We were there on 9/27/2025 500 pm ish. We sat outside on rhat beautiful evening. Our waitress was decent and attentive at times and other times not so much. Service could have been better from her ( Miriam ) was our waitress for this occasion. Very nice place to have a meal and the outdoor patio is the BOMB 💣 to take in the water view and the sound of the waves. Very classy and elegant place. It looked and appeared very clean inside and outside and the bathrooms were well stocked and well maintained.
We would definitely come back here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Debra Basye
What a gem of a spot! Beautiful view, excellent service and WOW WOW the food was exceptional, hats off to Chief!! If I could give this place a 10 over ALL categories I would! Food came out fast and delicious !Definitely a new destination to eat at! Thanks for being so top notch!! The Basye's
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ericka Kruszka
Yum! We shared the lobster corndog and it was so good. Not at all over cooked and the sauce was a great accompaniment. I had the coconut cod and my husband had the osso bucco. Both were excellent. Husband wanted to hug the chef.
They warned us when we walked in that they were short stuff but we were very happy with our service.
Would definitely recommend and will definitely go back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Paul Gilbert
Very loud tonight
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Clayton Boesen
The view off the back deck for dinner was quite lovely. Dinner came out moderately fast and delivered by a server other than the wait staff. I would come back and continue my experience through the menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Iman Siddiqui
The food is amazing and the atmosphere along with the service are perfect! We call the cove our vacation spot near home lol. This restaurant brings something to the table, that you can’t find anywhere else locally.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lake and Local
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I had the wonderful chance to visit The Cove Lakeside Bistro and wow — what an experience! From the moment you walk in, those wall-to-wall windows and the lake view just take your breath away.
The menu is completely scratch-made, with options for vegan, gluten-free, or any allergy accommodations you might need. The Lobster Cobb and the coconut-crusted cod and chips are definite must-haves.
Whether it’s a date night, special occasion, or just a casual dinner with an unbeatable view, The Cove delivers every time. Highly recommend signing up for Millennium Rewards too — you don’t want to miss their specials and events!
Harry Vaughn
Great food and location.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Andrea Lehtonen
Beautiful sunset spot with good food. Great place to hang out and enjoy a lovely dinner
Went for Thanksgiving and the food was so incredibly subpar I was shocked to be honest. Half of the turkey I received was practically like jerky it was so hard and inedible, just dry outer dark meat chunks. The rest was only semi dry but had absolutely no flavor. There was no gravy served, just cranberry sauce, and when I asked for gravy we each received a thimble's worth of very watery bland sauce??? Mashed potatoes were clumped up potato chunks with no butter or seasonings or anything done to it really. The stuffing was the only decent thing in the plate, and I only managed to shovel down as much as I did because I skipped lunch in anticipation of this... meal.
As for other parts of the meal, the clam chowder was a bit overly salty and there were occasionally clumps of cream or roux that suggested it'd been sitting and thickening in the pot all day and they scraped the bottom to serve us. The pumpkin pie was the only shining star of the meal; they must have bought it from a great bakery, but the chocolate cake was cold and bland, and could have benefited with a little heat or something. Also, half of it was frosting, legitimately about an inch of frosting.
Anyway, the waitress claimed she would take the dry turkey jerky chunks back to show the chef, but there was no substitute turkey meat offered, no discount, or any other offer of reparations. We walked in expecting a great upscale dining experience and ended up with essentially bad diner food, and it just really ruined the night. This may be one of a handful of meals we can still enjoy with an ill loved one, and to have it end like this is beyond disappointing. I would have preferred frozen pizza over this.
This is actually the second time visiting in the past year, and while last time was mediocre, I thought I'd give them a chance, and hoped that the special limited holiday menu would be better.
Anyway, I suggest people steer clear, because the quality does not match the price at all.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Tammy Ekema
Not very pleased with the food after the fourth visit. Lacks flavor. We had the traditional turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. The turkey was not cut across the grain. Very little gravy & only on the turkey. The dressing was a bland glob, green beans were cooked well but lacking any flavor, honestly I couldn’t put enough salt on my food. The rolls were good as well as the chocolate cake. Please cut up some iceberg lettuce to put in the salad mix, there’s way to much frisée that you have to spend so much time cutting the salad rather than eating it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Andrew
Great spot, food is just ok for the price
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Bryan Stewart
Awesome restaurant with great views of west lake in portage michigan.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Caesar Salad, Bistro Burger, Cuban Sandwich
Roman Ruades
Great place, awesome food, service and beautiful location
Great Chef!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We were there on 9/27/2025 500 pm ish. We sat outside on rhat beautiful evening. Our waitress was decent and attentive at times and other times not so much. Service could have been better from her ( Miriam ) was our waitress for this occasion. Very nice place to have a meal and the outdoor patio is the BOMB 💣 to take in the water view and the sound of the waves. Very classy and elegant place. It looked and appeared very clean inside and outside and the bathrooms were well stocked and well maintained.
We would definitely come back here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
What a gem of a spot! Beautiful view, excellent service and WOW WOW the food was exceptional, hats off to Chief!! If I could give this place a 10 over ALL categories I would! Food came out fast and delicious !Definitely a new destination to eat at! Thanks for being so top notch!!
The Basye's
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Yum! We shared the lobster corndog and it was so good. Not at all over cooked and the sauce was a great accompaniment. I had the coconut cod and my husband had the osso bucco. Both were excellent. Husband wanted to hug the chef.
They warned us when we walked in that they were short stuff but we were very happy with our service.
Would definitely recommend and will definitely go back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Very loud tonight
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
The view off the back deck for dinner was quite lovely. Dinner came out moderately fast and delivered by a server other than the wait staff. I would come back and continue my experience through the menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food is amazing and the atmosphere along with the service are perfect! We call the cove our vacation spot near home lol. This restaurant brings something to the table, that you can’t find anywhere else locally.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I had the wonderful chance to visit The Cove Lakeside Bistro and wow — what an experience! From the moment you walk in, those wall-to-wall windows and the lake view just take your breath away. The menu is completely scratch-made, with options for vegan, gluten-free, or any allergy accommodations you might need. The Lobster Cobb and the coconut-crusted cod and chips are definite must-haves. Whether it’s a date night, special occasion, or just a casual dinner with an unbeatable view, The Cove delivers every time. Highly recommend signing up for Millennium Rewards too — you don’t want to miss their specials and events!
Great food and location.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beautiful sunset spot with good food. Great place to hang out and enjoy a lovely dinner
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Went for Thanksgiving and the food was so incredibly subpar I was shocked to be honest. Half of the turkey I received was practically like jerky it was so hard and inedible, just dry outer dark meat chunks. The rest was only semi dry but had absolutely no flavor. There was no gravy served, just cranberry sauce, and when I asked for gravy we each received a thimble's worth of very watery bland sauce??? Mashed potatoes were clumped up potato chunks with no butter or seasonings or anything done to it really. The stuffing was the only decent thing in the plate, and I only managed to shovel down as much as I did because I skipped lunch in anticipation of this... meal.
As for other parts of the meal, the clam chowder was a bit overly salty and there were occasionally clumps of cream or roux that suggested it'd been sitting and thickening in the pot all day and they scraped the bottom to serve us. The pumpkin pie was the only shining star of the meal; they must have bought it from a great bakery, but the chocolate cake was cold and bland, and could have benefited with a little heat or something. Also, half of it was frosting, legitimately about an inch of frosting.
Anyway, the waitress claimed she would take the dry turkey jerky chunks back to show the chef, but there was no substitute turkey meat offered, no discount, or any other offer of reparations. We walked in expecting a great upscale dining experience and ended up with essentially bad diner food, and it just really ruined the night. This may be one of a handful of meals we can still enjoy with an ill loved one, and to have it end like this is beyond disappointing. I would have preferred frozen pizza over this.
This is actually the second time visiting in the past year, and while last time was mediocre, I thought I'd give them a chance, and hoped that the special limited holiday menu would be better.
Anyway, I suggest people steer clear, because the quality does not match the price at all.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Not very pleased with the food after the fourth visit. Lacks flavor. We had the traditional turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. The turkey was not cut across the grain. Very little gravy & only on the turkey. The dressing was a bland glob, green beans were cooked well but lacking any flavor, honestly I couldn’t put enough salt on my food. The rolls were good as well as the chocolate cake. Please cut up some iceberg lettuce to put in the salad mix, there’s way to much frisée that you have to spend so much time cutting the salad rather than eating it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Great spot, food is just ok for the price
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Awesome restaurant with great views of west lake in portage michigan.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Caesar Salad, Bistro Burger, Cuban Sandwich
Great place, awesome food, service and beautiful location
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: White Fish
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