Cranker’s Brewery

Very slow services. Ordered mashed red potatoes and it was slow bland and didn’t taste like potatoes at all. They were out of a lot of things including baked potatos. Waitress apologized excessively but I think it was kitchen issue. Sorry won’t be back. Very disappointed I was looking forward to this place.

Twice i’ve been screwed on pricing. The first time my mother and i ordered burrito’s and ended up with an extra 3.00 charge with no explanation. We didn’t see it until the next day because of being distracted by friends. When emailing them the said they would check into it but never got back with me that was in the fall of 2015. Now today i went with other friends and again they tried to slide in a charge that was supposed to be free. Today the food was just ok, not much flavor and some was kinda cold. The woman i was with today had mac n cheese as a side and she said it was literally the worst mac n cheese she ever had, her daughter wouldn’t eat it either. So as of today thats two families that won’t go back. Not sure if they are putting all their efforts into the brewery and not the restaurant or not but its not a good place to go anymore.

Decided not to go for breakfast this morning. Chicken tenders and homemade chips. Sad day because the Mac and Cheese is all gone. No worries still going to be great food. I love this place!

Went there about 2 months ago, late afternoon and kind of busy but not packed. Waitress finally approached us after 20 minutes-​too late, we were on our way out. Went there last Saturday night, a live band was playing but way too loud. The first thing the hostess said was we had to leave by 11:15 for a «private function». My wife said that’s ok I just want a glass of wine, were informed that they don’t serve wine or liquor. Left and went to Schuburg’s. It’s always something with this place…

This Cranker’s location is only good for breakfast and even then they are okay at best. They order their food pre made and you can taste it for sure. I had the pancakes this morning and not only were the pancakes either frozen, instant, or both but the syrup was old. It was gross.
I usually get the turkey sausage and eggs and while the eggs are usually coddled at least they’re made fresh. The coffee is okay too.
I really appreciate the morning wait staff but the staff on other shifts has always been disappointing. I’ll always come back for the morning ladies though.

What to say? Walked in and had one waitress say they would be right with us. Then several people walked in and sat themselves. The next waitress said to have a seat anywhere. We sat down and waited and waited. Finally out drink order was taken and we said we were ready to order but waitress said another table in front of us. 20 minutes at this point. She finally came back and took order. Still no drinks. 15 minutes later she came back and said they were out of prime rib which my wife and I both ordered. Asked if we needed menu. We said yes. Brought them to us. We reordered and assumed our kids food was cooking. Wrong. After over 1.5 hours we got our food but our son’s calzone not even in oven yet. The kids food of soup, baked potato and calzone were good and only reason for 2 stars. My wife and I had ribs and ribeye. Both very blah. Waitress very apologetic and she was working hard. Never saw a manager or offered any consolidation. We spent 70 $ for 4 with tip, which really wasn’t earned, there almost 2.5 hours and no alcohol. We will not be back.

Service was solid! The atmosphere is unique and we’ll worth a second visit. They have a great menu and some interesting home brews. Their menu is good but they lack execution. … for example the parmesan fries should be amazing — they sounded great but lacked flavor. I asked for mine to be well done and they were not and came unsalted. My husband requested his steak fries with cajun seasoning fresh out of the fryer & they wouldn’t do it.
The pulled pork sandwich on a pretzel bun was yummy but needed another tip of sauce. My Chipotle chicken sandwich had great flavor (had them put it on a wrap instead)!
Restrooms in the coney were a mess.
All in all the place has great potential! We’ll go back again… perhaps this was an off day being the day after their big Valentine’s dinner.

Stopped in for breakfast with my husband while traveling through town. Service was ok… a bit slow but they where pretty busy and we were in no hurry. I ordered the breakfast burrito and liked it. It is pretty big so only ate half.
If you are light eaters share a meal. The portions are large.
My husband ordered stuffed hashbrowns and was quite unimpressed. Really wasn’t even stuffed hashbrowns. Would not order again.
Décor was average.

The pizza is delicious and the bread sticks with cheese dip! The Mac and cheese is great also! Never too busy so you always get in but sometimes have slow service. House made root beer is great if you’re under 21!

We had a group of 13 — kids & adults.
Good tasty when hot. Many meals in our group had cold burgers & fries.
Server tried really hard but struggled with order accuracy & timely delivery.
Would not stop here again. Too many other eateries to select from.

Really enjoyed the Brisket Sandwich and their Onion Rings. Also had the bulldog Red beer. I picked a great combo! Will be back again.

A friend’s family invited me out to Cranker’s last weekend. I’d been to the Coney Island before and swore it off — their food is not good, the service is hit or miss. But because everyone seemed eager, I joined them. We did have 8 in our party, so I had some leeway in my original expectations.
First off, the service:
Our drinks were nothing spectacular. I ordered their housemade root beer and was extremely disappointed. I ordered a sample of the Pistola Pale Ale and it smelled like perfume. He never came back to ask if I liked it.
Our waiter would disappear for ages. When he took our orders, he didn’t let us know they were out of certain items, like rice (RICE!). So when our food came out and it was noticeably missing, I inquired. He said «We’re out of rice.» Nothing was said on his end about a replacement. $ 10 for a cheese quesadilla with beans and rice, but no rice. Beans were lukewarm, not hot.
Two of our party ordered the brisket special, which was $ 17. It came out with 4 tiny pieces of meat, lukewarm in temperature.
We arrived at 5:00pm, ordered our food at 5:30, and finally were able to leave at 6:45pm. The service took way too long. The hostess checked on us more than our waiter did. Thanks, Cranker’s for cementing why I feel so horribly about your establishment. Next time I’m offered a dinner from Cranker’s, I’ll stay home.

Great place to come and enjoy above average quality bar food. Excellent selection of just about anything anyone would want in a restaurant. The most unique part about this brewery is their coconut porter that they brew themselves. It’s absolutely delicious and to my knowledge besides what they have for sale, you can only get the beer at a few Meijer stores in the area. You will not regret trying this place in the heart of bulldog territory!

Waited way to long for food 30 min when the restaurant was empty. When we received it pizza was burnt and my nachos, well they forgot the cheese.

I had the brisket based on the waitress’ recommendation as the house specialty. While it wasn’t awful it wasn’t particularly good either. the meat wasn’t very flavorful. I tasted more like a pot roast than a quality brisket. And the whole order was slathered with a sauce that tasted like a mix of A1 and Heinz 57.
The brewery portion was closed too, which was disappointing since I wanted to try a local craft brew, and picks this restraunt because the said it was a brewery.
My waitress was very good though.

Solid range of beers making this place worth a trip. Odd name, in the same building shared by a Coney Island. Low-​key, large space, that was pretty quiet in the middle of the afternoon on a weekend. Wait staff was knowledgeable and friendly and the beers were very good. I would imagine some nights this place might get very busy.

Maria was here with her knitting group. She had a chili hot dog and fries which was good. She gives 3 stars because the music was way too LOUD. The people in her group couldn’t hear each other. The waitress would disappear.

I’d been to the Cranker’s in Mt. Pleasant, so when a colleague suggested we try the Big Rapids location when visiting over Labor Day, I was hesitant. In a state known for its coney dogs, the mid-​Michigan variety didn’t live up to the expectations. I was pleasantly but highly surprised when we entered the Big Rapids location: Though the restaurant looks like a badly– and hastily-​converted Denny’s family restaurant, passing through into the brewery was a treat – vaulted ceilings, oak accents, a nice bar. I was amazed that such a place existed in the cultural and culinary oasis of Big Rapids.
Then I met the owner.
With only two waitstaff on for the holiday, they were overworked and understaffed, so the owner seated us and took our drink orders. For this we were pleased. That was about the last time. Drinks didn’t appear for about 20 minutes, during which time the manager kept checking back and then barking orders at the clearly-​busy servers to get us our drinks, never taking the time to actually help them out as his business was slammed. Finally, as a waitress moved toward us with our drinks and to take our orders after being yelled at across the restaurant to, «Hurry up, ladies,» the manager took our menus and left us. So there we sat, with no menus, trying to remember what we’d decided on 15 minutes earlier while the pushy, rude manager walked away with our menus.
The actual waitstaff, though radically overworked, was amazing-​just harried. As best they could, they were timely, responsive and incredibly knowledgeable about the house beers.
But the food came out bland (my pulled pork was dry and with only a modicum of flavour), the beer wasn’t anything special compared to the nearby microbrew scenes sprouting up throughout Michigan, and the owner had so completely destroyed my notions of the place I’ll happily never go back. I usually love local places over chains, but when I go back in November, I’ll be hitting Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game and get a drink. It’s not worth going back here.

Nice bar attached to a Coney Island. Beer was just ok.

We met here for a family reunion over the holidays. The long cafeteria style tables worked well for our big, social group. I don’t recall the food being anything spectacular, but it got the job done. The Saganaki appetizer was flame broiled at our table! Seared cheese… mmmmm… Also, they were able to customize a menu item for my mother in law’s dietary restrictions.
The beer was good. The coconut porter surprised me with how much coconut flavor it had, but it was delicious!
The waitress was kind enough to change the TV to the basketball game we wanted to watch.