The Old Goat Tavern

I just really like this place. Despite the fact it is located on a college campus this bar/​restaurant attracts a diverse population. Decent beer selection but the burgers and fries are the real star of this show. The build your own burger options has so many toppings and sauces to chose from and nothing is bad. I’ve been about 4 times and received great service every time. This is my go to spot!

I checked this restaurant out during Kalamazoo Beer Week for a burger and beer pairing. I can’t find the menu online, but I think the burger I had was called the Old Goat. Whatever it was, it was a great burger! There were many burgers on the menu that I would want to go back to try and a good variety of other foods as well. The prices can’t be beat.
Also featured on the menu is a large variety of sauces for the burgers or to dip fries in. I definitely want to go back and try more of those.
Our server was attentive and personable.

Highly touted for great burgers, The Old Goat did not disappoint! The choices were super, the food was great, the atmosphere was modern. The fries were fresh, the drinks were cold, the service was excellent. Located just off the WMU campus, it is easy to find and easy to park. At $ 7.99 for a craft burger and fries, The Old Goat offers a good value.
I have been back to The Old Goat twice in the last three weeks. While the burgers remain quite tasty, I have experienced poor service and numerous excuses at each visit. There are multiple places near the WMU campus to get a burger and a beer, and unless the service shows improvement, the old stand-​bys may be me choice.

Average food, poor service that took 20 min. to get a drink before receiving a food menu…

Great service. Nice specials. Awesome Michigan craft beer selection. Near Western Michigan campus but not a college bar.

Looked like a nice place but their wine selection is horrible, cheap and who drinks «moscato»… Since my wife only drinks wine, I’ll never get to go there.

They just opened right off the WMU campus. It’s great to have a new place with great food and a nice décor. No dive bar! The food on my first time in was fantastic. I had the «Moo-​Cluck-​Oink». A burger with two patties with buffalo chicken boneless wings in the middle. The side of seasoned fries was great too.
The service was great too. Plus the manager even added the bonus of a special discount for WMU faculty and staff.
So why only four stars. On my second trip I and a friend were having a light snack talking over a school project. We split an order of fries and chicken strips. The fries were great again but the chicken strips were fast food joint worthy. And this time the service was just average. So I chalk up round two to training of new staff.
So I highly recommend you give it a try. The Old Goat is easily the best restaurant on campus.
Went in for round three yesterday. I had the spicy goat burger that has jalapeño peppers and peppered goat cheese and it was great. Friend had the breakfast burger with egg on it and said it was the best burger he ever had. I will have to try that one next time.
So the verdict is Best Burger in town, but skip the chicken fingers.

So three old goats walked into The Old Goat Tavern… Wish I had a good punch line.
But let me tell you, we had a great meal. Not many customers on a Monday evening so the staff was kind enough to let me visit the grill area (very clean) and then the bartender offered a sample of the many Michigan craft brews on tap.
The menu is straight-​forward with an emphasis on burgers. Freshly ground 2-​ounce patties with several «special combo» burgers or build your own. I would suggest a minimum of a double, given the bun size. The sauces/​toppings are wide-​ranging and inventive. Check out the bacon/​onion jam. Fries seem to have a very light batter that lead to extra crispy results.
Food is cooked to order so even with two grills and three deep fryers, I would guess that there will be some delays when the joint is hopping but the wait is definitely worth it. Even though the burgers are thin, they came out juicy with great flavor.
Very friendly staff provided timely, attentive service.
This is a great addition to west side dining.

I have to say that this is a newer establishment so perhaps they just don’t have the wrinkles ironed out yet. The location could not be any better right near the biggest section of student housing in town and within site of WMU’s campus.
We went there with a group of 6. The interior is nicely decorated and clean. The kitchen is decently open so you can see some of the cooking. There are pool tables and a few video games. They have several big screen’s playing a variety of games. They do have live music certain nights which I would think make it very loud inside. There were a lot of open tables when we were there and since the bar has opened I have not seen it very busy yet. I’m guessing in time their business will pick up but there is a lot of well established competition in the area.
The service… not good. Wait staff seemed to be confused at how things were running and of the 4 of us that ordered food two orders were just a little wrong. They have fancy burgers with a variety of sauces. My order was good and fresh however while eating the burger I found a chunk of paper food packaging in it. It was small enough and on the side enough I didn’t mention it but… off putting. The two orders that were wrong had the wrong sauce on the burger. They have a variety of different sauces and options that you can tweak your burger with. The drinks were just ehh. And again, when one of us ordered drinks they brought us different drinks than what was ordered. They do have a decent selection of on tap beers and a full bar. They also have drink special listed on their facebook page.
I think the Old Goat Tavern has potential with it’s perfect location and cool menu. But they need to get their drink/​food ordering and wait staff up to speed. I will go here again to give them a fair shot but I was not overly impressed during my first visit. I will let you Unilocalers know how the 2^nd visit goes!