Bluebird Restaurant & Bar

Bluebird never disappoints! Always quick service and good quality food.
The menu isn’t that exciting or diverse, but it is a classic American restaurant. They have burgers, sandwiches, salads, chicken, and pizza! I was going to settle for a salad tonight, but I discovered that they serve a Cherry Chicken Salad dish. I highly recommend it! The chicken tasted so fresh and I loved the chunks of cherries in it.
Although their food and service is great, the actual restaurant area is somewhat a bummer. The lighting is very dim and the seating area is pretty small.
Overall though, it is a special gem located in Leland. Try it sometime if you are in the area!

Came here for a quick dinner after spending the day at Sleeping Bear Dunes. Food was decent. I had the walleye entrée, the whitefish which is their special isn’t much to write home about.
There’s a tavern and a restaurant with a decent price difference between the two. We didn’t eat at the restaurant but I’m doubtful the restaurant menu isn’t worth the $ 10-​$ 15 difference vs the tavern. Service was mediocre.

One of the best Sunday Brunch spots in Michigan. Late night pizza is fantastic also.

I am giving a single star because the food that we ordered and the salad bar were both good. However, the service was miserable from start to finish. If this was the servers first time serving, he should’ve been trailing someone. He was totally clueless and could not remember to bring bread or water or butter. Nobody got a refill on the water the entire meal to the point that people were pouring their water into other peoples glasses. Our requests for more water were acknowledged and then ignored. He sat there with a stack of tartar sauce on his tray and made each of us raise our hand if we wanted some. The cold bottle of white wine was put down in the center of the table without a sleeve or coaster so that It could just sweat all over everything. When we asked for something to place under it he knew exactly what we were talking about. He just chose to make us ask for it. One of the guests was about halfway through his meal and actually in the process of cutting it when the server came over and loudly said «does anybody want dessert.» The place wasn’t even crowded and he couldn’t wait to move things along. He gave the wrong food to almost everybody and at the end of the night people got the wrong checks. I do not have the patience to relive it and I doubt anyone has the time to read an explanation of everything that went wrong. But if it could it did. I would recommend going to any restaurant other than Bluebird, even if you have to travel to Suttons Bay or Traverse City. Avoid this overrated trap at all costs.

This is the best spot in town hands down. I’ve been going here as long as I can remember. Get the whitefish Bluebird style. It can’t be beat. Always have great service too.

Was there a couple of years ago and love it. This time it was like another restaurant. Food was mediocre at best. Service was fair. Very very disappointed and would never go back.

Not as good as they used to be. Hostess service was ridiculous, We walked in early of a Friday afternoon about 5pm, few people in the dining room, the hostess asked if we had reservations, when we said no she said «well I’ll have to see if I can find you something», this in an almost empty dining room. We stood for 10 minutes before she found us a table. Waitress was pleasant, but service was slow. Food, I had the white fish was just okay. They need to improve their game.

Don’t bother. After waiting 30+ minutes for food while others were served we got food. Not sure why a place in Fishtown with a fresh fish market serves frozen fish for their fish and chips. Burger is not seasoned. Not impressed with management when we asked about the wait for food.

If you’re thinking about stopping in here for a bite to eat. In a word — don’t. Obviously the management (owner?) «Skip» reads and responds to reviews and apparently just continues to apologize for poor experiences instead of actually addressing and fixing the problems. We found it interesting that in one week of Western Michigan vacationing we had both the best (Everyday People Café, Douglas/​Saugatuck) and worst (this place) dining experience in quite some time.
We opted for the more casual «tavern» side dining since we had on shorts and it seemed more casual. You can order off either menu if seated on the tavern side. We were promptly seated at an afterthought of a table. A 2 top jammed between larger tables against a wall. The hostess said our server was extremely busy but would eventually get to us and poured our water. The harried young man (maybe Alex?) stopped long enough to take our order. I tried the whitefish («Bluebird» style — $ 18) and my wife ordered chicken from the dining room menu. Both were completely underwhelming — actually pathetic. Hers came with a salad bar which was circa 1995 and mine a side salad that was equally nondescript. The fish was bland and a fairly small portion, served with fries that were not as good as the Wendy’s fries I had the day before. Her chicken served «airline“style tasted and looked exactly like an airline meal with a paltry side of basically Minute Rice — $ 24! Seriously? You should be ashamed. My wife then pointed out that right next to us at eye level was a chair rail that was covered with dead bugs. Check it out Skip. Nasty. I guess when you have a fairly captive audience you can get by with sub-​par food and awful service? My wife actually got up and said «I’m done, find me down the street after you pay the bill.»
I left thinking «wow, just think how crazy successful you could be here with a restaurant in a great location in a busy tourist town if you served great food with great service».

The smelt was good, and they did prepare my clams and fried extra crispy like I requested but they were just frozen clams, not hand battered. Nothing special.

Wife and i stopped here for lunch. She had a soup and salad (she said both were excellent).
I had special of the day… whitefish tacos. Tacos were superb with locally sourced whitefish. Came with a side of chips.
Wait staff was courteous and professional.
Prices were reasonable. Total ticket was $ 26 after tax and before tip.
Would highly recommend this place when hungry in Leland.

We had a last minute New Year’s Eve dinner here and were extremely pleased with the quality of food and service. My husband and I both had parmesan crusted white fish which was really good. Out 10 year old foodie son, Max, ordered the rack of lamb — here’s his review: the lamb was cooked to perfection and the quality of meat was very fresh but the thing that really threw me off was the seasoning, the seasoning its self was great but it was only on the very edge, so for next time I would highly recommend spreading the seasoning all round.

Beautiful fall day in October with temps in the 70’s and as were were out taking photos of the spectacular fall colors on the penninsula we stopped in Leland. Chose the Bluebird Restaurant to grab a bite and were we glad we did. Our server was awesome as well as our lunch!

Beer? Amazing, local, and fresh. Food? Expertly designed to your taste. I’m a vegan and they made a To Die For vegan pizza sans cheese. I would definitely be back. Great place to go after coming off the island. The tavern is great! Kiley is a great server and serves up a mean fish and chips.

Get ready for throw back dining. The menu, salad bar and décor scream 1983. The food was solid, wine list was ok, it’s just missing something for a $ 50 a person meal.
The staff was a bit tired, but very friendly. The carpet is worn but clean, the ceiling tiles have yellowed but no cob webs.
I was first surprised to see the place mostly empty on a Saturday night, given its reputation. Soon after it all made sense. I will be back after the renaissance that hopefully is coming sooner than later.

Ate on the patio a few years ago and decided to come back while in Leland. It was a rainy Monday around 2. We were awkwardly told by the host that they couldn’t seat anyone else bc the servers where overwhelmed. (It didn’t appear that busy). He recommended we check out «the tavern» in the same building.
As we consulted our phones for an alternative, we watched him do the same to a family with 2 adults, 2 kids. But then 1 min later seated party of 3 older adults. So are you too busy or not?!?
Sorry, you lost your chance. Won’t return.

The pizza in the bar side is very delicious and something I get quite often. The whitefish that they serve is some of my dad’s favorite and he thinks that they serve it the best in the area. The burgers here are pretty good and the grilled cheese is also quite good.
Service is also very helpful and nice. It is also very efficient. I like that you can order from the dining room in the bar, but I wish that it went the other way too because I do not like many of the items on their dining room menu so I never can sit in there and enjoy the view.

This is a nice relaxed atmosphere with some great food. good prices for happy hour drinks.

I told my nephew that I needed two things when I arrived in Michigan. Walleye and smelt. He frequents this place several times every summer as he has a boat nearby, and swore this would be thee place for local smelt. I now concur.
Michigan smelt when fried up are about the size of a thick French fry. This was a huge plateful of perfectly fried, lightly battered wonderfulness. I crave these little delicacies on occasion, but Musso and Frank in Hollywood is the only place I know of in SoCal that always have them on the menu. Give me a shout if you know of any OC restos that carry them.
Service here, at least by our fresh face server was, shall we say, summer job
amateurish. When I asked her about the «whitefish», and specifically what fish it was she flipped to her notes and started to read, «a flaky mild…» I bailed the poor girl out and just ordered up the smelt. She giggled and apologized as she stated she doesn’t really like or eat fish. «Kind of weird, to be working in a fish place huh?» I guess I nodded and she giggled again, «not many other options in this little town.» Well fish restaurant management is one option she may want to cross off her future career options. She was attentive at least, cute, and funny as well.
Apparently this is a locals favorite as well as a tourist hot-​spot. Very busy on Memorial Weekend Sunday with lots of families. There is a fairly large bar in the center of the main dining room, so maybe it gets rowdy later with less kids.
My nephew and his wife both ordered the chicken gumbo that was on the specials board and raved several times how delish it was. So look to the specials board for some additional tasty items.
For me it was all about the smelt. I just need to find a source closer to home.

We started with the smoked salmon appetizer — -delicious, the crackers that they use are special. I had the bluegill special for the day and it was outstanding. My wife had the whitefish and also said in was great. Service was perfect.
The setting for this place in Leland, Michigan is special with an historic village half a block away. The view from the windows are beautiful.