Blackfinn Ameripub

What can I say about Blackfinn?. Well, first of all I am a regular here. Overall the staff is great. I have personally never had bad serves here and am always met with a smile. Depending on what day and time you get here it can get crowded but I am amazed how the servers can bounce from big party to small party with out blinking an eye. Even though it is usually just my boyfriend and I sitting next to the window, we have never been forgotten. Even when we came on a March Madness Saturday.
Well enough about them. My favorites in food are the California Naked Bird Burger. Its juicy, spicy, and gluten free. I also can not get enough of the Bacon Brussel Sprouts. YUM! My boyfriend switches from the Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf and the Blackened Chicken Alfredo. Oh and we always have to have the Tuna Poke as an appetizer.

Food was okay, went for happy hour. The happy hour menu is very lame and not very happy. The wait staff was what really annoyed me. About 6 of them all just hanging out by the hostess stand actually making fun a a guest outside the restaurant trying to eat. While they peaked out the window at him. My table was so sticky as well as my menu and it wasn’t busy at all. You can do way better in DTRO than this place.

An OK selection of beers but when you have places like Ale Mary’s and Royal Oak brewery etc it makes it average beer selection. Very slow service. The appetizers was pretty good the calamari was good the spinach dip was ok. Both appetizers were good portions. Other than that this place has a nice bar area.

I love this restaurant. I have eaten here for my past three birthdays because the food is delicious and the service is superb.
My waitress was awesome as she allowed my little brother to stay when the security/​bouncer guy wanted him to leave based on the fact that he was wearing shorts, at a sports bar. He said it was some new rule so just be aware if you want to go there, no shorts I’m assuming.
Besides that, the food is great. I love the lime cooked salmon and blackened chicken Alfredo. And of course the fried calamari.

Its been a few weeks since we came in for Happy Hour… oh yeah its Trivia Night! Sat at the Open Bar area… that looked out onto Main Street! Very Nice touch and a great day for it. Today was try something new and glad we did… we selected the Chicken Quesadilla (the Cheesy Tortilla was stuffed with tender Chicken and Bacon, yum!); dipped my tortilla in Sour Cream. How else to enjoy it right?! As well as the juicy Grilled Chicken tenders… very tender… okay she only shared one with me! lol
…did you think we stopped there, of course not… we followed it up with Washington Apples… the best part of our visit was our Bartender, Ashley — she took really good care of us! Thank you for another Good time!
FINN see you again soon.

We stopped in for the first time to try something new.
The restaurant has a great dark wood atmosphere with a bar area and a dining room.
My husband and I ordered the apple glazed bourbon haddock and the honey crusted walleye.
The apple glazed bourbon haddock was very spicy, which didn’t give that impression based on the description. The sweet potato mash was very very good though.
The honey crusted walleye had an amazing crust. This was exactly as it was described in the menu. I prefer a sauce to the honey, but that just my personal preference. The fish was very tender and well prepared.
We will be back again.

The service here is great. I’m only giving this restaurant a 2 star rating due to the amazing French fries. I ordered calamari and it looked like it wasn’t done being cooked. I was not a fan of it whatsoever. The nachos were alright. Probably the only decent thing I had. I also ordered a steak salad and they gave me the steak not the way I wanted it so I swapped it with a caesar salad and it smelled and tasted like straight fish.
For dessert I had the Avalanche ice cream with brownies and cookies. No flavor whatsoever. I felt like I was eating a gluten free brownie and cookie because it tastes like nothing.
Probably would not come back to this restaurant. If I did it would only be for the French fries.

Love this restaurant. Haven’t been past 9pm when it turns into a rowdy bar but love day drinking and having lunch/​dinner here. It’s upscale bar food and it’s pretty hard to choose. I will say, my least favorite thing on the menu is the flatbreads. They are cracker thin with little toppings. I wouldn’t suggest ordering those. They aren’t horrible, but nothing great

Ying Yang shrimp is really good. Not too spicy. My husband had the Jambalaya pasta which was really saucy and flavorful. I had the Queens Chicken. Wrapped in glorious, crispy bacon… Filled with sausage and spinach. Served with sweet potato mash (buttery deliciousness) and asparagus.
Overall we had a great experience and would recommend this place to friends.

This place used to have good food and good specials. The food is still good, the specials are lackluster, but the biggest problem is the service.
For years Blackfinn has been know as a MSU bar and if you come here for a big MSU sporting event it’s going to be a full house. The problem is the service!!!
We came here on a Saturday for MSU vs UofM bball realizing that service would be slow but today was a complete shock! After seating ourselves to one of 6 open tables we then had to wait 20 minutes before becoming too aggravated. We walked to the bar ordered our own drinks and then finally after 35 minutes a server showed up. We decided on French fries in hopes they would come quick… Wrong 25 minutes later.
Stay away, service is horrible and it’s been this way the last 3 times I’ve been here, this isn’t just a one time review.

A pretty decent place for dinner, but not «amazing». The server was nice, but it seemed like she was the only one on the floor for our area, and this resulted in pretty long wait times. I think it took about 30 minutes before she could take our order.
The food ended up being decent, but a few people in our party had to send their food back because of some issues with the cook (steak overdone, etc…). The server was very nice and accommodating, and the floor manager seemed to want to at least try to make sure we were happy. I ordered the jambalaya — I didn’t want to be a pain, but it should’ve been sent back. The shrimp was way over salted and basically inedible, though the rest of it was fine. Good thing I’m not Gordon Ramsay or I would have made a scene.
So, I’ve been to better places. I don’t know if they were just understaffed for a Saturday night, or if everyone was sent over to the main area because of the football game, but there should have been more servers. My friends, who chose the place, said the food is usually pretty good, so maybe it was an off night. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to come back given other options, but I wouldn’t mind coming back if someone else wanted to go.
Try it, maybe you’ll have better luck here.

We tried to eat here on Sunday afternoon but couldn’t get served. We were seated at a high top but never given menus. We asked for some but never got them so eventually we went to the bar and grabbed a couple ourselves. The waitress took the drink order, brought the beers and then never came back to take our order. There were only eight tables in the entire restaurant with guests. We counted. There were three servers, a bartender, a hostess and the manager all working and they can’t handle eight tables? We saw another couple walk in and have the same issue. They couldn’t get someone to serve them either. After thirty minutes of waiting we paid for the beers at the bar and walked out. Never again.

We had the time of our lives there. Great people, great food. Wait staff was hustling even though it was busy everything came out quickly. Everything was perfect.

Very impressed with my last dining experience here! I’ve put off going back here because I last remembered mediocre bar food during happy hour. Man, has it changed! Me and a few coworkers came here for lunch (mainly bc it’s one of a few restaurants open for lunch in Royal Oak?!) and we were all pleased with our food varying from: chicken tenders, blackened chicken pasta, goat cheese salad, black bean burger, adult mac n cheese. The beer bottle & tap list is huge — something for everyone and mixed drinks have always been good. Service was great and the restaurant was pretty empty for it being lunchtime.

Warm beer, bad service. Seems like they’re not the biggest fans of the santacon bar crawl. Closed the area more than 45 mins early.

Three of us went there on ¹²⁄₅ around quarter after 4. We were «greeted» by the hostess who looked/​acted like she’d rather be working somewhere else. We asked if we could sit at a hightop table but couldn’t because they were all reserved for the football game at 7:30 … over three hours from kickoff. Then we asked if could sit at the bar … which we did … watching the bar staff act «busy» … ignoring us for ten minutes… never saying anything to us … never even looking at us … in a place that wasn’t very busy because it’s 4:15 in the afternoon.
We left without being served. Not sure what the problem actually was. We were polite to the hostess. We were dressed nicely, having come from a funeral visitation. Waited patiently at the bar. Zero acknowledgment.
I guess my recommendation is to not go there at 4:15 on a Saturday.

Tried blackfin on our way to downtown show and meal did not start well with 10 minute wait just to get water and order. Manager did apologize and offered appetizer with apologies for «slow shift changeover. Wife ordered crab cakes and I chicken avocado salad which rated as good for texture and taste. Manager returned and gave 25% discount. Nice touch. Overall a bad start, but pretty good overall meal for pub food.

My husband and I brought our two kids in to Blackfinn for lunch after the Holiday parade. It was the beginning of kids eat free downtown at select restaurants including Blackfinn. We sat ourself as instructed and waited literally 20 minutes before someone acknowledged us. The service pretty much went downhill from there. Our server brought us our water and then again didn’t return for another 15 minutes to take our order. We specified to bring the portion of the kids meals that did not need to be cooked (apple slices) as soon as possible because our children were starving after waiting nearly 40 minutes to even order. We didn’t see our server again until I flagged down some guy who looked like the manager to at least get our apples for our kids. Shortly after the apples were put on the table, our server arrived with our food. This was 30 minutes after we ordered. The food wasn’t terrible though. I liked their fries and my kids pizza tasted really good. My husbands turkey burger was really burned but, he’ll eat anything though. This might be a great place for the bar life or a place to watch sports but, as far as a family venue, I don’t recommend it. The ambiance was really loud from the tvs, we could barely have conversation with each other across the table from each other. The bathrooms were disgusting too (at 2pm on a saturday). To top it off, after waiting 15 minutes after our plates were taken away by a busser, I had to go flag down another waitress to give us our bill and check us out. This place was just not what I expected and have no desire to return.

I live in Farmington Hills I wish this place was closer to me. It’s absolutely everything you could want in a sports pub. Big wide open joint. Tons of huge TVs. Beat of all if your a Spartan the game will be on like 100 sets. Great service good food.

This is a fun and hip place to be on a Friday or Saturday night!
BIG spacious bar with dancefloor, DJ, elevated booth section, and tall tables that are partially outside (weather permitting).
We came here on a busy saturday night during the Arts, Beats, & Eats fest and immediately got the best seat in the house! A tall top table partially outside, where we were able to enjoy our drinks, the weather, and plenty of people watching!
The dance floor was packed, and so was their bar. the bar is huge and people were all around it dancing and just having a great night!
when we sat at our table, we were immediately greeted and were able to place our drink orders. I was able to order my double absolute with sugar free redbull here with no issue unlike the last place we were at.
We were not able to explore the menu although I will make an attempt to come back soon and do just that! I’m excited to see what a good Ameripub such as this can cook up! any suggestions?

Got a message from a Blackfinn employee a couple months ago to receive a gift card to give this restaurant another chance. After not hearing from her in a month, I sent her a message reminder. She said she’d ship the gift card ASAP. This was 4^th of July weekend. Yep, never got it. Not only bad service per my last review but also liars.

Kind of surprised I haven’t reviewed BlackFinn yet, I went to a SUPERB Unilocal event there about a year ago.
I went this past Friday night as part of a group event. My group was going to a midnight movie at the Main Art after, which I skipped out on (I need some sleep!) but I was game for appetizers at BlackFinn. Apparently BF contacted the group and said they could do themed drinks and some free apps, which was pretty nice.
We started with some BBQ chicken, sausage/​pepperoni, and margarita flatbreads. I’d say BBQ chicken was my favorite, and the margarita a close second; the sausage/​pepp was okay but nothing new or special. I was a little hungry still so I ordered their crack fries (called BlackFinn fries, I think, but they’re pretty much like crack fries, lol) and waited. And waited. And waited for them. The waitress eventually realized they were never brought out to me, and so she got me a fresh order, on the house — which was good customer service.
The place was PACKED on a Friday night (around 10pm) which isn’t really my scene, but I’d like to try them out for happy hour at some point; I know they do great drink specials and also have a few cocktails on tap (yes, I said COCKTAILS, not draft beers, on tap) which I had at the previous Unilocal event and which were delicious. So for now they get ³⁄₅ stars for me but I’d be amenable to updating that at some point.

I’ve been to Blackfinn twice now and I have to say the food is consistently good. Last time I had the Tuna Poke which was delicious and sushi restaurant quality. I’d definitely recommend. The Balboa is a BF recommendation and is delicious, a surprising upgrade from a traditional French dip, really good. Other guests with me had the fish tacos, really tasty both grilled and fried and the Mac and cheese topped with chicken also very good. The meat topping is a nice addition.
The service today, which was lunch hour, SEVERELY LACKED. Customers were getting impatient and annoyed at how long the food and drinks were taking, including us. Our waitress forgot to enter our table’s appetizer because «she was in a hurry to get our order in because most tickets were taking over a half hour.» Unacceptable turn time for a kitchen.
The first visit was during dinner and was very well staffed. Our service was much better for dinner. It is very, very loud at dinner time so if you don’t like loud music or missing half of your table conversation, I would suggest another restaurant.

I had the iron skillet Mac and cheese. a delicious blend of macaroni, cheese, bacon topped with you choice of pulled pork or shredded chicken. Soo good, a party for your taste buds.
Doug had the bourbon street burger wow, great flavor.

My review is for the NEW location at The Mall at Partridge Creek… Unilocal doesn’t have a listing for this place yet, but you need to see my experience there on 7÷2÷15:
WAIT!!! DON’T GO NOW!!! They NEED TIME to get better. I sent them a web-​based customer survey response that was very detailed, but the summary is: Waitstaff was confused — Appetizer arrived after the entrée. Fish tacos arrived lukewarm. One of my tacos had a piece of fish only 2 inches long, Salads were dripping with salad dressing.

Blackfinn was nice to send me a gift card to give the place another chance since my last review and I finally got the chance to go with my mama and sister for an early dinner over the weekend. We tried the Ying and Yang Shrimp, the French Onion Soup, the Fish Tacos, and the Salmon. The food all got a thumbs up with the winner being the shrimp amongst the group.
The service left something to be desired, but overall the food was good enough to bump up a star =]

Salad was great!

The food is avg at best & they no longer run any worthwhile drink specials. What was once a happening place is now a ghost town. It’s going to get worse once Buffalo Wild Wings opens in a few months. Bad decisions by incompetent mgt is to blame
#ripBlackfinn

My mother and I went for a long bike ride — we were at our half way point and of course my mother wanted to do her normal ‘FREELOAD”. (Parents — smh!) I’ve been here previously but honestly only for a few beers nothing really that serious; so we decided to come here and plus she hasn’t been. The had a wonderful lunch special and we eat outside side area — please note the area is small (2 seater tables only). The waitress was very nice and attentive; she joked/​laughed and help us out with the lunch menu. I didn’t really time the food — but it wasn’t that noticeable of a wait. During lunch hours; it wasn’t busy at all which i believe it was around 1pm or 2pm.
I would like to see some more seafood items on the menu beside fish/​chip (which was good) — more variety would be awesome.
Happy eating!!!

I’ve been hosting events at the BlackFinn for the better part of five years now.
— I run a networking group for geeks. The BlackFinn has typically been where the pretty people come out to play. This doesn’t necessarily mesh well with geek culture. You’d never know that based on our experiences there.
— We started hosting our events at the ‘Finn after listening to people in our group ask us to move to Royal Oak and try something there… and one of my partners in crime was dj’ing, so sure, let’s try the ‘Finn out.
— The event staff has always…*always*…been phenomenal to work with. Extremely flexible, understanding, and dedicated to making sure that events come together solidly. Of note, Maria in particular has been just simply outstanding. If you have a group event coming up, I cannot speak highly enough of the back room at the ‘Finn, and Maria will do her best to make sure you’re a hero to your family /​friends /​co-​workers.
— The bar is very well stocked, and the beer selection is great. Always a good rotation of local flavor along with national and international brands.
— The bartenders know their craft, and are more than just pretty curves poured into tight pants or beefcake in muscle shirts. More importantly, they’re true bartenders — they get to know you, they remember you, and they have personalities. It can be several months between our events there (we move them around to other locations as well month to month), but every time I walk into the ‘Finn…like last night… there’s always at least one bartender who sees me, recognizes me, greets me by name and asks «the usual?»…and remembers precisely what that is.
— Food? Awesome. I’ve had just about everything on the menu over the years, and I’ve never been disappointed. I’m still a little bitter that they got rid of the chicken and beef skewers… but menus change and so I’ve mostly gotten past it. Appetizers to burgers, desserts to a steak… you’re in good hands with their kitchen.
— Location? Main street in Royal Oak. Can’t beat it.
— Parking? Plenty nearby, both metered and in garages.
Sure, our events usually wrap up by 8pm or 9pm, and that’s when The Popped Collar crowd starts to show up… but that’s what this place is, people. I can’t believe how many negative reviews I’m reading on here… you have to know and accept a place for what it is before you can judge it. I’ve hung out there until closing a few times, and so I’ve seen both sides of the equation.
If you want «low key and mellow», then you either go here during the day on a weekday or you don’t go. If you want to people watch as guidos and guidettes perform their peacocking mating rituals and hear the mating call of The Wild Blonde («ohmygod…i’m soooooooo wasted») …then you come here after 9pm. You want a solid place to watch a game? Then you’d better be talking about a weekend game during the day, because this isn’t a sports bar where it’s going to be easy for you to sit and watch a game at night.
It’s the Finn. It is what it is… and what it is, is pretty damned cool.
I’m not a HUGE fan of the fact that they painted over the wood in the back room during the remodel… that’s a tragedy in my book… but it is what it is, I suppose. Someone thought it was a good idea at the time, I’m sure.