Saugatuck restaurant The Butler being sold to The RedWater Collection

SAUGATUCK, Mich. — A well-known Saugatuck restaurant is being sold. For the first time since opening in 1961, The Butler will no longer be family-owned.

On Thursday, the restaurant announced it will be sold to The RedWater Collection. The Butler will become the ownership group’s tenth restaurant around West Michigan.

Stephanie Van Vlerah, who vacations in West Michigan each summer, hopes the restaurant keeps the same experience.

“I hope it doesn’t change,” she says. “I thought the food was great and the service was great.”

The current co-owners believe the restaurant will be in good hands.

“We searched hard to find the right people to pass off The Butler reins and are confident that RedWater will maintain The Butler’s reputation and take great care of our guests and team,” says current co-owner Stephen Phelps. “We look forward to watching RedWater take this restaurant that we worked so hard to build to a new level.”

To keep things business as usual, RedWater says it will retain all of The Butler’s current staff.

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