The Woodward

The chiken chilli and the ribs were awesome-great decor-great ambiance but the drinks were a little too high-besides that it was good more

THE RESTAURANT IS AWSOME, WONDERFUL TO LOOK AT,GREAT FOR A DATE!! THE FOOD; GREAT( CATFISH, ALFREDO) CHICKEN A LIL SMALL. THE WAITER (DRE) GREAT...AWSOME! ASK FOR HIM, (HEZ THE TALL, DARK SKIN, BALD HEAD GUY) SERVICE WAS EXCELLENT PROFESSIONAL, AND FUNNY. NOW IF HE CAN ONLY PASS THAT TO THE REST OF THE STAFF. BUT OVERALL, WE ( THE WIFE & I) HAD A GREAT TIME. DRINKS A LIL OVER PRICED, BUT VERY VERY WORTH IT...BARTENDER GREAT JOB! WHEN YOU GO, ASK FOR DRE AS YOUR SERVER AND THE LIL SHORT LIGHT-SKIN GUY AS YOUR BARTENDER, AND YOUR SURE TO HAVE A BLAST!\r \r Pros: SERVICE FOOD & DRINKS Cons: LIL LONG TO COME OUT, BUT WORTH IT WHEN IT DID. more

I have made the mistake of going to The Woodward on 2 separate occasions - Once for cocktails and once for dinner. The ambiance of this restaurant does little to compensate for the untrained staff and the grossly incompetent and dismissive management. The bar was out of many varieties of liquors and wines and the waitresses charged different prices than the bartenders. Moreover, the food was unimpressive, overpriced and inadequately portioned. I agree with the many other bad reviews of this restaurant and am certain that any good review was staged by the owners or management. Heed the warnings posted on this website and avoid The Woodward. Pros: Ambiance Cons: Everything Else more

I went to the Woodward for a late lunch on my anniversary and I can not express how disappointed my husband and I were. When I first walked in, I thought the scenery was nice however the food and restroom ruined the whole experience. First off, there was hardly anybody in the place and I now understand why. Secondly, one of the stalls in the ladies restroom was out of order. That is rediculous for a restaurant that is suppose to be top notch for the grown and sexy-(this is what I heard from the person who recommended the place a year ago). Maybe it was nice back then but not anymore. To sum it up, my bill was $72 dollars and my husband and I wanted Mcdonalds an hour later. Speaking of Mcdonalds, the catfish that I ordered was the size of Mcdonalds chicken fingers and the $30 dollar platter that my husband ordered was not at all worth it either. Dont waste your time, I sure wish I hadnt. Pros: Ambience Cons: Food more

My friends and I have herd about this place bcuz we make it our business to dine out. We drove from West Bloomfield and thought we were in NY! There were all races of beautiful people there to eat, drink and be happy. The chicken and shrimp alfredo was supreme and the martinis were effective. It was awsome! But, if you are looking for fine dining this is not the place for you. This place is casual, chic and lots of fun! Definetly, the best time we had in Downtown Detroit in years. more

I have been around the globe to satisfy my palate. Although not the best restaurant I've experienced in North America but definelty one of the best in the Midwest. The chicken chili and the salmon entree were surely terrific! Our server was first class and the decor rivals any upscale casual establishment east of the Mississippi. Pros: Great look and feel, tasty entrees, intimate Cons: Parking was a challege due to the weekend festival more

Planning a birthday weekend for a loved one isn't all that easy, especially when you want everything to be perfect. Unfortunately, adding this restaurant to our itinerary added nothing even close to mediocrity! \r The night began waiting 15 minutes for 4 drinks. After this excessive wait, we ordered some overpriced appetizers & decided to order dinner & wine. Again, 15-20 min. for a bottle of wine, while the dinner wait stretched to a record 50 min. Unfortunately for The Woodward, my entire group has had previous work experience at a country club, so it was easy for us to see their downfalls. \r No sooner than the putting the fork up to our mouths were we all in agreement that each of our meals were nothing short of lukewarm! We decided to keep & eat it, 1) Because it was getting late, 2) We were already sick of the place and it's blunders and 3) At the rate of everything else, who knew how long it would have taken to resolve anyway?\r In terms of getting what we paid for, I?ll say, no way! We?re talking mediocre food & average service at a fairly high price. My entree (salmon, $32) was the only meal served without a vegetable & after requesting a side, the kicker; they attempted to charge me $8 for 4 spears of almost raw asparagus. When complaining to management about the cold food & excessive wait, we were offered only 10% off of our total bill. Quality service is lacking at this restaurant, while servers do not receive any kind of training upon hire. Being in the industry & for the type of restaurant, this is absolutely absurd!\r Now I sit here wondering why I still chose to check out this place even after reading some not so pleasant reviews. The answer is simple, the place looked nice, & hell, they put a lot of money into the joint. The inside boasts exceedingly modern decor, while the handmade light fixtures from Netherlands are also very unique. \r My suggestion; have a drink at the bar, check out the motif & head off to dinner elsewhere! Pros: Interior design, location Cons: Food quality, lack of urgency, lack of quality customer service more

I read the reviews before I went. But, I thought I would give the place a chance. Surely I could deal with slow service. But, it goes beyond that. It's not just slow service the entire staff seem confused. When we first came into the restaurant - no one was at the hostess desk and didn't arive for about 5 minutes. We had reservations- so we thought that was strange. Once she arrived-We were seated immediatedly but, the table was not set- we were not given any silverware,plates or bread. We had to request it because no one noiced we did not have it- not even after our soup arrived. Our server was nice and attentive but the food was unimpressive. We ordered Chcken Chilli soup and Tempura chicken. It's just o.k.\r \r The restrooms- were filthy!! Only one stall was working and there were two rolls of tissue in the bathroom- sitting on the back of the toilet. One which was wet that had obvioulsly fallen in the toilet. The one on the toilet tissue holder was empty. There was balled up paper on the floor. And the toilet looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a couple of days. I was just disgusted. It was a busy Saturday- during the Winter Blast- but, the staff should have been able to keep the only working stall in the Women's restroom clean. \r \r I did like the ambience the restaurant tried to create- but, the staff and cleanliness pull this place way down. I will not go back to this restaurant again!!! Pros: Ambience Cons: Service, cleanliness of Restrooms more

I hadn't been to the Woodward since 2006, and I figured my first experience (poor service) was likely due to a breaking-in stage (though a good staff training program could have helped). Unfortunately, my next trip was met with the same slow service and worse... \r \r It's the holiday season, we had reservations a week in advance for a Friday evening. Seated on time, no problem...but then a long wait for a first drink order...a long wait for the drinks to arrive (separate server), an even longer wait to see our main erver again for a meal order, only to be told that the restaurant was out of 3 main meat cuts (eliminating SEVERAL choices on their menu). Oh yes, and they were also out of bread! Of course we had been sitting there for quite some time already, if we hadn't we would have left for happier pastures, but we were just too exhausted to at that point. A few of us are vegetarians (we found out upon arrival that the menu no longer has a vegetarian entree, though one of us was handed an old menu when we were seated). We asked for a few tapas (quessadillas, pizza) to be made without the tendorloin/pepporoni...nope, not possible...they're PREMADE!!! For a restaurant with these prices, I would expect fresher, made to order food. The vegetarians ended up with chicken fettucine minus the chicken (so a big bland buttery noodle dish), and we're still charged $18 for the plates. To be fair, those who ordered tempura chicken, and a fish plate liked their meal, but our service experience will not be bringing them back either.\r \r Frankly, if a restaurant has run out of so many items, they should inform the customer as they WALK IN THE DOOR!!! or go even higher-class and CALL the parties that had reserved!!! If you don't do that, then how about a comp. dessert (perhaps they were out?).\r \r There are a lot of great restaurants in Detroit to choose from, unfortunately this is not one of them. Pros: ambience Cons: service, tapas premade (not to order) more

When I arrived with my date, we waited 10 minutes at the front door, to be seated. There was no hostess so a random waiter happened to see us standing and offered us a seat at the bar while we further waited to be seated at one of several open and readily available tables/booths. Once seated the band began playing music so loud that we literally had to yell across the table to speak to each other (and since I was on a date, this was very upsetting) when our waitress had not returned for our food order, a manager took our order and he had to lean his hear to our faces so that he could hear us order over the loud music, I was so tired of yeling through out the night, I just pointed to my menu choice and that was how my order was taken. My date ordered a drink that took about 15 minutes to arrive. Food was good, but the music was entirely too loud... romantic setting if you don't mind being silent throughout your entire meal Pros: pretty decent food, very great lighting for a date, very attractive restaurant Cons: music wayyyy too loud, bad service, slow staff more

We went downtown to attend a concert at Joe Louis Arena and wanted to get some dinner before the show. We had actually intended to go to the Hard Rock Cafe but when we got there it was packed beyond belief! While walking to the Hard Rock Cafe, we had passed The Woodward, but I thought it looked too high-end for our tastes and budgets.\r \r After we found out that the Hard Rock Cafe had a 1 1/2 hour wait, we decided to walk back to The Woodward just to see what it was all about. We walked in and were met by the friendly hostess who proceeded to ask if we had reservations. When I said we did not, she said it would probably be at least an hour wait. Even though the restaurant was not completely full, I assumed the open tables were spoken for. We asked if we could eat at the bar and she cheerfully directed us there--which was almost entirely empty.\r \r The bartender was a very nice lady, outgoing and friendly. She took our drink orders and gave us menus. When my friend asked her about a recommendation between two different items on the menu, she was able to provide him with a satisfactory answer, which helped him decide what to have.\r \r We ordered appettizers, which were delicious and then the main meal came shortly thereafter. The thing I was most impressed with was the food quality was excellent at what I consider to be very reasonable prices, for such a classy-looking high-end type of restaurant.\r \r My wife and I are heading back downtown for another show tonight and I am going to take her to The Woodward so she can also enjoy a wonderful experience there! Pros: Friendly service, great ambiance, live jazz band at times, great food, reasonable prices Cons: Was advised of a long wait, though there were many empty tables in the main restaurant area more

Made reservation for my small office Christmas Party 2006. Reservations were made two weeks in advance. When we arrived, a large church Christmas Party had the place packed. Miraculously our reservations couldn?t be found and there was no where for them to accommodate my group. I gave the name of the person I talked to and found it was the actual owner. The general manager, Michele, basically told me there was nothing she could do and walked away. \r \r I then asked to speak with the owner, of course he wasn?t available. The general manager, then proceed to ?call him?. Of course, he didn?t answer. Oh, and during this time of waiting to see if owner would return or call, the general manager, never once asked us to have a seat at the bar, have a drink on the house until we figure this our, nothing!!! And the bar was entirely empty?. She was one of the most unprofessional managers I have every had any dealings with?\r \r We didn?t have that much time to begin with, so we ended up at Hard Rock Cafe.\r \r To make matters worse, I wrote a letter to the owner to let him know of our disappointing experience in his restaurant. I send the letter certified, with return receipt requested. Got the card back, guess who signed for the letter?MICHELE? To the date of this review, I haven?t received any correspondence back from the owner.. He probably never got it!!!\r \r I use to brag about this place to everyone, but know whenever I hear anyone discussing going out to eat, I always tell this story and suggest they go somewhere else?.\r Cons: Managers have no concept of keeping the customer happy or how to retain repeat customers!! more

Great Service! I was looking for a great bitro downtown and I food one. It was great. A server was very passionate with providing us with great service for my birthday celebration. more