Blake's Hard Cider Co. - Armada

Okay, so you don't come here for craft cocktails and haute cuisine. It's a restaurant(ish) attached to a touristy apple orchard with a petting farm. Once you've... read more Okay, so you don't come here for craft cocktails and haute cuisine. It's a restaurant(ish) attached to a touristy apple orchard with a petting farm. Once you've adjusted to those expectations, this place is pretty good! The huge outdoor patio is great in the summer, Blake's ridiculously large selection of flavored hard ciders is tasty (El Chavo continues to be my favorite), and the food is on the better end of bar food I had a burger and a GIGANTIC soft pretzel that was delicious (the beer cheese sauce was great). Service was slow, but whatever. I'm sitting outside on an 80 degree day, drinking a cold El Chavo and listening to farm animals make noises. Life is good.

Blake's is always a vibe, but the tasting room is great. You can get flights of ciders or house brews. They have rotating seasonal cider slush, cider cocktails,... read more Blake's is always a vibe, but the tasting room is great. You can get flights of ciders or house brews. They have rotating seasonal cider slush, cider cocktails, and sangria cocktails as well. The food? Delish. The pretzel is HUGE, but so with it. The cheese is the crown jewel dip. My husband and I opted to have the cheese curds for an appetizer, and loved them. Usually I get the truffle fries (also another must) and I get the orchard salad with chicken my favorite. This day I opted for the seasonal chicken flatbread and the seasonal strawberry salad. The homemade salad dressing really make the salad here! A must stop if you're in the area, you won't be disappointed!

Blakes is a staple Fall spot for pumpkins, donuts, and of course the hard cider! While here with some friends, we put our names on the Tasting Room waitlist. We... read more Blakes is a staple Fall spot for pumpkins, donuts, and of course the hard cider! While here with some friends, we put our names on the Tasting Room waitlist. We were told it 'd be a 3 hour wait, and while it sounds outrageous we did it anyway. We took the hayride out to the pumpkin patch and looked for some good carving pumpkins and took photos. We were out there for around 30-45 minutes and when we were getting on the hayride back to the main property we got notice our table was ready. So much faster than expected! We were seated outside which was a bit windy and chilly but the sun was out so it wasn 't terrible and they had heat lamps as an option. We ordered drinks, our waitress delivered them, and we waited around 5-10 minutes for her to come back to take an order. We did an appetizer and hoped to have our entree ordered when it was delivered. Well, it was busy, being a Sunday, and a food runner brought out the appetizers instead. No biggie except our waitress never came to check on us or take an order until after we had already finished the appetizer. She takes the order, leaves the dirty dishes, and disappears for another 10+ minutes. She returns to deliver another drink for a couple of us and we do not see her again for quite some time. We are chatting and laughing and enjoying time together but the sun starts setting and the wind is constantly whipping through making the temps drop. The fit pits weren 't an option as the ash and embers were getting picked up and blown around by the wind. We ask a busboy if we could get a heat lamp from nearby since there was one around empty tables and he said sure no problem give me a minute..well he disappeared and we never saw him again. My boyfriend drags one over himself near our table and low and behold it 's out of fuel. Many tables around us were also complaining and freezing and some walked out before they could get an order put in. At this point we have been waiting for our food for 45 minutes or more, our waitress has not returned to our table, and the cider mill we wanted to stop in on the way out now closes in less than hour. After trying to get our waitresses attention (unsuccessfully) I go inside to the host stand and ask if the kitchen can box up our orders as we have waited too long, its unbearably cold to eat with no heat lamps, and we just want this to be over. The host said she will find our waitress and let her know. The host came to our table right away with boxes saying the food would be out soon so they couldn 't box it and we can when it 's delivered. Well, would you believe it when I said we waited another almost 10 minutes for the food runners to deliver? Food was cold to top it off. To be fair, I can 't imagine how any food would arrive hot with how cold and windy it was that day. But it was still disappointing because should we have chosen to eat there, it would not have been warm food. The waitress checks in finally as we are boxing up our plates and asks So, does this mean you want your checks then? No apology or anything said about our complaints I know she was made aware of. I 'm not in any hurry to return to the Tasting Room. The pricing was a little expensive for a chicken sandwich and not worth all the hassle and waiting we went through. Enjoy the cider mill, drinks, and u-pick, but be warned about the Tasting Room.

I love this place at the holidays- they have a fun festive cocktail menu (a small one but very good offerings! and of course the food- the giant pretzel is an I... read more I love this place at the holidays- they have a fun festive cocktail menu (a small one but very good offerings! and of course the food- the giant pretzel is an IG dream! Reservations were long gone by the time we decided to head out so we took our chances at the bar and got lucky in a saturday afternoon The Santa Sangria was our fave- and of course, the cider flights Apple Pie was our favorite cider Skip the wine flight- we couldn't find a drinkable wine- it's not their forte- but tastes amazing in the sangria! Love the service and everyone in this place- so friendly!

Wow I remember going to Blake 's for years but how has it changed for the worst. It could be so special but it 's nothing more than a grab. First Parking, how h... read more Wow I remember going to Blake 's for years but how has it changed for the worst. It could be so special but it 's nothing more than a grab. First Parking, how hard is to get someone to direct parking so it doesn 't take 30 minutes to park and 1 hour to exit. The few law enforcement are doing their best but it 's horrible. Second let 's pay 20 per person to ruin your shoes, go in some poor play structures and some dirty bounce houses. This let 's go apple picking for 40 a bag 5 a person for a hay ride with poor service. You hungry yet? Let 's wait hours for the tap room, or wait in a line for some 5 dollars fries. This is the most poorly run business in all of Michigan, but they don 't care. There will always be some sucker ready to pay 20 to enter, 5 for a hay ride, wait an hour for parking etc, only to have their dirty play structures ruin clothes, eat the worst food in the nation and leave thankful they made it on to Romeo plank. What an embarrassment when it could be amazing. I thought Ray Gunn was bad