Review: The Glenwood Restaurant (Onekama, Michigan)

During our families first travels as a family of five over the fourth of July weekend, my wife and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Needless to say, sleeping in a tent with the kids on the same extra large air mattress is not necessarily the most ideal version of a romantic weekend. So I was fortunate that my parents offered to take the boys one night while Mrs. InACents went out for a dinner.

So the Mrs. went about researching the best restaurants surrounding the Sleepy Bear Dunes National Park area. While several options were fully booked, the closest restaurant that we could find that was highly recommended was about an hour away, called The Glenwood.

Situated on the shores of Portage Lake in Onekama, Michigan is a 1920’s home that has been converted to a quaint little restaurant. After some drinks and some great conversation with my wife, we decided to start with the warmed goat cheese appetizer.

Served on a bed of sauteed peppers, onions, and roasted garlic, the goat cheese was presented with a side of grilled pita bread. Talk about a fantastic way to start out a meal? The choice of appetizer was superb and highly recommended for those that enjoy the smooth taste of goat cheese.

Our next course was a mixed green salad with blue cheese crumbles, cranberries, and walnuts. However, the real winner of the salad was The Glenwood custom cherry mustard vinaigrette. The dressing was absolutely fantastic, and so much so that we bought bottles to bring home and give as gifts.

For my meal, I ordered a nightly special of lobster and almond battered shrimp. The lobster was nicely prepared and served with a twice baked potato. The real gem of the meal, however, was the jumbo shrimp, served with a cherry mustard sauce. I have no idea how they were able to fry shrimp and coat them with slivers of almonds, but they were an excellent pairing.

My wife had opted for the blue cheese tips. Featuring tenderloin tips sauted with mushrooms, and served in a blue cheese cream sauce over linguine. Really, really good, although I was more impressed with my shrimp.

Lastly, we were offered complimentary dessert at our porch side table overlooking the lake as a congratulations for our anniversary. Honestly, at that point of the meal, I was in a food coma from the incredible meal we had just shared. Upon being presented with a platter of about 20 different dessert options, I vaguely remember just pointing to something with so many wonderful options in my presence.

The hour drive we made to The Glenwood was well worth not only the meal, but the fantastic quality food. The only thing that could have been improved was the service, as we think we had a newer server that had recently started. Service was very slow at the beginning of the night while other tables around us were actively being served. When our waitress did come around, there was so awkward moments when she was unable to answer questions. We blame it more on being given a poor server than the restaurant itself.

After stuffing our gills, we sadly had to make the hour drive back and cuddle into our tent with two rambunctious boys and a newborn. Nothing like a family night under the stars to celebrate five wonderful nights of marriage to my best friend travel companion.

Save Money, Travel More!

Source: InACents