Willow Tree Restaurant

The best food in this small town. I love pretty much everything they served and price is reasonable for this area. Definitely will be back.

I cannot say enough nice things about this place. The food, the atmosphere, the waitstaff… EVERYTHING. It’s a wonderful oasis while shopping at Fashion Square and it’s a great date destination. We have been numerous Saturday’s, two New Year’s Eve’s and many a midweek dinner stop. Everything is wonderful (my favorite is the Shrimp and Shrooms). Enjoy!

Excellent food, wait staff, ambience. Went for our anniversary. This is a restaurant where you want to relax and enjoy each course. Love the décor, and you don’t hear other diners conversations. Nice background music. Had the appetizer crab cake and Cobb salad. We split both, very large portions. Both were very good. Had the sea bass with scallops and shrimp. It was so flavorful and tender. Pricey but we thought worth it for a special occasion. Dessert was tuxedo cake and was very adequate but I was really too full to enjoy it. Honestly, you are going to spend a little more here but I think it’s worth it. Bob, our waiter was topnotch and just the right amount of professional friendly. Can’t wait to go back.

I sometimes have a challenge reviewing new places when I am the only one unhappy with my menu selection. Four of the five of us at dinner yesterday would have given this place four stars however I am the one writing this review. The lobster bisque was excellent but my overpriced salad was tasteless. Whenever I pay prime dollar for a salad, I expect something very yummy that I cant just toss together at home. This was the case and I left wanting something else to eat… On a positive note,. My wife enjoyed her salmon, the kids their wraps and my wife’s mother enjoyed her raspberry chicken entrée. Joseph our server did an excellent job taking care of us even going as far as singing a Happy Birthday Song on the piano directly to my wife… All in all we might decide to come back another time and of course I will not be inclined to order a salad when there are other options available

Awesome food and environment. The waiters are always well prepared, know the menu so well, and are very friendly. The food is truly delicious!

All around great restaurant. Food is always perfect and tasty. Wait staff knows menu top to bottom including how food is prepared. I have eaten at top restaurants in almost every country in the world and in 48 states. This is one of my favorites. West Branch location also.

Okay. 3 words. Chilean. Sea. Bass. Phenomenal ambiance. Extremely underrated. Superb crab cake. You really need to take the time to stop in and enjoy.

I’m a bit on the fence with this place but I unfortunately had to give it a two star rating because of a recent incident.
I’ve always been a fan of the willow tree anywhere I can find it. A tad overpriced but always delicious. We came here over the weekend for a late lunch. My friend and I were debating trying the chicken piccata. As not to have two of the same dishes, I chose another chicken dish.
The waitress took a little while check on us and to refill our water. But the soups (lobster bisque and French onion soup) were excellent… Then she brought the dishes out, she told us the chef said it’d be the best chicken piccata we ever had. And it was.
My dish was unbelievably bland, especially for one «loaded» with garlic and feta. I sent it back complaining it didn’t fit the description. They refused to take it off the bill, so I had the manager come out. He offered to bring it out with a fresh layer of sauce with more garlic in it.
They brought it out… Decently better, but nothing amazing. Then they brought out this amazing coconut cake (on the house) because of my complaint. All was well, or so I thought…
When I left, my friend started feeling poorly. Her stomach started acting up. I hadn’t eaten much of her chicken so I didn’t feel it. We wrote it off as her having eaten a bad chunk of chicken… Then I ate the rest of my leftovers at home, (a chicken dish) and within hours I got hit too.
We both agree it had to have been the chicken… We got completely different dishes but all we had in common was the chicken. It’s either undercooked or low quality. But try to be careful with the meats. Food poisoning isn’t any fun. Thanks Willow… I’d have preferred my money back.

Simply over priced, below average food. lamb had no taste. salad was dry and the veges were not fresh. The desert was a low okay.

I am in Saginaw for business and went in for dinner. I had an excellent experience. Great wine choices and service from Josh; and the food was top notch. I would definitely go back.

We had a very good meal and very reasonably priced. Variety good, clean, very friendly, we will definitely return with friends!

I want to start off by saying, there are a lot of reviews for this restaurant, but it chooses to only show 9. Take the time to look at the others before heading here.
Anyways, back to the review. I came here the other day with a friend. She had tried it once very recently with a group of 6 people and absolutely loved it.
I didn’t realize the Willow Tree was supposed to be a swanky restaurant, because it’s in the Fashion Square mall, where the old Ruby Tuesdays used to be. The décor is nice, a little dark for my taste. Even the lighting could be a tad brighter, but it is very nice inside. (I hope they change the banner on the outside of the restaurant, because it looks very out of place, like a cheap print they got online, but hey, it’s a mall restaurant).
We started out with the lobster bisque, which was really really good. Could have used more lobster, since I’m pretty sure I got one spoonful of lobster.
The food was just OK. Steak was medium, when I asked for medium rare, but closer to the bone it was perfect. The claws were rubbery, the asparagus was dry, shriveled and crispy. Just not what I expect for a $ 50 plate.
However, I wasn’t buying, and I didn’t want to be one of ‘those’ people that sends back food. Had I realized how much it cost, I would have been very disappointed. Maybe it was just an off day for them, but I can’t see any reason to go back. Perhaps their flagship restaurant is better.

We went to the Willow Tree on Mothers Day and I must say the experience was horrible. First there was 11 in our party and the table was split by two servers. That is typically not a problem, but for some reason the servers did not enter the orders in the system at the same time. Five members in our group received their food after an hour. Ten the rest of us waited another 45 min. So half of the group was done and ready to leave. When our food came out, I would say it was ok. Never got a table visit from the management, after working in the industry I have come to expect that. We didn’t want anything, just an apology. Out of the three checks, all were wrong. Over charges on everyone of them. We ordered two kids meals the steak and the shrimp. On the bill they charged us for an adult shrimp meal. The server argued with us. Saying that we ordered it. My daughter is three, why in the world would anybody order an adult meal for a three year old. Very disappointed in the whole experience and will not return. It’s sad because I heard great things.

We went there on Thanksgiving so we didn’t have to cook and it was worth it… We found out after walking in that they only served the «traditional» thanksgiving dinner and we were going to leave but when we told the waiter, they made a exception and served us one of the best rib-​eyes ever… Martinis were great and the atmosphere was quite… Clean and affordable… Try it out

This is the best restaurant in Saginaw. The food was good each time we went. Mostly the staff was great, although I have to say, they don’t give a damn about you until they know you are their table. We sat at the front waiting to be seated for about 15 minutes each time without being acknowledged and despite being seen. Still dramatically overpriced for the menu and being in Saginaw but prefer this to Jake’s any day.

Great service. Ribs were falling off of the bone and delicious. Nice lobster bisque. Ask for Tracy, she is attentive. This may sound silly, but the ribs came with one of my favorite knives ever. A strong heavy knife; I do not like flatware that apologizes for it self

Fifth visit in just over eight months. In the past have been very satisfied however at this visit our meal and the service was disappointing.

FOOD — Lots of interesting choices on the menu. Entrees seemed to be priced about right. The Salmon Olympian was 1 star — dry, overcooked and bland. The Chicken Scaloppini Marsala was 4 stars — very good. Both of our salads (the Tomato, and the Goat Cheese) were very good. Our dinner companions both had the steaks and without any complaints. The wine list, extensive but expensive, could be significantly improved by providing a vintage and a small description of the wine. We didn’t recognize many of them and the waiter wasn’t much help.
FACILITIES — The music is WAY too loud which of course caused everyone to raise their voices, even the waiter. And they seemed to run the AC for 5 minutes, then turn on the heat for 5 minutes, then turn on the AC for 5 minutes, then turn. .. well you get the idea. I did find it odd that a «fine dining» restaurant used white butcher block paper over the table linens. Oh well, I guess you have to save money somewhere.
SERVICE — Our waiter tried to impress us by running quickly through all the specials in a fast manner. Ho hum! Then he tried to take our orders without paper/​pen. He eventually got it right but no one was entertained by his over-​the-​top and phony performance. It was unnecessary and a schmaltzy display. The final blow was when he couldn’t answer simple questions about one of he wines. Nice touch that the manager came by.
BOTTOM LINE — I’ll definitely go back and give the Willow Tree another chance or two, mostly because there were several things on the menu. It seems like this place is right on the cusp of being a really good restaurant but will probably be held back by some of its inconsistencies, some which cannot easily be changed.

First of all, I’m never a fan of restaurants in a mall — too much of a get in/​get out feeling and it’s still a mall!!! And it looked like a mall restaurant.
Ordered the saganaki as an appetizer along with the ahi tuna — good saganaki but the tuna was over-​spiced with Cajun like spices and wasabi and soy sauce. Kind of weird…
They had halibut on the menu and since we’re in the heart of halibut season, I decided to try it. The way it was offered was on a saffron risotto cake with lobster pieces and other seafood on top. I changed it up and asked for it just grilled with asparagus and new potatoes. It was a big portion and it came out overcooked so dry and hard. For $ 34, it was somewhat of a disappointment.
The table ordered three desserts — one hit and two misses. Cake was dry with not enough chocolate sauce, apple purse was delicious and crème brûlée was average.
All in all, just slightly above average due to service and wine list.

I have eaten here four times and the food has always been good. They have a lot of daily specials, and multiple good fish dishes. Stay away from the house cab as it is a little boring, go with the pinot noir. Service can be a bit slow if your in a hurry, but it is one of better restaurants in Saginaw. Remember we need to support non chains in this city as we have very few good ones.
Update:
As this restaurant matures it keeps getting better. The servers do a great job at remmbering regulars and even say hi even if they are not waiting on you. Service is getting quicker, and the lunchs are etreamly tasty and reasonably price. This is probabliy the best date restaurant in Saginaw if you want to impress that special someone in you life.