tender, John, was really friendly. He spent about 15 minutes giving us some directions up through the island interior. Very cool guy.
Review Source:One word. Â BACON. Â Their smoked hickory molasses bacon was AMAZING. Â I skimmed some of the reviews below, and I'm shocked that no one has mentioned it. Â
My husband and I were at the Seabiscuit Cafe over the weekend for the Zoo-de-Mackinack annual bike event. Â Since there was a line for the Chuckwagon diner, we decided to try out Seabiscuit Cafe. Â We are so glad we did because we had the BEST breakfast we've ever had. Â I don't think I'll go anywhere else for breakfast when visiting the island.
Back to the bacon. Â It has a hint of sweetness from the molasses, and seems to have been rolled in spices before cooking. Â It was the best bacon I've ever had. Â We want to come back again, just for the bacon. Â I am not kidding.
We also ordered a side of biscuits and gravy to share, thinking it was the usual 2 biscuits and gravy you can get anywhere else. Â But no, it was a full plate of biscuit, drowning in sausage gravy. Â It was huge!! Â I think they baked a huge slab of buiscuit dough. Â It would probably equal about 6 biscuits! Â We barely put a dent in them because our entree plates were also huge. Â
I am looking forward to going back in May 2014...if I can wait that long.
Love this place! Beer cheese dip was awesome, we came here a few times in a four day trip to the island for a conference recently.
The bloody mary is awesome. They soak their pickles in jalapeño juice.  Nuff said! It was good, hot but good!
Had the lobster blt, wasn't impressed- wished I had gotten the whitefish salad! Either way great service and mostly good food. Would def go back when we return to mackinac!
I ate there with my family, and it was superb. Our waiter was extremely friendly, and fun to talk with. The food was high-quality, and even though it took time to arrive it was worth the wait, and they were very busy. I personally suggest the Southern fried chicken, because it was flavorful, but not too spicy. I think it was the perfect restaurant.
Review Source:Mackinac Island is like the expanded version of Disney's Main Street USA. Seabiscuit  fits perfectly in that hyper-themed environment. Its all about the movie/racehorse. Not sure why, but whatevs. I'm sure there's a reason in there somewhere. The dark wood and red are really warm and comfortable. The staff is pretty average. It took a very long time to get our small order. Too long for how busy they were. Taking the lead of some other reviewers, I had the lobster salad sandwich. It was OK. I've had much better. My daughter's kids burger was the smallest hamburger I have ever seen. More accurately labeled a "slider". She's not a big eater but could have easily eaten two (or three). Most everything on the island is over priced. Seabiscuit continues the theme. If we return to the isle, we'll look to have lunch elsewhere.
Review Source:Writing this review will be difficult. Â The first thing we did when we got on the island was get something to eat. We walked in and where asked to sit at the bar. We sat at the bar for about 5 min before the bartender asked what we wanted to drink. We sat there for another 8-10 mins before we got our water and coke. Then we ordered, we decided to just split the Durby Chicken Sandwhich and sweet potatoes fries. We got our food, but where given reg fries. We where so hungry we didn't complain, the bartender turned out to be a reg server, and was filling in bc the bartender went home sick. Then we sat at the bard for another 5-8 mins waiting for our change after we paid.
So the service was horrible but the Durby Chicken was awesome.
Food was alright, the price was decent for a tourist location, and our server was very friendly. The room is cramped, loud, and it took two hours for us to our food (there were three of us.) If you're not in a hurry and you don't mind the noise, this is a nice little restaurant. If you don't like sitting around waiting to be served, look elsewhere.
Review Source:I've had food and drinks a few times in the last three years of periodically working on the island. Most of the time the food is fine but was really confused when my bf and I went there for a late night dinner.
I ordered the burrito which was unlike any burrito I've ever seen. On the menu it said it came with "meat." Â Not "your choice of meat." Luckily I had no preference, but I'm not sure putting mystery meat (I think it was beef - turns out there wasn't much of it anyway.) is a great idea. The burrito arrived on a really long, skinny plate. The burrito itself was really flat (more like a quesadilla folded incorrectly) because 1. it didn't have much filling 2. all the lettuce and tomatoes were sitting on top of the burrito.
Has anyone ever seen a real burrito on this island?
I got half the burrito to go and was pleasantly surprised when our server brought little containers for the sour cream and salsa. Nice touch. However, my boyfriend had the leftovers the next day. He said it was not enjoyable.
I have had some good food here (the burgers are good; the fries are great, their breakfast is also really good) and the service is always top notch.
Please please please, would SOMEONE on this island learn how to make proper Mexican food? It's just not that hard!
I've been to eat the the Seabiscuit Cafe twice now... once in 2011 and once in 2012. Â Both times, I had great experiences. Â The restaurant is nice... the movie Seabiscuit is playing on a TV off in the corner, but it's on low/silent so it doesn't distract you from conversation.
For appetizers, I recommend the crock of bar cheese with herbs... it came out bubbling, with pieces of garlic toast. Â When we ran out of garlic toast, our server explained that we could have more for $4 (a price that she thought was ridiculous as well) or a plate of grilled pita chips for $0.75. Â I took the pita chips option and she shortly came out with a plate mounded with them... just enough to happily finish off the cheese.
Salads here are huge... so are sandwiches, and the entrees will fill you up nicely as well. Â Service was great, with refills being brought to us quickly and without us having to ask.
Seabiscuit Cafe is someplace I can easily see myself going back to year after year.
7/13/11 Â Was greeted warmly by the owner as we walked in, and it's a nice and cozy place on the Island. Â They have an elaborate kids menu (to go with the elaborate Adult menu), but one of my son's is in that finicky stage and was being difficult. Â The Chef overheard and came to our table, and he offered to make him an off menu item. Â Wow! Â That really made his day, and of course made all of our day.
My wife and I equally enjoyed our meals at lunch, and the Pint o' beer was tasty too.
I loved this place so much i went there twice in one weekend! Had dinner there then lunch the next day. It was beautifully decorated for Halloween and has the friendliest staff on the island! Food was awesome...fish and chips, ribs, Irish coffee, chicken cesaer salad, French dip...all perfect! We were there very last weekend before the island closed for the season so a lot of other restaurants were closed. But it didn't matter cuz we loved it here!!!!
Review Source:We were here in August and stopped here a couple of times for drinks and a couple of meals. Â John took good care of us each time. Â Staff was friendly and the food and drinks were good. Â The best was the Lobster BLT. Â I really enjoyed this BLT one of the best. Â We were here for 5 days and that was my best meal on the Island.
Review Source:This was by far the best overall meal we had on the island and honestly I'm a bit confused by the lack luster reviews. Â The staff was warm, welcoming and the ambiance really can't be beat, although they would have gotten a sixth star from me if the had a fireplace and served breakfast. Â It was pouring rain while we were there. Â I'm originally a San Franciscan and if this place was in that city, I would have been there all the time. Â All the food was wonderful mmmmmmm, good stuff. Â We will be back !
Review Source:I don't assume that my culinary experiences will be postcard perfect on Mackinac Island. So I was pleasantly surprised to find myself "mmming" at Seabiscuit.
I enjoyed the atmosphere (the bat that buzzed our heads at dinner was an authentic touch), and the service was hospitable and responsive.
The sweet potato fries are indeed tasty with chipotle aioli.
My derby chicken sandwich was just fair-to-middlin'. Get the French dip. You won't be disappointed. Crunchy-soft bread with flavorful beef and au jus you'll want to sip right from the bowl.
Mixed drinks were a bit pricey (ten bucks for sangria), but the MI microbrews were just four dollars per pint. A good deal... and not just on the island.
I'd return, but order more wisely...
I went to the U P and Mackinac with the hubby's sister last week for Labor Day/my Birthday weekend..
My first time to Mackinac and it was AWESOME!
We came in here right off the ferry because sister had told me about Mac and cheese balls... They are called Pony Balls. Â haha!
Could this be true?? Balls of mac and cheese?? Sign me up!!
They didn't disappoint!! They were huge and delicious!! perfectly crunchy and served with tomato basil cream sauce.. I was full after eating just one but we still had lunch to eat!
I got the Wicked Good Lobster BLT... and was disappointed. Â Bigtime.
It tasted more like seafood salad at the grocery store  than anything with real lobster meat, and WAY too much celery seed... ugh!  Not to mention it's on a really tough-to-eat baguette and who puts swiss (or any) cheese with seafood?? Isn't that like some crazy taboo no-no?? Â
Just sayin..
The saving grace was the peanut butter pie that I got for my bday dessert... this shit was off  the HIZZAY!!! Yum!! super Yum!!
Did I say yum about the pie??
/Horseballs!
This is normally our go-to place when we come to Mackinac Island every year. Â The food is consistently pretty good, and they have a variety of options, which is always a good thing when you come with a group. Â After going to only places that seem to have burgers, fries, and pizza, it's nice to have a some fresh, less fried options like hummus and salads.
The most recent time we were here the service was absolutely awful. Â Other tables with a different waitress were helped right away, but we sat and waited for awhile. Â After finally taking our order, I thought things would improve, but we weren't so lucky, as we sat again for a ridiculously long time as our waitress forgot to put in our order. Â
Generally good, but not always the most consistent.
After reading some of the mediocre reviews on here I was hestitant to try Seabiscuit, but boy were they wrong! After stopping on the street to glance over the menu with my family (we were treating my dad to a Fathers Day weekend on the Island), we were pleasantly suprised when a couple passing by stopped to rave about the Cafe and all the menu has to offer. So we took their advice and got the seat in the house a nice corner booth where we could eat, drink, and be merry. Being that my parents own and ride horses it was right in their comfort zone to be surrounded by all the Seabiscuit has to offer, as for the movie looping on a television this is true, but on only one tv in a corner with no sound...SO if you dont like horses or the movie, what the heck are you doing at a place named after the famous horse movie???
We started off with the Painted Pony MacNCheese Balls, Cheese Dip, and Pita w/ Taziki...Oh yum! All were delicious and served just right with sharable portions. I ordered the French Dip with sweet potato fries and I couldn't put it down after a long day of walking and sight seeing it hit the spot! The bread was fresh, perfectly crusty but soft inside, the beef was tender and perfectly shaved.Yum! I will be craving that sandwich for a long time to come. My family indulged in the Wicked Good Lobster BLT, A Cheeseburger, and the Cuban Panini all looked fresh, hot, and delicious. But nothing can hold a candle to the french dip and a cold beer.The Seabiscuit Cafe will be our new stop on our trips to the Island.
Go on a Monday night during the summer! They have Hawaiian night! It is hilarious! It's very funky! I love the fact that they serve PBR 40's in paper bags! Also, they have a very excellent wine menu by the glass. Karl and Jen make the BEST mint juleps WITH muddled oranges!!!!!!!!!! Dwane is a lot of fun! Get the purple haze with the svedka berry infused vokda! You won't go wrong! TRY THE CHEESE DIP!!!!!!!!!! Chef Jason is FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Karl is the man though! He keeps everything running legitimately! He remembered me by name, and drink! He is probably the best bartender I have ever met in my entir
Review Source:They have the second most knowledgeable bartender on the island. Â He was able to give us great beer recommendations and suggest other local breweries some of which we had been to and some others. Â We sat at the bar and had a app.. Â The food I heard was very good and by the time we were leaving there was a wait to get a table. Â
They did not have anything to special on their lists of apps  so we went with mozzarella sticks.  They were nothing special.  We had a good time talking beer with the bartenders and liked that they had Bells on tap.
Decent food, ok service. I had the lobster BLT which was ok. It needed more seasoning and oomph! The southern fried chicken was good, as well as the sweet potato fries that came with it. The deep fried pickles were yummy (watch for the heart attack after dinner!) and went well with the Bells beer on tap. Forget the spaghetti and meatballs. Expensive for a small plate of pasta and 2 dry meatballs on the side. Needed a lot more flavor and sauce! Otherwise, the fried whitefish Reuben was a good choice too.
Review Source:I Think we had dinner here the other night - but nothing that we ate is on their online menu. Â My husband had the perch basket - $22-ish, and he said it was great. Â I ordered the lobster BLT sandwich on sourdough based on the server's recommendation - it was very good -lobster salad with bacon lettuce and tomato. Â And the sweet potato fries may just be the best ever, served with a spicy aioli. Â I think that was in the $12 range, and I'm sure the sweet potatoes added to the cost. Â Very good meal, quiet location on the main drag.
Review Source:Is there anything more depressing than the same movie on repeat in a restaurant? Such is the case here. And I'm sure you can guess the movie...SEABISCUIT, starring a small Tobey Maguire in a jockey suit.
Really, any restaurant on this strip of the island is catering to chubby geezers who want comforting, familiar American food. They kind of blended together after a couple of days. But! That doesn't mean I won't review every single restaurant I ate at.
The Indian (politically incorrect?) shrimp and corn chowder was a crowd-pleaser among both old and young at the table. The Tomato Basil soup with little chunks of celery was also great. (You can tell I travel with old people as we eat a lot of soup.)
The chicken salad sandwich kind of sucked, it was on a crappy white bun and very measly for the price. The chicken curry wrap was a little on the gooey side but decent.
What more do you expect from a restaurant called Seabiscuit? (I did enjoy the horse fun facts and pictures...)
8/1/09: We started with the cheese dip - friggin' Schueler's Cheese Dip to be sure with that slight hint of horseradish to it - not overpowering though, my wife is a 1 on a 10 point scale, 10 being Andrew Zimmer adventurous, 1 being a Christen K-13, so don't let the horseradish notation fool you. Â Cheddary processed goodness. Â A solid 4/5. Â
Next up, I suck down the Slider Plate with 2 BBQ Pulled Beef (3.5/5) and 1 Fried Chicken (3/5).  Very decent, albeit sliders not from a specialty place but one of the best, most accessible restaurants on the island.  At times the beef was fatty but that kept it moist and flavorful, good bbq sauce that could pass  homemade.  The fried chicken was good -very basic friend chicken with a pickle and mayo but a nice treat.  We got seasoned fries that were tasty but relatively generic and it was a small portion. Â
We've been coming to Mackinac for the past 3 years and the Seabiscuit is one of our favorite spots. Â A few years ago late into the fall it was one of the only places open past 9 and we got awesome nachos. Â The service has always been top notch. Â The prices (keeping in mind everything on the island is over-inflated and most of the food is bland) are mainland normal. Â HIGHLY recommended.
A great place to eat or drink any time of the day. Â We always make a stop at the 'Biscuit either to eat or to just have a few drinks. Â The service is always outstanding and the menu is diverse and priced very fairly. Â They have a jar of macerated berries behind the bar (as many places do, must be an Island thing) that they will gladly place in your drink for free. Â The only possible issue you could have would be facing a wait during peak lunch and dinner times. Â I would not consider this a negative; it just speaks for the 'Biscuit's reputation as a go-to place.
Review Source:This is the only 'real' place to eat on mainstreet. Â It's run more like an actual resturaunt as opposed to 'tourist food stops' that really don't try very hard. Â We've been here many times and the food and service is always good. Â This is usually our one real dinner when on the island.
Review Source:The best meal that I had on Mackinac Island. The whitefish sandwich is fantastic. The fish was fresh and fried very well. It could've used a bit less coleslaw though. They also make a really good burger, though the skillet was a bit dirty and there was a bit burnt residue on the burger.
I also took a look at the dinner menu, which looked quite interesting. I would've prefered to come back to here for dinner instead of Goodfellows.
As a cheesy note to the place, it has the movie "Seabiscuit" constantly running on a TV.
It has a full bar as part of the Mackinac Island bar crawl.
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