Ida Red’s Cottage

This place is actually quite charming, with a wide, welcoming porch and seasonal decorations such as window valences appropriate for the latest holiday. The booths seat six comfortably, and eight if you get inventive and have two people sit on chairs at the outer edge of the table.
I’ve never had any trouble with the service here. Lots of choices on the menu. Lots of bread-​y, gluten-​y things that I shouldn’t eat for now, at least. I was able to get steak and eggs for breakfast on my latest visit here, now that I’m on the new diet. I liked the way the chef had diced the top of the steak to make it easier to slice. The eight-​ounce portion meant I could save half in my mini-​cooler for lunch. It comes with sliced potatoes instead of hash browns. All the eggs there are real — no pre-​mixed mystery eggs to give you tummy problems.
Hubby got a beautiful looking three egg omelette that had fresh spinach leaves, chunks of tomato and so much cheese that he said it was like eating pizza. Man, I really wish cheese was on the menu for me lately! The slabs of toast were thick and gorgeously brown all over.
Yeah, everyone in our group of eight had some delicious-​looking fare. No wonder my aunt and uncle like this place so much. They take us there whenever we’re staying with them and they eat out there about once per week year-​round.

The best I can give the place is average. Coffee was average. Muffins were good. But the cottage potatoes were deep fried thick cut potatoes. I was expecting potatoes cooked on the grill. They do have good bacon though and the staff is friendly. The other thing that bothered me was they don’t accept credit cards. Good thing my wife had the checkbook.

A bit of a wait on a Saturday morning… but, well worth it. The orange juice is fresh squeezed and that tells you loads. The omelette «scramble» I had was huge. Eggs were fluffy, other ingredients were cooked correctly. Possibly one of the best egg dishes I have ever had. Service was a bit slow, but friendly. Highly recommended if you are not in a hurry.

Great place for breakfast! Portions are huge. I had the California breakfast and it was excellent, fluffy and was just what an omelet should be. Not just scrambled eggs folded over, but a REAL omelet. All
Other food was well prepared and served hot. Service was tops! Would come back again and again!

Friendly service, food was quick and very tasty! The orange juice is freshly squeezed and really hit the spot! Would be 5 stars if paying with debit card was an option!

Very poor service, it’s like they hate working there. No acknowledgement when you walk in and heaven for bid you have a question about getting seated, they can’t be bothered. However, the pancakes are amazing. Kudos to the kitchen.

Excellent breakfast choices! The pancakes were some of the best I’ve ever had and the scrambles were delicious too. Very generous portions.

I was seriously quite nervous to have brunch at Ida Red’s after reading the extremely mixed reviews!!! I felt a bit like another reviewer who said she had a good experience but was nervous the whole time that something crazy would happen. My fiancée, my mom, and I had brunch at Ida Red’s recently on a Friday around noon. There was a wait when we arrived and a sign near a clipboard told us to put down our own name. A server behind the counter was keeping an eye on the list, and we were seated in about 10 minutes when a table for our small party opened up. Other larger groups waited longer, and I also saw groups specifically waiting longer to be seated outside, so the wait time can clearly vary.
Our server was very friendly and pleasant and quickly brought us water and took our beverage order. The three other servers I could see also seemed friendly – both amongst each other and with patrons. I did not see or experience any rude interactions with waitstaff, as many reviews mentioned. All three of us ordered breakfast food, and it did take about 30 minutes to arrive. My fiancée and I both had a «scramble,» which admittedly looked a lot like an omelette, even though the menu specifies how they are different. Mine, the California, was tasty and hot. I had a bite of my mom’s griddle cakes and they were delicious! I would definitely get the «Two by Two» breakfast if I went back – two eggs and two pancakes.
Overall, I was relieved that we had a good experience at Ida Red’s. It’s a cute little building and we noticed it right away at the beginning of our week-​long stay in Saugatuck. I would say that the food was on the higher end of good diner food, and going close to when they open or waiting until 12:30 or 1:00 seems like a good option. By the time we left around 1:30 the inside was about half full and the deck and patio were still full. Seems like you should expect a wait, but the food was solid and it’s one of the only brunch options in Saugatuck!

Food is really yummy and the place is so cute and clean! Feels like a small town kitchen with more than small town cuisine. I had the grilled mozzarella/​tomato/​basil sandwich and the potato/​leek soup. French toast is awesome! Definitely go here for breakfast or lunch!

Horrible service. I was not even greeted when I entered. There was a sign that said «seat yourself.» My party and I sat down at an empty table. A waitress came up a few minutes later and told us to get up because there were others waiting before us. She was rude. It took forever for us to get a table and once we did, the waitress messed up our order and did not care one bit. They only accept cash and checks. Do not recommend it to anyone

The best breakfasts in S.W. Michigan! The omelette and scrambled eggs are perfection. Served with fresh fruit, fried potatoes and delicious muffins you can’t find a better breakfast anywhere. If you are not up for eggs the whole grain pancakes are great. Lunch is very good also, sandwiches, salads, pasta and specials everyday. Definitely top it off with cooked from scratch «rice pudding» served warm with lots of cinnamon, whipped cream and fresh berries. Your grandmother would be proud of this dish…
The wait staff is sassy and fun.

Buyer beware! A long wait does not make a good breakfast!!! Extremely rude service: my friend and I were kicked out — yes the owner YELLED LOUDLY AND POINTED US TO THE DOOR AND FORCED US OUT for her bringing in a reusable plastic coffee cup that she brought from home (for use while shopping downtown Saugatuck) and didn’t realize she couldn’t have in the restaurant. We had both already ordered coffee, so it wasn’t as if we weren’t planning to buy THEIR coffee. The restaurant was packed and we were humiliated to be forced/​charged out in front of everyone… so awkward that other guests must have felt uneasy also! Reading other comments here and on
there is a strong pattern of customer mistreatment. How Ida Red’s can stay in business is beyond me. I’d rather give my cash (they don’t even take credit cards) to someone who has the decency to show appreciation for it and who comprehends the simple concept of treating customers with respect. Left one star because couldn’t leave zero stars…

STAY AWAY from here if you need a tasty and clean prepared food !!!
Our late breakfast was at 1 pm and the place was sort of empty ! We had a very nice and smiling waitress !
Our food was terrible! We ordered the Greek
Scramble and the Venetian scramble along with potato fries and fruit salad.
We found a long curly hair swimming in our small bowl of fruit salad !!! Disgusting !!! How did they manage to put it there, we scratch our heads !
Then potatos had no seasoning or salt whatsoever …
Then our scrambles… Terribly cooked with boxed egg mixture which had zero egg flavor and the tomatoes in it were zero cooked as well !! Feta cheese was tasteless too! How can you do that! Feta is always tasty else where !!
Ambiance and décor looks like a mix and match of mostly stupid things and all is tasteless; just like the food !!!
I had to leave my entire food on the table when we got up! Never again !!!
juice was awesome fresh though. I liked it :-)

Great food! Beware they only accept cash and checks — no credit cards. I had the scrambler of the day and it was delicious, with fresh ingredients and tons of eggs and the right amount of cheese. My dining partner’s scrambler from the menu came out similarly wonderful. The absolute best part were those pancakes (griddle cakes?) they have. The menu description was so intriguing that we got a short stack to try, and I gobbled them up — wow! Small place, we had to wait for a table. I knocked off a star because the coffee isn’t good, and coffee is very important at a breakfast place. They’re so close to Uncommon Ground — why not use their beans? Service was good, although our food took longer than I would have expected. I would go back, as long as I wasn’t starving — and I might try to sneak in a coffee cup from Uncommon Ground!

If there is a waiting list do NOT come here. So far a three hour wait! Two hours to get a table. One hour at the table and still no food. The food isn’t worth the wait. The 3 servers don’t really seem to care either.

1. GREAT GREAT food (taste & quality)
2. VERY NICE indoor and outdoor seating
3. Located near the water in Saugatuck
I’ll take the «sandwich» approach for this review (+, -, +)
So the place is adorable and surrounded by plenty of art shops which are typical of nice summer harbor towns. The staff was super friendly and attentive considering how busy the place was on a Sunday morning.
The bad? Super long lines. This place is popular. Of course we didn’t plan accordingly either, but we did get stuck having to wait over an hour to be seated. Still we were polite and patient and waited and were SUPER relieved when we finally got our seats (4 of us)
Next we placed our orders and waited while we admired the décor, the dishware, and the pleasant vibe of it all. Then we waited. and waited, and waited some more. We ended up receiving our plates 30 minutes after placing the order.
Needless to say, we were happy campers when we finally received our plates. The eggs were super fluffy and moist, not overcooked at all (which is almost always the case with other places). The pancakes fluffy, airy, and full flavored. The bacon perfectly crispy. I don’t know, maybe it takes so long to get your food because of the extra care they take in preparing the food. But it was some of the best brunch food I’ve ever had. I really really liked it and I would highly recommend it.
So the lesson really is, plan ahead, be ready to wait if you’re visiting during peak time, and enjoy it. It will be good.

My family and I used to go to Ida Red’s every Sunday after church, and always excused the holier-​than-​thou attitude from the servers because the food really is great.
One morning we arrived and we told sternly by a waitress that we, «didn’t tip last time you were here, so you have to tip this time before you are seated.» UM– WHAT? I think my sweet dad was so shocked that he simply handed over a $ 20 bill before processing what had actually just happened. We essentially had to pay BEFORE we ate. I can’t believe the audacity of the server. First of all, my sister paid on the previous visit, and we had dined outside on the patio. She vividly remembers leaving a tip, so either a) someone swiped it or b) it blew away in the wind. Even if we hadn’t left a tip (which we always do), why would the server’s first conclusion be that we forgot instead of the possibility that we received bad service? For Ida Red’s, the latter should always be the presumption.
We have never been back, and surely the owners don’t care. They will always be busy because their food is good, however it’s a shame because with great service they would make even more money.
I remember other incidences including the owner yelling at someone who parked in the loading dock and calling to see if they did call-​ahead reservations, and the person who answered laughed and hung up. Wow.
We can get more for our money and great food elsewhere.

There are a lot of Saugatuck locals that will recommend Ida Red’s for breakfast, which is why my wife and I wound up there. The restaurant has a quaint, cottage feel to it, which appeals to some and not others. I prefer a more contemporary, comfortable environment which Ida Reds does not have. You can expect creaky wood seating that’s a little hard on the back an, old American décor you might find at a bed & breakfast.
The food was fairly good, not necessarily the greatest breakfast food ever but good.
I ordered the California scramble an my only complaint was that they put way too much cheese in it which overpowered the taste of the other ingredients. It tasted like something made by a home cook, not necessarily a trained chef. Now they don’t claim to have a culinary master chef, so it’s not a big deal. I just would have liked a dish that was a little more planned and gourmet.
Overall I’d call Ida Reds a good diner to have a filling meal.

2 stars because it was sunny and warm that day.
After waiting 30 min for a table (faster than the 45 announced), we waited another 30 min for eggs, sausage patties and some pastas…
Sausages were good though. Just not worth the wait and the attitude of the staff.
Avoid.

This is a weird little place. This food was good but unremarkable, and the level of attitude rivaled Ed Debevic’s, only I don’t think it was supposed to be funny.
Like most places in Saugatuck, it’s tiny. I can only imagine what it’s like at high season. The place is covered with fairly inhospitable signs. For example, as I entered I was struck with a sign that read, «The wait is long, long. Put your name on the list.» This was only after a big sign on the door that admonished customers from bring ANY outside food or drink into the restaurant.
The menu was equally belligerent. Ida doesn’t do omelettes; they must inconvenience her. Instead she does scrambles, which the menu explains will keep all the healthful benefits of the ingredients but will be wet «so soak it up with your toast.»
Our server was nice enough but tended to disappear for LONG periods. It turned out she was hand-​squeezing fresh orange juice by the glass as it was ordered, which may be Ida’s biggest plus.
Go with cash or a personal check, because those are the only forms of payment Ida accepts. A personal check? Seriously?!? Ida is an odd duck.