I’m just going to come out and say it. I’m not a huge fan of Royal Oak. Much of my time attempting to try to go to bars there leaves me getting elbowed out by a whole bunch of people I purposefully avoided in college: the ones wearing too much cologne, a stock set of clothing, and totally devoid of anything interesting to say. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few great standout spots in Royal Oak- Lockhart’s is one of my favorite spots for barbecue in Metro Detroit, The Main Art Theatre plays great films, Peking House is the best Americanized Chinese place with the most frantic and weird waitress, and I’ve had a few great meals at Comet Burger (yet to be visited by MCBC).

Unfortunately, the majority of the bars and restaurants in the area cater to a crowd that I don’t want to be around. I will ALWAYS prefer a grimy bar with a lot of loud characters and a decent jukebox over an extra-clean bar with a bunch of tvs and specialty cocktail menus designed for girls who just turned 21. So when a friend recommended Ye Olde Saloon to me, I was pretty skeptical. “They have dollar burgers on Sunday” was the reply. I would be a stubborn fool to ignore that suggestion.

Pulling up to the restaurant, I was prepared to be disappointed.The bar sits at the edge of the downtown district, in a pretty unremarkable building. That’s a good sign, I thought to myself. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness after walking in, I was feeling even better. With a few goofy murals, a sparse barely-western theme, and a central bar/kitchen area between the two rooms, there’s not a whole lot to this place except a lot of room to move around. They spruce it up a bit with a free shuffleboard table (nice!) and a bunch of pinball machines, the electronic game choice of winners. The crowd was varied – from the group of twenty-something guys playing poker, to a few middle-aged men at the bar watching hockey, to groups of people like us looking for a cheap beer and a cheap burger. It is a place that appeals to all demographics.

Our waitress was a little less of a good omen- frantically covering too many tables, and being a just a little too fidgety, if you know what I mean. We ordered a bunch of pitchers to share, for $11 each. There are a few craft beers on tap too, but we were in value mode- no time for the good stuff. Most of us waited for a few stragglers by intensely staring at our personalized burger sheets and asking deep questions (“What IS saloon sauce?”), while Rachel blew bubbles in her water.

The burger ordering system is pretty efficient and self-explanatory (except for the saloon sauce thing). The base price is a dollar, then various toppings are additional cost. I went with a standard burger, decked out with saloon sauce (turns out to be a dijon/mayo kind of thing – we all loved it), tomato, cheddar, grilled onion, and bacon. Other orders were similarly or more complicated, but luckily we had sheets to keep track of our toppings.

The half pound patty presented here is not low quality, it’s not skimpy, and it’s worth the price. Toppings were fresh, and the patties were cooked almost perfectly to order. The list of toppings encourages you to mix and match, and presenting so many options means you are undoubtedly going to order a lot of things. The only issue with this is that your burger is going to bet bogged down by juices, condiments, and liquids from vegetables- and the cheap standard burger bun that Ye Olde uses is not designed to stand up to those forces. Almost everyone barely had a bun halfway through eating. Another downside was the skimpy and useless bacon, which didn’t really add anything to my burger. Despite a few shortcomings, the burger was an overall winner.

They were out of onion rings, but the tots and french fries were all good and crispy. It’s possible they were frozen, but it didn’t really matter, they hit the spot. Besides the good food, the service left a lot to be desired. Steven felt like the waitress told him he was lying about the egg he ordered on his burger. Bonnie ended up with a pitcher she didn’t really ask for – though the group was divided on if Bonnie actually did order that pitcher. The jury is still out, but we ended up with way more beer than we needed.

Personally, I thought food and drinks at Ye Olde Saloon were a great value, the shuffleboard was excellent, the burger was great, and I got what I asked for- but I guess i didn’t send any confusing signals to the waitress. Keep in mind that our review was done just for their specials night- which meant our low bills (nobody paid more than $5 for a burger!) were surprising and excellent. On normal days the burgers start at five dollars – still not a bad deal, but higher than what we paid. This should be taken into consideration when looking at our rating scores.

I’ll go back for a decent burger, a divey ambiance, and a little bit of a weird crowd for Royal Oak. The value really shouldn’t be passed up, and the whole thing is worth it to see what the other perspective of Royal Oakers may be like. Don’t be like me- go in with an open mind. Even if you’re not happy, you can play a free game of shuffleboard to ease your pain – or take your chances at the distinctly basic bars down the street.

Ratings:

Burger: 3.76

Service: 3.29

Atmosphere: 3.67

Value: 4.17

Overall Rating: 3.784 Erik: “Great old-looking dark bar. Someone played some Metallica, and then Ramones. Bacon was weak. ” 4.5/5 Rachel: Burgers are tasty

Burgers are very good.

Do you like burgers?

3/5 Jeff:

My topping choices

These reflect my soul, my self

I enjoy choosing

4/5 Bonnie G:

“-I really liked the saloon sauce!

-Again, why did I get another pitcher. Pissed.

-Didn’t bring Stevie’s egg. He felt awkward!

-Out of onion rings :(”

3.75/5 Steven G: “When I ordered egg on my burger the waitress told me I didn’t order it even though I did. I didn’t like being accused. Also, the waitress brought out an additional pitcher without our ordering it.” 4/5 Sala:

“-The bun got so soggy throughout.

-Bonnie definitely ordered that pitcher.

-I would like to join the Sunday poker group.” 4/5 Mark : “BEST PRICE FOR SUNDAY! The waitress was on coke but I was OK with it. Shuffleboard makes up for everything! XOXO” 3/5

Ye Olde Saloon

1023 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, MI 48067

(248) 542-5900