Woods - Mackinac Island

We loved The Woods Restaurant so much we ate there twice during our visit to Mackinac Island. The atmosphere was unique, like dining in a historic upscale lodge. We were there to celebrate a special birthday and our family of 8 raved about the food. A highlight of our trip!

I’m shocked that there are any negative comments about this restaurant. The magic starts on the carriage ride and continues with the first step inside the establishment. Our meals were excellent. We started with the wild boar meatballs, delicious. Next we shared the poached pear salad and steak soup. Both were amazing, but the steak soup was mind blowing. For mains we had the lake trout and the 6oz filet. DELICIOUS!!!! Finally we finished with the pecan ball. If we had to get rid of one selection it would be the pecan ball, but even that was yummy. 10/10 experience. Taxi was $10.50 per person each way. Food bill was $263.00 but we had 3 cocktails. 2 people in our party.

Been to the woods several times over the years, but was disappointed in this last visit. Dining experience felt rushed and our server was non communicative. Dishes seemed to appear moments after ordering and were definitely not made to order, which is something you’d wouldn’t expect at a price point like this. Could tell the dishes served were pre-prepared under a heat lamp for some time. So not tasting real fresh. Had the lemon sole (don’t recommend) and the fillet which was actually pretty phenomenal. Will think twice about eating here again on my next visit.

Fun night out for my family of 6. Great food and cool atmosphere. The price point was higher than the food warranted but the experience was cool. The taxi to and from was $60 each way. It took about 30-40 min waiting in a line for a taxi to head back to town at the end of the night which took away from the experience. The alternative would have been a 40 min walk in the rain. The beet salad was all beets and was good for a few bites then got old. The soups were awesome. The schnitzel was exceptional. One of my kids got the chicken tenders which she said were the best she had ever had (13 year old). Vegetarian options: Mushroom Ravioli was exceptional

My fiancé and I were staying at the Stonecliffe (10/10) recommend them; and decided to have dinner at The Woods. Knowing our chances of getting in on such short notice were slim, the woods staff suggested we sit at the bar and still get to enjoy the entire menu. However , when we arrived and sat at the bar it was clear that we weren’t considered actual clientele. The staff was rude and spoke down to us…when they finally decided to talk to us. My finance’ and I intended on having a lovely dinner together however after being ignored, then spoken rudely to, I told him I’d rather not spend any money toward this place and just eat the apps we had ordered and forgo dinner. I know this is not the experience within the restaurant..but seeing as I was paying the same prices it shouldn’t have changed how we were treated. My suggestion..enjoy dining at the Stonecliffe where their employees are kind. The food at the woods was delicious but I refuse to be treated like that