Black River Tavern

Stayed outside of south haven on NYE to go snowboarding near by on New Year’s Day so we decided to go out for the night. We stopped here for some fun and had a blast.
The music was great, live band. There was a little dance floor where a lot of people started to end up on (probably after a few drinks haha). A lot of country music but I love it (I’m not sure how it is on other nights).
The atmosphere was very rustic and home feeling. I enjoyed the people as well. Everyone was extremely friendly, employees and other bar comers. Definitely a good place I felt for a night out in a town we were not familiar with.
I would recommend going here on a weekend. I really am not sure how the food is but the drinks were made up to my standard (not too much mix and just enough alcohol :) we had a blast for NYE. (Something local and low key turned into a lot of fun). I cannot say I can give it five stars just for the fact that we did not get the whole experience and have only been there once for a holiday. I would pick 4 ½ stars however.

Great atmosphere and service. As a Chicagoan, I was leary to try the highly recommended Italian Beef, but was happily surprised. It was delicious. A fun place in a cute waterfront town.

Enjoyed Tuesday Trivia Night with my husband. It was free to enter and the winner (not me) received a gift certificate. The Bloody Mary was pretty good. It was an eclectic group of people which made for good people watching from the bar.

Decent beer selection with some local
Michigan brews (Short’s, Bell’s and Founder’s on tap). Solid bar food. Had the fish and chips. Batter was a bit heavy, but flavorful nonetheless. Casual and laid back. Appears that on Tuesday nights, they have some sort of trivia night/​pub quiz going on. Would have loved to join in, but we arrived mid-​game.

The cold draft beer is flowing and the bar service is excellent.
Food quality continues to improve.

I had the Ruben here and it was perfection! No frills and no gimmicks here. Just fresh meat paired with sauerkraut that was drained very well leaving the perfectly toasted marble rye with the right amount of crunch, and finishing with sweet and tangy thousand island. Fries were freshly dropped, hot and crisp.
My girlfriend had the south west burger and let me tell you, this was a perfect example of how a burger should taste! Smoky but tender as well as perfectly cooked. Had the right among of heat and excellently melted cheese. All this for a great price and with great service.

This is a pretty fun sports bar. It is dark and has lots of t.v.‘s like any good sports bar. The bartender was a great guy and it was hilarious to watch him during the Lions game. Cracked me up… as a Bears fan.
Had a nice time as we killed time watching football and having a few beers. He was very attentive to us, even during his team’s game, which is always nice.
They seem to have good food, even though we did not eat here. I watched other people eat food that looked and smelled great. They all seemed pleased as well.
Put this on my list for next time in South haven for a visit.

We were in South Haven for a short get away and wanted a place to eat and watch the Hawks game. A local suggested that the Black River Tavern would be the perfect place… and they were right!
Nothing fancy here but tons of TVs. Lot’s of wood with a large community table in the center. Bar games in the back, darts and pool table. The whole crowd was into the game. The place was super loud so be prepared.
The service was efficient and very friendly. Any request was completed promptly without any complaints, even though two us only ordered water.
Surprisingly, for a bar, the food was stunningly good! Two of us ordered the perch tacos and one the perch dinner. Both were fantastic! The perch was fried perfectly, crispy not oily and wonderful. The tacos came dressed with the chipolte aioli and the dinner gave you a choice of either tartar sauce or the aioli… go with the aioli it’s great! Finally we had one order of the pork sliders on a pretzel bun. The person in our party that ordered these said that they were the BEST she had EVER had! It’s those sliders that seal the fifth star for the local hangout.

Saw some great comedy paired with some great IPA and pretzel sticks. Staff a bit overwhelmed with the last game of the Hawks playoffs but service was friendly and accommodating. Altogether a fun and tasty evening.