How did I not stop before now? Stopped right after they opened on a Monday and sat at the bar. I was approached promptly by friendly staff/ bartender. Offered all menus including an Earlybird menu that offered Walleye (score!). Delicious dinner and local beer. Service was stellar and atmosphere had a cozy up north vibe. I have been coming up here for approximately 50 years, this will be a regular visit! read more

Friendly, delicious seafood with a huge variety. We were able to get steamed clams, oysters on the half shell, fried oysters and king crab legs. Everything was cooked perfectly. read more

Manitou - Salad with fried oysters - Bars Near Me - Honor, Michigan

Our first time here after driving by all these years. Very good. Our group of 5 were all happy with our food. Appetizer was white fish dip. I had the Trawler & my hubby had crab stuffed white fish excellent. I enjoyed the Augratin potatoes as side with house salad. Macey was an excellent server. Different rooms were interesting. We were inside on the too Called the porch. read more

A great little restaurant, but overall not worth the price. We stopped in for the early bird special and I'm glad we did because the food was not anything impressive, would have been disappointed paying $30 for the same perch dinner at full price. We also ordered the Delmonico steak on special for $50 and crab stuffed salmon for $24. The fried oyster appetizer was amazing, I highly recommend that! However, the food was average and the bill was outrageous. read more

Manitou - Crab stuffed salmon pinwheel - Bars Near Me - Honor, Michigan

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Went to restaurant on a Monday night. Made a reservation in advance. Was sat promptly at reservation time. At a table for 2 in a extremely noisy area , could not even speak to other person at table. Told server, did a great job and moved us to new table outside. From new table took 1 hour and 40 mins on a Monday to get 2 meals. When food arrived whitefish was awful was so thin tasted and looked like whitefish skin with too much seasoning and a baked potato that was dark and shriveled like it was under a warming light for a long time. Was not worth the $35 a meal, did not eat it. Walked away once server put it on table. Will never go back. Went back home made a pbj tasted soo much better than what we were served. Additionally server shared she has to beg for her orders to be filled. I hope they support all of their staff equally so they don't get stiffed on tips. Dont go to this place!! Unless you want to pay for seasoned whitefish skin and wait 2 hours for food on a Monday!!! read more

My family of 4 had a reservation for a Wednesday at 7:30 and were seated after a 10-15 min wait. We had fish and chips, steak, trout, and whitefish (sides of baked potato and carrot bisque), along with one glass of wine, coffee, a slice of key lime and a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. Cost was about $160 without tip. They also charge a fee for using a credit card. I wish the food was better because it was just solidly average and uninspired. Even my son who loves most steak thought the steak was lackluster. Nothing was bad, just average. I may have been more disappointed in the dessert which tasted similar to something out of the supermarket freezer aisle (pie seemed recently and not fully defrosted). Service was good. read more

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Stayed on Long Lake near enough to this place to walk. The exterior is very cute. Whoever puts together their flower boxes deserves some serious credit and maybe a bonus. :) We had a large party here and the service was excellent. Food I recall people ordering: - oysters on the half shell - battered fish fry - the trawler - crab-stuffed whitefish - crab legs - frog legs - spinach artichoke dip - key lime pie - strawberry rhubarb pie Several people remarked how good the whitefish, fried fish, and frog legs were, so those are solid choices. The oysters were fresh and enjoyed by all. My key lime pie's crust was pretty hard but had good flavor, and the filling was everything you could ask for. Strawberry rhubarb pie was solid, classic. The reason for reducing one star was the cost. We're used to shelling out money to dine out, and the food here was definitely good, but it doesn't justify the prices. No surprises or particular creativity here. I guess the proximity to the dunes as a high-end place allows them to charge what they do, but in my opinion it's not really worth it. read more

Located in the middle of basically nowhere. Make sure you make a reservation. The atmosphere is woodsy! I'm pretty sure the converted an old wood cabin/house into the restaurant! The eating area is very compartmized like house were in the past. There is wood everywhere, but it works here creating a warm if dark atmosphere! Lots of older knick knacks on the wall. I ordered the M-22 Grill (Market ($28)). A Sirloin Steak marinated in a sweet and savory sauce. I ordered mine medium with Potatoes au Gratin and a Garden Salad. When I sat down the put a bowl down with some slices of cucumber, celery, radish, and carrots with blue cheese dressing. I normally don't care much for these, however maybe it was the blue cheese but I really enjoyed them. The steak came thinly sliced. It was very tender and excellently tasty! For an affordable steak it was top notch. The salad was excellent too. The Au Gratin potatoes were very good, complex potatoes. There was bread too, that was only okay. A little too hard. I prefer very soft bread! The service was good considering they were getting slammed. One small mistake with the salad dressing, but no big deal. Overall a 5 star review. Would I return? Absolutely! Lastly their parking lot is way too small. People have to park along country highway M22. That seems very dangerous when there's so much land around it. read more

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I have been coming to the Manitou for decades at this point, I think I first visited in 1999? I live out of state now. But made a trip up north again for the 4th. I think it may have been 9 or 10 years between trips but this place is still the same. Amazing. The restaurant is kind of like a converted cabin with some awesome decor, the vibe is immaculate. Tucked into the woods. Everyone is very friendly. It was easy to make a reservation just call at some point that same day and they will work with you to get you in. I have dreams about their fried whitefish, and it did not disappoint. It is just as good as I remember it all these years later. I would happily pay $100, $200 for a plate of it. I don't know what voodoo magic they practice to get it to taste the way it does, but it's crispy on the outside, succulent in the middle, the tartar sauce puts it over the edge. I'm hesitant to even write this review because part of me wants to gatekeep it but anyone who writes less than a 5 star review clearly didn't have the whitefish. If you are looking for something cheap then go get a hotdog at 7-11 or something, I don't know what to tell you. The prices are not outrageous but you get what you pay for. It was $80, $100 with tip for two and some drinks for my girlfriend. You're on vacation, enjoy yourself and get the whitefish. read more

Manitou - Fried Whitefish - Bars Near Me - Honor, Michigan

The Fried oysters were fantastic. Had the Nutty Trout for an entree. It was pan sauted with a pecan crust and lemon butter. It was phenomenal! read more

The staff, cabin atmosphere and food are always wonderful here! Pictured is a basket of skinny dippers (garlic salted potato skins) and craft cocktails. read more

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Every meal here has been amazing. Highly recommend reservations in summer. Wish they stayed open longer in winter...

Fantastic Place - great staff - outstanding Food One of our Favorites A Northern Michigan Classic read more

Dinner sitting at the Manitou bar tonight. Fun and friendly atmosphere in the bar room, with quick and efficient service. Great conversation with friends and neighbors. I had sautéed perch with green beans and the Northwoods salad. The perch was lightly breaded and very tasty, beans were fresh and crisp. The salad is a favorite with dried fruit, goat cheese and a light balsamic. The Queen had a Delmonico, medium, done as ordered with a nice tarragon butter, the Northwoods salad and a deep red wine. We also shared Key Lime pie. For me, their Perch and White Fish are some of the best around (I've not had their Walleye, yet). The steaks are good, but I will always recommend the Perch, Walleye or White Fish. Nice dinner, as we'd expect at the Manitou. Fun night read more

We always have had wonderful meals here. The folks that work here are very friendly and helpful, and the menu choices are great: everything from steaks to seafood to salads. Be aware that this is not an inexpensive meal but a great change from the other "vacation" restaurants in the area. The restaurant is right there on M22 so very accessible with just a short drive from "major locations" in the area. But the parking can be a little challenging. Their parking lot is small so a lot of people end up parking on the shoulder of M22. This says a lot about the popularity of the place. Reservations are strongly recommended. read more

Our party of four was seated inside promptly at the time of our reservation. This was a Sunday evening during the prime vacation season (July/August) so the place was hopping and the noise level inside is quite high. Next time I think we would ask for an outside table. The hostess and waitress were both professional and very pleasant. The food and drinks arrived quickly. Our party enjoyed the perch, halibut, chicken sandwich and fried oyster & shrimp entrees. The green bean side was the clear winner among all the various items. The entrees themselves were fine but nothing outstanding. Nonetheless, in a family-oriented resort area, outstanding dining opportunities are hard to find. While not outstanding, I would recommend this place as a solid choice in this area of Michigan. read more

My wife and I went here while staying at our cottage on Crystal Lake. Excellent restaurant...service was superior...as was the food. I really like that they had fresh lake fish available on the menu. read more

Terrible food a service was horrendous. They say fine dining, but use paper, napkins, place is a joke. read more

Manitou - Table setting - Bars Near Me - Honor, Michigan

We enjoyed our first visit to Manitou. Harrison was a friendly, attentive & knowledgeable Server. Four of us ordered four different entrees and everyone was impressed and happy with their selection. While the presentation is average, the flavors are delicious. We'll be back. read more

been coming here for 25 years, so know what to expect. Decor, service and menu don't change much but the prices have sky-rocketed! $36.95 for perch dinner consisting of 7 filets (3 1/2 perch). Mind you it is tasty sautéed with no garlic, but $$$$ read more

Manitou - perch dinner with 10 beans - Bars Near Me - Honor, Michigan

Possibly the worst place we have ever eaten. We were expecting so much more, based on all the reviews, but our experience was horrible. It started with the steamed clams that tasted like rubber bands. We had to spit them out. Then I had the perch, which was like dry fish sticks with no flavor. My wife had some fish combo plate that the server recommended, and it was a flavorless mush. Then we had key lime pie and it was a frozen goo. We returned to our room and vomited. Would not recommended. At $100+ per person, we expected better quality. read more

Incorrect orders, waitress said she forgot about our order and owners only response was that it's the busy season, as if those isn't the busy season in every vacation destination, yet other establishments are more than capable of handling the crowd(and money) that comes with it read more

Went here as we had planned on going to Dinghy's but they were closed! (What restaurant closes at 5p on a Sunday in October?!?!) Was so bummed as we were craving a couple things there. Well, we ended up here as a couple of my friends that I was with had been here before and said it was really good. They are deserving of a strong 4.5, so I rounded up! I had the whitefish and a side salad which was tasty. My friend had the salmon and that was even better! (Tasted it and wish I would've ordered that). Good service and very cute decor! Beautiful surroundings also. Thinking it would be a cool place to be with snow falling all around you too! read more

An extremely special gem of a dining experience. OMG! The white fish perch and scallops are to die for. The woodsy ambience is charming and delightful. The sweet potato fries were served so crisp and hot the "crunched"! We had a Michigan white wine that was fabulous. And the service was absolutely fabulous. As a world traveler, I must say The Manitou is a "must" dining experience for anyone visiting this gorgeous corner of the world! read more

This is by far the best place to eat in the Frankfort area hands down. Excellent service, great drinks and PERFECT perch and whitefish dinners! Amen. They do a great job with your safety (and return your credit card when you leave it behind)! Highly recommend and we made reservations BTW. read more

Manitou - Bars Near Me - Honor, Michigan

Obsessed. It's amazing. The trawler is best value in all of northern Michigan. Doug and Jared always say hello when we come in. Can't go wrong - everything is delicious, and consistently at that. Great drinks, great food, great servers, always. Literally can't find a complaint with food ever. My one wish would be a better system of making reservations! Would be amazing if you could select what room you'd prefer to be in (my dad has a hard time hearing in some of the louder rooms). They try to do their best when I ask about this on the phone but not a guarantee. read more

Very disappointed. The fish was just dripping in grease. Will have to think twice about going back.

One of my all time favorite restaurant for frog legs in this area! The food is always excellent! They are quite busy during summer and recommend calling to reserve seating. Great seafood and customer service. Highly recommend! read more

Second time we stopped there and both time were great. Wait staff is attentive and friendly, food was fantastic. I suggest the prime rib on Saturday! We will be back. read more

Response to Owner: Thank you very much for responding to my post here. I do appreciate it. I think, unfortunately, this was a lesson in communication for everyone - Self included. I did call on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at 5:29pm and I know I asked to be seated outside. I may have said the word "patio" which could have confused the hostess I spoke with that day. But I know I asked to be outside. I wish that would have been clarified with me about the indoor patio vs outdoor patio seating. Or the person who took the reservation could have just accidentally written it down incorrectly. Mistakes do happen - it is what it is. I understand the hostess on Friday is young and it was a difficult situation. Instead of giving us an attitude and being immediately annoyed, I wish she had tried to help us problem solve. But again, we were sent a message that we could either eat somewhere that doesn't feel safe/comfortable, get our order to go, come back two hours later at 8:30pm, or go somewhere else... that was 100% the message that the hostess sent and after she made that quite clear we were about to ask her a question and she turned away, ignored us, and helped another customer. The table I mentioned was empty until about 15 minutes before we left when someone did take the chairs to be used elsewhere, but that sent a pretty clear message as well: our comfort was not taken into account in any way. This situation could have been problem solved and I wish that instead of being made to feel like it was our fault (which it was not since I asked to be seated outside) that someone would have helped us brainstorm a better solution. As you can see from my first review, we really love The Manitou. We will be back for sure. We were just so disappointed by the lack of respect, kindness, and understanding from the hostess. But! We have never had a bad experience with any of the wait staff! They are wonderful! UPDATE: RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL HOSTESS My husband and I went on a date night here tonight (July 31, 2020). I called to make our reservations for an outside table two days prior to going. Asked for outdoor seating because of COVID and I'm 6 months pregnant. When we got to the restaurant, we gave our name to the hostess who got two menus and started to walk inside. I told her no, we had an outdoor reservation. When she looked at the book she said "No. we have you for an indoor patio table" and I said "No. I made an outdoor reservation". She then told us that either we can sit in the enclosed patio (with a party of 8 coming to sit in that same area) or we could wait until 8:30 since the patio was "completely booked". And I said "yes and one of those bookings is ours." We were told that there was absolutely nothing that this incredibly rude hostess could do to help us. Long and frustrating story short, we opted for the indoor patio and asked them to move the table for the party of 8 as far away from us as possible which our waitress was kind enough to do. But the interesting thing is that the hostess LIED to us. There was a table outside that was never used right outside the enclosed patio. Not one person sat there the entire time we I think the worst and most disappointing part was that the owner overheard the situation and did nothing but drink his drink and walk away. We will be back but as a local, I'm just so, so disappointed with how disrespected we were by this little girl hostess who was 100% in the wrong. You do not navigate customers by basically saying "either eat somewhere that makes you feel completely uncomfortable/unsafe or come back in two hours...". Fortunately our waitress, Bailey, was wonderful and more than made up for the utter disrespect from the front of the house. Thank you, Bailey! -------- This place is awesome! I love going to the Manitou! Keenan's and Joe's reviews are ridiculous. This is up north dining, folks! The place is old, but it's a comfortable atmosphere and it's clean. The food is also really good! I've never had a bad meal here. Ever. All the servers we have ever had has been so kind and the owner is very nice. He even got us a table an hour ahead of our reservation on a super busy night this past summer! It would be fun to see the manitou updated a bit in terms of maximizing the space they have. And I wish they were open year round instead of shutting down in winter. Overall, though, always pleased with our experiences read more

This is a very cute up north restaurant. Definitely looks like a cabin in the woods. We were there on a Saturday night and it was very busy. The decor inside has mounted fish and wildlife. The drink menu was extensive. I had a Pimm's cup which is not common to find. We all had fish and chips and it was really good. The house salad is loaded with vegetables. For dessert we had baklava cheesecake and it was delicious. I would definitely come back! read more

Walleye was excellent, not a fan of pecan crusted trout. Service outstanding! Smoked whitefish dip was excellent too read more

Menu has everything listed as market price except a few items. Just a bar with no ambiance. Fish was heavily battered and no better than a restaurant charging far less. $24 for 2 porkchops with all the fat cut off. The only flavor was the large amount of pepper on them. Their specials ranged from $22 to $42. The waitress was friendly and knowledgeable. The food was sub par and way overpriced. I have had much better food at lower prices in places that actually had very nice ambiance, cloth napkins and table cloths. Very disappointing. Find somewhere else if you want to spend a lot of money and walk away satisfied. This won't fill the bill for you. read more

We are here on vaca like 90% of the people here. Wanted something really good. Tired of bar food.. drove 20min to get here.. tried the frog legs.. super good ... we got the nutty trout and the most expensive thing on the menu.. the duck.. both were underwhelming... fish lacked seasonings and duck had zero flavor without dipping in cherry sauce which I was hoping to avoid.. wanted it to be good soo much.. we had looked forward to this meal.. ! 160$ bill! Service was good and friendly staff. read more

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Sort these reviews by lowest, and you will get a real glimpse of what this restaurant is about. Extremely overpriced bland food with horrible service and an owner who couldn't care less about their customers satisfaction. Avoid like the plague. read more

We had a great experience. Our onion ring appetizer had the perfect crunch. The Caesar salad had the right amount of dressing and the chicken curry soup was so good! The perch was perfectly battered and cooked. The ribs were tender and delicious. Carrie's service was on point and we will definitely be back. read more

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Getting scared away from Traverse City by the $300 hotels turned out to be a good thing, as this delightful restaurant would be a bit out of my normal northern Michigan radius. And normally, the only way I'd set foot in a restaurant during "early bird" dinner time is by pretending it's lunch (hat tip to Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Talented Mr. Ripley.") But the 4:30-6 deals here are excellent, categorized as smaller portions but decent-sized by my difficult standards. The waitress was excellent. I take out-of-town food seriously, some would say too much so, and she helped narrow down the choices. I had the sauteed perch, which was a good, garlicky preparation that treated these small fish with respect instead of overpowering them with batter. I enjoyed the asparagus and cheese soup and the potatoes au gratin. I'll get on the blueberry/raspberry pie bandwagon too. The only flaw was that the iced tea was on the dark side instead of the golden ideal. The decor was very woodsy. read more

I absolutely LOVE this place! Every single time we are able to eat here I do! I have never been disappointed! Great staff and great food!!! Thank you! read more

The Manitou is another small and out of the way primarily seafood restaurant nestled in the trees on Scenic Highway 31 near the entrance to Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. The seafood offerings rival the finest places in far larger cities and also include northern Michigan favorites such as walleye and whitefish. Their specials are truly special; so listen closely when the server reads them to you. The au gratin potato side dish is a personal favorite of mine, but they usually have at least two vegetable sides to choose from. There is an exceptional wine and beer selection featuring local wineries and breweries. It's a small place and the word is getting around, so be sure to call ahead at least a day beforehand for a table. Even with reservations it's likely that you will have to wait for a table, so why not have a seat on their patio and order an appetizer and a drink? read more

I very much so want to love this place and want to be excited to go back! But it could use some improvements to food/dining stuff to get me (us) there. The biggest thing to conclude before dining at this great little spot is that it's far from fine dining. I'd go for a beer and a burger (if I ate bovine)! It's kind of like a deliverance-type restaurant --of which the reference is not meant to be taken literally, there are just a lot a lot of undusted dead animals on the walls - visually entertaining but a little over the top obsessive about dead things. Food -- starts off with a little snack served, celery and ranch dressing like an elementary school cafeteria - very strange but did get me a bit nostalgic for Glen Lake school's lunch line. The bread was good but was served with plastic packages of butter like we were on a airline flight in the 90s. The house salad was super unexciting (not that salads have to be exciting but come on, you're selling a salad make it into something .. I'm not going to go into it..), lettuce, a couple tomatoes, a couple slices of cucumber. The side "vegetable option" with an entree was literally a pile of steamed broccoli (no actual preparation otherwise)., this could be advertised as a "RAW option : ). The fish was great in that it was in fact a nice price of trout on a plate but so over seasoned all I could taste was salt/butter (there was a huge pile of almost melted butter on my trout, poor fish never saw it coming). They may have served water/ drinks in plastic cups - not 100% sure but this may have been the case - just trying to help set your expectations. Environment-- Looks like it might have a great outside patio but we were there in dead of winter. Some nice fires blasting out front of the entrance! Unfortunately we were seated in a back room of the restaurant. Not sure why since it was nearly empty - our mistake for not letting them know we actually were coming out to eat to be in a social environment and not there for privacy! The front bar area looks much nicer than the back room (maybe an old bedroom?) and there were a few other groups out there. In the back room there were more dead animals on walls than diners (which was funny and we enjoyed (in ha-ha funny way for us, not the trophy animals)). There was 1, maybe two large TVs in the room (e.g. not fine dining atmosphere), that were for some reason left on without the source connected so there was a Tv brand label on the screen slowly bouncing around from side to upper side to bottom side to alllllmost into the corner, back to side - very entertaining ping pong battle but confusing as to why on earth there would be TVs in there and more confused as to why they'd be left half on to distract me from my butter fish. Upon leaving and graciously thanking our lovely waiter, I noticed that there was another yet side room where some people were eating, I don't know what's in that room but probably some more animals frozen in time and TV pong. If visiting, ask to sit up front. With that, I get that it's northern Michigan, and that it probably has had the same owners/menu for 100 years but it could use some sprucing up/recipe help! Don't take this review the wrong way. GO there, eat buttery fish and get weird, tip well, get them some profit to reinvest in the place! There aren't a lot of spots like this left. read more

Manitou - Bars Near Me - Honor, Michigan

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