Black Cat Bistro

We had a reservation for Monday at 7:30pm. I guess we didn’t need one because there were only about 3 tables occupied when we got there. We showed up around 7:36. They had sent the hosting staff home so we stood around for a while until the bartender finally greeted us and said he had «waited and waited» for us to show up. That felt a bit rude.
Food was good, but nothing to write home about. We had the grilled brie appetizer then the scallop linguine and a salad with salmon. The Kentucky Sidecar cocktail was very good.

Really enjoyed a New Year’s Day visit to the Black Cat. We had walked past it many times, but had never stopped in.
We sat at the bar (which we often do when we go out), and were well taken care of by the bartender. One of the managers was assisting behind the bar at the time, and he was extremely friendly and offered advice on the menu. My wife had wine and I ordered a Manhattan, which was well made. We skipped an appetizer, with my wife ordering a Bistro Salad with chicken, which I had the Capellini Puttanesca Pasta. My wife really liked her salad, and thought the maple vinaigrette dressing was really well balanced. My pasta was slightly overcooked, but the puttanesca was well executed.
Overall, we enjoyed our visit and will be back.

Great place, great choices, great food, great staff. Prices are a bit high but you also get very generous portions. I’ll be back again

I had the salmon cake eggs benedict and it was superb! Perfectly poached eggs over delicious salmon cakes. It came with the best cooked bacon I’ve ever had and homestyle roasted red potatoes. My boyfriend had the bistro burger which came with a killer scallion bacon aioli and a fried egg– any burger with aioli and a fried egg is great in my book.
I highly recommend this restaurant! Great service, chill vibe, craft beer selection. All good things

Solid food all around. We started with a Moscow Mule (awesome) and a Blackberry Peach sangria (tasty but sweet!), along with a bread course. The bread course ($ 6) included a French baguette, corn bread, and cinnamon butter plus a truffle butter. Both breads were good, although the cornbread was very crumbly and a bit messy! I had the burger, which was delicious, a very big portion of nicely cooked beef with lettuce, tomato, onion, a bacon and scallion aoli, and a sunny side up egg. Overall the burger was delicious; if I had one complaint it would be that with all the different favors going on, it was a little intense.
My wife had the scallop linguine (I think it was linguine) which was also good. Creamy sauce with just the right amount of seafood flavor and some spices — I don’t know exactly which ones were present– that freshened it up a bit.
For dessert we ordered a crème brûlée and chocolate cake. Both were killer, although the crème brûlée was the star of the show; perfect light custard with a perfectly toasted, crunch top. The one odd thing is that the crème brûlée was topped with chocolate mousse — it just seemed a little heavy and clunky on top of that delicate custard.
Overall we had a very nice meal.

My family came here on New Years Day after calling half a dozen restaurants that were closed. We were getting desperate until we found the Black Cat. They seemed so eager to serve us since there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. This place is pretty small tho so if you are going on a more popular evening you may want to call ahead.
The food was delicious. We shared the mussels and escargot appetizers, both were great. For dinner my brother and I had the duck leg which we both enjoyed. My father had the blackened salmon and loved it — and he’s pretty picky when it comes to his fish.
All in all this place is great. Thanks for being open on New Years when so many others were not!

I only hung out here for one drink, but I enjoyed hanging out with the staff at the bar (very nice, intelligent, friendly people) and liked the atmosphere and the wine list. The options were decent, and the prices were also pretty reasonable. The manager was having the wait staff try out the food while I was there (since it was a bit slow)… and I found that pretty cool, as I often ask for opinions. I find it annoying when they say, «I haven’t tried it, but I sell a lot of…». Ugh. I’d definitely go back and drink some more wine and check out the food stuffs. Great spot.

Black Cat Bistro provided us with some nice food and a pretty good experience on the way to an event.
For an appetizer, we had their avocado egg rolls, which were delicious. Not the best value (only two whole egg rolls for $ 9), but they tasted great. For the entrée, I had the scallop fettuccine. This was a very mild dish, and I understood the necessity of having a subtle taste to complement the mild flavor of the scallops, but I found it a little lacking in flavor. Not terrible, but I wouldn’t order it again. For dessert, we enjoyed the decadent chocolate cake, which was big and rich. Worth the price, for sure.
Regarding atmosphere, I think it achieved what it was going for in terms of a slightly more classy, modern restaurant and bar. They brought out candles as it got dark, which was nice. We didn’t feel too out of place in our dressy event clothes, though attire was generally more casual.
Lastly, our server was very nice and friendly, and the food came promptly. The one complaint we had was that the manager was checking in on guests in a way that felt too casual and unprofessional, even to the point of intimidating. Perhaps it was his tone, bearing, or the way he sidled up to the table when you weren’t expecting him, but it made us slightly uncomfortable.
All in all, this was a good restaurant experience, and I would go back if I have the chance.

We were celebrating my nephew’s birthday and opted to go to Black Cat since it was right off of MSU campus… parking was easy. When we walked in, only two other tables were occupied and we were seated quickly… the host told us to pick any table we wanted to sit… we got seated and reviewed the menu… we ordered the following:
— Bistro fries
— Crispy Braised Pork Shank
— Grilled Steak & Frites (Bistro fries)
Bistro fries — it’s a mixture of regular and sweet potato fries topped with fried keeps… the portion size is huge for $ 8. The maple BBQ dipping sauce was excellent.
Crispy Braised Pork Shank — the dish had mashed potatoes with gravy and then the shank was placed on top with green beans. While I would have preferred the meat to be hot, the temperature was decent and it was easy to cut into. I wish they had more gravy or provided some dipping sauce that went with it. The green beans were warm, but as for the taste, add some salt and pepper as it’s very bland.
Grilled Steak & Frites — steak was ordered medium rare and came as ordered… when I tried a piece of the steak, it was cold. The Chimichurri was cold, which didn’t help the steak… if they heated the Chimichurri and then pour it on top right before it came out would have helped… but the steak was juicy and tender… this I would order if I went back.
In reviewing other Unilocal reviews, the service it seems can be hit or miss… the place wasn’t busy on a Sunday at 5:30 pm. In the whole time we were there, only three tables were occupied, including ours. Service was decent… water got filled, when more sauces were requested, it came. For four people, our bill came out to $ 95 before tip…
Overall, not bad joint… would definitely stop in again when in town. During our visit, everything went well and we didn’t have any complaints with the service or the food.

I thought the restaurant was ok. I would have given it 2.5 if possible. We went here for my friends birthday after the great reviews I read on Unilocal.The food was mediocre which was disappointing considering it was for a special birthday. The place was pretty empty and the service was kind of slow.
First we start with the Asian chicken wings, they weren’t made in house, but the sauce was. Seems like they were frozen chicken wings. The sauce was tasty but I couldn’t get over the chicken wings, they were fatty, and chewy.
Next we had the fries. They were awesome! They were a mixture of regular fries, sweet potato fries, and fried leeks. All were cooked perfectly, may have been the best sweet potato fries I’ve had.
For our entrees, I had the Mac and cheese with Chicken and he had the steak (the one with the peppercorn sauce) he enjoyed the steak he said it was pretty good. Probably 4 on a 5 point scale. I tried it and like the sauce the accompanied. The Mac and Cheese was bland. The sauce was funny and didn’t have much flavor, the chicken was prepared well.
Our drinks were good, I had the mango Bellini and he had the white wine sangria both were pretty good.
Overall not sure if I’d we back.

Second time eating here at Black Cat. I live in East Lansing, and our usual restaurant scene is nothing more than bland. Black Cat provides a semi affordable, high quality restaurant experience that is otherwise not found in this city.
I did not catch a picture of Black Cat’s Famous Corn Bread, but it is a MUST HAVE. Thick butter beard drizzled with syrup and a side of amazing cinnamon sugar butter. Not for the carb conscious but definitely for those who are foodies at heart.
I got the Salmon Cake Eggs Benedict on this brunch visit. While I found the Salmon Cakes a tad too fishy, the overall meal was great. I asked for my eggs softly poached and they came out perfectly yolky!
Black Cat is a great addition to EL. I hope it the best in the future. And a solid shout out to our server, Allyson. She was amazing, kind, knowledgable and enhanced out experience.

This was my first time visiting the Black Cat Bistro, but it definitely won’t be my last! My girlfriend and I came by for a late lunch on Saturday afternoon around 2pm — we had the place (pretty much) to ourselves :)
The menu was relatively succinct, but still had quite a few options to choose from — each of which catered to multiple types of eaters. We started our lunch off with a lightly fried goat cheese fritters, followed up with a croque madame and briewich.
The sandwiches were served on huge pieces of fresh bread, and the filling was plenty. Though, I was pretty disappointed to see deli-​style meat and cheese on my croque madame. I’m sure it’s probably less expensive, but it completely sours the sandwich. Even with that faux-​pas, the sandwich was pretty dang good!
They also have a ‘XXX Mule’ drink menu with about 7 or 8 different mule-​drink offerings (eg, moscow mule, mexican mule, etc). We sampled a plain-​jane moscow mule and weren’t disappointed.
I’ve read a few reviews on the lacking décor and ambience on the inside, but honestly, I couldn’t disagree more. It was tastefully decorated with an overall feeling of being an upscale establishment.
4 stars instead of 5 because of the waiter’s knowledge of the menu and food. We asked a few questions about 2 or 3 of the apps and another 2 or 3 entrees and he had to enlist the help of co-​workers to answer each time. Other than that, he was pretty attentive and plenty welcoming.
Lastly, the prices. Our entire lunch (1 alcoholic drink, 1 app, and 2 entrees) came out to around $ 30. That’s not bad, especially considering we had enough to take home and eat for leftover-​lunch the next day.
See you soon, Black Cat!