The Union - Kalamazoo

Thanks to Fellow yelper, jessie and her family- we came to this place to enjoy jazz at a wmu combo night. Jessie recommended us lobster fondue which was so good and I'm lactose intolerant . Luckily, my stomach didn't give me trouble after eating it and the next day as well. Lobster fondue was phenomenal with so much bread and it's super fun and shareable with friends and family which we did. It was busy night but we got a great service! If you haven't been to the union to enjoy Jazz have that lobster fondue, you are missing out on life! Tip: order lobster fondue with extra bread and keep asking for more and more!!

Fantastic cocktails and live music! The atmosphere here is both relaxing and energizing. Oh yeah, and they have great food! I've been coming here for years, since I lived in downtown Kalamazoo, and this has remained a favorite to return to over the years. Great spot for a romantic dinner or date, or just for coming out for a cocktail on your own! I'm a huge fan of the mojitos here. Despite usually being packed when I've come in on the weekends, the service is usually speedy and friendly.

I went to the union on a date night. The ambiance is great. They had a live band. It was a really good space for a couple. However, I am vegan. They have only a couple of items for vegans. The options are good though. The food came hot and it was not a long wait. The wine list is good and the mixed drinks are good as well.

Stopped in for a late dinner. Our crew did a plate share. Portobello fries were surprisingly good! Artichoke salad and goat cheese dip were excellent. The kale salad looked beautiful and tasted terrible way too spicy for a salad. I was disappointed because we really wanted more veggie options to share. Rib tips were a hit! The band was just okay but added a nice ambiance. Overall we enjoyed this solid establishment.

Honestly, The Union is usually pretty great and my family has been coming here loyally for years. Especially on Thursday nights, their 50% off from 3-5pm is an amazing deal. We love it. But tonight was just absurdly bad. We arrived at 3. Got seated right away, put in drink orders right away and food orders about 20 minutes later. At 330, the waitress (Angela, she says she's been there since August but she is clearly Very New) apologized that she had just spilled our drinks and they were being remade. My husband's drink showed up at 345 and finally, at 405 (more than an hour after I'd ordered the thing), my drink showed up. Over an hour. With some apologies from Angela and the Manager who we brought over to the table after Angela failed to go get her upon our request. The food arrived late, as well (at least 45 minutes from order to arrival) and mine was scorched (photo attached) and my sister's didn't have the shrimp she'd ordered with it. Angela botched at least one drink order and the supposedly free first round wouldn't have been free for my mom if I hadn't analyzed her receipt. To cap it all off, she went around when we were asking for our bills and asked each of us to recite our orders to her because she apparently hadn't written them down? I get it. Several folks at our table have worked in restaurants/bars and know how crazy it can be. But we weren't the only table receiving terrible service and this was clearly a failure on multiple fronts. There very likely weren't enough people working (even though it was much less busy than usual Thursday nights) and those who were working were likely getting an earful from angry customers like us. I sure hope they lost a lot of money this evening because it absolutely doesn't represent the quality of service and food/drinks we were used to.