Captain Joe’s Grill

Always happy when we leave here. Simple food but they do it right. Michigan Salad is my favorite — perfectly pecan crusted chicken, goat cheese, & quality spinach mix. They also have a surprisingly good beer selection & know how to make a refreshing cocktail on a hot summer day! Happy to have this place nearby when we are enjoying the lake!

One of the better restaurant/​bar options in Whitmore Lake, topping the other two comparable options in The Bobber Down and The Lake Tavern. Food is decent, but overpriced. Staff can be rude and not helpful. The actual building itself is by far the best in the area, clean and well organized. Food options include standard bar/​American fair with some Mexican and pita options. Beer variety is alright and cocktail menu looks to be nice. Besides the serving issues I’ve had in two separate occasions, I’ve liked our stops at Capt’n Joes.

This one isn’t an easy one to review. We ate her on a regular basis when it was still Outriggers, and enjoyed it a lot. Then they decided to expand into what is now known as Captain Joes. We went shortly after the grand opening to note that the menu had changed quite abit. A lot of Mediterranean food, which was kinda weird considering the new name of the place. One would assume that seafood would have been there. In the end we were not happy at all with our meals. We had gone back 3 or 4 different times hoping that things had improved, but this was not to be the case. Then recently we were in the mood for a nice big salad, after ruling out all other local options in town we thought we’d try Joes again, i mean it’s salad right?
Michigan salad and chefs salad were ordered. They were HUGE! And filled with lots of meats and cheeses. Yeah there was lettuce too, but none of that plain ok iceberg, there were nice mixes of romaine, spinach there might have been a bit of endive in there too. My ranch dressing seemed like it might have been made in house, which always a plus. His salad was filled with plenty of dried cherries walnuts and grilled chicken.
So for this trip, they get a solid 4 stars from me for salads. Hopefully when we try it again we get another solid meal, and give them a 5.

Found this place as we were passing by on the freeway. Made a great decision to stop. Great burgers. Great scenery, especially being able to sit on the patio in the warm November sun. Lake in view. Friendly service. This is a winner!

We eat here relatively often, a couple times a month at least.
Atmosphere: can be kinda loud inside. outside is good in summer, but the people they have playing music… um, not my cup of tea
Service: usually quite good. We’ve had a couple servers that left something to be desired, but on the whole, we’re happy
Food/​menu: negatives first: breakfast/​brunch here is gross. Over priced and they just don’t do it well.
Now for the good stuff: best corned beef rueben on the planet. Fries are great. Asparagus, omg. My brother LOVES the seafood gumbo, it makes him sweat when he eats it. Their specials menu is always full of good stuff, I recommend anything on there.
Prices are fairly reasonable, on drinks and food

Very unhappy with the service and the food.
Not the first time we have had bad service or cold food!
Went in for lunch.
Dark and dreary.
Loud people at the bar.
Ordered our food.
Waitress got the order of one of the sandwiches wrong. Told us it was going to cost her money to fix the order. Who cares! She got the order wrong. Who does that? Make me feel bad because she has to pay for a wrong order? Food was cold. Getting a refill was a joke… probably because she had to pay for her mistake? Will NOT be going back.

What can I say about Captain Joe’s? Came here one night to listen to an artist play. The drinks were well prepared and the music was sublime! We did not eat a meal, just some libations. We would return!

I use to work there. Even though my employment ended on bad terms the food is great. The service is awesome. And the people there are unforgettable. It’s always a great time at captain joes. And I’ll never forget my time there

Today was my first visit to this restaurant and I was impressed. From the hostess and throughout dinner the service was top notch. The parking lot was packed so we were worried there would be a long wait but to our surprise we were seated immediately. We started out with the appetizer on special, Which was fried smelt. I’ve never had smelt and boy was it delicious! for the main course I had their 14 oz ribeye rubbed with coffee. Sounded odd but you could not taste the coffee. The steak was cooked to perfection and had a nice taste. The broccoli and Caesar salad were perfect companions to the huge steak. Overall, a very positive experience. I would definitely return. They have many different appetizers and menu items to choose from including a few middle eastern dishes. Highly recommend.

I don’t under stand if this is the bar side or the Restaurant side either way it’s good for the area and its limited amount of establishments

If you are lucky enough to find the place without getting on the freeway north, then you are in good shape. Capt’n Joe’s is right off the freeway and looks like it would be easy to find but it’s not. You have to jog to the right, on a road that looks like the driveway to a carwash but actually, it takes you around to Capt’n Joe’s.
Medium dining space with high ceilings makes the ambient noise pretty loud. Great outdoor seating area with a stage for live music. Nice bar and great service. We sat at the bar and shared an appetizer. Good beer selection. Mediterranean sampler was good. Hummus w. pita, three grape leaves and Kibbie. The Kibbie was outstanding — lamb with pine nuts and fried. So good! The grape leaves were ok — seemed a little dried out and the hummus was a generous portion. Hummus comes with two pitas and asked for one more to finish up what was left. They brought two and charged $ 1 for it. Which was fine but I think she should have mentioned the charge.
The lounge is on the other side of the restaurant and looks like it has a separate entrance. I can’t wait to spend an evening on the patio with friends and live music. Looks great.

I was expecting to have a wonderful pirate-​themed dinner from the advertisements on the express way. Was disappointed when it turned out to be a normal, clean and modern restaurant :(The food was good and so was the service, just not the way pirates would have served us :(

So I called to make a reservation for Mother’s Day. The woman answering the phone tells me that there are no reservations at that time but they do allow for walk ins. I get there 15 minutes before the brunch– NO customers are there yet. I tell them what I was told on the phone. Their reply is they don’t know who would of said that. They are booked and no they do not have space for walk ins. They were very rude. So we left– went across the street to the Whitmore Lake Tavern– no reservations– treated with respect and had a great meal.

Very nice place. Good food outdoor seating.
They have a lounge that is attatched with very good entertainment. The wait staff is freindly. Word of caution pay extra for the booze pass on the house stock.

I had to give Captain Joe’s 5 stars because I wasn’t expecting much from a place on the property of a Best Western. The predictable stuff first; Michigan Lottery Keno, burgers and country music. The surprises: 12 draft beers with many Michigan craft beers (I had the Perrin Grapefruit IPA); crispy fried asparagus with wasabi; falafel sandwich with hummus. The falafel can hold its own against any is Southeast Michigan with pickles in the sandwich. The side potato chips are fried in house (although they buy the un-​fried chips from a supplier). Three TVs over the bar were perfect for watching the Tigers. Staff was friendly and attentive. The place is clean and there is an outdoor patio. Definitely exceeded expectations in all areas.

My grandmother and I had lunch there while I was in town visiting. Despite her claims that Captain Joe’s was a «fancy place» and «kind of expensive», I found it to be like a low-​end version of TGI Friday’s. The food was okay (very large portions) and the service was adequate; neither were great. At least it wasn’t actually expensive. Still, I’d rather go to a more homey, local place next time.

Happened to be staying in the area, and decided to try it for dinner. Wait time was a little longer than expected, but hostess was very kind. Manager even came to us twice to tell us he had to parties that had paid and were waiting for them to leave. He was very apologetic and said that as soon as one left he would have multiple people clear it off and get it ready for us. Food was good, pan seared lake perch, BLT pizza, wings, cheese bread all were good. But what made our trip even better was Kelly our server, an absolute delight. Very friendly, and knowledgable about the menu, gave us her recommendations, told us about her «summer go to drink.» Overall, good experience, made great by our server.

I was in from out of town for an event and stopped here for dinner. Food here was «OK» but it was the service that brought it from a 2 to a 3. The food for our group was a mixture of either overcooked and/​or bland. The waitress we had, though, was cheerful and was eager to make things right for us.

I didn’t get the chance to eat here but I did partake in some beers on the patio. It was a Wednesday night so there wasn’t really too much going on. It sits between the freeway and a hotel. Kind of loud on the patio but after a few beers I didn’t notice. The first waitress we had was nice but halfway through our second beers she came over and announced that she wanted to cash us out because she «wanted to go home.» Um yeah.OK.
The second waitress came over and made up for the first one. She was really friendly and chatted with us quite a bit but I guess right after we ordered our 3^rd beer we were advised that they were closed. Right well? She pretty much cleaned up the patio around us while we were trying to chug it down. At one point we were helping her. We felt bad that we were the last ones there. It wasn’t even dark at that point so I have no idea what time they closed. I probably won’t be back here, not because I didn’t like it but I really don’t live anywhere near there. Total spur of the moment outing.

I’d feel comfortable giving Captain Joe’s Grill 2.5 stars. Staying at the Best Western Whitmore Lake, it was easy to walk across the parking lot to dine here. Captain Joe’s has lots of seating, including a huge patio (unfortunately, it was cold and rainy the day we were here). Food was okay, but not great. $ 21.99 for okay prime rib with one side? Meh. Our server was really friendly, and my kids loved the warm bread (served as a whole loaf). If we were in Whitmore Lake again, I suppose we’d go back.