Gandy Dancer in Ann Arbor

This place is full of charm, history, good food and good people. We have eaten here every summer during our training in Ann Arbor, with the exception of the covid closures, and have loved it. The food is always good and fresh, with good choices. The staff is friendly and helpful and professional. The ambiance is exceptional, and trains went by right outside of our window while we were eating, loved it.

The place had a cool industrial vibe. The food was very good. We had the firecracker and coconut shrimp and both had good flavor, we liked the coconut shrimp a little more. The salmon was very good and the steak had a nice char and flavor to it also. Staff was all very nice and the drinks were good as well. We drove 45 min to go and would go back!

The last time we ate here was 10 years ago, and was one of the best meals my wife and I have ever had. We just ate there again (September 2022and the whole experience/meal was terrible. I think Applebees would be a better meal, and the fact that it costed $250 (for twois outrageous. The only positive note was it slow and quiet.So disappointed.

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the Gandy Dancer!!!My husband and I hosted our 1-year wedding anniversary party here so we could invite everyone we couldnt invite to the wedding (COVID restrictions, you know?)Kristina, our event coordinator, was fantastic from the moment she picked up the phone and said, "Thank you for calling the Gandy Dancer, I can help you," to the very end of the partyI didnt have to worry about a single thing. My husband and I met with Kristina once at the restaurant to go over the schedule for the event. She pointed out some places we should change things in the schedule so everything would flow better and all her ideas were fabulous. We were in constant contact via email, so whenever I had questions or wanted to add or change something, she could make a note of itThe day of the party, my husband and I arrived about 15 minutes after the party had started to be announced and I was pleased as punch to see that everything was going smoothly. After we were announced, a server immediately came up to me and offered me a mimosa. It was amazing. I felt like I was on movie setThe wait staff kept everything moving so I didnt have to worry about anything. I just enjoyed the party. If I have another anniversary party down the line, I want to do it hereThe food and drinks were amazing. We were able to do a brunch because I had signed the contract for a brunch before the Gandy Dancer stopped offering it. I was so happy they honored the contract because I had promised all my guests a brunch. We gave our guests the option of a summer fruit waffle, a lobster and brie omelette, or crab cakes Benedict. For dessert, they could choose vanilla bean ice cream or artisan cheese cake. I think everyone loved the food. I know I did!

I went here with some friends for a birthday dinner and had a great time. Theres a great atmosphere, great decor, and very friendly and professional staff. Its got a high-end feel to it. Youll see trains go back as it is located right by the tracks. There is plenty of parking and it is free after 6:00 p.m.The menu was geared towards seafood but also had steak, duck, pasta. Everything was delicious, but especially the swordfish, the lobster bisque, and the scallops. The scallops were unforgettable.Our winter brought out a crème brûlée with a candle for our birthday girl, and this was a nice touch.I would definitely recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for more than just a meal. This is somewhere great to go for a nice night out or to celebrate a special occasion.

Had our wedding reception dinner in the Wolverine Room last month. The food and ambiance were spectacular. Kristina was also a dream to work with! The service there was phenomenal!

Mediocre, for the prices I expect better tasting food and better service.They say you can tell a lot about a restaurant by their bathroom. Drywall was falling off the walls and there were exposed pipes.Sent the crusted fish back, it was way over cooked and had the taste and texture of a fried fish stick.Deserts were good, and valet was fast and friendly.Lobster bisque was lukewarm, salad was on a room temp plate and wilted.

One of Ann Arbors top restaurants. I loved the fine dining experience and the great selection of wine. The food was delicious and out of this world !! Would highly recommend checking this place out !!!

First timer... Celebratory lunch. Will surely go back... Train station Ambience was just fantastic there. Desire to explore more of the menu for sure ... Staff is surely mid western friendly. The standout dish was the scallops... Get them for sure 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

Amazing food and atmosphere, but my last visit was to the bar. Not sure on the vibe when school is in but it was an amazing venue for work discussion over a drink. Quiet, private, great drinks and a great experience.

We had a reservation at Gandy Dancer on July 31, 2022 (Sunday). It was a celebration of our wedding. We have heard so many wonderful things about this restaurant and that is why we selected it. The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous and well-maintained. My husband really enjoyed lobster bisque (the restaurant was out of oysters). The reason for 2 stars is the following incident - I ordered Ultimate Mix Seafood Trio ($39.50and according to the website and their menu, it should have the following components: salmon, crab cake, coconut shrimp, coconut ginger rice, and fresh vegetables. When I got my food, I noticed there were no vegetables. The waitress (Zoetold me that rice was my vegetable. I showed her the menu and the Google photos of this particular dish. She rolled her eyes and brought me broccoli on a separate plate. If you consider rice to be a vegetable, please remove "fresh vegetables" from the menu, otherwise it is a decepve trade practice. In terms of the actual dish - coconut ginger rice did not have coconut flavor, only ginger. And the salmon piece was very dry and close to the end of the tail (most high-end restaurants do not serve such undesirable pieces).

Celebrated our 10th anniversary with wonderful food, great service. Thouroly enjoyed our night.

My fiancé and I went to the Gandy Dancer right after our recent proposal and had excellent service from our waiter, Aso, along with delicious food. I had the prime rib and shrimp scampi, and she had the seafood trio and our plates were empty. The lobster bisque is a must have when you go there as well. We had a terrific experience and cannot thank the team enough for going above and beyond. Highly recommend the Gandy Dancer!

Really nice restaurant with excellent seafood. Love the decor and really enjoyed their mocktail menu!

Gandy Dancers menu was great and had something delicious for everyone. The service was on point. My whole table was taken care of. I will definitely be going back and bringing new people to share my experience.

Great meal and friendly service. Food came out within 30 minutes and the server was so friendly and she always checked on us to make sure everything was good but allowing us time to talk and eat. Would definitely recommend. Only reason it’s not 5 stars is because of the bells that would ring every time a train passed. It passed every 20 min so it became sort of annoying. Besides that it was great

Always a fun time at Gandy Dancer. Have been so many times over the years and still continues to delight. Had a table beside the railway tracks this time. Fred was great with our table service. We had calamari fritto for appetizer, followed by grilled salmon sixty and a bronzed salmon respectively, ending with creme bru-lé for dessert. Service and food par for the course in the excellent category. 👌

Interesting location, delicious seafood, attentive and kind staff. Dining tables were a little close for my personal preference, but it was pretty cool to see the train zoom by as we ate. The salmon was outstanding!

Very nice location, we had a window seat, excellent service, great wait staff. Firecracker shrimp appetizer was delicious, lobster bisque is my favorite, I only dropped a star because even though I paid dinner prices the portions looked like lunch. I couldnt believe how small it was - 2 pieces of asparagus, a slim cut of salmon and plain mashed potatoes, no sauce, just potatoes for I think $32. Outback steakhouse does a salmon plank dinner better for less. He didnt automatically bring refills so I believe they must charge. Most places with soda, tea, lemonade keep refreshing an empty glass.My friend had the seafood trio which includes salmon, I would say get that instead or the shrimp scampi looked nice. Creme Brule was good.Could have been a 5, maybe next time.

We recently held our delayed wedding reception at Gandy Dancer’s outside courtyard. Kristina & the service team were outstanding! Kristina was so flexible since we had to delay our party due to COVID. She is also responsive & helpful. Very easy to work with. Venue was beautiful & food/drinks were excellent! There is a reason this A2 institution has been in business for years!

We went for the Friday Happy Hour. Nice selection of reasonably priced food and drinks. The staff is always friendly and the ambiance sparkles. The Gandy Dancer is a beautiful part of Ann Arbors history, is full of life today!

The building is beautiful, but the food was lacking. The portions were less than youd get in another restaurant. Only one child-sized vegetable portion per entree. We ordered the chocolate layer cake and the volcano cake. Both were lacking in flavor and moistness. Our first time here, and it was disappointing

The food is excellent. The Halibut was wonderful and the seafood chowder was also delicious. The atmosphere is good (we sat near the large windows by the tracks and it was enjoyable watching the trains go by. Our server was great, he was very attentive and made some suggestions and they were all good calls. I will be back.

Excellent food and service. This is a high end restaurant and the prices are high. They have a variety of salmon choices - I had the broiled with broccoli and rice pilaf and it was probably the best I have ever had. That dish was $28. I recommend reservations.

Had a great meal but the best thing tonight was when the hostess brought me my credit card that I had accidentally left at the parking pay station. Tried to find her after dinner to tell her thanks but she was gone. Its people like her that make places like Gandy Dancer great.

Had a very attentive and knowledgeable server (Billand he was quick to make sure all our Landrys points had been added!

The ambiance is wonderful. I love the fine dining experience at an affordable price. The cuisine choices are delightful, and the waitstaff are quick, polite, and well-polished.

Great food and great atmosphere! Would definitely come back 😀

Best steak Ive ever had (prime rib! 🤤DH even says it is better than the steak he makes - and that has never happened before!Fantastic service! I felt like a VIP all evening!

We dined at Gandy Dancer last Friday. We were warned that while the food is delicious the service is poor. Our friends were correct. From rude hostess who spoke negatively about guest in front of patrons to servers who call off the food, slammed down plates and never came back to see if food was ok. My husbands way undercooked steak was left on his plate & no notice was paid. The server was quick to try and remove plates while we were obviously still eating. Before we even sat I was told tables get a two hour limit. We had apps, drinks, entrees and dessert. Our meal cost $600 and I felt we could have received friendlier service at Dennys. We eat out quite often in Ann Arbor but will never return to the Gandy Dancer.

Had the best time and dinner with my daughter! The food was amazing the cocktails were great and our server/bartender John Gaylor was outstanding! Thank you John for a wonderful wonderful experience!

This is an amazing place to eat with views of trains passing by. Perfect for a date night, business meeting, or event. The atmosphere inside is quite nice. Our server Fred, was really good as well as the dynamite scallops and Hemingway snapper. If they have the duck when you visit you have to try it.

Another A++++ experience with my Mom for this Mothers day 2022. Top notch service from the time we walked in to to the valet.

The service was really good, and staffs were super friendly, but my food didnt taste any better than the U of M dining hall. The freshness of the ingredients definitely needs to be improved. The mashed potatoes had dry shell on the surface; the texture was granular, like it was microwaved; lemon chicken was mildly dry, and unfortunately the flavor didnt go into the chicken; the gravy is too salty. The cheese cake tasted no different from the one you can get from the Whole Foods. Given that everyone rates this restaurant highly, I guess the only reason of why my food was so-so is that the chef was so tired that they were not in the mood of cooking good food.

Our waitress, Hannah, was great! She was very courteous and knowledgeable about the drink & food menu. I was very happy to enjoy my graduation celebration dinner here with my advisor and family. The food was also amazing! The Coconut Shrimp were the plumpest, juiciest shrimp I think Ive ever had! Lobster bisque was light, yet rich in flavor. And they were even kind enough to share with us the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee on the house. It was perfectly crisp on the top, yet light and creamy on the inside. Its expensive, but the food and service are a 100% bet. 10/10 Experience.

Terrific lunch with great view.I parked on High St even though there is complimentary valet parking and plenty of metered parking across the street.My sons birthday is three days from now, but they still have him a complimentary dessert with a candle.A manager came by unannounced during our visit. I always think thats classy.My son and I were underdressed in a t-shirt and jeans, but we werent treated any differently.The building was Ann Arbors Amtrak station until the 1980s. A train came by while we were eating.

Great location! Love the converted train station. The menu was fantastic as was the food. Normally this would be 5 stars but I pulled one because I got the distinct impression they were trying to juice the check as much as possible. Dont get me wrong, its pricey but not too pricey but all the questions, follow-up, etc led that way.As far as the food goes we tried the scallop, shrimp, and brie appetizers. They were all good, though the Brie was a bit less salty than Id prefer. For an entree I had the scallops which I thought were amazing.All in Id go back for sure. Great experience overall

Hello ladies and gentlemen I’m a food reviewer for google the food was amazing the service was awesome the rating gets 10/10 I enjoyed our dinner, stopped by 2/8/22

We arrived on time for our reservation January 16, 2022. . The lady in front, who greeted us, was very warm and welcoming. She escorted us to our seats by the window next to the train track. Our waiter, Rodney, was very nice and helpful. He seemed busy but was very attentive to my table. The Dynamite Scallops were amazing. The Prime Rib was cooked to perfection. I recommend Gandy Dancer and I look forward to coming back in the future.

Service is top notch. I appreciated all of the staff wearing masks. They sat parties separated by a few tables in between to socially distance as best as one can in a restaurant.The scallops were excellent. They accommodated my substitution requests without issue. The crème brûlée was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Came for lunch after a doctor appointment at UofM and was happy it wasnt too busy. Amazingly beautiful restaurant with rich history of being a historic train depot. Lots of character with stone walls and track side dining. I did not care for the French Dip sandwich I got but my sons burger looked really good and he said it was. Not enough meat on the French dip and lots of fat on the meat that was there. The French fries were so good. I am looking forward to coming back for dinner and trying a dinner entree. But for 60 bucks for a cheeseburger and a French dip sandwich is pricey. The staff was super friendly and warm. You also have to pay for parking and it is across the street. They do offer valet, either way your paying whether they do it or you do it. The lunch menu had more fish options than not, so if you dont like fish the pickings were slim.

Absolutely wonderful spot for a date or special occasion. Our server had great input & recommendations from the menu - on top of great interactions with all the staff. The dynamite scallops are a wonderful starter and the entire meal was excellent. Photos really dont do the plating justice - the applejack seabass was delightful

i decided to have my birthday dinner here and they gave me a customized menu and provided candles for the cake my friends got me which was adorable. the restaurant is set up where the ann arbor train station used to be, ambiance was perfect, and service was exceptional! while all the dishes are great quality, some dishes lacked taste and did not blow my mind for the price.pictured:- pan seared sea scallops: made perfectly, melts in your mouth, the rice was delicious too- dynamite scallops- ultimate seafood mixed trio- lobster and shrimp stuffed salmon (not as good as I expected)

We were there to celebrate my mothers birthday. While the service was great, our cocktails were great, the actual cuisine was not great. I had ordered the NY Strip. It was about 30 minutes after we had ordered, when it brought to my attention that they had run out of the NY Strip, and thought it was on the grill.Not a big deal.I basically had the choice of of the filet or prime rib. I chose prime rib.My prime rib came out cold to the touch.I asked to to get it warmed up, which then brought it to room temperature.Sent it back again.They brought me new one, and it was just "ok" not hot, and certainly not very warm.This was fattiest prime rib I have ever had. I have had better prime rib at a local bar attached to a municipal golf course.Did they take my prime rib off the bill? Yes. But did that really make up for headache, hassle, and inconvenience? No.By the time I finally finished eating, and we had gotten desserts, It seemed very apparent that they were trying to close.Their desserts were really good.*** I was not the only one at the table that was greatly disappointed with their prime rib.

Everyone at the Gandy Dancer helped to make our anniversary a special day, particularly Christina at the front desk and Lauren who served our table. The food was so delicious, especially the crème brûlée (the best we have had for a long timeand the fish and chips and cocktails!We went back again to the Gandy Dancer a few months later. Everything was delicious again, especially the creme brulee, linguine and the fish and chips!

Always excellent service and delicious good. The restaurant is incredibly well kept and I love the decor. We had a group of 10 and were able to make reservations same day for prime time on a Monday which was nice. Definitely my go to restaurant when I want to impress out of town guests.

Was a last minute decision to go here for our 2yr anniversary. So glad we did. They were extremely accommodating and made us feel like our anniversary was special to them. Our waiter Josh was very attentive with a humorous personality. Every thing we ordered was delicious, from the bread to the main course.Our appetizer, not pictured, the tempura shrimp with fire sauce tasted like delicious sushi. The lobster bisque was maybe the highlight of the meal taste wise and my sea scallops were amazing (the sauce made it). My wifes stuffed salmon was also amazing. We were too stuffed for dessert but they brought out a complimentary creme brulee (my first time having onethat was also delicious. I noticed another table getting the chocolate cake and carrot cake, which looked awesome so Id imagine it tastes so too.Very memorable experience, well be back. Thank you so much.

So this was going to be a 4 star review because it took awhile once we were seated to get drinks bread but once we got our drinks and food the whole experience changed.Service: as mentioned it took a bit to get drinks and bread but it seemed to be mostly the bars fault and not our servers. After we received the first food item no complaints! She was extremely nice and gave great menu recommendations! Loved ZoeyTiming of food: once we got the bread every single course of our meal came out perfectly on time, it was like someone was watching me eat my soup and knew exactly when I would finish it, honestly incredible.Food quality: We ordered the crab cake with sauteed corn and Ill say that while flavorful it had like 6 corn kernels on it and was pricy for the size, definitely not a shareable appetizer! I would add some kind of puree corn underneath to help add flavor to this item. We also had the lobster bisque and that was one of the better soups Ive ever had, rich and creamy and priced well. Some solid lobster bits would have improved it but no complaints for the price. For entrees we had the Dynamite style Chilean Sea Bass which was the most decadent and flavorful seafood item id ever had! We also had the vegetable ravioli, the filling was absolutely perfect in texture and flavor but the noodles may have been slightly under cooked. We were fairly picky in this and in the end everything tasted amazing and was fairly priced!Manager: The manager was very off-putting throughout our meal and my only real complaint about our experience! She had a sour look on her face throughout the night and seemed to have some kind of staff meeting in the middle of the dining room which felt unprofessional and distracted us from our dining experience. Genuinely felt uncomfortable when she was near our table because of the consistently stern look, would not want to work for her.Hostess: The hostess was incredibly friendly, nice, helpful, and got us seats in no time! She was the perfect greeting face and really set the night off to a great start! I think the hostess is often a thankless job so I like to mention them when they do well! Also she had on a "chic cowboy" blouse and it was cool as hell!

Food was very very "just okay." For a place that specializes in seafood, there was nothing here that I havent had better elsewhere...or even made myself at home. It didnt taste particularly fresh or like it warranted the price. Extra points for the ambience & railroad history.

My first time visiting Gandy Dancer was amazing. During the pandemic, the out door dining place is cozy and spacious enough to keep social distance with each table. The food was tasty and the services were great. I recommend the squash bisque with goat cheese, it tastes so rich and smooth but for those who isn’t a big fan of goat cheese may want to avoid that because the smell is quite strong. I enjoyed the key lime pie a lot as well though I felt it’ll go better with meringue topping instead of cream.