The Weathervane Restaurant

Passing through town we decided to stop here for lunch, mainly to soak up the beautiful view on the deck. As soon as we walked in we were greeted by smiling and courteous hostesses and were led out to the deck. Shortly after ordering, a manager came out to ask us how our day was and chit chat a little. She told us that they had recently revamped their menu and that she hoped we enjoyed our visit. I ordered the baby back ribs and was thoroughly impressed. They were cooked perfectly, brought out quickly, falling off the bone, moist, and well seasoned. The homemade fries were crispy and tasty. My fiancé had the cold cherry soup and a small salad, both were delicious. I highly recommend this restaurant if you want fantastic food, great service and an amazing view.

The positives: great view and solid service. The negatives: cleanliness and dated décor. The neutrals: menu choices were just like every other Stafford restaurant… predictable, slightly over priced and bland. Was it bad food? No. Would I be happy paying $ 20 for lunch without the view? Absolutely. I’d skip it next time, grab a sandwich somewhere else and eat by the docks.

Black and Blue pasta Outstanding. Queen size prime rib fit for a king.
Dessert and after-​dinner drink choices very poor.
Service excellent.

By far the best prime rib in town. Very consistent with the power of Stafford’s quality behind them. The staff is wonderful as well.

Husband and I went for lunch while passing through Charlevoix. The setting was great, right by the water where you can watch all the boats and draw bridge go up for the larger boats.
PROS
Great outdoor seating
Whitefish sandwich and chicken Torta was good
House made chips were our FAVORITE
Fast Service
CONS
A little pricey for what you receive
$ 2.50 for iced tea is a bit too much
Overall I would go again next time we’re in charlevoix

Not only a family tradition here, but a staff that truly take their trade serious! Love every experience here for 49+ years!
Jennifer I believe is the manager and lives her job.

Best place in Charlevoix to soak in the water views.
Excellent service and presentation, had the whitefish, top notch!
Drinks are stiff and fairly priced.

The view cannot be beat! Great atmosphere, friendly staff and good food.
Get the duo of dips for an appetizer it was awesome.
French fries are not your traditional option, they’re thick spiral-​cut chunks of potato. Good, but after seeing another table stick with the home made chips option I wish I’d gone that route.

I came here recently for nostalgia’s sake and was a little disappointed. You absolutely must sit on the deck if possible for the amazing views of the boats coming in off Lake Michigan, but I feel like you are mostly paying for these views and not the food. I had the $ 13 chicken salad, which came with fruit and bread, but the portion was definitely not enough for the price

Great patio, The bacon jam burger was very good. View from patio is pretty, Your next to canal for boats going out on Lake Michigan

Great food and view! Friendly staff. Avoid 3:30– 4:30 if possible, as the menu is limited to an «in-​between’ from lunch and dinner.

Here for lunch last week, around 1:30pm, very empty.
After I got my meal I soon found out why.
Ordered fish tacos, first one was edible with a bitter rancid taste.
The second one I couldn’t even eat. Had a bad smell too.
I alerted the waiter, explained the situation and was told that he would let the cook know. That was all, I asked if they would deduct half the meal.
The waiter told me they would-​when we got our bill $ 2.50 was deducted.
Will not recommend this retaurant to anyone here or on T-​A.
Just a miserable way to treat patrons.
MD

I went here for Thanksgiving dinner and it was okay. The only thing I really love to eat on thanksgiving is dressing, so I was disappointed when it was maybe a better version of stovetop.
I wouldn’t rule this restaurant out, I just wouldn’t go for a Holiday meal.

First time I have ever been to the Weathervane and was pleasantly surprised. We were seated with a view of the river. Janelle our waitress was fantastic. She explained that the have a new menu and are very excited about it. We started with the shrimp risotto fritters. Oh my were they superb. Two large fries risotto cakes with an asiago cream sauce serves with large shrimp. It was luscious. We split the prime rib sandwich that was on a homemade roll and a pesto mayo. It even came with homemade chips. We also had the French onion soup that was covered in cheese. Our water glasses were never empty. Great service. Would go back.

Excellent food. All fish dishes (white, amberjack, salmon, walleye) were well prepared. Escargot had a cottage cheese-​like topping… interesting preparation and worth trying… too much cheese for me. Morel soup was superb. Meal for 4 with drinks and tip was $ 260.

I wanted to update my review because the manager of the place sent me a «solid» this past summer by inviting me and my wife to have lunch on him.
I didn’t go… but I appreciated the thought behind it. His willingness to put up with a snotty ahole review and try to make it right for me was pretty professional and I have to give him kudos.

My fiancé and I just got engaged on July 17^th, and as a part of our special day, my love had made a reservation for us for dinner here at The Weathervane; a family favorite since forever ago. We always came here for dinners together.
The service was, as usual, incredible. We had flowers waiting for us at our table. They were gorgeous red roses and white lilies, and they smelled beautiful! We were seated by the window, so we could look out on the lake and even see the sunset. It’s a dreamy place to go on a date, or any special event, really.
The food is and always has been delicious. I always order the caprese salad, and this time he had a salad as well. I think that if anything has changed, maybe the portion sizes have slimmed down a bit. No big deal. I recommend ordering their cherry soup which is a chilled soup; very sweet, slightly tart, a hint of bourbon and incredibly delicious. I always order cherry-​flavored items when I am in this area… it’s just a good rule of thumb.
You’ll have a great experience here at TWR– I guarantee it!

We just dropped into the Weathervane on an impromptu trip to Charlevoix. We thought the place looked rich in character from the outside and headed in.
Upon entering, things got very confusing. First we were told that the inside of the restaurant and the outside were run completely separate from each other. We were also told that our group of seven could be seated immediately (this was at 5:30) as long as we were willing to sit next to the live saxophone player. Once we were seated we asked about a table of the same size that was right next to the window so we could overlook the water while we ate, however we were told that the table was not available. We continued to watch this table until we left…
When we opened the menus, we were a little surprised at the cost if the dinner entrees. Having never even heard if the Weathervane before, we didn’t know what to expect, but we certainly didn’t expect entrees over $ 20 and steaks/​fish over $ 30 with salads and other sides being served a la carte.
Most of us settled on a New York strip special that was quite tasty and worth what we paid. Everyone else thought their meals were good too.
Overall, we were pleased by our food and service, however they only get three stars from me because of that table by the windows. See, that table that we were told we couldn’t have sat empty the entire time we were in the restaurant. I’m sure they were holding it for a reservation or for some other reason, however we could have sat there and still cleared out before the reservation came. Spending our entire meal looking at the table we couldn’t have sit empty loses a star for the Weathervane.

The Weathervane is right by the drawbridge in downtown Charlevoix. I knew it by the interesting shake roof. True to its name, there is a weathervane up there, too.
Hubby has eaten there many times. His sister worked there during the summer while she was a college student. This was my first visit. We decided to sit in the bar area. The Saturday college football game was on the TV. A family with an adorable child was sitting next to us.
We ordered French onion soup and a simple Caesar salad. Split those. Plenty for both of us. The beef stock was rich and beefy, the salad was crunchy. Hubby got the ¹⁄₃ pound sirloin burger. He liked the red onion on it.
I ordered fish and chips, which came with a small bowl of coleslaw, which somehow tasted off to me, so I just pushed it to the side. Good thing I got the salad. The whitefish was from the local John Cross Fisheries, just down the road. Some of the best fried fish I’ve ever had. The batter was light and crispy. The fish was very light and tender. I only ate half, took the other half home.
My advice: The portions are generous. Either split everything or plan to take home leftovers. Pricey. It was $ 50 for us to get dinner with leftover fish for me the next day.

I confess this was my first visit here, after spending vacation weeks in this part of Michigan for 25 years. Mostly, not going was because, after biking several hours, then hanging on the beach each afternoon, just getting up the energy to leave the rental house was not there. But finally, we voyaged 20 minutes north from Eastport. It was well worth it.
The nine of us had fabulous meals. Being from Tacoma, I avoided the lake fish (mercury.I know too much, sometimes it is better to be ignorant), and had the filet medallions with morel mushrooms. Cooked perfectly. But, several in the party ordered the planked whitefish and it was cooked perfectly.
The wine selection is good and very reasonable. We had the Château Ste Michelle Indian Wells Cab 2009, delicious and at $ 33 a good value.
It is a place where there are a lot of grandparents and sailor types, but even for hipsters from Minneapolis and Tacoma, it all works just.