4. Stillwater Grill

We had heard about this restaurant and wanted to try it for a nice dinner out in Okemos. We had a reservation for 7:30 pm on a Saturday. We still had to wait 20 minutes to be sat. The explanation for the wait was "a lot of walk-ins." Seemed like they knew how to take a reservation, but not how to hold a reservation, because we were not the only reservation that had to wait. I was not very impressed with the ambiance, either. It looked like any other restaurant. The food was good - I had a steak. I thought it was kind of pricey for the overall presentation. I can go to a nicer looking restaurant with better tasting food for the same price, and I can be sat at the time of my reservation. There is nothing worth returning here for.

My husband and I dined there on 6/25/05. We had to ask someone to find our server because 2 tables that arrived after us were being served appetizers before we even saw our waiter. Every time he left our table he would chat with a couple of girls at another table, which delayed turning in our drink and food order. He never mentioned any specials. After he took our plates he said he would turn in our check "whenever we are ready." Well, we were ready after about 1 minute. However it took about 15 before he took the check. The only redeeming factor was that the food was excellent. He needs a new career choice.

I've eaten at Stillwater 3 times and been disappointed every trip. I thought the tough and not-too-warm whitefish on my first visit might be due to the new restaurant still working out the kinks. But 2 more visits and 2 more bad meals made me realize these guys just pull it out of the freezer, heat it up fast, and serve it. I dine out frequently and I cannot recommend the Stillwater Grill, mainly due to the poor food quality and food preparation.