The Peninsula Grill

I had such a wonderful visit into peninsula grill today! The weather was perfect and my family and I decided to stop in for some highly recommended Moscow Mules! The décor and atmosphere was so awesome and the customer service was excellent. Johnny took wonderful care of us! He was so fun and made the best mules I’ve ever had! Great conversations, delicious wings & dirty fries! I can’t wait to come back here & visit Johnny!

Food was great! Ambience also very nice. Highly reccommend the white fish and the portabella pasta.

We had hoped to come here for lunch during our winery tours/​tastings but were very disappointed they were not open on a Thursday afternoon. Because we were staying on the peninsula we chose to come back for dinner, as we had seen the menu a few times in our Unilocal searches.
Upon walking in we were quickly greeted by the bartender but then he did the“grab the menus and started walking, while talking to other people at the bar” not acknowledging us and leaving us to wonder «do we follow?!».
Our server saved the day, she was quick to greet, take our drink orders and was knowledgable about the beers on tap. I had the Parmesan whitefish and the SO had the salmon. Surprisingly the menu in person didn’t match any of the menus we had seen prior to entering the restaurant. I’m glad I didn’t have my heart set on a particular entrée! The food was quite delicious and we would come back again.

Our very favorite place to eat everytime we are up to Traverse. Been eating here for years and never disappoints!

Delicious food (pulled pork sliders, crab cake sliders, fries). AMAZING SERVICE! Amanda is hands-​down one of the best servers I’ve ever had. Very personable, great sense of humor, & gave excellent food recommendations. Will definitely return next time we’re in the area.

Very disappointed in Restaurant Week meal, which was just ok. We expected it would be made to order, but clearly each course was pre-​made and sitting in a cooler. Salads were cold and limp, deserts rubbery, pasta served with Chicken Parmesan just barely warm. We thought Restaurant Week was intended to show off great dishes — definitely not impressed. Nowhere near worth $ 25.

I really thought that I had written a review about this place before. I guess not. Came in here yesterday for lunch. I’ve been in here a few times and the experience has always been a pleasurable one. I was honestly shocked to read some of the other negative reviews… but here are a few caveats to my experience:
1. I always come in during wine tasting hours, so it’s generally mid-​day.
2. I always sit at the bar.
3. It’s generally not busy when I’m in here.
Yesterday, Amanda was our bartender/​server. She was super personable and did a fantastic job overall. I didn’t really see anyone else working. It seemed like she was the bartender, the hostess, and the only server. It wasn’t too busy in the place, but she seemed to juggle all of that without us noticing.
We each ordered a beer and split the Pulled Pork flatbread and the Asian Wings. I remembered loving the wings the last time I was in, but I couldn’t remember if I got the Asian, Buffalo, or BBQ. At Amanda’s suggestion, I went with the Asian and they were awesome. They have a bit of a General Tso’s flavor to them, if that’s your thing. My fiancée loved the Pulled Pork flatbread. I tried a piece. It was really good, but it was a little doughier than I prefer my flatbreads to be. Overall, still solid.
So when it comes to Unilocal,I generally avoid places with less than a 4-​star rating. I really like Peninsula Grill and do not think the current 3.5-star rating accurately reflects my experiences here. If you’re wine tasting on Mission Peninsula, give it a shot at lunch. Pony up to the bar. And I’ll wager that you won’t be disappointed.

I’ve never given a 5 star review before and my experience tonight at Peninsula Grill made me realize why I was waiting.
Me and my friend were greeted immediately upon arrival, professionally and with courtesy. Great first impression, and our dining experience would not loose steam from their. Our waitress immediately brought out our waters, and my friend and I ordered drinks. I ordered coffee per recommendation of another persons review: I did make a great choice! Fresh hot good quality coffee.
We ordered dinner– the food came out in perfect time, enough time to relax and have a conversation but not slow at all both of our dishes were delicious. My pork medallions were rich and juicy with flavor a very nice balsamic glaze. My friends ribs were tender, well cooked, and deliciously glazed in BBQ sauce. Both of our dishes came with Green Beans and Chedder Mashed potatoes. Okay I do not remember the last time I even touched my green beans at a restaurant, let alone eat them all they were fresh well seasoned and delicious. I guess the weakest point of the food was the cheddar mashed potatoes, they were nothing to rave over (everything else was) but none the less they were still quite good.
For dessert we ordered chocolate cake with ice cream. After a great dinner, we had high expectations… And the dessert met it. The cake was rich, thick, and full of chocolatey goodness.
I must remind you my coffee was promptly refilled time and time again…
The service was great and attentive but not hovering and overbearing.
The food really was stellar.
The price? Very reasonable for what you got. I would certainly pay 18 dollars again for my pork medallions and my friend said he would easily pay 24 dollars again for his Full Rack of ribs. I guess if I have to complain about something it would be the menu is quite long (in literal length) lol
But seriously if you want a nice dinner but nothing super fancy? GO HERE! It really is at that next level of what makes a great dining experience.
Hats off to Peninsula Grill I plan to patronize here again.

Pistachio Encrusted Tuna was very good! Sweet soy reduction and pistachio adds nice flavor but not overpowering. Rice pilaf and green beans very tasty sides. Fried Perch we had was also very good. Nice light batter and tarter sauce very well done with touch of lime. Will definitely return here again.

I ate there tonight and was VERY DISAPPOINTED. I ordered a Ribeye RARE. When it came it was Med. I ate around the edges first hoping it would be more rare in the middle. So I decided to tell the waitress. She didnt really say anything she just took the steak and walked away. She didn’t come back for awhile so when I finally saw her she told me he was cooking me another one. Now I’m sorry but I’m in the business. The first thing I would of said: is I’m so sorry what can I do for u. Not just assume I want another steak. I had kind of lost my appetite by then. They didn’t ask to Pay for my wine or anything. So I just had them put it in a Togo box. I WILL NEVER GO BACK!!! U need to know more about customer service. AND NOT ONE IM SORRY!!!

The waitstaff and the atmosphere was fantastic plus the food was amazing, I highly recommend the Cuban Sandwich and the Pesto Chicken Club. We had a perfect experience and can’t wait to come back to Traverse City to eat here again!

We visited the peninsula to do our wine tasting. We found this place at Unilocal.My hubby felt in love with the Cuban sandwich pictures. We wait until late night because it was close for breakfast. When we got in the Cuban sandwich was not listed on the menu. Ardy our server was able to talk to the cook and he made it. Making our night awesomely. Ardy took good care of us and joke around. We loved the service!!! Thanks!

We had dinner here recently. My scallops were just ok, husband’s salmon dry.
Lunch is better.

Very poor experience about sums it up. We found a long brown hair on our hush puppy sauce (not our own), three 3 to 4 inch twigs/​stems from dried herbs in my chicken confit. The waitress was absent much of the dinner and kept me waiting 10 minutes after bringing the bill to cash me out at the end of the meal. Sadly, the kids Mac and Cheese was about the best thing on the table. To be fair the scallop and pork belly appetizer was so so and the tomato jelly on the chicken confit was delicious balancing out an otherwise oily salty mess. Given the high prices, iffy cooking, poor service, and mediocre décor… I would not recommend this establishment.

I’ve never written a Unilocal review before, which should tell you something about the terrible time I had at this restaurant.
The food was mediocre. The fried walleye sandwich was flavorless and I found a bone. The mushroom flatbread tasted of garlic and spinach and had no mushroom flavor.
Worst of all was the service. I’m by no means a snob and I generally only notice service when it is bad. We waited 10 minutes to be seated and the restaurant was not busy. We ordered immediately and waited an hour to find out that our order had not even been cooked. When we finally got our food 30 minutes thereafter, we then had to suffer through eating it.
The wait staff comped our meal, but I would have rather paid $ 20 for a bag of chips and left with my 2 hours back.
This restaurant is a waste of your time and money.

To start, it was FREEZING. It’s March, it’s cold outside, but I was not expecting it to be so cold inside. The fans were on too. It was not good.
Hubs orders the loaded mac and cheese, I ordered the butternut squash ravioli. We weren’t a fan of either. My ravioli was pretty flavorless and his mac and cheese was too rich.
To make it worse, the cold and the fans made our meals lukewarm in no time. Mediocre food is passable when warm. Cold food? Forget about it.
Service seemed to fizzle out at the end, and we opted to skip dessert.
We determined on the drive home with our upset tummies, we won’t be back. Maybe it’s what we chose and we were just there on the wrong night, but we’ve had much better in TC.

I would give it ZERO stars if I could. Sat at the bar (fairly busy) for 20 minutes. The douchebag bartender did not even acknowledge us. I’m not talking «what can I get you» I’m talking «hey guys, be with you in a minute». Nothing. Icing on the cake some locals came on and sat at a 2 top behind us. He yells over our heads «Mark, what can I get ya». We left. Went to the Jolly Pumpkin. Bartender there told us the Pen. Grill likes to cater to locals. Bottom line… tourists, take your money elsewhere.

Holy craparooni. I wish there were six stars. This place is the bomb dot com.
Food was epic, we got the calamari appetizer, cherry chicken salad and lobster mac. Huge portions, great prices, amazing servers.
I want to take this restaurant behind the middle school and get it pregnant.

The food was excellent. The service… not so much.
This was our first anniversary dinner and wanted something special. Given the reviews, we figured this had to be a nice place. What happened next leads me to question ever coming back.
To start off, we had the mussels. Wow. Cooked perfectly and would certainly be getting them again. Wanted to get a side of bread to dip in the sauce in the plate. But the server would pass us by and not even acknowledge or obvious signs of needing help. One star.
The second star deduction is due to what happened when our entrees came out. We were obviously still working on the mussels and waiting to ask for some bread… When all the sudden he comes out with our entrees, takes my side plate for the mussels throws in on the main plate of mussels which still has yet to be consumed mussels on it (!) and hurriedly throws our food in front of us. I was stunned and upset.
Nevertheless, my wife had the parmesan crusted whitefish and I had the walleye. Both of which, like is said, were excellent. Too bad a wonderful evening was tarnished by the service provided.

AMAZING! Great food and even better service. I had the steak with a lobster butter sauce, garlic fingerling potatoes and FRESH green beans. Knocked my socks off! They have a great local beer selection.
The atmosphere is cozy and laid back. Not stuff but yet not to causal. Rustic and warm interior. The staff is really friendly and very knowledgable. We will be back!