Stopped here on our trip back from St. Joes the other week. It was good, the service was fine. Nothing stood out really to me, but my husband really loved it. Â I might have soured my experience by having to eat gluten free though...which meant salads for me while I watched everyone eat burgers...they did look delicious...so next time I'll get a burger and deal with an upset stomach from gluten. I think it'd be worth it. The service was really very good, and I guess the people who went and had a bad experience got someone different than us... or she just didn't like them, not my problem we actually had a very good experience here. We'll be back, 3 stars is A-OK in my book.
Review Source:We are locals and have been eating here for years, unfortunately we
picked a busy night to eat out. Â We could not get waited on and when
the old waitress finally took our order she wasn't familiar with the
menu. Â The next day we both had food poisoning! Â Make sure you
pick your waitress!!
The food was pretty good and once we sat down, the service was pretty quick. However, it took about 20 minutes to sit down and there were open tables everywhere. It really shows how important a hostess is if you are going to put up a sign that says "please wait to be seated". My family waited it out but we saw about 5 families show up and then walk away pissed because the wait was so dumb. There literally was 3-4 open tables waiting for people to sit down and not one worker even acknowledged the line out the door it was so bizarre. They need to get their shit together in that regard because the food was pretty good. Nice place for lunch.
Review Source:We have been here several times before. The food is decent with OK service...nothing spectacular but consistent and tasty. Today, however, we did not get a chance to have any food. It is the service that is the focus of my review. When we came in, the hostess handed us photocopies of the menu that were only about 60% legible with print so small it was very difficult to see the 40% that was legible. Â It took the server about 10 minutes to come to the table so we could ask for a menu we could read. The server got an attitude right away and informed us that they were between menus and that was a photocopy of the old menu. She said, with a take it or leave it tone, that we would have to use the photocopied ones. (What??? Â If they are giving out illegible photocopies of the old menu, then they are on the old menu and why can't we see an old menu that we can read?) Â Anyway, I explained that we were unable to read the menu and we would have to leave if we could not get a menu we could read. She maintained, with an attitude, that she had nothing else to offer, so we left. As we were going out the door I heard her, in a voice loud enough for everyone in the dining room to hear, "those two are leaving cause they couldn't read the menu". We won't be back any time soon.
Review Source:after a long hot morning on the public beach, it was time to get my nosh on. Â swinged over to swing belly's for some grub.
after going to the hacienda the day before, where we ordered WAY too much, we decided a little appy and a sammy should be enough. Â and 4 beers. Â i got the turkey and bacon club and he got the cheese fries topped with bacon. Â really hit the spot. Â sammy came with chips. fyi, they only have beer and wine here, hence, a shandy was in order. Â summer shandy in my belly. Â
outdoor seating (though we opted for the cool A/C) on the patio. Â decor is traditional and service was great.
grandma at the table next to us was throwin' back bud lights for lunch. Â i guess her only job is to have fun.
Hoping for a local place, Swingbelly's was the stop for the evening. Middle of the week, 7pm was no-mans land. The server had to be waved down several times & was clearly annoyed. I had the French onion soup- cold and completely uninspired. The firecracker shrimp appetizer was ok albeit a little too much breading. It's a shame the food & service seem like afterthoughts- great location and  potential.  I'd probably give it one more shot but unless it's a huge improvement, I wouldn't go back.
Review Source:The burgers were great. Â The spinach artichoke appetizer didn't come with enough flat bread to use up the dip. Â The place was clean & friendly. Â However, their presentation did not match the menu. Â They have the word "SPIRITS" written on their door and other signs. Â I order a cocktail and am informed they don't have a bar. Â They only serve beer & wine. Â Someone in my party ordered a beer and we were told they don't stock that anymore. Â In fact most of the beer isn't available that was listed on the menu. Â If your looking for lunch & an iced tea, this is a good place. Â Otherwise, eh.
Review Source:My wife and I have been to Swingbelly's many, many times over the past few years and the food for the most part was pretty decent. We even had friends in from Maine and we couldn't wait to share this place with them. Not really many complaint's at all, really none worth mentioning until now. The service is hot and cold depending who you get. We have had really great service and the next time just awful. So our last trip there, and when I say last I mean it. That place will never see our business again, EVER.
We went in for lunch and there were a total of 6 tables with two waitresses. Our waitress seemed bugged right from the start. She never addressed us with any courtesy not even a name. Though she gave it up to the table adjacent to us which I though was strange. We got our drinks and an appetizer and she didn't even bother to come back to see how the app. was. I finished a beer and I had to literally flag her down to get another. When the food came out it got a bit worse. I ordered a mushroom swiss burger and when I cut it in half I noticed the cheese was not melted so I felt it and it was cold. The only thing colder was the mushrooms which I can only imagine they did not even see the flat-top or a sauté pan!
We were still being ignored by our waitress and when my wife finally yelled not only did it get her attention I suspect by the look on my face she got that now we were pretty upset. I told her what the issue was and she took the plate to the kitchen. Now, what blew my mind was not that she returned moments later with the same plate I handed her but she said the 'kitchen manager' would not be making me another one: "because that's how we do it now", and that is a direct quote. Nor would he take it off the bill!!! We were stunned and even the waitress was saying, now all nice to us as I was sure she was worried about her tip, that the 'kitchen manager' was in a bad mood. So? His bad mood means, me, a customer should suffer? WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!!
So the waitress said that she would offer us free drinks but could not because she would have to pay for them!! I said: "Then why would you tell us!?!?" To which she had no response. We paid the bill, left her a decent tip 18%, and left. I left hungry and pretty mad. THE LAST THING ANY BUSINESS WANTS IS A CUSTOMER THAT LEAVES TO BE ANGRY!!!!!! But apparently that's okay by the 'kitchen manager' because apparently that's how they do it now!!!!!
The food is simple, consistent and yummy! If you're a foodie, skip it. If you like a good burger, club sandwich, amazing salad or traditional French Onion soup, get you tail over to Swingbelly's!
Great atmosphere in the old train depot, right on the waterway to the lake. Outside patio and plenty of seats with a view! Lots of parking and elbow room. Great place for kids, after the beach, come as you are!
Consistently good foot and service, a Michigan City staple. Enjoy!
The food here is solid enough. I always order the clam chowder; it's satisfying, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference between it and a can of soup. The lake perch that I always order is satisfying too.
What keeps me coming back is the location. It is both off of the lake, and close to the nearby outlet stores; making it a nice choice after an afternoon of shopping. Depending on your seating, you might get a nice view of a lighthouse on the water, and they did a nice job redecorating from a train station.
A Michigan City staple I always look forward to going back to when I'm home :) Â
My parents and I went Friday night for their perch fish fry. Â Anyone who knows fish frys knows that lake perch is the key ingredient. Â A lot of places serve Canadian lake perch, but I believe Swing Belly's still serves Lake Michigan lake perch (it tasted like it, anyway). Â Their fish fry is second only to my mom's. Â sooooooo good. Â
You know what else is great? Â The salad that comes with it. Â It's a larger salad and comes with cucumbers, tomatoes, croutons, and black olives. Â I can barely get all that when I order a salad as an entree. Â I wasn't even finished eating the salad when my food came, but it was so good that I made sure to finish it all before I started on my perch. Â
The other food at Swing Belly's is pretty good- I've had their reuben and I've had their steak and bleu cheese salad, but mostly I only go for their fish fry. Â
The service is (mostly) friendly, fast, and the view of the lake and lighthouse is the best around.
I love this place,the food is awesome particularly the blue cheesehamburger, but I will have to say I have enjoyed everything I have every had here and I am very picky!
I love the view it's always beautiful looking out on the harbor no matter what time of year it is. During the summer it's really nice to eat out side at the big picnic tables which makes the view even better!
My 4 year old nephew was in 7th heaven when a train pulled up and dropped off some passengers he thought it was Thomas!
To keep it simple, these guys make huge salads, pretty kickass burgers, and other specialty sandwiches. Â If you want to go big, you can get the cheesesteak, which is hearty, or one of their many loaded burgers. Â I totally recommend the Firecracker Chicken sandwich, which is a grilled chicken breast loaded with Cajun seasoning and served on a bun with lettuce, tomato pickle and honey mustard. Â The waitress asked if I wanted extra seasoning one time and that's how I order it now.
Sandwiches come with regular chips as a side, but you can upgrade to fries or the homemade "Chipster" chips. Â They also have onion rings if you're into that sort of thing. Â They have soups and do desserts as well.
They had fish specials during Lent and they were pretty good. Â The fish tacos were like $5, and you got 3 good sized fish tacos made with fried chunks of fish. Â Good with both tarter AND salsa.
I think it's good food at a fair price.
I arrived in Michigan City about mid-morning a few weeks ago and headed straight to the Plant. And after the safety orientation and a few introductions, it was time for Lunch!
The other reviewers are correct in that Swing Belly's is "A-OK". But heck, I'll bump them up to 4 Stars. Â I liked what they did with this old Train Station of a building, the natural light was invigorating, the fish and chips were better than average, the prices were reasonable, the young waitress was perky friendly, and another patron was kind enough to pick my coat off the floor and return it to me with a smile and a howdy.
And it was nice to return to the Midwest again, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.
An "A-OK" star rating sums it up. Â Not bad. Â Not great. Â When you're in the area and need some decent diner-style food, stop in. Â
The interior is a quaint nautical theme, which is logical given its location right on a harbor. Â It's not a huge place, yet there are a few tables big enough to fit groups of 6 or more. Â The seating is big wooden tables, chairs, and benches, with ship-themed pictures, ship parts, and fish on the wall. Â You get the idea.
I tried a mushroom & Swiss burger, which comes with chips. Â I got mine with a mediocre tossed salad instead. Â I asked for medium burger, though I think all burgers come out the same anyway: somewhere between medium well and well done. Â Not so well done, thank you very much. Â
The menu states that onion, tomato, and lettuce come with the burger, but none appeared on my plate. Â I would've been happy to ask about them if our server had reappeared before I was hungry enough to just go ahead and eat about 1/2 my burger. Â I got the impression that perhaps some of the servers tire of the "summer" community in the area, especially on a holiday weekend. Â Regardless, I'm still a paying customer. Â Remember me?
Go here or don't go here, it's your choice. Â You won't miss out much, unless you're looking for a suitable, inexpensive substitute for the chain food in the nearby outlet mall.
It's summertime, so we've been spending time in Michigan City at our small sailboat in the Washington Park harbor. Sailing is fun, but you've got to eat as well. Swing Belly's does what it does fairly well.
Burgers are big although the fixings are, let's say, lazy. In that they could really do a better job on a diner style burger with fresh tomato, lettuce, pickle and maybe a side of cole slaw. They don't do that. Also, it seems odd that fries are extra $ in place of chips.
Other sandwiches are all ok. Generally I would stay away from the fried foods. Service is attentive, and they always seem to have plenty of servers on hand.
The outside area is plenty big, and the building itself is the old train station - pretty cool.
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