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Inside The Kitchen at Buckboard Bar & Grill in Reed City

“You see everybody come in here - ‘Hi, Lonnie. How are you doing? How’s it going?’” laughed John Shoemaker as he described the interaction with customers at Buckboard Bar & Grill.

It’s always going good at the Reed City restaurant when you’re ordering a burger off the menu.

“His burgers are out of this world,” said John. “So he’s got a certain amount of this fat, certain amount of this beef, a certain amount of this meat.”

" I hope they get the melted cheese fact and lots of mushrooms and they say, ‘wow,’” said the owner, Lonnie Clementshaw.

Lonnie says a big question they get with these burgers is how to go about it, since they stack up pretty high.

“And I said, ‘that’s not my problem, you ordered it,’” he laughed. “We do a lot of the toppings, you know, I’ve always figured that have been made the burger, you know.”

The Rueben is another big hit, starting with a solid foundation, homemade bread.

“It always makes a difference, this is nice rye bread because it’s real moist, toast up good, it’s got good flavor to it,” Lonnie said.

“Then he gets his corned beef… and it’s just thick,” described John.

Perfect fuel before pool league, arcade games, or riding the bull.

“It’s family oriented, it’s the hole in the wall, they’re good people,” John said.

John has turned into an honorary employee.

“I got my shirt made up, will work for will work for food, and then Buckboard’s Employee of the Month,” he laughed.

But now he’s more like family to Lonnie and his new wife, Sam

“I actually performed their wedding, I was the reverend at their wedding about four months ago,” he said, but it gets better. “I got ordained on the barstools so I could do the wedding.”

That connection is felt by all who come through the door.

“It about feeling like family when you walk in,” John said.

You can find Buckboard Bar & Grill at 108 West Upton Avenue, or call them at 231-832-0434.

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