If you dislike bees, this is definitely not the spot for you, however, the root beer was delicious and the hot dogs were amazing. Even my picky-eater kiddo was raving on the way home. Try "The Donna" if you're a fan of Mac & Cheese. Near Oval Beach, this casual outdoor dining option stands out among others charging much more in the area for similar food that isn't nearly as good. read more

Do it! Do it! The Root Beer Barrel is an after beach must. You need to go here and check this Douglas original out!!! An architectural wonder on its own, it's also loaded with excellent root beer! Mick and the gang keep prices low, so stop by often. There's simple: the baked beans, chopped onion, and mustard side..and more complex hotdog situations...find your favorite! Kids LOVE the Barrel and adults who used to be kids adore it as well. read more

Super cute fun and vibe for families! Really fun historical, novelty building. Somewhat limited menu if you don't like hot dogs because there's many speciality hot dogs but not really anything else. Tasty food and really good root beer floats. Prepare to wait in line for a while and bring cash or checks (no cards accepted). Very nice outdoor seating and views. Plus cornhole to play while you wait. Very nice staff! read more

Perfect nostalgic lunch spot to/from the beach if you're not in a hurry. Expect a long line and wait time. But the dogs, brats and root beer will hit the spot! read more

Douglas Root Beer Barrel - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Douglas, Michigan

The owner decided to send me a note (full of grammatical errors) saying I was a "Karen" for posting an honest review review(which frankly wasn't even mean, I didn't like your food it's not personal) and admitting their food isn't good because they are a "roadside attraction". Unprofessional owner who tells paying customers things like "don't come back". Make of that what you like, but I certainly wouldn't give them any money. read more

We visited here three times in our one week vacation, so that should tell you what we thought of it! Root beer floats were delicious (go ahead and get the large) as was the brownie sundae; hot dogs good; Mac and cheese excellent. It's also the coolest ambience, a giant root beer barrel! Visited during COVID pandemic; outdoor tables cleaned in between patrons; very well spaced out; hand sanitizer available; staff and patrons wore masks. read more

With today's technology this place needs to accept a credit card payment - they will accept cash or a personal check. You can't determine if a check is good until you attempt to deposit it. A credit card tells you right away if the payment is valid. You could charge the 3% on top of your prices like most others do and not cost you any extra money by using a square. You're losing money by not accepting the most common payment method in society today. Food trucks, artists and other mobile vendors all do it. Not saying I won't return, but it helps greatly to match what is most widely offered. I would've spent $30 on my last visit. read more

So fun! Great root beer and food. Interesting history. Worth the wait. Will be back.

Great root beer and snacks after the dunes. The kids loved the root beer floats with ice cream. read more

Douglas Root Beer Barrel - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Douglas, Michigan

See all

Totally unique place and concept. No matter what, you have to stop here, if not just out of curiosity. Wonderful place to stop after a day at the beach. Although it's a commercially available brand you can buy in bottles at the supermarket, it tastes so much better straight from a keg. The ice cream float is an amazing indulgence; tons of ice cream where you still had some cold yummy clumps to eat when you where finishing the drink. They haven't thought much about the food they serve, just hot dogs or pre-made, in a large plastic container, chicken salad. Luckily we had stuff for our picky kids in a cooler. There are other canned pops or water if you don't want root beer kept really cold in a large cooler We could see that the logistic of running a little place is a challenge as they received a delivery while we were there and had to change the Root Beer Keg at the same time. This slowed down the service, but it was interesting to watch how they distributed the and stored the inventory in this little space. The Barrell is surrounded by a nice Picnic area with clean tables and umbrellas. There were some yellow jackets that were being bothersome and attracted to the sweet stickiness of root beer. All in all a pleasant experience and worth the time. If you are vacationing in Douglas/Saugatuck you have to stop here once. read more

Just happened to find this little gem due to a detour. Great little place and so unique! The root beer is great and while the hot dogs are a little pricey they are good. Nice to see that the community got involved with saving this local peculiar landmark. Well worth the visit and it is worth saving! read more

Driving home to Chicago from Mount Baldhead, came across this big barrel. We immediately stopped to check it out. We were not disappointed! The root bear floats were amazing! The Mac & Cheese was delicious. I purchased a 32 oz root beer jug to take back home. I regret not buying more. The root beer was still great after 2 days. read more

Love it! What's better after a long day at the beach? A glass of on the tap rootbeer. This place comes through with excellent rootbeer. Grab a hot dog and sit out at one of the convenient picnic tables and enjoy a beautiful Michigan day. The love that they put into restoring this nostalgic piece of history is appreciated and is a great asset to Douglas. It's only open seasonally and they wrap it up tight in the winter to ensure the integrity of the painstaking process they went through to restore it. See you next summer Root Beer Barrell! read more

I took a day trip to the beach with my girlfriend and found this super fun and cute place. We decided to get the root beer floats, solid choice if you ask me. Although the experience i had was good at first I found how welcoming this place really was when I ended up locking my keys in my car. Rookie move. The owner was very willing to help. Seeing how he was a local he knew the person to call and as we waited for help he got us a root beer on the house. I am not going to say if you show up you will get free root beer but you will get a warm welcome. On top of all that the community around the barrel were remarkably kind, I may have just came on the right day at the right time but I believe God was sending sweet people my way. So in conclusion to the paragraph review; if you ever decide to lock your keys in your car I would recommend this place. Thanks again Jim (I believe that was the "owners" name) read more

Douglas Root Beer Barrel - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Douglas, Michigan

Cool little local landmark. Operation from ordering to final pickup is a bit slow but worth it. Root beer floats and hot dogs were excellent. Had a bunch of different classics, tony dog, chicago dog and a chicken sub. All were very good. read more

Such a fun, unusual place. Great lunch stop on the way to or from both Douglas and Oval beaches. Delicious hot dogs and even better root beer floats. We can't wait to come back on our next trip. Both of our kids said this was their favorite restaurant in the area! read more

The big Barrel caught my son's eye so we had to stop. Place is fantastic. Real community effort to make this spot happen. The Hot Dogs were fantastic and I'm from Chicago so I know what I'm talking about. Mac n cheese was really good and yummy root beer floats to top it off. Really friendly here. Cash/ checks only read more

My boyfriend and I were leaving oval beach when we noticed this place. It's a giant barrel, so you can't miss it!Decided to give it a try and did not regret it one bit. Best hotdog I have ever had and the Mac n cheese was delicious as well. It was also neat learning about the history of this place. Highly recommend to stop here if you are ever in the Saugatuck area! read more

Great local spot to quench your thirst! Nothing better on a hot day than an ice cold root beer in a mug. We really enjoyed their hot dog selection and they had several unique combos. read more

The appearance and seating of this place was cute! I had a brat and potato salad with a root beer float. The float was great! It was Sprechers root beer which is common by us in Chicago but it was still delicious! My biggest disappointment was the food. The brat wasn't flavorful at all. And the peppers and onions tasted like they were boiled....also no flavor. It also had a smoky sauce which I wasn't a fan of. The potato salad had more of a thick ranch dressing on it. It was just okay. My little one had the Mac and cheese and it was very tasty! My other complaint is how they handle the orders. It's order at one window, stand in another line to hand over your ticket. And then they ask you what you want on everything or with everything. For example, on the specials, they wait for you tell them if you want fruit or potato salad. It seems like it causes so much more delay. Plus it's one person working the food hand off. It just seems inefficient. Would definitely be back for the root beer but likely not for any food. read more

Very inefficient system. Root beer was good as was the Mac n cheese but we waited nearly an hour to get root beers and a cup of Mac n cheese. 30 mins to place the order and another 30 minutes to get the food. Needs to be much more clear about how the system for food pickup works to set expectations. Food we had ordered elsewhere was cold by the time we got a few drinks and was a less than pleasant end to a wonderful vacation weekend. read more

Really good hot dogs. We caught the root beer when they were changing kegs and ours came out warm. This seems to be a new thing, so I'm giving 5 stars in hopes they'll read the review, because it could be even better. Friends that visited at a different time said the same thing--great food and root beer but service was a hot mess. Really love the charm of the barrel, and the food was good, but you may want to revisit your service process, I.e. changing kegs in a timely manner, keeping it cold (or adding ice), overall efficiency. read more

I have never left a review in my life, but after the experience here I had to download Yelp just to share how dissatisfied I was during my experience. I have never been so disrespected during a food experience. The older blondish woman who works at the Barrell was so incredibly rude to my family and I. We were visiting from several states away and weren't aware of the dynamic of the Barrell, and she continued to raise her voice and bark commands at us. I've worked in the food service industry myself, and I could never imagine being so disrespectful to a customer. DONT WORK IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY IF YOU CANT HANDLE PROPER RESPECT. Otherwise, the food was great. read more

The building is super cute and there are fun lawn games. Too bad the food was terrible and the service was even worse. The guy at the window taking orders (I assume the owner) was extremely rude. Also they only take cash or check but have no sign letting you know that. read more

first of all, their home-brewed root beer is fantastic, absolutely delicious! second of all, the owner of this business (Mick), is an awesome guy! long story short we locked our keys in our car while parked in Root Beer Barrel parking lot for two hours! Mick was helping us make phone calls, was not upset at all, and was making sure we were okay! he helped make a rough situation into a great (and memorable) experience! read more