Southwoods Pub & Grill

Have dined here multiple times and it has become a hit and miss place.  Place wasn't busy but hostess still was inattentive to acknowledging and seating us. Waitress was good - made up for poor reception by hostess staff. Asked if I could swap choice of potatoes with my dinner and either pay the difference for the desired choice, or if substitutions were not possible to just buy the desired choice as a side. Waitress left to ask manager and came back and told us no. Seemed odd to deny a customer the purchase of a side potato. It wasn't like they were out of stock. Finally, the food was good.

We stopped here for a late breakfast, mostly by default -- we were headed out of town and just wanted coffee and something to eat. We were not impressed by the inattentiveness of the hostess when we walked in; I understand that everyone in a restaurant multitasks, but when you're a hostess and see someone new walking in, at least make eye contact and let us know you'll be able to help us in a minute. Our waitress, on the other hand, was a real gem -- very friendly and helpful. We ordered eggs Benedict for our meal; while we could tell that the hollandaise was not scratch-made, we were impressed by the perfectly poached eggs, and we also thought the English muffin bases were of better-than-average quality. My accompanying potatoes, which I'd ordered extra crispy, were just the way I like, like a latke. My partner ordered what I think were called cottage fries, which I would call potatoes O'Brien -- skin-on potato hash with onions and bell peppers; they were also very good. Coffee was okay. The interior of the restaurant was clean and neat but a little thematically muddled -- tapestry print on one wall and (cute) rustic carvings of local wildlife and nautical scenes on other walls. (I vote for more local art and less institutional "foof" that doesn't match the location and casual nature of the restaurant.) We also got a chuckle over the menu, which stated that meals were served from whatever-o'clock "until closed." (Actually in a resort area this very often makes sense.)

Since we weren't interested in anything except breakfast we didn't really peruse the menu, but I can say that the breakfast options included about a half-dozen omelets plus a daily special, an assortment of pancakes and waffles, meat-intensive steak/egg or chop/egg breakfast plates for full-tilt-boogie carnivores, and other diner standards like corned beef hash. There are also more juices available than I see on most restaurant breakfast menus. (Pineapple? Yes.)

Overall, a decent breakfast, and good service once we got into the dining area, but not really a destination restaurant.

I was recently in Petoskey/Harbor Springs area and was looking for a place to have breakfast, just a normal place with out any hype - this is the place. Breakfast is served all day and a decent Bloody Mary is available with breakfast for $3.75 until 4 pm. Service was very good for being up North and the menu displayed a wide variety of items including an Olive Burger (not available to those of us in the Metro Detroit area). I enjoyed the the Eggs Benedict which arrived cooked exactly right. Everyone in my party came away satisfied and the price was right. So if your looking to grab breakfast stay away from the places in downtown Petoskey and head over to Southwood.