Blake’s Ciderhouse & Winery

Great atmosphere for all ages! Relaxed with great wine flights! The staff were nice and gave great food and wine suggestions based on your taste.

This is one of my favorite spots to go! When they first started, it may have been a bit chaotic there as some reviews have stated. However, they have found their footing very quickly!
I go probably once a week. It may not be a restaurant, but the food that they have is great! Especially the pretzels with El Chavo cheese sauce, cheese curds with jalapeño ranch, and bbq chicken flatbread pizza! Also, they will run specials of new things like sliders etc. to see what people will be interested in, before adding it to the menu. They really care about what people want, and are always eager to get you a free sample of any ciders on tap before you order a glass! They are pretty reasonably priced, and the quality is very good. They also have seasonal ciders on tap like the Diva, which is a pomegranate hard cider… can you say, yum?! All in all, it can get pretty crowded in there on weekends at night, but it is worth it. Nice atmosphere, refreshing drinks, awesome food and great people working there. 5 stars from me.

We visited from out of town and some family took us here. We are now hooked on the great atmosphere and quality hard cider!

We stopped in for some cider and donuts. We have been here before and really enjoy their hard cider.
We ordered a couple ciders and flatbread after standing in line at the bar. Took us a few minutes to find an empty seat. The whole operation is confusing and odd. They really should look into hiring a few waitresses and train the staff to run it like a traditional restaurant.
The flatbread was good, that I would give 4 stars. But the bad service and odd set up, is just no good.

Very nice place to spend the day. good cider and donuts Funland is good to only reason they lost one stars because they have terrible customer service at their fun land lady at entrance gate is very rude did not know how to treat people other than that place is fun and very busy.

I visited this place today. very nice interior, great selection if ciders and wine. will back!

I just want to start off saying me and my friends are very patient and understanding when a place is busy because we have been in the industry for a long time. Last year when we visited blakes we had a nice time but it took an extremely long time for some apps we figured it was because it was new. Last night we visited blakes for the first time this fall season and sadly our experience was worse. They really just don’t know how to properly run the place. When I arrived all the tables were full so I asked the woman at the hostess stand to put my name in she said oh no I’m just here to tell people where the line is to order drinks for here or to go… ok so basically everyone hovers around tables of people who they think is going to leave. Then when we do get a table everyone around us is being waited on so we ask a server for a food menu she drops it off and never comes back we tried asking another but got ignored. Do again we are like ok whatever we will get in line we order a spin dip Abe a flatbread. After over an hour people who arrived after us start getting there food which is irritating but we wait a little longer also at this point there is a line out the door and we would like refills but that would take 35min or more. After an hour and twenty min I go to the bar explain the situation and the bartender is kind of rude like what do you want a refund? No we’ve waited a long time we’re hungry a drink would be nice and she gives us on and tells us they are now out of the flatbread we ordered now. It was pretty upsetting but we chose to get another kind after 20 minutes we got our food and it was good but not worth the wait. The issue they have is they have no ticket order the bartenders wander aimlessly around table to table asking if they ordered the food because they give numbered stands to people that don’t match the ticket number so I’m assuming someone else claimed our food. They let as many people in as possible abed there is no way to keep track of who got what first and it’s frustrating. I think if they hired more staff like a hostess and servers for every table it would be a more enjoyable experience. Lastly, they took the draft be selection down to about half of what it was the previous year. I enjoyed the wine, cider, and food but they really need some better organization to keep people leaving happy.

Had a ton of fun here trying all of the flights and food. The wines were decent but not great, although they had a super sweet dessert wine we all liked. The ciders were good but again, not fantastic although a few sounded promising. Service was solid and the food (wings, meat and cheese plate, salad) was all tasty and fresh.

I am definitely a fan of this place. The atmosphere is incredible and they have a great selection of Hard Ciders & Wines. My personal favorite is the Wakefire or Wisteria (Lavender infused).
For being a Cider Bar you wouldn’t expect them to have great food, but they do! Their BBQ Chicken pizza is SO GOOD. I literally crave it all the time.
The wait staff is super friendly and helpful.
Overall this place is a solid 10. Go there. You won’t be disappointed.

Over priced on drinks. Slow wait staff. Good products, nice building. Will return in hopes of better service!

My experience was one of the Cider house /​Winery at 11am on a Saturday. We were some of the first people in the place, so ordering at the bar and finding a nice table by the door was easy.
There was 5 in our group, I like the round tables and the place is very conducive to groups. I understood this wasn’t a restaurant, and to sober up post cider I enjoyed an italian sausage, or three, over in the café.
We sampled every cider they had on hand. The Lavender infused one tasted like a bar of soap, and I thought was awful. It was here at Blakes I was able to taste a progression of cider starting with dry, all the way up to sweet. There was a limited edition mix that was very good, but overall the El Chavo stole the show with it’s infused habanero. What a combo!
Overall love the décor, and Blakes ‘campus’ as I call it has something for everyone. Was a great day at the farm!

The best cider in Michigan hands down. The selection they have on tap is great. I love the autumn apple and the hopped cider. Their donuts are a great addition to the cider.
They have a small store next to the bar that sells canned goods. I got the pepper jam which is great, and the hot pickled eggs also amazing. They have a good variety of spreads and pickled goods.

This place has come a long way from last year. When I came before there was only seating at the bar and no tables and also no food menu.
I came today and was impressed with how much they have done but disappointed with everything else. It’s incredibly disorganized and they don’t have enough staff for how busy they are. This is the first time we got food and I was very disappointed. I got the margherita pizza and it was all pizza sauce with barely any Parmesan and literally three flakes of basil. I asked the waitress for a side of basil to put more on there and she said she will see what she can do. I saw her come back towards us a few time but didn’t bring the basil. I ended up asking her about 15 min later and she said they were out and that’s why our pizza barely had any… This is just bad customer service, she could have at least told us prior to bringing it out or don’t make us pay the full $ 10 for it.
However, their cider beers don’t disappoint! But they definitely have work to do, get more staff and make it more organized.

4 stars for the ambiance and customer service. Otherwise, not too impressed with the cider/​wine. The wine was, unfortunately, not very flavorful and extremely sweet. The ciders were hit-​or-​miss – some flavors being extremely potent and others quite tasty. I believe this is a new addition to Blake’s, so they may still be catching their stride. However, for a family outing with kids, who wouldn’t want to liven things up with some adult beverages?

This place is awesome.
I’ve been to Blake’s a number of times, but the Ciderhouse popped up by surprise. I live in Detroit, and have been seeing their cider get distributed at a bunch of hipster Downtown locations, so I gave it a try; the product itself beats the pants of any competitors. Period. Way better than Angry Orchard.
Decided to check out the Ciderhouse because of this. If you’re familiar with Blake’s you know that yes, it is in fact a farm, but it’s one with an incredible of amount of things to do and see. The character of this place (and the Ciderhouse) can’t be beat, but know what you’re getting into. If you want to impress a date with something new and off the beaten track, this would be my play (but it’s not for he «always-​wears-​heels» or «white table cloth» types).
The Ciderhouse itself is stunningly beautiful, and all the food is great; you’re going to find 5 different new and experimental cider variations, and a variety of snacks (flat breads, hummus, breadsticks, etc.). Not a standard «dinner» spot in that sense, so again, know what you’re selecting.
Staff is friendly, owner is usually behind the bar and moseying about, outdoor patio is beautiful and always has a fire going in the fall, etc. The complaints I see are about service and bridal parties etc.; can’t really speak to those because I usually just go with a few friends. But the place is built to be casual, grab a flight of ciders at the bar, and go enjoy yourself; ain’t your typical Birmingham winery!
A+ to Blake’s for making something special and different; I love Detroit for that reason, and it looks like you’re taking the vibe and bringing it north. Hats off!

I love the way it looks in here, and they have a nice variety of ciders. My favorites were the catawampus, flannel mouth, and frostafarian. The wisteria was very good also. Go on Thursdays, they have half off drinks after 12 and it wasn’t very busy during the day (It did pick up later in the evening).

If I could use half stars, I would give this place a 3.5, but because it leans on the better rather than the worse, I gave it 4.
I was very impressed with Blake’s recent additions. It’s a very nice looking space. We tried out the ciders in the tasting room, and while 2 out of the 6 we tried we’re pretty good, it seemed as though the brew master here didn’t know when to leave well enough alone — there are several ciders tinted with other fruit flavors, and their best cider — Autumn Apple — is evidently due to be spiced. This really bothered me as I felt that both the Autumn Apple and the Frostifarian (not a great name for a cider) were good enough to contend with some of my favorite french ciders. Unfortunately, I feel like this place isn’t marketing to the clientele that would appreciate such potential refinement, and are instead polluting what would otherwise be a very good product.
I was also pretty disappointed by the food menu — flat breads and hummus plates!!! Is someone going around and telling new wineries to make these the mandatory mainstays of the menu? I swear every new winery I go to is just elated to serve me flat bread and hummus! You could get any kind of cheese — good local ones at that — you could serve local bread, you could cultivate a Michigan-​centic gourmet menu… but flat bread… uggghhhh. Blake’s has a lot of potential, and the cider is pretty good (a little over priced, but good), but i’m likely not going to return, at least not until i’ve heard the management and cider makers have done some international travel and research on what other top notch cideries are doing to satisfy their audiences.

Gorgeous facility and good food & drink, but incredibly disorganized and understaffed!
We came in around 1pm on a recent weekend hoping to enjoy some cider and appetizers. It wasn’t clear from any signs whether patrons were supposed to seat themselves, but we did. We chatted a bit, and by the time 15 – 20 minutes had passed, we realized we hadn’t yet spoken with a waiter. Compounding the confusion was the fact that there were no food or drink menus anywhere in sight.
After walking back from the restroom, I noticed some tables had multiple food and drink menus, so I asked if I could use some. This was awkward and I hated having to interrupt groups of strangers, and the bar was incredibly busy, so it was unlikely we could’ve gotten menus any easier. We soon deduced that even though all the waiters were moving about the dining floor, maybe we had to place our orders at the bar, since they all seemed to be using the registers there.
I went up to the very crowded bar to place our order, and waited a few minutes before I could attract a waiter’s attention. We ordered (& I paid for at that point) two regular cold ciders, a flight of three hard ciders, a cheese plate and a bruschetta appetizer. The three drinks were served immediately while I waited there, and they were delicious! I loved the Golden Delicious hard cider – amazing.
The waiter with whom I spoke told us that the food would be out in about 20 minutes and that she’d find us, so I went back to the table. We again waited, this time about an hour, while we watched multiple waiters pass us by and seemingly confuse which tables were supposed to get which dishes. As the waiters set the food down, patrons shook their heads «no,» and the waiters picked the food up and took it to the next table.
The food eventually arrived at an appropriate temperature, however, and was very fresh and good, though I wouldn’t say nearly worth the wait.
Two things are worth mentioning, however: the décor is really cool (very rustic; a lot of natural elements), and there is a store – very much like the Blake’s on North Ave, with specialty foods and fresh fruit, veggies, and baked goods – attached to the restaurant, which can be accessed inside by walking past the restrooms.
All told, I think this establishment could drastically improve by becoming more patron-​friendly: add signs instructing people what to do (i.e. «seat yourself; order at the bar»), and maybe add table service so that the bar isn’t so crazy crowded when patrons just want to place their orders – there’s no rhyme or reason to it at present, and it just seems like complete chaos. Unfortunately, the frustration of the experience overall overshadowed the enjoyment of the cider and food for me.

A good friend of my mine suggested we did something outside of the city — I didn’t know it was going to be this far out of the city limits but i’m glad I did. This place is very peaceful and relaxing; we enjoyed 2hrs of chatting on the patio and getting served by a nice waitress. Since this place is winery; it’s a little higher than your normal bar spot but great selection to try from and they also have cider for your little ones so they don’t feel left out. Lol! When the weather gets a little cooler, don’t worry — they have an inside real fire pit and with plenty of chairs at a safe distance. If you never been out here, then should be one of the places thats one your last.
Also they have fruit picking — when i was there it was strawberry season. (Yummy)

I’ve been looking forward to visiting Blake’s Ciderhouse ever since I heard about it. I finally made my way there — and was not disappointed! The new Ciderhouse building is tucked behind the cider mill and it’s just beautiful with a warm and comfortable décor. A huge fireplace centers the space and there is a lot of cozy seating.
We got there early on a Friday night and it wasn’t very busy, but by the time we left it had filled up nicely. We sat at the bar and were greeted by Tim, who is friendly and knowledgable about the assortment of hard ciders and wines.
We decided to go with a flight each so we could get a good sampling and started off with an Autumn Apple and a regular hard cider. The servings are generous, not the typical tasting size. The hard cider is surprisingly clear, light and fresh tasting. We were hooked from the first sip!
Our favorites were the cranberry apple hard cider and the Farmhouse Red wine. We bought 3 bottles of the hard cider and wine to bring home.
The only thing that could improve this place would be the offering of some small plates to accompany the excellent hard ciders and wines. I understand Blake’s is working on that, so hopefully my next visit (soon!) will include a few nibbling choices as well.
Blake’s Ciderhouse is truly a destination spot here in northern Macomb County. It has the look and feel of some of the finest wineries I’ve visited in the Traverse City area. I think it’s going to be a huge success!