Blake's Backyard

The food is phenomenal! We came in for an intimate dinner in an igloo for New Year's Eve and it was everything we needed. The heated igloo was great and our server was excellent. She answered all questions and made sure we were comfortable ordering. There was so much food left that it was unbelievable! The drinks were also very tasty. We'll be back!

I'm torn on this review because I had a very mixed experience here at Blake's. First, I want to say the place looks great. There was a lot of fall decor, pumpkins and haystacks everywhere. You really feel in the Fall mood coming here as it's tucked all the way up in Almont. I met up with some friends here and we were able to grab some food and get some drinks while we caught up. Aside from the food/drinks you can order there is also cider, donuts, fudge, cookies and lots more treats in their little shop next to the restaurant.While overall I would say we had a fun time, the main issue is the service being slow. Now, I'm not one to complain when a place is slammed packed as the servers are usually doing the best they can, but we did have to almost track down our waitress twice to ask about our food and the place didn't seem that full. I want to to say that I believe this may be a thing with that one specific server not being very attentive , and not a full reflection of Blake's but I'd have to go back to find out. When we did get our food we could tell it was sitting out for a little but still warm enough to eat since we were starving at that point we just ate it. I'm still open to trying them again because we really do want to believe it was an isolated event but overall a nice spot.

For us this was a fun discovery. We were going to Imlay City to a lavender farm when we passed this place and I declared we must stop here on our way back home. I am glad I did. This is a lovely addition to the original Armada location. It looks like a nice property. I liked the store filled with all of their classic Blake's items, like cider and donuts, plants, cups, souvenirs. They had a nice tasting room with plenty of seating plus an additional room for parties. They were hosting a baby shower in the private room and it was lovely with a stone creek, nice ambience. I did not try any of the food and drinks this time in the tasting room. Instead, we got a hot cider, cider slush, a cherry hand pie, an apple fritter, and blueberry turnover. The cherry pie was so fresh, I love the crust, it is an elevated hostess fruit pie that you want to eat again and again. The apple fritter tasted so fresh, like the best donut ever. I need to get one again. The cider slush was nice and sweet, and we ate in the tasting room. I liked the swinging chairs near the faux leaf wall, a camera ready spot to take pictures. The only thing I really did not like was the restroom situation. I do not know what it is like for the gentlemen, but the ladies room is like an outhouse with a working toilet and sink. But the stalls are smaller than an actual human being with no room, you can barely fit in there. There is so much land here, and they could have built an actual bathroom like the one in Armada. It is not accessible for people of varying needs and not idea for a place with a bar where people will be drinking a lot. But this is a charming spot and we will visit again.

Going to Blake's Backyard is like going to eat in the back yard of a friend who has awesome landscaping. It's a thoroughly casual experience no matter where you sit. And, this friend also serves excellent food and drinks. The food part of the menu is simple, but there's enough variety here to please any palate, with sandwiches, fish and chips, and salads. The drink selection is vast. Blake's brews a wide variety of hard ciders, and serves a dozen on-tap. For those who don't care for ciders, there's a selection of beers and wines. No hard liquor. My wife ordered a Greek salad with a beautifully cooked plank of salmon on top. There was an absurd amount of Kalamata olives (maybe 30 of them) and feta cheese. I'm certainly not complaining. The dressing was understated, which worked perfectly with these assertive flavors.The fried chicken sandwich was crispy, not at all greasy, and very thick. It was served with a massive amount of wavy potato wedges with a robustly seasoned coating. The service was good, too, even though there was only one person behind the bar most of the time.And, you can't enter or leave the restaurant without going through the amazing shop area. Besides all those amazing ciders, there are donuts, candy, and variety of other things guaranteed to satisfy a variety of cravings.My only regret was not having enough of an appetite to get the gargantuan pretzel on the starter menu. It's $25, and slightly smaller than a tire on your car. Next time through, for sure.

I grew up in the Almont area so I have seen how much Blake's has grown over the years. The addition of Blake's in Almont was at first surprising as it seemed small but it has expanded to include a bar, restaurant, and igloo dining. We have stopped in several times a year when visiting family in the area and have always enjoyed their products. My husband was turning 60 and my family (who still lives in the area) felt this would be a good time to try igloo dining as it's something hubby has mentioned over the past year. Our reservation was for mid-week so we easily were able to book the igloo we wanted (3 different available). We were promptly seated and greeted by a server. Once we browse the menu, we placed an order for a few appetizers and then our dinners. And of course we had to order from the bar menu for beverages. I don't know why I expected an experience to not go asas well as it did, but we were all blown away at how good the food was. The menu is small, don't get me wrong you're not gonna find an extravagant menu. But you've got a good selection of " country cooking". I ordered the backyard burger and asked for a side of garlic aïoli as I had seen that on another menu item. I used it aïoli on my burger and also dipped my fries in them. I passed around the aïoli and others tried it with their fries. When the server came back, we mentioned how much we liked it and she said she would bring more sides of garlic aïoli. Everybody enjoyed the food - Mac n cheese with pulled pork, wrap with chicken, fish n chips. Personally, I tried a bit of the pulled pork and found it too sweet BUT it is described as having a jam sauce (so that is where the sweetness came from). We topped off this wonderful meal with a few brownie desserts and donuts. Overall, a great experience and a few folks already have plans to meet back there for dinner this week. My only complaint is on the restrooms. They are not conveniently located and you must walk up an incline to get to them (we did have two folks over 80 in our group so that was a bit of a walk for them). Personally, I am not a fan of hand dryers only in restrooms so some hand towels would have been nice. Finally, the restrooms are located at the back of a room that could be rented - that room would be great for an upcoming 50th bday party BUT I would not want folks from the bar or igloo dining having to walk through our private party to get to restrooms, especially if our party was to have an open bar. I can't imagine somebody giving a toast to the 50th bday recipient and folks from bar walking through the middle of the party to get to restroom. Blake's - you need to address this.

When life gives you a rainy day, you go to Blake's Backyard and get a hard cider flight and street-corn! Also, Blake's is a fun family outing with their U-pick fields (check their website to see current pickings) and their special Fall/Halloween festivities!The staff in the shop and tasting room were pleasant and the store was clean and well presented all the lovely seasonal joys of Blakes, including their home grown produce, plants, jams, locally sourced honey, wines, pies/donuts, and of course their delicious, renowned hard cider! The passion seeker is a personal fave, but of the flavors I sampled, the Grand Cherry and American Berry were a highlight! Also loved their raspberry fields wine!

We came here for Mother's Day brunch. This is the second brunch event we came to and this time it was a little bit of a miss. I am not sure if we picked a bad seating time or what. We arrived at 1:30 and were sat immediately since we had reservations. The server asked what we wanted to drink and we had to ask twice for a drink menu. We finally ordered drinks and they took a while to arrive. Several people ordered bottomless mimosas and couldn't get more than 2 due to the slow service. The food on the buffet was also hit or miss. Many items were empty from the buffet and not refilled. The chicken was dry and had been sitting out. The French toast was amazing! The dirty plates were not cleared and we had a stack of plates after everyone had gone to the buffet twice. We had to bring the plates to the bar in order to have room for the dessert plates.

Blake's! What can I say- their spots seem to hit all the highlights. You can buy produce, pick produce, buy plants, and now get hard cider, beer, and wine. This spot also had an event space and restaurant. They have a lot going on! You walk out of the restaurant and can get cider, produce, jam, pie, and or cheese. Had a unique rice salad for lunch. My companion had a burger. No complaints!

Stopped by for a quick bite to eat Had the cherry club wrap and fries with a cosmoSandwich had plenty of meat , fresh veggies and a cherry sauce it was delicious Menu small but easy to find something yummy

not sure why this place would let someone make a reservation for 6:45 but they close their kitchen at 6:30. website says they close at 7 but we assumed that meant they stop letting people in at 7. i even received a confirmation text an hour before my reservation which stated that it was in fact confirmed. update your goddamn system people. drove 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back after being told the kitchen was closed. was really excited to try this place but i am extremely pissed off that they would allow reservations to be made up until 7. f this place.