Sans Souci Bar

Best perch you can get. Worth the trip. Very interesting menu. Had a great breakfast.

It was a beautiful day and the car club decided to do one-​lap of Harsens Island on Sunday morning. Based on other Unilocal reviews, I set my expectations to «Low.» I was very pleasantly surprised. I’m marking it down 1-​Star because of the (lack of) cleanliness in the mens room.
We had reservations for 11:30AM and our table was ready when we arrived. Our group of sixteen had two servers assigned. They were prompt with the beverage orders. Food orders followed swiftly. The servers were knowledgeable and attentive.
I ordered the half-​pound perch sandwich — and that is precisely what I was served. The mound of perch filets was large enough that it overflowed the bun. (see the pic). The breading was light. The sandwich was served hot, with a side of creamy cole slaw & tartar.
The menu mentioned «hand packed,» half-​pound burgers. They didn’t look like hand made. Rather; they looked like the standard Sysco: GFS half-​pound patty. Regardless; those that ordered hamburger were happy with their food.
Will I return? Yes.
WiFi performance rocks, but it is unencrypted & unsuitable for any sites that require a login.

Food is awesome! Bathroom could be cleaned up a little bit! Love sitting outside in the summer to watch the freighters going by.

Great food, patio was perfect for my wife and kids on a nice summers day. Food was delicious and service was top notch. Highly recommend.

It’s really a dive bar, exactly what you’d expect a hole in the wall bar to be. But everyone is very friendly and the food is pretty good. You’re on island time here; you seat yourself (outside or inside) and enjoy a leisurely wait for your food. Pretty good little place. Also only 1 of 3 restaurants on the island so not much to chose from.
Also boat friendly if you are coming from the water.

View was awesome, but the food was mediocre. Neighboring table got a pizza and we all wished we had ordered it, looked fantastic. The cocktails were miserable but happy they had Pepsi products.
Our server, Nicole, was super nice but our food took a long time to arrive.

Loved the perch my waitress Chris is super. fantastic the whole experience was great been coming here for30 years

Been going there for 45 yrs. it’s a classic! Great perch! Not too many places on the water like this place. Great spot to hang out and find out what’s going on around the island. My family has a cottage there since 1966.

Went on a Sunday and we had a perch dinner and perch sandwich, kids were happy with their meals also, service was good and the place isn’t as bad as some of the reviews, worth going back.

Each year we watch for the river to clear so, we can hit San Souci for lunch !! Food always good — awesome view of the water and freighters so close you could probably toss them a fry !! Perch is excellent and so is their taco salad! Plan to spend some time exploring the island before or after your lunch and your leisurely cruise back across the water!

Yuck. Perch is bland, service is slow and crappy, bathrooms are nasty. Waited an hour for my food. Overpriced. Yuck yuck yuck. Dirty place to eat.

We really enjoy this place!
Food is usually OK-​to-​Good, but the view and beverages are always worth the ferry!
Even in the winter, it’s a nice place to relax.
ENJOY!

Haven’t been here in 20 years. Just good bar food, GREAT perch and perfectly made Long Island ice tea. We enjoyed sitting in the yard with the cool breeze, warm sun and watching the freighters go by. Good place for families.. Just the opposite of Browns.

Went here once. Understaffed!!! My wife and I walked in and stood at the bar waiting to place a drink order. We were passed multiple times by the barmaids without acknowledgement. We promptly left. Poor service. They could learn something from School House grill.

Me: «I want Perch!»
SSB: «You can’t handle the AYCE PERCH».
And I’ll bet you cant get past the first serving either. Saturdays and Sundays AYCE perch for $ 15.99. The first plate came with so many fillets that I mentioned to the waitress that she forgot my fries. She laughed and said look under the fish, and this was after I had eaten about 5 pieces. There had to have been easily 35 nice fillets, with a nice coating not to heavy, not to light but justtttt right. Served with fries which were not up to the perchs’ level of yumminess but good. Honestly, I can decimate a whole school of fish but couldn’t finish even after having others help and have a few. Everyone agreed this was some good stuff.
The only thing bringing this down a star were the fries and a friends onion rings, which seemed overcooked.
Next time SSB, next time I’ll get the best of you.

This place is a real gem, casual and down home good. Have eaten here on several occasions while living in and then later visiting Michigan…
The Fresh Perch is always a MUST GET. Delicious, light and tasty. Whenever I’m back in Michigan, it’s a favorite spot — made even more fun by having to take the ferry across the channel, watching the freighters go by, and driving along the water’s edge. Beautiful location, great food!

The location is great. Right on the water. The food is horrible. I don’t think the kitchen grill has been cleaned in … Years? Couldn’t get rid of the smell on my hands for hours. The hash browns were an enormous mass of oily sludge. No way will I go back for the food. But I bet it’s a fun place once the sun goes down.

You gotta love this place. I agree that the service is rude and lacking, but it’s not because the establishment feels a sense of entitlement, it’s part of the soul of the bar. Even the patrons are rude!
I also can’t dispute someone’s claim of getting food poisoning from tartar sauce, in fact, I would expect it.
You don’t go to the Sans Souci for fine dining, and fancy tartar sauce having meals. You go there for broasted chicken (which they won’t even sell you when it gets busy, cause it takes too long), pizza (which takes about an hour and ½ on carryout), and ridiculous good times, dancing, and to see shit that you’d never see anywhere else.
North American Indian’s come over from Walpole island to play pool, locals with missing teeth dance without shoes on the dance floor, the band makes up the words as it plays classic rock, and there’s generally a tame brawl in the parking lot around 1:30. It’s not hard to not take part in it, just leave at 1:15. We call it the «angry bar,» (which is funny, because Sans Souci literally means «no worries») but we consider it a term of endearment. I love the place, but it is what it is… If you’re uptight you shouldn’t be there past 4pm.
*** Caution to anyone that plans to go here by boat. The only boat parking is on the seawall and the boat gets roughed up pretty bad when big cruisers and freighters go by. I would recommend having very large fenders or «bumpers» if you plan to venture here via sea.

HORRIBLE! This place is just HORRIBLE! Being one of the few restaurants on the island they feel they can get away with horrid, rude service. And questionable food. I got food poisoning from tartar sauce that was no properly kept. The waitresses are rude, unhelpful and classless. I would not recommend this place. If you’re looking for good food on the island try the school house! If you’re looking for drinks and a party give browns a try. Just steer clear of sans souci!
This review is based off of years of going to this place year round.

This place is good to go in the sumer months. Great view of the water. I went there with friends tonight. Several of us had the perch dinner. Mind you it was all you can eat ($ 14.25). Service was OK. The service was below average. I picked the clam chowder soup. Not the best… very watery, salty and lukewarm. One of my friends didn’t even eat his because he said «it tastes like a@#». The dinner came and boy the portion was huge. Pretty good, but what fried food isn’t. I took half of mine home and was still overly stuffed. My friends had the nachos… they looked gross with that fake cheese on it. The waitress overcharged us but fixed it when pointed out. For island fare that has to be shipped in, wasn’t so bad. If you’ve been on the boat all day and need to fill your belly I’d say go for it. I wouldn’t drive over the ferry just to eat there though.