Tinkers Junction - Grayling

I spoke with the owner, who explained they were doing their best but were struggling to keep up with the demand since they only had one fryer for fish fries (it's fish fry night). She mentioned that our order would be prepared as quickly as possible. If they promote a fish fry in Northern Michigan, they need to be equipped to handle it. Our party of six had only two fish orders (four pieces of cod in total), while the rest were from the grill. Our original waitress didn’t come back to our table; instead, another long-time waitress, who appeared to be of Asian descent, approached and offered to cancel our order if we wished. However, we had already invested over an hour waiting, so we chose to stick it out for our 8 PM meal. When the food finally arrived, my wife's beef fajitas were unacceptable—overcooked, cold, and missing the beans she had requested. The owner (I believe her name is Catie) was apologetic but offered nothing beyond her apologies to rectify the situation. Having worked in food service before, I understand that things can go wrong. The right approach is to apologize to customers and provide something in return—perhaps a discount, a complimentary meal, or a drink. Instead, we were met with a rude waitress who made us feel unwelcome. I informed the owner that we have plenty of other dining options like Ray’s, Spike’s, Grey Rock, Margarita Bar Grill, Paddle Hard, and others in town. Unfortunately, we will not be returning to Tinker’s Junction.

The pizzas are excellent, and the staff is very friendly.

I spoke with the owner, who explained that they were doing their best, but with only one fryer on a Friday fish fry night, they were struggling to get the fish orders out. Our party had six people, but only two ordered fish, totaling four pieces of cod; the rest of our orders were from the grill. Our original waitress never returned to check on us; instead, another waitress—a tall, thin woman who has been with the restaurant for a while—came to ask if we wanted to cancel our order. By then, we had invested over an hour and it was approaching 8 PM, so we decided to wait. When our food finally arrived, my wife's beef fajitas were completely unacceptable: overcooked, cold, and missing the toppings she had requested. The owner, whose name I believe is Katie, was apologetic but offered nothing beyond apologies to make it right. Having worked in food service myself, I understand that issues can arise, but the appropriate response is to acknowledge the problem, apologize, and provide some form of compensation—like a discount or complimentary item. Instead, we received nothing but an unpleasant encounter with a rather rude waitress, who told us we were "mean." I expressed to the owner that we have plenty of other dining options, including Ray's, Spike's, Grey Rock, Margarita Bar Grill, and Paddle Hard. Unfortunately, we will not be returning to Tinker's Junction.