Big Buck Brewing, Gaylord

Stopped in for lunch on a snowy Saturday place was hopping. Sounds like the brewery had major problems with ownership change 2017-18. New brewer. Had their beers over the years under the former crew and they were mediocre. The place is really a nice place to eat/ drink. Roomy, staff were very nice, food was good. The beer was surprisingly good. Had a nice flight of 7 and a pint. Good beer stop right off I-75. Very nice job by new owner & brewer.

Nice layout, good service, good food and decent beer. Worth the stop and definitely will go back again.

Reviewed from notes. This "outdoorsy" type rustic ambiotic brewpub lends a hand to the working man making ales to acquaint the country boy and not the city slicker. To me, there’s no such thing as a bad beer or bad food here. I’ve never had bad service in the five years I lived in Michigan and went here. Overall, good place, I can’t say anything bad about it.

Large, new and neo rustic. Not cosy but attractive -- more steakhouse than brewpub. On tap are 16 beers -- 8 "traditional" and 8 "gourmet". Right next to the interstate. Beers are decent and all are available in 4 oz tasters. Only had a salad but it was quite decent. Worth a stop.

All I can say is pretty much "tourist trap." Visible from the highway, a weird attempt to look like a Cabela’s on the inside and way overpriced run of the mill food. Their beer was ok but nothing special.

The only big brewpub in the region. Met family for lunch on a trip. They offer a nice assortment of traditional styles, as well as some high ABV they call "gourmet seasonals." I was taken aback by what they were charging and stuck to the staple styles. Food and service was very good.

Big place - family restaurant ambiance with loads of tourists. Long wait to get a table but once we got it the service was quick. Did a sampler of the beers - there was a good number of them that ranged from clean but bland light lager to a surprisingly potent (and tasty) barleywine. Food was delicious, though the prices are a bit high. then again, where else are you going to go in Gaylord?

Big Buck is pretty much the only place in northern Michigan outside the Lake Michigan resort towns to drink craft beer. Over the years, selection and quality of both food and beers has varied considerably, probably reflecting the financial fortunes of the tourist-dependent business. The large building with towering ceilings is probably expensive to heat. After a very limited beer selection in summer 2010, I was pleased this summer to find an expanded beer selection, with many of the new offerings classified as "brewer’s reserve" beers marked at higher price points, some obscene. Most of these beers have been enjoyable, but the clumsy descriptions and outrageous ABVs listed on the menu unfortunately lend an amateurish quality to the experience. I hope the listed ABVs are a mistake (I would expect an experienced brewer to notice this, however), and not an attempt to deceive the drinker into spending $7 for 8 ounces of a cheap-to-brew beer. Outside the beers, the burgers are probably the most consistent food, and most everything else is overpriced and of marginal quality. It’s worth a visit, but also a head-scratcher, and I have to wonder if this business is in its ninth life, given the closure of the other locations.

This was an odd place off of the highway. It is really more of a restaurant that happens to brew their own beer. When I visited, there were 5-6 taps, all your most basic styles (stout, pale ale, IPA, a lager I think, etc). The food was ok, but pretty much just what you’d expect at an Applebees or something like that. I also found it a little weird that all ~5 of the TVs were showing the same odd airshow. A very touristy place as there is tons of decorations to make the place look like an old lodge with lots of antlers and animal heads. They also have a large giftshop. If you are passing by and want a quick drink or meal, this would be an ok place. But it isn’t a place I would actively seek out.

Not a dump. But it’s certainly not as atmospheric as "The HarborLite" in Escanaba!