Off the chart. Extremely well thought out small plates. Very knowledgeable staff, pricey but well worth it, you will not find better cuisine in the Lansing area, no matter what the concept. read more

Small plate dishes are done to perfection with mostly local foods. The chefs' attention to detail is impressive and the meals are just damn creative and tasty. Staff is friendly and helpful--and with the creative menu you'll need their help. Always an enjoyable dining experience. read more

Pretty good, not amazing, but definitely the best dinner I had in Lansing. Great concept a little lacking on follow through (gloppy dressy on dandelion greens, but truly stunning cheese with strawberry combo). read more

Chose this restaurant based on the reviews here, and the good stuff is all true. The food was AMAZING! We were talking about it for the rest of the night. Doesn't look like much on the outside (and I am partial to patios) but the interior was warm and welcoming. One tip, my friend and I followed the suggested 2-3 plates each and we were stuffed at the end - suggest ordering as you go. Grind was heavenly. Highly recommend. Fresh and delicious. read more

I brought my friends who visited me to impress her but it turned out to be a huge disappointment for us. The atmosphere was nice and that's all about this restaurant. We had a burger and quiche. I guess burger was way better but you can find burger anywhere. read more

I love the farm to table cuisine at Red Haven, but bring a cushion for the very hard seats if you are even slightly arthritic. Everything is quite pricey but usually delicious. Portions look small but they are so packed with flavor, novelty, and variety that the eating experience is satisfying after you dig in and try everything. Just remember, they are closed on Mondays. read more

I will start off with some positives about Red Haven. The flavor was all there in the food and everything tasted delicious. The presentation was also on point. But the plate sizes were extremely tiny, not just small. I have been to many small plates restaurants in Chicago, New York, L.A., and Detroit so I am very familiar with small plates restaurants and what to expect, after all tapas restaurants are my favorite. At Red Haven, I received two pieces of small cauliflower which costed about $14. Are you kidding me? I can get a whole head of cauliflower for $2. Do not come to this restaurant unless you are trying to spend a lot of money and not be fully satisfied and leaving hungry. I was very disappointed because although everything tasted wonderful, it should be called extremely small plates, not just small plates. read more

Always a great time at Red Haven. Love the different menus, local foods, wait-staff and seasonality of the place.

I just went to Red Haven last night with a friend, and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening. The restaurant itself is small but well thought out and inviting. We went on a Tuesday and had a reservation which was very helpful. The restaurant was busy the entire time we were there. I recommend a reservation. The wait staff was great. Servers were very knowledgable about the menu. Now to the food...... Amazing! Everything we had was delicious. It is tapas style so more than one dish per person to share is recommended. While the menu says 2-3 dishes per person is recommended, my friend and I found this to be a bit much. Three dishes for the two of us were plenty. Portion sizes were very good. Price is very reasonable for what you get. I love that the Lansing area finally has a restaurant with a creative menu, local fare, and incredible food. read more

Absolutely wonderful! The atmosphere is cozy and personal. Soft lighting, clean line walls and rustic tables with shabby-chic settings. The farm-to-table idea works well here. The cocktails are delicious and there is a wide selection of micro brews. The food is outstanding. Service is a little awkward as the waitstaff tries to explain the menu (tapas style). The website reservation feature is convenient. One of my favorite restaurants in town! read more

The food is great, especially for Lansing/East Lansing. Unfortunately, it's a bit over priced, but that won't keep me from coming back. They had an eclectic beer selection, as well. read more

Very fun atmosphere and delicious food. We didn't completely understand how the "small plates" thing worked but the waitress explained it all perfectly. We ordered just the right amount of food. A good time if you like to share food and try everything. It was expensive however. read more

The menu is always different, delicious, and creative! Great cocktails too. It's a little bit pricy as items are tapas-style - so you need to order a few dishes for a full meal. It's definitely worth it though! Highly recommend for special occasions and out of town guests! read more

Not really sure how to rate this. The food can be absolutely amazing! Sometimes though, it is completely over salted to the point you can hardly eat it. But the real problem is customer service. It can be sadly lacking. read more

Wow! This was our first visit to the restaurant and our first experience with small plates. There were four of us and we picked out 8 dishes to share. We spent about 50/person but the food was extraordinarily good. My wife and I both agreed that this was our best restaurant experience and to think that it was in Okemos. This is a real treasure! read more

I am consistently blown away by Red Haven! I come here for happy hour at the bar (5-7pm I believe) about once a month with friends or my fiance. $5 cocktails and plates are a great way to start an evening. Lunch is also very reasonable and has an assortment of sandwiches, salads, etc that are just delicious. They usually aren't very busy for lunch, so I recommend going if you want yourself a quiet quick lunch. The service is knowledgable, without being overbearing, and I like how they use local products ... I usually have no idea what to order and let the server make the decisions for me. Some of my recent favorites have been this carrot hummus dish or venison tartare. If you have room, please do yourself a favor and get dessert. They usually seem to have some sort of housemade candy that is mind-blowing. I would say dinner can be pricey, but is worth it every time. The only criticism I have of the place is that it is sometimes a little dark during dinner time, but I'm old (haha) ! read more

Culinary adventure. Very pricey but super unique food and flavor combinations. I would take a guest out of town here if I wanted to give them an "experience" for dinner. I got the around the world or one of everything option with 12 other people the last time I went. It was a journey. read more

Great food, service, and awesome bartenders! Come in for excellent happy hour deals. The portions are very small but the food is delicious. I've only been there for happy hour but plan on coming back for dinner whenever I am in the area! read more

This gets 4 not 5 stars strictly based upon inconsistency. The risk you take with a place like this - with an ever-changing menu - is that sometimes the chef's experiments just don't turn out as well as expected. I think this is an experience issue, and expect that as time goes by the level of dish consistency will go up. But, overall, this is one of my favorite restaurants in the area. read more

Was here over the weekend recommended by the hotel I was staying at. All I can say is wow was I impressed excellent service excellent atmosphere. Only negative thing is not a lot of seating outside of that would highly suggest for a great dinner. read more

The food was amazing. As a vegetarian it's sometimes hard to find good places to eat. This is definitely one of the better ones. The menu was a little intimidating because I didn't really know what I was getting, but I just ordered based on what ingredients sounded good, and it was all delicious. I would recommend this for nicer occasions such as dates, or taking parents out to eat, or celebrating something. read more

I was SO excited to try this place, as I am big on buying local, healthy, organic food. However, while I loved the concept of this establishment, i found it very poorly executed, from the time you arrive, until the time you pay your bill. First of all the parking is very confusing, as every single parking spot has a sign telling you why you can't park there. Then, trying to figure out how to actually get into the restaurant is a challenge in itself! The door facing the parking lot is a dark, dingy corridor filled with junk. This is obviously not the main entrance. It's probably the back door to the kitchen or something, however it's confusing, and presents a bad first impression. So you think you need to walk around to the front, but there is no door. So, then you walk back and realize you have to walk through the outdoor patio to get inside the building - strange! So, even though we made reservations, we still ended up waiting about an extra 45 mins before being seated. Let me just tell you, the ambiance is far from what you would expect for the price you are paying! We had to get really close and yell just to hear each other talk - kind of like a rowdy college bar. When we sat down we made sure to tell the waitress how to split up the bills, since there were a lot of us. She said, "ok" - to which i will laugh about later...The food was ok. Some of the dishes I really liked, but others were confusing - like why, when I ordered "stuffed," did I get a fried chicken wing??? Beware, a lot of the items come deep fried, even if it doesn't state so on the menu. If you can't handle a lot of fried food, like I can't, then this is definitely not the place for you! The menu is so vague, you just really never know what you are going to get. So, at the end of the meal, the waitress gave us ONE bill. So, we simply asked her to split it up, again, to which she replied, "I can't split the bill up, but I can just divide the whole bill by 8 equal parts. Well, considering that some people ordered multiple drinks, while others ordered none, and some people only ordered 1 item, while others ordered 3-4, that just didn't make any sense. The waitress actually argued with us about it for quite a while about why she couldn't split it up (truth is she was just being lazy and didn't want to take the time to separate all the bills, which wouldn't have been that hard had she just done it in the first place). She kept stating that the computer simply wouldn't let her do it, so I asked, "So, you are telling me that your computer knows whether there are 8 people sitting at a table or whether there are only 2?" To which she replied simply, "Yes." After asking to speak to a manager she decided to just go do it. So, she came back with our bill split up - now why was that so hard? And it hardly seemed necessary to argue with the customer about it like that! To wrap up such a lovely evening, I went home and THREW UP! Maybe it was all the fried food, or maybe something worse, but I certainly won't be going back! read more

I'm a proper foodie. I know my foie gras, I can taste what region a Scotch is from, if this place was worth the price I would certainly be able to tell you. It's not. This place, like many of its ilk, is just making a trade. People who want to spend money get to do so, and they're served an ambiance designed to convince you it's worth the cost. It's just not. True tapas in Europe are often served free at the bar, basically every round you order gets a free plate. That's not Red Haven. Outside that region, tapas are ordered by plate- the wait staff make regular rounds and you just keep ordering as you want more. That's not Red Haven, either. Here, they need an ordering system snobby enough to intimidate people, so you have to order all your food at once. It's ridiculous ordering small plates ahead of time, it defeats the whole purpose, and feels more like Applebee's than fine dining. And you're not ordering oysters, or claim, or even potato skins. No, here you order hipster garbage names like [GRILL]. How exactly does one pronounce this? "Left-bracket-all-caps-grill-right-bracket"? Mediocre food, in a snotty atmosphere, designed to extract wealth from people with more cash than sense. Just serve me some freakin' tapas and keep the alcohol coming. That's what tapas is about. read more

Went with a friend and we shared 4 dishes. Each dish was very small. I had the fries and ravioli The fries were too oily. There were 3 pieces of ravioli. They tasted nice. But for 12 dollars? Nah. My friend had the chicken and cheese with figs and crackers. Two very hard crackers, the cheese was okay, but for that price I'll have a piece or Roquefort cheese any day. Two tiny pieces of chicken. That tasted good. But no folks, i think the idea is great, the food is creative, but it is not a meal. There was not a vegetable in sight. I'm European and a meal should have at least 5 veggies with it. Will not go back. They overdid it with the dishes. Too much of a good thing. And too expensive. I found it bordering on snobbish. All I basically had was very oily fries, and 3 pieces of equally greasy ravioli because of the cheese. No thanks. That is not a meal. It was not fresh because too much was done to the food to make it a unique presentation and have special flavors. Fine. But fresh? No. Don't tamper with food. read more

Very, very disappointing visit to Red Haven. Staff was not attentive. (Cheese) plate consisted of six small pieces of cheese, a teaspoon of pumpkin butter and ONE biscotti for $11. Not even enough for two people to share. (Mash) was tasty, but visually very unappetizing. Despite having reservations, we were seated in a small table by the door where we were very chilled by the cold air as people entered and left the restaurant. Bottom line, two beers, (cheese) and (mash) was almost $30. Go to Soup Spoon Cafe if you'd like great food, service and choices. read more

We thought we'd try it out so went just at opening time. At the front desk we were told there were no tables free even though there were eight or more open so we had to sit at the bar - which almost made us leave and we should have. Ravioli and bread pudding overpriced and not tasty. Servers just standing around talking to each other not actually paying attention to customers. Trendy menu approach limits your understanding of what you're actually getting to eat. There were still 4 tables open when we left. Anywhere else this restaurant would never have such a following still. read more

Red Haven isn't just a restaurant, it's a STATEMENT. At every step, from the smallest detail on the menu, to the subtle and bold flavors of the dishes, to the atmosphere and overall dining experience, it is clear that Red Haven has put thought and artistry into what they do; they push themselves to maintain a high standard every night they are open. How refreshing to see a restaurant that actually thinks about what makes a dining experience special. The fact that they are doing something NEW in East Lansing, and have a line out the door almost any given night, tells you something about the need for this type of restaurant in the area. Dining like this should be standard, not a rarity, and how amazing that Red Haven is paving the way for others to follow. The culture of East Lansing has always teetered; it seems like any time a new building is put up it's a bank, a CVS, or a chain restaurant. What this area needs more of are people with a vision for community and culture, both of which increase the standard of living and actually make people want to come to here. Red Haven is one of those rare gems that succeeds in doing this, and we're better for it. read more

The food at Red Haven is amazing, no doubt about it. However, the portions do not match the prices. For example, the $9 squash ravioli consists of three pieces. Don't give me a mason jar to drink out of as if I'm on a farm and then sell me a $3 piece of ravioli. I understand that there is a demand for fine dining in the area and that sourcing locally is a great thing, but the prices are simply not appropriate given the value of the food being served. These aren't exotic ingredients from far-flung corners of the world, it's good stuff from down the road. Local food is not a delicacy. read more

This restaurant has one good thing going for it: a good concept that is rare to the Lansing area. It is hard to find a good farm-to-table place to eat. Sadly, while it fits the trendy farm-to-table bill, I would definitely not describe it as good. The fact that Red Haven is ranked as one of the better restaurants in the greater Lansing area is a tragedy for anyone who lives in the city and enjoys a quality dining experience. To be honest, those who rave about it need to get out more. Overall, the restaurant is nothing more than mediocre, and mediocrity quickly turns into terrible when one goes out to a meal expecting something great. Let me start off by saying that I have given Red Haven two chances, and I will not go back. To start things off we waited for over 5 minutes before we were approached with water, a menu, or even a "hello" from our server. When he did show up, we ordered our drinks--a mint julep and a french 75--to which he responded with a blank stare. He left the table, and came back to tell us they could not make a mint julep, and then he asked what a french 75 is composed of. I explained it is a classic cocktail made with gin, simple syrup, lemon and sparkling wine. He returned with a gin and tonic, with vanilla simple syrup in it. The beverage was quite possibly the worst thing I have ever had. We didn't complain, but it sat on the opposite end of the table the entire night and it was never removed from the table, or the check. Because I could not drink my cocktail, we ordered a bottle of wine. Our server returned to open it at our table. His hand was poorly bandaged and bleeding (ew...don't know how/when that happened, but it was gross), and he had no idea how to open a bottle. NOTE TO MANAGER--if you are going to sell expensive bottles of wine, teach your staff how to properly open it. He nearly broke the cork, and hit the bottle to the glass at every pour. After the first pour, he forgot about the bottle and we were left to pour for ourselves the remainder of the evening. When we ordered our food, we were told that three of the things we ordered were no longer available. They did not have ANY fish. It would have been nice to know that BEFORE we made our choices. So, he watched us while we changed our minds and ordered food neither of us were particularly excited about. We shared the following: --Bake: House made breads, which were good. They were accompanied with ricotta, pesto, brown sugar butter and orange marmalade. Overall, it was satisfying. --Toss: Mizuna arugula, morels (3 very small ones), ramp dressing.The first bite of the salad was great. It had a nice flavor and the portion was larger than expected. But as we got deeper into the dish, it was very overdressed, to the point that the greens were soggy, and we were very disappointing to find only three small morels. It was mostly arugula and dressing. --Chip: This was quite good. Sweet potato chips with chili and sea salt. --Sear: Seared tofu with miso, noodles and radish. The tofu was overcooked and difficult to eat (who knew you could overcook tofu?). Otherwise, it was cold, but fine. --Rabbit: Rack of rabbit, rabbit loins and greens. The meat was cooked well, which was refreshing. However, there was far too much pepper, which took away from the quality of the meat. --Dessert: We had the lemon creme and the chocolate tart. Both of which were bad. The tart was so hard I thought I would break a tooth, nearly impossible to eat. The lemon creme tasted more like yogurt with a sprinkle of granola. Not what we were expecting. My fiance and I had the same reaction to the food, "meh...its fine for the most part, some if it was bad, nothing was exceptional". Disappointing to say the least. And--our meal cost over $150 before tip. We do not mind spending money on food, and this would not have been a difficult bill to pay had we actually enjoyed the food, or at least had good service. However, the following points of service left us with a bad taste in our mouths: --We waited far too long before we were greeted at our table --Our server had no knowledge of common, classic cocktails, and the bar claims to be a "craft cocktail bar" --He did not know how to open a bottle of wine, and did not stop to fill our glasses after the first pour --Rather than bringing new silverware between courses, the server picked up my utensils from my plate (with his bandaged hand), and put them back on the table --The server had no knowledge of the food or alcohol his restaurant carried, and even when prompted, could not get a drink order correct. When he was wrong, he made no effort to fix it. --We were frequently searching for our server who was nowhere to be found most of the night. Overall, it was less than mediocre and not worth the time or money. read more

Red Haven is underwhelming. Pretentious menus and heavy doses of hype. What was once a movement is now just marketing.

I was very excited for my dinner at Red Haven because the menu was so unique and the restaurant is Farm to Table. We started with [BAKE] which was a variety of breads that came with a variety of spreads. The cherry jam was fantastic. The pickled yum yum peppers were delicious. [BISQUE] was fantastic - a good kick at the end and very refreshing. My favorite was [BLOOM] which was a salad of cucumbers and edible flowers. The components were fresh and tasted absolutely amazing together. [PRESS] was the first main course we had and it was very tasty. The shrimp was well-seasoned. The squash blossom and masa mixture was a bit confusing but when you put all the components of the dish together in one bite, it worked. [BATTER] was recommended by the waiter and I was excited for this dish because everything fried always tastes good. Unfortunately the fish was not properly cleaned (completely covered with scales) and the seasoning was not consistent. There were pieces that were completely bland and then a few that tasted like it was fried in salt. We let the waiter know and nothing was done about it. This was really disappointing. Overall, service was great. The prices are very steep but you need to consider what you're paying for in terms of quality of ingredients. read more

Such a fun foodie destination. Farm to table meets Tapas. The pumpkin bisque shooter was to die for and my favorite dish of the night.

This is a must visit if you plan for good food at a nice restaurant with city vibe. This is something this area desperately needs! Local and fresh ingredients. The menu changes periodically. We loved the "braise", which had a wonderfully roasted? pork belly, and "carpaccio", which included fresh beets and apples. We enjoyed the "roast", which had roasted sweet potatoes, but it was a little too salty to our taste. One star was deducted due to the dessert we had. We ordered a lemon shaker pie. The lemon dressing was delicious, but the lemon stuffing and the pie crust went separate ways. What I mean is that the crust was super hard, and I could not even cut it with my knife. I had to eat the lemon stuffing and crust separately....... In spite of this small negative, we will definitely return ! read more

I had heard a lot about this place, but I was so disappointed. The waitress was rude, the food was basic and customer service terrible even from the owner. read more

Has a local culinary training program sent students here to re-create an episode of Master Chef? Let's look at what they got right. 1. Great presentation of the dishes. 2. Vegetables shine here. Wonderful flavor combinations. 3. Dessert was also a taste sensation with enough for 2 people to share. 4. Our server was quick, efficient, and very knowledgeable about each dish. What bombed? 1. Anything with meat. The rendered duck dish was so tough, barely able to saw with a steak knife and couldn't chew it. The press carnitas was so bland that the only flavor came from the herb garnish. The toast plate , a puree of chicken liver needed about 6-7 regular Triscuits to spread it on, instead of 3 paper thin compressed brioche slices that crumbled when you put the pate on. Don't ask for more because they inform you it's an extra charge. Really? The ravioli was a taste explosion and quite wonderful. But 3 small little ravioli for $10? In a former coffee shop atmosphere with mason jars filled with tap water? Want a great small plate experience in a high end restaurant with a view of the whole city and have a fantastic glass of wine for under $50? Go to Grand Rapids to Cygnus 27 on the 27th floor of the Amway Grand Plaza. It would be worth the 1 1/2 hr, drive. read more

Both my wife (a food fanatic) and I (not a fanatic but can tell the diff after many years of international travel and living in SF area, trips to NYC, etc) thought this place was great. Small tapas style portions all well done and high quality. We are from California/Berkeley which is a restaurant food paradise by American standards. This is one of the few places in the East Lansing / Okemos areas that is genuinely very good in the area. There are not a lot of very good restaurants in the midwest here (sorry for the regional slur but my opinion after perhaps being spoiled). The downside of the place is the acoustics are pretty loud so it might not be the best place for interview type discussions. It has an informal ambiance which I like also. read more

The food here is awesome. It doesn't get any better. Be sure you make reservations. I'll list my favorite dishes in order. Their menu changes so some of these aren't always on the menu. 1. MASH - Smoked Trout & Creme Fraiche surrounded by maybe panko and possibly fried. This was great because it was different and had great yet subtle flavor. 2. FRY - French fries with lemon and rosemary. Simply the best french fries you can get anywhere. 3. SEAR - Lamb rack with some sauce. The lamb was seared in such a way that it made a bit of a crust on the surface and the taste was wonderful. This was the favorite dish of everyone else in my party of 4 people. 4. RAVIOLI - Small but wonderful. 5. CARPACCIO - This had the most thinly sliced vegetables I've ever seen. If you don't like beets or squash, try it anyways. It tasted great. The finishing touch was some toasted puffed rice which made it unique and delicious. 6. TOSS - Tossed arugula and cranberries. Best salad around. 7. TERRAINE - Shrimp on a bed of something (maybe gelatin) and some sort of foam on top. This was the most visually appealing dish of all. 8. BROIL - Walleye, bacon, cream. Very good. 9. CHEESE - A selection of cheese and a bit of bread & apple butter. The cheese with cumin seeds was my favorite. A nice surprise. I didn't try everything on the menu. But everything I had 1 through 9 was simply awesome. Their mixed drinks are very good too! read more

The food was terrible, but even worse was that it was INCREDIBLY overpriced. There is no great ambience or location, either, so there is no reason not to do yourself and your wallet a favor and skip this place. read more

Way over priced for what you get. The portions are very small. We had 5 girls in our group - none of which are big girls or huge eaters - and ordered almost 10 dishes. They recommend ordering at least 2 per person. Each tiny dish is priced approx like a meal. We actually joked about stopping at a drive thru on the way home to get something to eat because there was so little to eat for 5 girls. This is not at all like ordering tapas at a great restaurant in a big city, which we all love! Would love a real tapas style restaurant in the Lansing area and priced reasonably for what you actually get. This is not the place. It is also extremely loud!! Super hard to carry on any conversation when the place is full. I've eaten here 4 times now and the experience has been consistent each time. I will say, the servers and bartenders have always been pleasant and well trained, which is the best quality that sets it apart from virtually every other restaurant in the area. read more

I was in E. Lansing for business and tried Red Haven for dinner. We loved the atmosphere. It's comfortable and bright in a good way. Our server was very knowledgeable and attentive. The food is served tapas-style. Each dish was so interesting and flavorful! I especially liked the squash blossom. We finished up with the rhubarb pie topped with ginger ice cream - delicious! read more