Village Inn - Caledonia

This is an old school place, in most of the best ways. It's a lovely room, all weathered wood and small town charm, a place that hasn't changed in decades, and that's how everyone likes it. This is the kind of restaurant my in-laws are OK with, because even though the prices have crept up with inflation, they still start you with a nice loaf of bread, and your dinner comes with soup or salad (meaning, you don't need to order appetizers unless you need a massive amount of food). Civilized. The main dishes were probably very simple once, and now have been gussied up a bit for the 2020s; my Strip and Rings is still a nice cut of meat, cooked properly, with onion rings, but now it comes with a bacon tomato marmalade and a nice dippings sauce for the rings. However, as I'm sure it did in the 80s, it also comes with some steamed veggies (the same ones that come with everything). My wife's salmon was nothing to write home about, but it was also a solid portion, and a decent value. I would go steak over seafood here every time, however, and the waitress instantly concurred with that when I asked her to pick between the Ahi Tuna and the strip. We started with martinis, and we flagged down the waitstaff for a second round, they immediately assumed we just wanted boxes to pack up the rest of our meals. I think it was less that they were ready to kick us out (although I don't like me much either), and more that their typical clientele doesn't have more than one martini on a Wednesday, because they are heading home early to watch Murder She Wrote reruns. And to be fair, Murder She Wrote rules. All in all, I like it.

My teenage daughter said we would need a wheelbarrow to roll out of this restaurant! We were grateful to have made a reservation beforehand. Although it was quiet at 4pm, the restaurant quickly filled up. Our server, Michaela, was exceptional - attentive but not intrusive. We had no complaints about any of the meals or desserts. The ambiance was lovely, with a clean interior and well-maintained bathrooms. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then enjoy the 11,000 from the photos! We will definitely return and highly recommend this restaurant to everyone.

The food at this restaurant is terrible and overpriced. The owner is extremely rude and seems to only cater to locals. Despite asking for a quieter table, I was told that every table was already assigned, even though there were plenty of open tables. I ordered filet mignon cooked medium, but it came out practically raw with a disgusting sauce. The potatoes looked unappetizing and tasted even worse. To top it off, there was a huge hot pepper as garnish. Overall, the lack of class and quality left us very disappointed, especially when the bill came to $350.00 for the entire meal.

I was truly impressed by this restaurant. Although there was a wait, the Friday fish fry takeout was well worth it. The portion was so large that I initially thought my husband was carrying cake boxes instead of food, and it even came with a loaf of bread. The meal was delicious and very reasonably priced.

Valentines Day 2024 dressed for a fine dining experience, and seated in the bar area. People walking in with Carharts clothing were placed in the dining room and we were placed in the bar area. Never in the past were we automatically placed in the bar, and we were not told on the phone that only the bar area was available for dining. Such a disappointment for this establishment! Then the salmon was over cooked and the polenta cake was burnt. Cocktails could not be bad though.