Tippecanoe Place Restaurant

Everything was nice the service was especially good but our food was average.

Awesome place to eat. Eating in this mansion will definitely be a memorable experience whether it’s a first date, anniversary or family get together!!! The food is good and the servers are wonderful! They have a diverse brunch menu from meat carvings to scrambles eggs! Try the omlettes!

A solid three star spot. My hunch is that the four star average is coming from folks impressed with the house and not the food.
The building in which this restaurant is located is significantly historical and that makes this a unique and fun ambience.
The food I found to be OK.
Started with Baked Brie. This was good. Earthy and creamy, it’s hard to screw this up. None of the toppings were special, but none were bad either.
The French Onion Soup was lackluster. There was way too much cheese. The soup was basically one big ball of gruyère sitting on a minimalist onion puddle. The balance of ingredients was so far off I can’t really even comment on the soup itself.
The main course, duck, was mediocre. For a dark meat product, this still had far too much collagen, and yet not enough maillard char. The duck still maintained a somewhat tough bite and resilience not becoming of fowl. Try a slower wetter cooking method. Having I indulged in the glories of Parisian duck, this was so far removed from the real thing I nearly had to reach for a Kleenex to morn the waste of good bird. The gastrique was too acidic and not sweet enough. Balance is everything in a gastrique!
Overall, for the uninitiated, this spot is an acceptable formal dining experience for an area with few other options. I presume if you want real fine dining of consequence however, you’d be best served travelling elsewhere. I didn’t hate the food, but at $ 35pp, it wasn’t worth the spend.

Thanksgiving Day Buffet
Well, at least they are trying, I suppose. Was seated with 3 other people, and basically told to go for it. That they charge extra for orange juice and coffee is kinda lame, plus automatic 18%? all the waitron did was refill the coffees, once,; it was after all a self-​serve buffet. Was disappointed that they had no roast beef, just turkey, which of course was rather dry. I worked here when the place first opened in 1980, wow, the inside of this place… but the quality of the spread they had laid out did not match the décor in any way. The dessert table was a wasteland of broken cakes and pies. Sitting back, I took note of the general vibe of the people and the mood, made me think of a nursing home, everybody waiting in line. Not bad, but not even close to being worth the money. Better luck next place.

Love. This incredible establishment is housed in the former Studebaker mansion. For those who aren’t familiar this was an automobile manufacturer as well as horse drawn wagon company.
I’ve been to many high end decadent Sunday Brunch Buffets but none have compared in elegance and quality.
This place is more then a meal, it’s an experience.

Soup (beef barley) was not good. Duck and lamb were very well made and recommended. Dessert was standard. The staff was nice but a bit disorganized. We didn’t get a water refill once during the 2 hour meal. They constantly seemed confused at who ordered what. For such a high end restaurant, service was surprisingly subpar.

We dined here on Christmas Eve for my son’s 18^th birthday. Beautiful home turned into a restaurant. Ambiance was spot on. They maintained the beauty of the old home and the history.
Our server Quentin was top notch! He was absolutely fabulous with a beautiful personality! Kudos to him for making this a wonderful dinner for my family. Food was absolutely delicious. We all tried something different and had a great time sharing. My older son and his girlfriend are former bartenders and they loved the specialty cocktails. The only downside — online they stated they have gluten free options. In person, they had none. My sister recently found out she has Celiac Disease and there was nothing for her to eat.

Wow — Brunch with Santa is a must-​do during the holidays. The food and service were amazing. The Christmas décor was stunning. We also loved Santa and the live piano music. We couldn’t ask for a better way to enjoy the holiday season!

Football weekend ND vs Navy; brunch @ Tippecanoe was awesome. We’ve been going to brunch here ever since the early 1980’s when I was in college at Saint Mary’s. The food is always wonderful, the service is great, and the atmosphere can’t be beat. One of the most beautiful historical places in South Bend. Not to be missed.

Went for Sunday brunch which was great. Selection on the buffet was diverse and the food was excellent. Service was attentive throughout the morning. Atmosphere was unique within the old mansion. Beautiful unique place for a great family brunch.

Shelly robert and drew are great but run if you get doug. He is by far the worst. Makes you feal uneasy and rushed

The meal was okay, service was actually better than food. My dessert, bread pudding, looked like it had been sitting on the counter for 3 days before it was served. Took one bite and was very disappointed.

I had Sunday brunch with 6 close friends. I was amazed with the spread. Brunch even includes an omlet bar made to order. We will be back, it was worth every penny.

I’ve eaten here many times for lunch, Sunday brunch and special events. It is always so delicious.
When I took my mom to lunch for her birthday, the pumpkin soup was amazing. The salads and sandwiches are so good. See the photos I posted of the Cobb salad and the strawberry salad.
I love the ambiance.

As a recent alumni of Notre Dame, I’ve visited Tippecanoe twice as a student and a third time, today. As a student I had loved this place but perhaps since it was restaurant week and there was a wedding, I was very disappointed.
First off, since there was a wedding party they sat all dinner guests in the basement. I was there for a date with my boyfriend and they sat us at an awkwardly long and narrow table that mad for a weird ambiance.
I ordered the brie which just seemed like it was microwaved and not for very long. I’ve had store bought brie and toasted it in the oven that tasted better than it was here. I had the North Atlantic salmon for dinner and was disappointed that there was no skin and no crisp to it. My boyfriend ordered the duckling which was much better. I ended dinner with their signature white mousse which I’ve ordered every time while dining here. I remembered it to be much fluffier and airy as a student but today’s mousse was too sweet and heavy.
All in all, wish I had tried Café Navarre or LaSalle Grille. Maybe the chefs were too busy catering the wedding to be more attentive to dinner guests (also wedding guests took up ALL the parking so we had to walk quite far in the cold). I don’t expect to be visiting again in the near future.

The food was great … The cooks were very nice as well… our waitress sucked coffee was cold and my water glass was refilled but another waitress a half hour later :(

Firstly, I have to qualify my review by saying this review is regarding my family’s experience for the Thanksgiving Buffet on Thanksgiving Day 2013. In the past, my family and extended family has made reservations at Tippecanoe Place for the simple reason we have a large family and this place can seat us comfortably and everyone can enjoy the day without the stress of cooking and/​or clean up.
This year I made reservations for 8 of us plus a baby. I asked for main dining room seating 6 weeks in advance. My sole purpose was to enjoy the beautiful main floor display and beautiful views of the house and grounds. A couple weeks after I made the reservation, I learned that I needed to bump it an hour later from 3:00 to 4:00 to accommodate my adult children’s other T-​day stops. I called and asked if it was possible while still keeping my main floor dining wishes. I was told to come at 5:00 p. m and that would be no problem. Two days prior to Thanksgiving I called to double-​check the reservation because I had a bad feeling, but only because I had spoken to a very young female and wasn’t feeling confident that she understood that I wanted main floor seating and that my daughter had a young infant she was nursing and didn’t want to be running up/​down stairs. While double checking, I spoke to THE general manager or she identified herself as such. I was a bit surprised, because she was abrupt and cut me off more than once while I was speaking to her. So I very calmly said, I made these reservations 6 weeks ago to assure myself that my family could have an enjoyable time. Can you confirm we have the seating I asked for? She said «yes ma’am… that’s not a problem.» I still had that weird feeling after I hung up. Well… on Thanksgiving all 8 of us showed up and as they began to lead us up to the second floor, I asked to speak the the manager as I explained that we had main floor seating. The hostess was very polite and took me straight to the woman behind the front desk. I smiled and told her my name and that we had spoken two days earlier when I confirmed my reservation and that our party was for main floor seating and now we are being seated on the second floor. Her response? «No one in your party appears to have physical disabilitiies and the food is the same on the second floor as it is on the main floor. We don’t have any open tables for your party in this time slot… you’ll have to wait.» Needless to say, our time frame didn’t allow us to wait. We were seated on the second floor. The Thanksgiving buffet is AVERAGE for the price you pay. I will never, ever go to Tippecanoe Place for a holiday meal again. My extended family/​family has been going there since 2000. This was the last time. I don’t feel the need to pay a place to be treated poorly because of their bad management and their unprofessional planning habits. I’m sure the restaurant is still pretty good any other time. I just won’t recommend it for holiday buffets even if it were free. NOT WORTH IT!

Usually have loved the brunch and atmosphere. Realize it is busy the week before Christmas. But to wait in line for food with 50 people ahead of you? And getting to the dessert table to find broken cookies, crumbled cakes and destroyed desserts?
If they can’t handle the crowds, cut down the number of reservations.

Wow! What a place of architecture but in South bend you’ve got loads of that on the Notre Dame campus.
Truly casual dining in a formal atmosphere within the Studemaker Mansion. The place can be drafty in winter so sweater up.
Not over the top cuisine but great choices served in a romantic atmosphere. Make sure and look around on all four floors when you’re done.
Our choices were Chilean Sea Bass, chicken breast with parmesan and prosciutto, caesar salads and french onion soup to start.

We were staying next door at the Oliver B&B so when we asked for a suggestion for dinner our innkeeper was quick to say you have to go next door. I’m so glad we did. They were offering a special 4 course meal for $ 40. I ordered a brie appetizer, caesar salad, roast duck and a chocolate mouse for desert. The old Studebaker mansion was amazing and we toured all four floors. It was fun trying to imagine how a family would live in a 26,000 sq. ft. home. This was a fun experience.