We are on a family vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This included my daughter in law…read moreand granddaughter visiting the area for the first time in their lives. We wanted to visit Escanaba to see a beach, at Ludington Park, and a view of Lake Michigan, more or less (of the bay). We wanted to find a nice, casual dining place for 5 adults and our five year old.
My son looked online and suggested Hereford and Hops. They seemed to have a good variety of food and a location less than a mile from the park.
When you walk in the sign asks you to wait to be seated. Our server greeted us and took us to our table. She took the beverage order and made sure the child beverage had a lid to it. The menu has a variety of options, including appetizers, dinner salads, pizza, pasta, and entrees and daily specials. It was Wednesday and the special was a half rack of BBQ ribs and a potato. They had fish and seafood options, and my wife and I chose breaded shrimp. My Daughter in law wanted the BLT with a side of in-house homemade potato chips and a dish of French onion dip. My granddaughter requested the children's burger and fries. All of the entrees came with a choice of garden or Caesar salad. I believe all of the dressing and sauces were made in-house. We also ordered fried cheese curds, with marinara, and potato skins.
Once the order was placed, it felt like we were waiting for the appetizers for awhile. One son said, I hope they don't just bring everything at once. But the appetizers did arrive first and they were very good. The salad I ordered was the Caesar. It was chopped Romaine, shredded parmesan, and croutons. Our server said that the croutons were made in-house, and so was my wife's Ranch dressing, so I assume they made the Caesar dressing, too. The point is making items from scratch suggests either unique flavor or fresh quality. The croutons were toasted bread, the size of game dice, with no seasonings I could see or taste. The Caesar dressing lacked the tangy flavor of bottled dressing. My romaine lettuce was chopped okay but some of the ends were a little brown. I was glad I passed on the Chicken Caesar entree salad. My wife said her garden salad and ranch dressing was very good. It had other greens and no romaine.
The entrees were all very good. The rib dinners were, reportedly, cooked perfectly. One person felt the sauce was perfect, the other said it tasted great but there was too much of it. My wife and I had breaded shrimp. Again, I assume they made the cocktail sauce in-house. And we both had the same reaction, which was it tasted great but somehow had no coating quality on the shrimp. I dipped mine and it came up looking like it was dripping tomato juice, but tasted great. My Daughter in law loved the BLT, and the taste of the homemade potato chips. She thought they were cut a little thick, but shared with everyone else, who thought they were fine. Everyone raved about the onion dip.
We had a great meal, pleasant service, even if it felt a little slow at the start. I suggest you try H &H if you're in the mood for good food, casual atmosphere and reasonable prices.
