Stein Eriksen's - Boyne Falls

My group and I experienced a botched meal all based on timing. We went here because Everett's in the Grand Lodge had an almost hour wait, and this was the next best choice suggested by their hostess. I was with my husband, his parents, his sister, his brother in law and our 6 year old nephew. The in laws all went for the prime rib and shrimp buffet, while the little one ordered fries and chicken tenders off the kid's menu. My husband ordered a bowl of the Soup of the Day, Clam Chowder, and I got a Caesar Salad. And we shared the Pork Osso Buco entree with asparagus and mashed potatoes on the side. Four of the group began eating right away from the buffet's salad bar while we all waited for our drinks Hot Tea for the mother in law, Diet Coke for the father in law, Long Island Iced Tea for the sister in law, Chopin Martini (which really confused the server because she had never heard of the liquor, even though it's on the menu), Lemonade for the kiddie, Short's IPA for my hubby and the Drink Feature of the Night (note not special for price....actually not clear of why it's special) of a Snowball Martini for me. Strike 1 All the drinks came quickly except the lemonade, hot tea and my martini. The server came back with the tea as my mother in law began eating her prime rib. While I reminded the server that I had ordered the drink she suggested, she apologized and said she would go put it in. And again, the lemonade was forgotten. Strike 2 A)The next time she came out, she brought a bread basket of sourdough (which I did like because it was moist and buttery), my husband's chowder (which lacked clam but had quite a bit of potato and bacon) and my mediocre Caesar Salad. She said that the bartender was still making my drink because she had to get the lime sherbet (AKA snowball) from the kitchen. And, yes, no lemonade again. B) Finally, I got my drink along with the entree. Just as my hubby was finishing his beer, and my sister in law was halfway through her Long Island and polishing off her second plate of prime rib. In the end, my drink didn't really live up to the hype. It tasted like cheap, boozy melted ice cream, a bit of a mistake. C) As for our osso buco, I appreciated the woodsy morels on top but the meat was not nearly as tender as expected. The last time I had this dish it was fall of the bone, fork tender that I didn't need a knife. Whereas, this time, I had to hack it a part. It didn't help that the asparagus side was a measly four or five skinny pieces with some type of unnecessary cream sauce. I like the mashed potatoes more because they were at least the smashed red bliss variety, although it did need seasoning. Strike 3 What made me really sad was when my brother in law pointed out that his son didn't have his entree and drink until after my husband and I got our food. Chicken tenders and fries definitely do not take as long to cook ... For next time, I would rather make our own dinner back at our condo resort room.

Servers were excellent but food was very poor. Ordered a whitefish sandwich and I noticed it was very fishy tasting. Come to find out, it still had the skin on it.

During ski season, I feel like a penguin on a beach, trying to wade to a table in the lunch room at the main ski lodge at Boyne Mountain. If you ski on a weekday, the main lodge lunchroom is closed, so you have to find lunch elsewhere. We often go to Stein Eriksen's when we're skiing at the Mountain. The food is OK, and the price is about what I'd expect for a ski resort. If you're a skier, you know how it is. Your feet are immobilized by ski boots, so you can't walk very far, and you have no choice but to pay what they're asking. It's nice to sit down and spread out, and not be jostled by the crowds. That's what you're really paying for when you have lunch at Stein's.

We went for the Xmas Eve Buffet with Santa! and it was pretty bad. The prime rib tasted watery, there were only two sides for the pork, prime rib, and turkey and that was sweet potatoes with marshmallows and this orange rice that I had to scrape off the serving spoon onto my plate. I was willing to look past the wallpaper texture if it tasted ok. It was flavorless. Someone told me later it was a pumpkin risotto. ANYone with ANY food training will tell you that risotto should never be on a buffet. SO my family mostly just ate cold shrimp, salads, pork and sweet potatoes for $31 a person. Our waiter deserted us after about 1/2 hour and we had nothing to wash down the food. One star for the review because we liked the slices of pie at the dessert table. Oh and Santa never showed..

Once we were finally seated, our server was very patient and friendly despite the poor management. However, it took a long time before we were greeted by her. I understand it was Christmas week and the place was busy, but there were still open tables in the dining room. When our server finally approached us, we ordered drinks, food, and an appetizer all at once to minimize further delays. Unfortunately, the appetizer took 45 minutes to arrive, and by then, we were already an hour and 15 minutes into our evening. Our main courses arrived about 15 to 20 minutes after the appetizer; the food was just mediocre, although the fish was decent. We tried to speak with the manager a couple of times, but as mentioned, the management was lacking. When we finally managed to talk with him, he asked us, “Do you run a restaurant?” which I found to be quite inappropriate. Overall, while our server was lovely and acknowledged our concerns about the management, the manager did nothing to address our disappointing experience.