Shingleton restaurant has new menu, new management

Editor's Note: This was originally posted on the blog Small Town Girl, Foodie World, which is written locally and offers up reviews on places to eat both here in the U.P. and farther afield.

The Tanglewood Inn, the restaurant previously known as "The Woodlands" in Shingleton, Michigan, is now open again under new management. I had only been in the Woodlands twice before, and to me the inside seemed exactly the same. Typical diner style decor, yet everything seemed to be clean. 

The menu seems to be new and improved, with many more items that are made from scratch and with fresh ingredients. We ordered the appetizer platter for a starter, and it was the typical good 'n greasy deep fried onion rings, mushrooms, chicken wings and cheese curds. It is hard to judge the restaurant by a menu item such as that, considering the only thing that could go wrong is if they over-fried the batter to death. Everything was presented as a nice golden brown, and nothing was dripping with oil. 

I ordered a chicken sandwich that was made up of fresh avocado, tomato, grilled chicken, bacon, lettuce, cheese and homemade garlic aioli. There was no fat in the chicken, and everything tasted fresh. I forgot to ask if the bread was fresh or not, but it wasn't stale and was still crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The combination of ingredients made this sandwich delicious.

I was one of the few at our table that thoroughly enjoyed my entree. One of my family members ordered the ribs, which had very little meat on the bones. Another family member ordered the French dip sandwich, and two people that tried it described the meat as tasting like carved meat from a pot roast that has been sitting in the fridge for a few days.  

The hit-or-miss meal that we had could be described as "still figuring it out," considering they have only been open since this past October. Only time will tell on whether it is just "newly open" or "new and improved."

Normally I post a link to their Facebook page or main website, but so far this restaurant has neither. They do have the address and phone number listed on Merchant Circle, and I have recently added them as a new business on TripAdvisor and Yelp, so hopefully with more time there will be more information on this place!