McDuff's Bar and Grille

Lyn Van Rees

Good little local place with a pretty decent variety on their menu. Everything you need for a low key, fun night… from pasta to pool tables.

T Engle

This review was difficult to make because their food is amazing, but their staff not so much (a few bartenders/servers in particular). Some of the bartender/servers curse worse than sailors…it’s a bar not church, I get it, but also dinner hour when just around the corner are tables full of children who hear every F-bomb they drop. I’m not a Towny/local to the bar, and it shows. These same bartenders concentrate hard on the locals, and everyone else is left 2nd fiddle.

Rebecca Wychers

Food is amazing! Server was great, while it was very busy because of a band playing that night slowing down the service, the server very sweetly apologized for the wait. I didn't mind the wait, it wasn't too bad and the food is worth it. Plus the band "Pretty Rage" was Great too!

N L

UPDATE 2/27/22 I've increased the rating to 4 stars (from 3). The menu is new, there is a separate small menu with seasonal specialties, there is a seasonal menu with cocktail specialties, the menu has several non-standard items that are interesting, the onion rings are fantastic and are homemade- not frozen, the service was excellent (the place was almost empty, which means that the word is not getting out there about the quality of the food/service). On the down side: Booth seats have torn/ripped fabric, making the place seem a bid shoddy. No clear listing of on-tap beers or ciders, other than a rather confusing chalk board. Should have a list at each table. This place is quite superior to the Wayland Hotel (catty-cornered to McDuff's) since a lot more pride of ownership is demonstrated. =========================== I would give McDuff's 4 stars if it wasn't for three important things that are easily fixable: 1) Menu: the menu apparently will be updated soon. But, the current menu has old prices. That's a big "NO-NO". The correct prices should be written on the menu, or the waitstaff should inform the customers that the prices are wrong. I noticed the pricing discrepancies upon getting the bill, and was told that the menu prices are being updated. That is not "cool". It is very deceptive when an item is being charged at $2 more than listed on the menu. There was no offer by the waitress to stick by the listed menu prices. 2) Menu: too much is crammed onto a single-sided sheet. The print is too small. Couldn't read the fine print, even with reading glasses. The lighting in McDuff's is dim, adding to the problem. Menu should be 2-sided, with larger type, and better layout. 3) List of beers/ciders on tap was incomplete, and the beers were listed in very crammed abbreviated form. If you are not already familiar with the listed beer, you will have a hard time deciphering the abbreviations used. OK, now for the good aspects: 1) Food: excellent. We tried the chicken fajita and the Cajun Mac N Cheese. 2) Service: excellent This was a Tuesday night. The Sandhill Restaurant at Gun Lake casino had a half hour wait and was staying at 50% capacity due to covid. Sandbar was closed (didn't know they were closed on Tuesdays). Salvino's was packed and had people waiting to be seated. So, let's try downtown Wayland. McDuff's had plenty of seating, and was not crowded. If I were the owner of McDuff's, I'd be wondering "Why is Salvino's always full, and my place is so empty"? McDuff's could obtain far more success if it would: 1) Re-do the menu with larger font, etc. Add a few unique entree items related to Irish or Scottish heritage. (There really is no particular reason to name it McDuff's if you are not committing to an Irish/Scottish menu or atmosphere.) 2) Maybe offer pasties. These are common up north. But nobody has them in southern Michigan. Maybe corned beef and cabbage (even tho this is not really Irish, I know). Maybe smoked salmon items. Maybe shepherd's pie. 3) Make the on-tap beer list a prominent feature. 4) Hire enough servers to accommodate more customers. There was only one server when we were there. This would not be adequate for serving more customers. We had not been here for at least 2 years -- partly due to covid 19 of course. But my previous visit 2 or 3 yrs ago was a bust. We had out-of-town guests with us, and we were seated at a booth. The place was not busy. But, we waited for 20 minutes, and no server even acknowledged our presence. So, we left. Even though it wasn't busy, the service staff could not supply even minimal service. That left a sour taste in my mouth, and we avoided McDuff's after that experience. Our recent visit was good, but we noticed lack of help. But this place has a lot going for it: location, parking, cook staff, menu, service. With a bit of effort, McDuff's would be a very busy place.