A West Michigan Favorite
Sam's in Plainwell is one of the best places to eat in West Michigan. The have great menu chioces. They are famous for there ribs but offer awesome seafood, chicken (BBQ Strips are to die for!), and mexican. The have a great drink selection and the service is always friendly. And they cater partys too. The place has a great atmosphere. Go There!!!!!    [20 Jan 2007 04:30:13]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Ribs, BBQ Chik Strips, Burrito

     ­a1962wolfe   

Terrible service, great food
Our family has been going to this establishment for years. While we love the food, the kitchen can be slow at times. However, our last visit proved to be something of a fiasco.

First off, several dinners got mixed up and given to the wrong people. When this was discovered (they were all different chicken dinners), they were redistributed, only for one person to find that their dinner was altogether a different seasoning...one NO ONE had ordered. When this was pointed out to the waitress, she said did not apologize and just told us she would place another order. We had already waited over an hour, and then waited at least another 20 minutes for the last dish to come out. By this time, everyone was long done with their dinner, and when the bill came, surprisingly, nothing had been adjusted to reflect the mishap.

When we asked about a discount, the waitress smirked and appeared to shake her head "no," but then said she would get her manager. A woman then appeared and quietly asked, "How are things, folks?" We proceeded to explain that there was a mix up, and that we would expect a bit of a price adjustment reflecting the trouble we had. She just stared blankly at us and walked away! We assumed she left to go adjust our check. Our check came back the same. Stunned, those of us left, decided not to tip, partly because of our waitress's bad attitude, and partly because we did the only thing we could do to hold someone accountable.

We have never seen this kind of management...ignoring the customer's request and not providing any explanation whatsoever...were they hoping we would just dissolve into thin air? Interesting....and really unacceptable, unprofessional behavior.    [20 Oct 2007 23:27:27]

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Recommended Dishes: Cajun Chicken

     ­Anonymous   bstar23 at hotmail dot com

Went for a nice meal.......left feeling violated!!
Recently I took my parents and Aunt out for a nice Sunday evening meal(or so I thought!) We were seated in the smoking section even though we requested non-smoking. Problem number two was when the waitress took 20 minutes to take our order. Problem number three was when it took an additional 15 minutes to bring out our pre-dinner cole-slaw. Problem number four was when the waitress tried to serve all drinks (including coffee) and appetizers around me without ever moving to the other sides of the table, which resulted in me having her arm and elbow constantly shoved in my face. Problem number five was when she emptied my fathers full cup of coffee onto my thigh and suit jacket errrrrr.

At this point and time I am so frustrated that I will sum up the rest

1. 1 hour and 15 min. after we arrived we received our meal.

2. My steak was perfectly medium rare and sauteed shrimp looked great but it was obvious that both were done cooking about an hour ago due to the shrimp's butter feeling like it came out of a refrigerator, and ditto for the steak.

3. Drinks were always empty we were always calling over other waitresses, oh and did I forget to say that of the entire time we were in the fairly large smoking section only one table of two gentleman were there also only ordering a appetizer....they left also because of the service.

I will stop here to say that after this experience I and the rest of my family will also never give a good review for this establishment due to the fact that I could go to McDonalds and receive better service and possibly food too for $5, not the $100 I spent for being humiliated in front of my family for choosing a restaurant that I heard was a marvelous establishment to dine at.

Sincerely with no regrets,
Aaron hultquist    [19 Nov 2007 15:15:13]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: LOL Different restaurant

     ­Aarone   bad_marlin_13 at yahoo dot com

Awesome Food Awesome Service!
I have loved Sam's Joint for years, but I especially love the Plainwell location. The old building and antiques are lovely. I have to insist that you try something BBQ'd. The chicken strips and ribs are fab! The pasta and seafood are really good also.

I have had good servers almost every time I've been. You can't win 'em all. If you don't mind a packed restaurant go in March or November for their annual nightly specials.    [30 Jan 2008 14:06:40]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: BBQ Chicken Strips, Ribs, Shrimp, Pasta, Steak

     ­Tracey   

Sam's Joint Sucks!!!!~Plainwell
Poor management. The manager on duty Monday night, I think her name was Gloria, ignored our request for a manager to come to our table. Our food was cold and we asked the server for a manager. When the poor server came back to told us that the manager said she'd absolutely be over. After waiting 15 more minutes, we asked for our bill and left. We will never be back in, especially if she is working!!!    [31 Mar 2008 11:18:13]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: NEW MANAGEMENT!!!!

     ­pb   

Amazing!
My family, friends, and I LOVE Sam's Joint in Plainwell. I dont know who wrote the thing about management at the plainwell location but next time talk to kim. she is possibly one of the best managers i've ever seen a restaurant have. I agree with the other person about the specials during March and November...they are amazing!    [11 Jun 2008 12:09:45]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Ribs, BBQ Strips, All You Can Eat Perch Wed.

     ­A fan!   

Nice Place
Service is slow at times, but the food is delicious. The environment is nice as well.    [21 Jul 2008 16:59:24]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: BBQ Chicken strips

     ­unk   

Bad Fish,
Room was dirty, shades were filthy! Men's room stunk and to top it off Wed. special was Haddock, was terrible. Black in side and veins were not taken off!    [20 Aug 2008 19:37:08]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Change your fish; clean restrooms and shades

     ­Patty   

Couldn't be Better
I came here looking for reviews of other places and was shocked to see such a low score for Sam's! I've been there 5 times or so and have been 100% delighted every time. Great service, excellent food. I highly recommend it!    [12 Jan 2009 18:09:50]

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     ­Sean   

GREAT SPOT GREAT RIBS
Historic spot, kids had a wonderful time, will be going again soon. Also we were there for their roll back prices, they can't be beat, the full rack of baby back ribs was $11.91.
   [30 Mar 2009 14:55:27]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: RIBS SIZZLER BURRITOS

     ­JAMES