Hamlin Corner

In my opinion the service here is terrible whether at the bar or at a table. The staff are very entitled and slow. There are many better places in Royal Oak.

In Seattle, as a Michigan fan, there was one bar to watch the game. Now that I have moved back to Michigan it is assumed that most bars will have the game on. When I am looking for a place to watch the game, it is important to me that I can order food and that I can bring my child. Hamlin corner has pretty good food, and is family friendly. Every time we have been there we have seen other families. There are also tons of tvs, any way you look there is a TV. I like the atmosphere to watch the game with or without my son, but it is nice to have the option. The service leaves a little bit to be desired, but not the worst.

We came back in this past summer and the burgers were just as bad. We spoke to the owner & he was very accommodating in making us happy. We’ve had pizza there since that was very good. It’s a fun place and great to watch a game. We may go back for that and the pizza. Service has been slow on every visit.

What an awful experience at this restaurant. The service was awful… not to mention the Sunday bartender (who is also the manager) is the most unfriendly and useless person. Time to find a new calling — obviously being a people person isn’t in your wheel house.
The food was not good either. The bread for the sandwich tasted like something you would find at a school cafeteria and the chicken and waffles were really gross.
Find a different plAce to go to!

It’s okay I suppose. The pizza is really bad. Pizza tore my stomach up. Service was okay. Beer selection was awesome but every time I order a beer they’re out of that beer haha. Bad luck I suppose.

This place still blows. In fact it blows worse than my last visit.
It’s clear to me they no longer have a professional cooking staff or a real executive chef overseeing this place like they used to. I’m told by one of the staff that the well known Chef Ross Bock used to run the kitchen but left over a year ago and most of his team left with him. Chef Bock moved to the famed La Trattoria in Key West Florida. Pizza is hideous now. I’m told that the well known Italian Food Restaurateur Chef Orlando left and took one of the best pizza chefs with him. That explains that…
If you walk in the side door you can see into the kitchen. Contrary to what it was before it looks like a Wayne County Jail half-​way house now. I’m left with the feeling that the owner of this place isn’t very good at managing it. The irony is when it first opened it felt like a cool place for foodies with some really nice recipes. But these days it feels like overpriced bar food. It saddens me they’ve declined so much.

Mixed review here. The prepared foods like a dinner entrée are pretty good. The appetizers however are not good at all. Every single one we ordered tasted like they were something taken out of the freezer and microwaved. The most palatable one was the nachos. It was pretty good, likely because it required someone to make it (you can’t nuke nachos!).
The atmosphere was nice and roomy. Many beers on tap. I’m sure it’s a good spot for game viewing. Our waitress was friendly and attentive.

Great wings, large beer selection, and their burgers are good. I like going there to watch the MSU games and lions game. They go all out for those and have a great atmosphere

Huge sports bar-​pretty noisy and the food is just okay. They have okay apps nothing really fantastic though. There is nothing here that you can’t find elsewhere.

I just want to start off that we will not be back. Not only was the service terrible, the food wasn’t that great. The only thing that saves this review were the apps.
First off the service was awful. There was something off with our waitress. We did get our apps in and served just a tad late and they were good. We ordered the lettuce wraps and the pretzel bites. Then we had out our food order in right after we received the apps. About 20 min after we ordered, she came to our table to let us know our ticket got turned around and forgotten about in the kitchen so they haven’t made our food yet. She kept saying the kitchen was super slammed this evening, though the restaurant was less than half full. Then she went through to double check what everyone ordered, so we basically reordered our food and then saw her go to the computer and start typing things in. She must have forgot to place the order in the first place. There were 6 of us.
Then the food. When we finally got our meals which was 2 salads, a soup, a burger and a pizza. They brought out the wrong soup and then she brought out an extra salad that no one ordered. It also took an additional 10 min for the pizza to come out, after everyone else received their food. The salads were pretty blah (antipasto, and the southwest chicken) and the burger was ok. The pizza was fine but didn’t taste like other Primos pizza. Besides the apps, the best part of the main meal were the French fries that came with the burger.
The waitress kept blaming the kitchen through the entire meal and gave us a round of drinks and a free VIP card to make up for everything. We never really complained about the wait or food either. No need for the VIP card since we probably won’t be back.

Great servers yet we had a horrible experience with their manager refusing to change one TV to a non MSU game when we managed to bring 15 people in the door for the night… That just shows horrible management style and upright incompetence for the service industry. The manager did not appreciate our business and was flat out rude. Do not go there if you want a sports bar that cares about their customers.

My husband and i went to this restaurant in Aug 2015 and had a horrible experience. I ordered the chicken and waffles and so did my friend. We both sent it back because it wad a complete disappointment and I reordered another breakfast dish that was in turn equally disappointing (the southern bowl). 2 hours later my husband and both felt sick all night and really felt it was linked to the food. We believe we got food poisoning. I was sick for 2 days.
Honestly the restaurant has potential if they stick to being a good bar they are not a breakfast place. It had a cool atmosphere, lots of beer on tap, outdoor patio, and excellent music. Stick to what your good at.

I always have a great time at Hamlin. Great food, great beer selection, great bar tenders!

I’ve been here twice, and both times the food and service were on point. Once was during a sports game a while back, and Hamlin was pretty busy. The other time was on a random Sunday night, when the BF and I sat at the bar and chatted with the bartender while enjoying some craft beers. The bartender said it gets pretty packed with a clubbing scene on Fridays and Saturdays — will have to check it out sometime.

This place is not worth it. Not sure why you would want to go here? It’s half empty. And if the bouncer kicks you out for someone who flips your cap, when you’re sober to type a review you know he’s on a power trip. FYI his his name Brad
Management needs to re-​evaluate their business model.

DONT GO HERE IF YOU EXPECT SERVICE! I was just here, put in a food and drink order, but only received the drink. After being there about an hour and a half of sitting at the bar attempting to flag down a bartender, I decided to get up and slowly put on my coat, but as no one said a word I just left…
BTW — I totally respect the service industry and respect the work they do, but this was undeniably bad! I have NEVER just walked out of any place!

This place blows. Flat out sux. I’m sorry what a pretentious place. I have been there 3 times at different times and at least they are consistent. Bartenders and waitresses are rude. It would be great if we were at Ed Debevic’s or Dick’s Last Resort, but we aren’t.
Last time I stopped in for a quick beer and to catch the 3^rd Period of a Wings game at 4 in the afternoon. The stools at the bar were full, so I sat at one of the tables. I was promptly escorted to the side of the place, seated alone with out a good view. To top it out, the waitress didn’t come by for over 10 minutes of GAME time. When she finally got there, I was in the process of leaving, and I won’t be back.
My advice — SKIP IT. There is so much better in RO!

I’m giving 3 stars not because of the quality of food/​drink, atmosphere, or variety of food & drink choices. Those are all ⁴⁄₅ stars. I’m giving 3 stars not because of rude service because the staff is friendly & polite for the most part (4 stars). However Mike, the bar tender, gets 5 + stars! He’s the best. He’s friendly, polite, knowledgeable, and makes great suggestions. He makes the expensive drinks a little less painful to pay for.
I’m giving 3 stars for these two reasons 1.) I believe the menu is overpriced by about 10% — 12% 2.) On several occasions, my bill has been $ 20.40, just as an example (dollars & some change), I pay cash, $ 30, the server asks me if I want change (Which shouldn’t even be asked. clearly it’s not the norm for someone to give a 50% tip), then when they bring my cash back, it’s $ 9. The .60 just disappears and apparently, the server assumes I don’t want my .60 cents. I haven’t said anything yet because I thought maybe it’s a mistake. But it keeps happening and next time, I will definitely say something. I realize it’s only .60 cents but still, it’s MY .60 cents and it’s not up to the server to just keep it without me giving it to him/​her. It’s pretty much stealing and is totally inexcusable.
Thanks in advance for taking my feedback into consideration.

I’m really surprised by the negative reviews here. I get it, it’s not the best place ever, and from what I’ve heard the vibe is completely different now than it was when it first opened. However, I’ve been here for a lot of sports games (Lions and the World Cup mostly), and it’s always been enjoyable and easy. We’ve always been able to make a reservation to watch a game with a big group, even big ones like the USA games for the World Cup where it was packed in there. I also don’t think the food is that terrible and actually think their pizza is good for bar pizza. I wouldn’t order it if I wanted pizza carry out, but it’s good for a snack while you’re there for a game. Plus, the beer list is pretty good. I’d rather go here than other «sports bars» in Royal Oak where it’s crowded, awful, and you have to stand the whole time.
I did go to Hamlin this weekend for the first time at night, and I didn’t think it was that great. It wasn’t very busy, they had a live band for part of the night, and it just didn’t seem like a super exciting place to be on a weekend. If that’s where the negative reviews come from, I guess I understand a bit more. But if you just want to grab some food really quickly or need a place to go for a game, I definitely recommend it! I also heard that their brunch is pretty good, but I haven’t been so can’t really comment on it.

Came in here again last Saturday to use the $ 25 gift card we won at trivia on our last trip. This will be my last time here. We had two drinks each. We were hoping to get an appetizer as well. Not one of the three bartenders working asked us if we wanted food despite a long, exaggerated perusing of the menu and placing it blatantly on top of the napkin holder. This was at about 5:30pm on Saturday — well before it got busy. Maybe 20 people in the entire place tops.
On top of that, we overheard the bartender explaining why there was MSU stuff all over the place — «It’s a business decision. State fans drink more.» Whether or not that’s true, the answer should have been, «The owner is a huge State fan.»
This place is all kinds of suck.