The Bistro

Very poor experience today at The Bistro. High expectations with previous reviews. Waited so long for our order to be taken we almost left. Waitress finally remembered we were there and apologized. Eggs and bacon were good. Pancakes were not edible. Oddly sour and extremely salty. Asked for a remake and came out the same way. Staff was very nice about it. May just be me as they are famous for their pancakes.

I love this place, friendly, happy servers, great food, a different pancake everyday, awesome omelets. Thank goodness for hometown places!

If you like good food and refills on your coffee this is not the place for you. Service is lacking. Food is mediocre at best. Four of us dined here and no one liked their food. How do you screw up bacon?

Great food and great service! Atmosphere is classic hometown diner! Will come back! Pancakes… good…bacon…good…hash browns… good…BLT…good!

Been in here a couple times now. I couldn’t remember whether I liked it or not after coming here the first time, so we tried it again yesterday.
We each ordered the breakfast «special.» 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, a modest portion of undercooked hash browns and 2 slices of toast for $ 8.50. In a tiny establishment such as this one, I wouldn’t expect to pay more than $ 5 for this meal… even in a tourist town such as Petoskey. They’re charging hotel prices here for small portions and average quality.
The standout of the meal was definitely the toast. I think their bread is homemade — or at least that’s the way it seems. Very good.
Service seemed very spotty for the fact that there are about 12 – 15 tables in this place and there were 3 people who appeared to be attending to those tables. Our beverages went empty for several minutes. I ate my entire meal with no water or coffee.
No credit cards accepted — cash or check only.
I’ll probably take my chances at a chain restaurant next time.

Great prices and great food. I had the blueberry pancake special with vanilla syrup. So good!!! Small eating area.

Just what you want for a breakfast diner –and in lovely Petoskey. Staff very friendly and the owner came out to chat also. The pancakes a must! Eggs cooked perfectly.

My husband and I have had breakfast here for the last three Sundays. He has had the pancakes if the week every time. The carrot pancake with a maple cinnamon sauce was delicious. The lemon pancake with raspberry sauce was excellent, but the best so far was this morning was the cinnamon roll with a vanilla icing sauce. It tastes just like the gigantic cinnamon rolls at the fair, only crispy! I had the eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes the first time there, the meats are great! Then the lemon pancakes the second time, but this mornings Eggs Benedict topped it all. It had a cheese, spinach sauce that was delicious, with ham and a perfect poached egg! The service is great, both waitress are very nice and efficient!

Service was completely amazing. Hubby had eggs cooked perfectly and the wheat toast was made on site. I had the asparagus omelet with swiss cheese which was beyond incredible. The most tender young asparagus I’ve ever had. Definitely will be back!

Ok, seriously, this place takes me back. Not to a good place, I’m afraid. To a place where menu options appear to be extremely limited and personal checks are favored instead of credit cards (yes, they don’t accept credit cards). Honestly, if I were to find a place worse than the bistro, I would probably have to file a lawsuit for reckless endangerment, because the food would have to be so horrible I’d probably have to hurt someone. First off, make sure you ask for hash browns, unlike every other place, this one doesn’t include it with your meal. Secondly, make sure you speak up when they forget to ask if you’d like bacon or sausage, otherwise they’ll make the decision for you. And if you don’t find someone you like from the 3 breakfast menu options they offer, feel free to leave. Seriously. Go. There are a million better breakfast places in Petoskey. Don’t lower your standards. If I wanted tasteless eggs with old fruits, I’d ask my dog to make me breakfast. And at least he’d probably take credit card.

food was ok, not much for service and over priced won’t go again.2.80 for toast, my small breakfast for two was nothing special, wife not happy

Where the locals go for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. Causal feel, great food. Wonderful service. Went with a group of 6 adults plus my loud little boy and the waitress brought him toys and strawberries to keep him calm until the food came. She was so nice and attentive.
Love the french toast! Also, the pancakes are perfect. Makes me feel like I’m in a Seinfeld episode every time I eat here.

Very pleasant staff and again a very nice breakfast experience. Four of us again and all four enjoyed their selections. We went back a couple days later. It’s the spot for a great breakfast with their daily specials.

The pancake of the week «Carrot» piqued our interest the day before, so we thought it would be a fun place to try for breakfast. Of course, the next morning the pancake of the week changed to oatmeal, which we didn’t really want to try. I had the homemade roast beef hash, which was not very flavorful, but roast beef is not as flavorful as corned beef, so maybe it was supposed to be that way. Hubby had some polish sausage with hash browns and eggs, but he didn’t love it either. Not bad, but nothing special. Ok place to go if you are just looking for sustenance and friendly waitstaff. Wish we had been able to try those carrot pancakes though…

Amazing service! The pumpkin oatmeal pancakes were to die for!!! Almost everything is made from scratch, amazing sausage!!! The food came out very quickly! Great prices, especially for the portions. There is a reason that there are so many regulars!!!

Solid local diner. Complete with regulars, no frills and reasonable prices. Would come back when I want my greasy spoon brunch…

I find the name a bit deceiving. This is more of a local diner than a bistro. Small and clean with the basic small town diner décor. The waitress was friendly and despite most of the tables being filled our order came out quickly. We had the special, the french with strawberry syrup. The syrup was actually more of a sauce, homemade and very good. The bread was not your average loaf, I’m not sure what kind it was, but it was also good. My friend had scrambled eggs and thought they were very good, no brown spots. The only thing that I found disappointing was my hash browns. They were the standard, most likely out-​of-​the –bag, hash browns but they were barely browned. You need to have some crispness to hash browns.
This was clearly a place where they had regulars. I heard the waitress call to one table «see you next week».

Great breakfast place. A must stop while in Petoskey. Very clean, great food and Friendly wait staff. We will be back.

We stopped in during a vacation we were having at Boyne Mountain Resort. Service was fast, friendly, and attentive. We never had to ask for refills, the food came out in about 5 – 10 minutes which for 5 breakfasts is very good, and the quality was very high. I had the Ham and Cheese Omelette and toast and it was done perfectly. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good breakfast.

Your typical breakfast and lunch place. Our server told us the current owner has run The Bistro for 14 years, which I guess left me expecting more from the menu. The menu was uninspiring, and the décor didn’t exactly hold the wow factor. This superb location and quaint storefront holds much potential.
I tried the baby asparagus omelet with cheddar cheese. Which was very tasty. Hubby ordered the Reuben which is served with Sun Chips. A pleasant change from boring potato chips. The food was decent, and the prices were inexpensive.
Additional note:
You will more than likely need quarters for the meter parking available next to the restaurant.
The Bistro accepted only cash or check when I visited, no debit or charge cards.