Tim’s Dead Creek Saloon

Might be the best lunch I’ve had in Frankenmuth. Who knew this was just past Bronners?!? I came here on a Monday at about 11:30am and was the only person there for about 5 minutes, then a steady parade of folks started streaming in. All sorts from working class guys in Carhartts, to senior citizen couples. My server was excellent (she didn’t greet me when I walked in, but everything past that was perfect). I asked her what’s popular and she suggested the DC8 Burger (Dead Creek 8 Ounce), the Philly Steak Sandwich, or the Italian Steak Sandwich. I opted for the Philly Steak with the mushroom option. She asked if I’d like to put Jalapeños on it which, naturally, resulted in a, «Hell Yeah!!!». It didn’t take too awful long to get it and right away I was happy. It was massive, had boatloads of shaved beef, cheese, and toppings falling out, and was steaming like mad. Lucky for me, I have gorilla hands and managed to wrestle up one half and start shoveling it into my cake hole (I had to in order to make room for some ketchup for the fries! Every inch of this plate was BURIED in food). YUMMM. Hats off to the chef. About the only complaint was that it was too hot to eat, but hey, the copious amounts of steam tried to warn me. Anyway, the bun was top notch, too: soft and moist, yet firm and just the right amount of crusty. And while I’m guessing that the fries are from frozen, they were perfect, too. 100% crispy outsides and almost creamy centers. This guy knows his fryer. Being the French Dip fanatic I am, after I killed my sandwich I mentioned to my waitress that if they could whip up a decent Au Jus, they would have one helluva French Dip. She said they DO have Au Jus. I heart Dead Creek. I’m betting they make it from scratch, too since they do steak dinners, but my server was starting to get busy so I didn’t want to bog her down with questions. I could possibly see how this place could become a rowdy biker bar, in the after hours, as some reviewers have said, as it has all he earmarks (like a DJ booth and bazillions of beer mirrors and signage), but at lunch it seems pretty docile. As an aside, the Skittles colored bar stools seems a weird choice for a «biker» bar. Anyway, I will absolutely be looking forward to hitting this place again.

Unbelievable. Warned as we walked in that we should not enter. The exiting pair stated that they had waited 45 min and still had no food (a burger). We went in hoping for best but service was horrid. 10 minutes to be even acknowledged — we had grabbed our own menus at this point. 27 minutes later we get pretzel bread which was our «starter». It was not only late out but just awful to eat. Two tables that were in front of our order didn’t have food as we were thinking about leaving table got wrong food finally. 45 minutes later we left — no food. Should had listened.

Great dive bar. Clearly a local place. We split chili nachos for lunch and had trouble finishing them. The chili tasted great and they used plenty of real cheese. Next time I would get chili fries.

Skip the chicken tourist traps and head here. On advice from a Bronners clerk we headed here. Chili is for a crowd and clearly homemade. Reuben wonderful spicy 1000 Island on the side. French fries are not throw always crispy and good. Also chicken cordon blue wrap. This is the place to eat. Super reasonable.