Service is extremely slow. The chef quits whenever he feels like it and decides what and when he will cook items on the menu. It took an hour and a half to get a burger after being told two previous orders could not be filled. We went back three times at different times of the day to see if it was just due to timing. It was the same each time. The chef reminds me of the "Soup Nazis" on the Sienfeld show. The only thing you can hope to get in a timely manner is pie and ice cream if you are a tourist, and even then it is soooo slow. Â The dining car ambiance is really neat, but the owner needs to get a new chef to realize the full potential of this restaurant.
Review Source:The food has always been wonderful here! And this time, the malt that my significant other and I shared (blueberry wafflecone) was simply amazing. Best malt I've ever had!! I definitely enjoyed nearly everything in my meal, though I will say that the coleslaw was far too watery.
Staff was attentative and friendly, atmosphere is great.
This may very well be the only spot in town that has yelp but we decided to try it out based on previous reviews. Â It did not fail us. Â Amazing. Â I has the fish and chips. Â I was first set back a little that the fish was in small pieces but it was deeeelish. Â It was very lightly breaded and the White fish tasted so fresh and tasty. Â My Man had one of the "hearty homemade" pizzas and it hit the spot too. Â It's made in their bakery so the timing with the fish was not completely in sync but we snacked on mine as an app before he shared some of his tasty pie. Â It tasted very homemade. Â Thick bready crust with hot thick sauce and ginormous slices of pepperoni. Â We could have shared the pizza alone - there was plenty. Â We loved the bottled RC & gingerale sodas we had too. Â And we didn't stop there. Â We took two cookies with us to go for the ride home laters. Â One monster and one lemon oatmeal. Â The monster was tasty - a combination of all cookies - oatmeal, choc chip, and m & m's but the lemon oatmeal I would go back for alone. Â If we are ever in Grand Marais again we will be back.
Review Source:You can't go in the same river twice. Last year, I gave this a 5 star review. This year, it did not open till 11 and the breakfast menu is gone. Sandwich menu is okay, pricey and service is very slow. Locals get friendly service, others are just served. Still love the diner ambiance but whoever heard of a diner without breakfast.
Review Source:I spent a week in Grand Marais one summer and the West Bay was by far the best place in town to dine. Â Different meats (the first place I ever had a buffalo burger) and grilled cheese and salad bar that were fabulous. Â The owner can be a little cranky, but he is the owner and there you have it.
His wife was often our waitress and I marveled at how hard she worked. Â Then shortly after our summer there a friend gave me a section of the New York Times where the owner/waitress/baker/author had written about how she met her husband (the cook/chef). Â It is actually kind of a swell story. Â So I think that was '10 and then flash forward to 2012. Â The magic has kind of worn off. Â Where in '10 they had served fabulous iced tea in mason jars, in '12 the drinks came in paper cups. Â I can take low rent, but it felt sort of like being at a kiddie birthday party where they won't trust you with the real glasses. Â I also noticed in '12 that after some unknown time of day the menu is suddenly very limited. Â Kind of like they should really close at 4PM, but stay open to serve ice cream and not much else.
The hours are open to close (not kidding, that is essentially the sign) so you might have some great food, but don't expect a friendly warm reception. Â I believe that is reserved for the locals. Depending on the mood of the day. Â Sometimes we could hear the chef/cook getting a little argumentative over things with the rest of the staff. Â It is kind of like the home where you never know what kind of mood your Dad will be in when gets there, and when it is bad the atmosphere can feel really uncomfortable.
Great food. Also sells organic items. The only reason for 4 stars versus 5 stars..the chef is a little temperamental and may just serve a buffet rather than menu items. On a character note his wife is sometimes the waitress and a published author! Get her autograph and photo with the food.
Review Source:Our 4 some was denied service today. 8/22/2012. We had 3 dogs in the car .  Waited 20 minutes to even get  approached by staff. Then asked for 4 orders of fish and Chips to be packaged so we could eat outside.  The staff member said The chef does not allow any to go other than pizza and bakery.  Even though they were serving kids on paper plates.  This place is beyond arrogant UP at its worst.  Could not rate the food as we were denied service.  I understand the high marks but when service is denied the restaurant needs to re evaluate their beliefs and practices.
Review Source:This is a MUST on any visit to Grand Marais. We had a turkey rueben & a gyro. The rueben was the best turkey sandwich I have had anywhere...ever. The gyro was made with real chunks of grilled lamb (not the pressed/shaved meat normally served). Â I got the impression there was only one (maybe two) people working the kitchen, but any wait was WELL worth it! Fresh & skillfully prepared.
Review Source:The only reason this place didn't get 5 stars is the wait. But wonderful food--simple but fresh, good sized portions and reasonably priced. We got in for dinner at around 7, were told it would be a while. You get peanuts while you wait. Two of us shared a pizza--phenomenal crust, tasty toppings--one got a burger which was moist and perfectly cooked on a fresh ciabatta--and one had fresh whitefish on a fresh roll. Then pie for dessert--not perfect but I'm a pie snob, fillings were flavorful, crusts meh. Service attentive. The setting--a renovated old diner attached to a house--made it even better.
Review Source:A diner with a great personality, the building as well as the staff. It is the one place in Grand Marais with wifi and good espresso drinks. The servers are friendly and happy to chat and engage with the customers.
The food selection can be limited, for example they didn't have hot dogs all week, ran out of vanilla ice cream, and no bananas. But the baked desserts are fantastic and all homemade. The main courses are good.
In addition to a full deli, they also sell meat and sausage to cook yourself. The homemade Italian and Polish sausages were excellent.
We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the diner and getting to know the staff.
This was probably our most enjoyable meal on a 9-day car trip through Michigan. Mom, Dad, and 2 grade school girls ate brunch for $28. We were stuffed, comfortable, & charmed by the setting.
I've never seen such a neat building. The front portion is an old east-coast diner that reminds me of a rail car, an airplane, or maybe an Airstream RV. The rear of the building is nifty, too.
The food came out a little slowly, but faster than the 45-minute estimate provided by our server.
I had a huge waffle with a medium size omelet. Mom had a delicious blueberry muffin and a quiche. The muffin was something special.
The diner is just minutes from Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. If you're in the U.P., don't miss the diner or the park.
We had a mid-afternoon meal there on a Sunday in 10/07. Â The diner had been recommended to us by someone in Detroit and we'd been surprised to hear there was an authentic diner way up there by Lake Superior, but the West Bay has a great history. Â It's a real "classic", as it's a Paramount and it was built in 1949. Â After being in use in a small PA town for many years, it sat vacant in fields - in PA & NJ - for many years. Â Later it sat vacant in a field in a small town in NY and it deteriorated until it was about to be demolished. Â At that point it was bought by someone in MI and it sat in another field for awhile. Â Finally, a couple in Grand Marais bought it (by then it was mostly rotted out and a home to skunks & raccoons). Â The diner was trucked to the UP (Upper Peninsula) via the Mackinac (pronounced "Mackinaw") Bridge, back in late 1997. Â The new owners spent seven months restoring it, including making many out-of-town trips for parts and materials. Â They added a larger section onto the diner, but the transition between the original and the new is seamless. Â The new section has several tables plus the kitchen and the deli section (people call ahead to make sure their favorite items are available). Â They also sell some colorful t-shirts & sweatshirts (we each bought one of the latter) which exhibit the owners' humor. Â On the front there's a small logo with "West Bay Diner & Delicatessen est. 1949, Grand Marais MI, World Headquarters" - and on the back in small letters, it says "Hours: Open to Close". Â They were pricey, but the quality of the material is exceptionally good.
We'd been told that their pizza and (freshly homemade) cookies are delicious, and it was absolutely true. Â We ordered a veggie pizza with stuffed crust (pure "heaven"), and the cookies were also wonderful. Â The (one) server was delightful and we had a great conversation with her. Â She'd worked there for six years, starting out washing dishes during summers when she would stay with her grandparents. Â She moved up to Grand Marais from Flint after HS graduation and became the permanent server. Â All of the other patrons were "regulars" and she greeted everyone by name, also joking with them. Â Later I had an enjoyable/sometimes humorous conversation with the owners. Â The hours vary according to the season, but they're always closed on Wednesdays.
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