For evening out, we decided to do a culinary whirlwind of Saugatuck/Douglas. Little did we know that the Waterfront Film Festival was going on and provided great people watching and plenty of live music venues.
We started our evening at Wild Dog Grille located in the quaint town of Douglas. Along with a glass of wine, we enjoyed our Mussel and Shrimp Appetizer. The fennel and garlic wine broth was the perfect accompaniment to the large shrimp and tasty mussels. We especially liked the cilantro pesto crostini. The flavorful broth lapped up by the crostini was a great way to start our foodie evening. My two tiny complaints would be that the crostini were slightly over charred giving off a faint bitter taste and the mussels were quite small and lacking in numbers. But they were flavorful and worth the stop in Douglas. Perhaps Everyday People Cafe would have been another stop, but with EPC not opening until 5:30 and it was now 4:45, we did not want to wait around. Maybe next time.
Next up was a little downtown Saugatuck stroll and shopping. After the rain storm rolled through, the 90 degree temp dropped to a pleasant 76 degrees. Perfect weather for window shopping. Our favorite place to wander about is Landshark’s. We love to check out the latest shoe styles from Merrell, Keen, and many more, not to mention the newest clothes from Patagonia, Columbia, to name a few. Our next main stop is the Butler Pantry. If I could register for my next birthday or Christmas, I would register here. My poor husband was only able to get me out with a promise of good food. We lingered in a few more shops before heading for dinner.
A few months back, we did a Saturday stroll through Saugatuck with the kids ending with lunch at Phil’s Bar and Grille. We were so impressed with the service, atmosphere, and especially the food, that we knew a return trip was needed. Upon arrival, we found out that we were in for a 2 hour wait. We decided to wait it out. The bar area was 3 people deep, but we managed to slide into the 2nd position and minutes later to seats at the bar. 20 minutes at the most. A few other couples lucky enough to snag bar seats also promptly decided that bar seat dining was in order and we followed suit. I knew from my predinner web search that I wanted the Scallop Pad Thai. The dish was exactly what I expected, a little heat, flavorful broccolini, shiitake mushrooms, and slivers of red peppers, and then the scallops. Here lies my only disappointment. The scallops, supposedly the star of the plate, had no seasoning and were not seared whatsoever. They looked like large water chestnuts rather than succulent scallops. I hoping that the extremely busy night was the reason for the lack of attention need for great scallops. 
My husband’s Lamp Lollipops also were lacking seasoning on the protein. However the Shiitake Spinach Risotto made up for the lack of seasoning on the perfectly cooked lamp chops. If we had not been at a restaurant, I do believe my husband would have licked his platter clean!
Next we wandered around looking for the perfect spot to take in one of the many live bands and to have a black apple. We ended up at the outside seating area of Coral Gables. After a few songs and a lovely sunset over the marina, we were ready to move on for dessert.
We liked the sound vibes coming from White House Bistro and decided on a seat on the patio. Their dessert menu was lacking. Consisting of only a Walnut Apple Pie a la mode and Strawberry Shortcake a la mode, we ordered one of each along with a warm Kahlua and coffee. The pie and shortcake were good, not great by any stretch of the imagination. But the band, atmosphere, and overall people watching, made up for the lack luster desserts.
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