The Twisted Tavern

First time coming here and it was for a private event for the Oakland University Alumni Association before the UDM rivalry basketball game. I was told that the restaurant normally opens much later in the afternoon but they allowed our 65 group to have a private event at noon (this was a Saturday).
The restaurant décor is modern but not sterile modern. Purple is overwhelmingly the theme color. There is a small hostess stand and then a very long bar with about 4 flat screens. Lots of natural stone and wood. Table tops and tables surrounding the restaurant. I didn’t see any booths? Very high ceilings and especially high ceilings when you take the hallway to the bathrooms. There are a couple tables back there as well but it is very dark since there are no windows in this hallway.
The bathrooms again have a modern/​clean lines style. Two sinks and 3 stalls. No paper towels and just an air blower. The water was freezing in the bathroom. I overheard other guests say it feels like it is ice water… in the dead of winter it didn’t feel all that great.
The service was slow and I only saw one waitress going around and asking for drink orders while another guy was behind the bar. Pretty much each drink had to be ordered at the bar and your dirty plates also were not picked up and had to be taken up to the bar. I felt it was understaffed for the amount of people we had.
The food — it was a small buffet station set up. It was nicely set up. The chefs were constantly trying to keep up with the demand, I think I saw at least two cooks who kept brining up more food. They had two different flatbreads that were good in flavor. A rolled up chicken that was stuffed and it was in a red sauce, grilled veggies, and a white sauce based mac and cheese. The food overall wasn’t anything exciting. Now I know the OU group picked the food, so I may go back to try an actual entrée. There also were desserts but they all tasted frozen, macaroons, chocolate covered cheesecake and brownies. Didn’t taste fresh to me and I only took a bite of each to try. Kinda disappointing.
Our private party were there till about 2pm and overall nice décor and swanky inside. But the service and food were just okay to decent. A good place for private events as they do seem to accommodate.

I went here tonight of dinner and drinks, and had a really good experience. We ordered the brussel sprouts (amazing!) and the white chricken flat bread for an app. We also had tacos for an entrée and I was honestly impressed with both the taste and presentation. Service was good, nothing over the top, but she was pleasant and fast. I will definitely be back for another happy hour! One negative, the place was a little empty.

Service was terrible. Had 2 friends suffer food poisoning from this place. Complained to owner. He reacted very defensively. OWN UP TO YOUR POOR SERVICE AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. Instead he behaved like a D… bag. Bring back Boogie Fever.

My wife and I recently went here for dinner. We loved the different tapas, the wine and beer list and the atmosphere.
Our service was excellent and he was a fun server. The owner came over and said hello and we enjoyed chatting with him.
My wife and I love to eat out so we will be back.

Service wasn’t great considering that the restaurant was relatively empty. The Mac and cheese was okay but I will try something different next time.

This place sucks man!!! Manager and owners are so racist it’s a shame! They suck do not patronize please!!! Food sucks and overpriced horrible experience eff them!

Second time here and it was just ok. Overpriced for sure. A little rushed by waiter because he was getting off soon.

Service was great, everyone seems to be nice and accommodating, however food was not good and drinks (twisted Cosmo) was OK, I don’t have to come back for food, but I like the ambience and I’ll give another drink choice a try.

The two stars are exclusively for the fact that the owner came and spoke to us as we walked in and the friendliness of our server (the friendliness, not his actual service…).
I had brussel spouts and a salad. The brussel sprouts were so doused in sauce that I could barely taste the actual sprouts. I also ordered a citrus salad — sans goat cheese. It came out with goat cheese. Unfortunately, I made the choice to send it back. What I got on return was half of the salad, the cheesed half apparently scraped off and not replaced, with some of the garnishes haphazardly thrown to one side. Come on!
My boyfriend felt it his food was decent, but it certainly was nothing to write home about, AND for the priciness of this meal… we both left dissatisfied.
Lets just say we won’t be rushing to return any time soon.

Been here 4 times and every time manager comes to me
N greets me by name n I’ve never had that happen unless I’ve been there 20 times! The drinks are really good awesome bartenders! The food is 5 star the burger I built
My own was huge n fresh, steak bites off the hooookkkkk Mac n cheese mouth watering! Oh and the drinks are really good :)

Showed up on a Tuesday nite around 8. The place was totally empty, not a good sign. yea the place looks great but that’s about it. Small plates and a small menu with some limited choices. I got the chicken slider and the burger slider, both ok. Also got the calamari and it sucked, tried the tacos not bad, also got the Korean steak tips, best choice. Tried a flat bread pizza that was ok, so I almost tested the whole menu, and I only liked1 thing. So for me this place is a definite miss, although, they did have some grapefruit beer that was a hit. Being the only ones in there, the service should of been way better. And it was kinda expensive.

Friday, 6pm, I walked in solo just in time for the end of Happy Hour. There were maybe 6 customers in there (two ladies in particular who were quite loud with their many libations) so food came out fast. Never been here before but I liked the décor and how the windows open for a very outdoor indoor feeling. HH deals were good. I recommend the Sangria, the Twisted Cosmo not so much — it just didn’t sit well with me. The flatbread was alright though it got cold fast because of all the wind from outside plus I had the Brussels sprouts first. I recommend the hot sauce they have. I put it on everything and it helped the flatbread have any taste.
So wrapping up a decent meal with two drinks an app, and a entrée, I ask for my bill and they tell me it’s been paid for already. WHAAAAAAT?! Apparently the two loud ladies did a «Pay It Forward» on me, and another customer who came in solo, and paid my bill. How awesome is that!!! Only in Ferndale, I tell ya…

Great staff and drinks. Came here for some after dinner cocktails and really liked the place. Had some appetizers during a prior trip and wasn’t disappointed with those either. All in all the place has a great atmosphere with some great drinks all with a fun dancing club attached!

Horrible.
The food was horrible, the service was horrible, and the prices were horrible.
It’s a «small plate» concept, which I love, when it’s done right, but this place fails terribly in every way. I went here on a Tuesday night, after 10:00pm to give this place a try during their «happy hour.» Well, the bartender was awful. He didn’t know how to make any of their speciality cocktails, his excuse was «I usually bartend at the club.» So, we received 4 wrongly made martini’s that took him forever to make. He had to read the ingredients out of a book. I had sticks and stems in my drink that had mint in it, because he didn’t know how to garnish it properly. On top of that, he didn’t know the food menu, the food was awful, and we were charged full price for everything (not happy hour prices, despite us being there for what they consider happy hour (10:00pm to close).
We had:
Fried polenta sticks — they tasted more like breaded, fried sand
Calamari — awful — small scrawny bits of calamari with a nasty orange ginger sauce
Brussel sprouts — they were actually decent, but the portion was ridiculously small. It’s about ¹⁄₃ the size of the portion you get at One Eyed Betty’s just 2 blocks away, and One Eyed Betty’s Brussel sprouts are 10xs better.
And one other dish not memorable enough to remember.
At the end of the evening we had 4 crappy small plates, and 4 crappy drinks and the tab was almost $ 100.
I won’t be back. It was flat out awful, and the person I was with agreed. Now our whole group jokes «well… we know where we WON’T be going…»
I have been told that they have better staff during the weekend, providing a better dining experience, but that doesn’t help the shit food I was served during the week. If you can’t afford a quality chef and quality bartenders during the week, just close. Don’t torture people with a garbage night out and run people off.

After having dinner next door we stopped in Twisted Tavern to check it out. It’s crazy to think this used to be Boogie Fever because they did a fantastic job renovating the inside. We just grabbed a quick drink and shared a dessert. While the dessert was very tasty I was quite confused when we ordered a chocolate crème brûlée and we are served a jar of chocolate mouse. Very clear difference in those desserts, and I would be more than happy to whip out my crème brûlée torch and show them how it’s done because I wanted that crunch!
Our server Alexis was very nice and she offered to show out nosey selves the club next door (where the very loud dance music was coming from) but us old ladies didn’t take her up on that offer. We didn’t try their food but it looks like a lot of small plates on the menu.

Nice ambiance and good service. We went here for drinks so this is based on a Friday night no food drinks only. We had the bloody Mary which was good served with a meat straw, however not hot at all and lacked spice. We also got the toasted ginger that did not taste like ginger at all which was weird. The drinks were a bit on the high end of prices. The food looks good however pricey for tapas, when they suggest 3 items for 2 people add that to 2 drinks you are looking at a 50 $ or more dinner.

I still can’t believe how they transformed this place from Boogie Fever to a sleek bar and restaurant. Anyway, I gave this place 4 stars because it has lovely décor, good service and great happy hour prices. I tried the fried polenta sticks which were delicious and stacked like a game of Jenga. How cool! The roasted veggie flatbread also was rather delish.
I haven’t checked out the night life scene here but as far as did and drink, nice spot.

There’s two sides to Twisted — one is the bar/​restaurant and one is the «club». I’m not really impressed with either.
I went to the bar/​restaurant side during the dream cruise to try it out when my friends and I were all sweating to death in the heat. We got a drink and tried a few of the apps, and they were all good, but a bit overpriced. We all really liked the mac and cheese, but I think it was like $ 9 for a small serving. It wasn’t THAT good. They did do a good job fixing up the space, but I agree with other reviewers that it’s a bit out of place in Ferndale.
Last weekend a friend of mine wanted to go here for her birthday, so I was on the «club» side, as they call it. I felt like I was at a wedding. Like Boogie Fever, it’s all just one huge room. They have a big dance floor with a few pub tables around the edge, but that’s really it. Upon walking in I knew I would hate it and probably never come back. It was $ 5 cover and you had to check any jacket that looked like a hoodie but wasn’t your shirt, and you are forced to pay for it ($ 2 or $ 3, I can’t remember which). I don’t know why they force you to check a hoodie when I saw a guy walking around in Nike high tops. Just seems weird that a hoodie isn’t allowed per their dress code, but you don’t have to check your actual jacket if it’s nice coat.
The place is essentially Boogie Fever with new music. Same awkwardness that only is really enjoyable for the people watching, same age group of patrons, same feeling that you just want to leave the whole time you’re there. There were a lot of people actually enjoying themselves, but I think a lot of them were 20 – 30 years my senior or they looked pretty intoxicated and were dancing like weirdos. So maybe it’s just not my thing, but the girl who wanted to attend for her birthday only stayed for an hour, and she’s my age if that says anything. Again, it just doesn’t really fit with Ferndale so I’m curious to see how it does over the next few months/​year.

I liked the atmosphere here but this place just seems a little out of place in Ferndale. That said I was a die-​hard Boogie Fever fan so there’s that.
The ambiance is loungy with dark accents and dim lighting and plenty of stone inlay around the room. Service was fast and friendly but they were pretty slow for a Saturday night at 8 with a few diners here and there and an empty bar except for my party of two and a friendly couple that sat next to us and chatted us up.
I ordered the Maple Bacon Manhattan. I wasn’t a fan… it was a little too sweet and too mapley while the bacon wasn’t really quality but I’m a traditionalist so I just ordered wrong. Aside from that though I’m sure their drinks here are wonderful and well made. The bathrooms were clean and spacious. I’d like to come back to try their food sometime but the service we had was fast, friendly and had a pretty smile. It’s worth a stop-​in before you hit Twisted proper or on your way through the Dale barhopping.

Twisted Tavern appears custom tailored for the Bar Louie crowd with a build out designed for an overpriced outdoor mall in Novi or Clinton Township rather than funky fresh Ferndale. But let me cosign their initial positive reviews by saying they delivered the fn goods last Friday Night. My future ex-​wife and I were first time customers who dropped in on a whim around 10 PM and knew nothing about the place outside of a quick Unilocal search to ensure that they were at least edible.
What ensued was well beyond the realm of edible into a new land of dining called sensational. At first, I was mocking the «twisted» cocktail mantra but there’s something to this concept because these hypnotic concoctions almost have a psychoactive element like they were shaken not stirred with trace amounts of DMT or another hallucinogenic compound. We began with ginger chai martini’s that were tastefully strong and had a profound effect on my mental state for the rest of the night. These combined with the pumpkin shock tops that were slammed before arriving had this guy feeling invincible as I promptly began ordering the entire small plates menu.
I was stunned at how marvelous these dishes were so let’s go down the line:
1) Korean Steak Tips — Great cuts of beef with little to no fat and dripping with a scandalous Teriyaki sauce. The cashews added a nice crunch and the rice noodles were better than most Thai restaurants. No lie. By far my favorite dish of the night. Next time, I’m ordering two of these and calling it a night because the taste was fantastic. I gave compliments to the chef.
2) Twisted Mac N Cheese — A new contender in the gauntlet of mac and cheese dishes in the area but a worthy contender by all means. The creaminess of the cheeses combined with the baked crispy top and divine choices of meat had me on cloud 9.
3) Risotto Balls — Seriously fantastic. I love good mozzarella cheese sticks and these were similar taste wise but somehow even better in flavor and texture. They came highly recommended by our server and are now recommended by me. Simply incredible crispy, seasoned perfection on the outside with a molten core of cheese and a nice portion of Prosciutto.
4) Ahi Tuna — This was not my dish but I did sneak in a few bites which were enjoyable although not the best I’ve had. I think I may have waited too long to try them because the temperature was too lukewarm for my liking. That’s totally on me and not the restaurant. Taste wise, they were good.
5) Twisted Bloody Mary — We shared this just for the hell of it. It was powerful and came with a meat straw that I refused to suck out of as if that would have made any difference in people’s perception of my sexual orientation.
Our waitress was very kind and efficient. A little on the shy side but I’ll take having my order delivered perfectly over surface level small talk each and every time. The crowd was more distinguished and mature than say Rosie O’Grady’s or One Eyed Betty’s which was cool with me. Take a chance when time permits and visit the Twisted Tavern. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.