Moose Drop Inn....I can't help myself....

I am well aware you have seen this one before already.....and not too long ago. I absolutely LOVE this restaurant! I had to run out to camp and grab my slow cooker for an event that I am helping cater, and this was of course our choice for dinner. You've seen the pizzas before (Moose Drop Inn Pizza) but I had yet to post some of my other favorites, and I wanted to give you an inside look of the restaurant.

The inside is adorable, and filled with moose everywhere. The counter has a glass case with Michigamme themed items for sale, they have candy jars filled with all of the great candies of the past, and all items are reasonably priced. Also (not shown), if I were to have turned around with my phone camera, they have shelves filled with toys, games, and more Michigamme keepsakes.

Now for the food, which is obviously the best part of this place if we keep coming back for more..

This is normally what my husband and I order every time we come here. This time he was the only one to order it, since I wanted to try something new. It is a Chicken Pesto Sub, with home made basil pesto, tomato, chicken, lettuce, cucumber, and smoked Gouda cheese. It is one of the best clean and refreshing subs I have ever had (which is why I am a repeat offender). It comes with a side of pasta salad, chips or fruit.

I opted for the BLT salad. Don't let this picture fool you, the salad was as big as my head! It is pretty self explanatory being that it has bacon, lettuce, and tomato like a BLT, and then croutons, cucumber, and shredded cheese. But it was gorgeous, and the bacon was crispy.

We don't normally get dessert here since we are usually really full from dinner, but we managed to squeeze in a piece of cheesecake (I should just start with dessert first next time!). It was chocolate caramel cheesecake with sea salt. And it tasted as amazing as it looked.

If I haven't stressed this enough, you need to eat here. Everything is fresh, and home made. Right down to the delicious sauces and desserts. And if you live in Ishpeming (and depending on if you drive the speed limit or go...a little faster than suggested), it is only a 15-20 minute drive, which is still closer than driving all the way into Marquette.

I know I've posted the menu and Facebook link on the pizza post, but here they are again:

Menu

Facebook Page

Sydney's Restaurant

Most reviews read on this restaurant start off with something along the lines of "there being limited choices in this town..". Well, I guess you could say that, even though off of the top of my head I can think of about 10 places or more to eat here. Maybe for people from out of town who don't know the area well, it may seem like there are only a few choices. Regardless of that issue though, Sydney's is not a bad place to stop and get a good meal.

Since it was a late lunch and we were all pretty hungry, we decided to get an appetizer. We ordered the beer battered white cheddar curds. I am a cheese curd fanatic, and usually disappointed with most places because they have that thick breading on the outside and you can't even taste the cheese. These were crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. The perfect cheese curd. 

My husband insisted that I try his Oriental Chicken Salad. He knows I am not a huge fan of cold chicken that has been previously cooked (especially when it looks like it has been boiled). I can always taste the difference. It's like leftover thanksgiving turkey to me. I can eat it when it is first cooked, but a day later or when it is cold? Heck no.... It wasn't a bad salad, but I personally would not order it. 

I'm the type of person that when I find something that I really like on a menu, and have had a few other things that are just so-so, I tend to stick with the same thing every time. Since this is my first blog post here about Sydney's, I decided to do just that and order my usual, which is the "Veggie Stack" sandwich. It is filled with cucumbers, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, (I omit the fresh mushroom and red onion), Pepper Jack cheese, slathered in tzatziki sauce (spelled wrong on the menu....I think they got excited with the "i"s) and all shoved into a multi-grain roll. 

I never eat the fries (personal preference, I think they are too greasy and I am not a huge fan of fries in general), but everyone else loves them and has no problem taking them off of my hands. This is, so far, my favorite thing on their menu.

So if you are visiting the area or driving through town, it is the most convenient located family style restaurant with good food and a fun atmosphere. There is even a bar if you need to let loose. The staff for the most part is friendly and I have never had to wait long for the food to be delivered. I have heard they have a pretty good fish fry Friday, but I don't eat fish so I can't vouch for that....

If you would like to see the menu, there is a link below for the main website and their Facebook page:

Sydney's Restaurant Website

Sydney's Facebook page

The Frozen Flamingo

If you need a place to get refreshing ice cream in Munising, MI, (you know, on those two weeks of hot summer weather we end up having every year...) I would skip Dairy Queen and go straight to the Frozen Flamingo. Why? Because they have Dairy Queen's all over the place, and the best ice cream in Munising will still be Jilbert's.

 Amaretto Mackinac Island Fudge

They do have cute items in the gift shop for sale. Old fashioned candy, jewelry, clothing, kids toys, mugs, shot glasses, pretty much everything that you would normally find in a gift shop.The items are pretty pricey, but the ice cream is priced just right. 

Link's to more information about Jilbert's and the Frozen Flamingo are below:

Jilbert's Dairy Website

Jilbert's Dairy in Marquette, Facebook page 

The Frozen Flamingo, Facebook page 

Togo's and folks go together.

I haven't had Togo's in years, so my husband and I decided to stop at the one in Harvey on our way home from Munising.When I was young we used to get Togo's often. Simple ingredients, everything fresh, and bread made homemade every day. I had stopped going for a while because the service got slow, and sloppy. I realize that it is just a sub shop, but when I had been going there and 4 out of 5 times they had messed up the order, it was time for a break. I was surprised in the years that I haven't been there, that they still had the same specials numbers on the "original Togo's" menu.

 

I ordered my all-time favorite sub, a 6-inch #22, which is lettuce, tomato, pickle, American and Provolone cheese. It comes with onions but, as I'm sure you have noticed in previous posts, I can't stand raw onions. The sauce and seasoning is just oil, salt and pepper.

It was hard to get good pictures of this sub, because even though it was delicious, it looked pretty rough. It was put together pretty sloppy, and there were only about 5 people in the building that had all been served already. But the taste definitely brought me back to my childhood. It was a good fresh sub. To this day, Togo's remains my dad's favorite sub shop. They have many new items and ingredients and it is worth stopping by and trying them out. The link to their main website and Facebook page are below.

Togo's Website, which also has a link to the menu
Togo's Facebook page

Country Grill Pub and Eatery

Well.....my husband and I give this restaurant a shot about once or twice a year. We usually eat here because it is conveniently located and usually means we are headed to see a movie at the theater that is practically a block away. Whoever took over recently has done one thing right. The decorations actually make sense now and don't clutter the whole dining room. Before, they used to have board games and movie posters plastered all over the walls. Now, they have old kitchen utensils and country style decorations. They make a LOT more sense now.

Another thing that the Country Grill does right, is serve breakfast all day. I don't know why more restaurants don't do that. My husband ordered the taco soup, that wasn't bad. It just tasted more like runny chili with tomatoes added. He also ordered the Chicken Cilantro Flatbread sandwich. It had a nice crunch on the flatbread that was grilled, but they were out of the cilantro sauce so it was more of a chicken sandwich on flatbread.

I ordered the Hawaiian Omelet, 3 eggs with ham, pineapple and Colby-jack cheese. It was huge, served with a giant side of hash browns. The hash browns were very good. I think I might have ended up with the Cajun seasoned hash browns though because they were pretty spicy. The omelet wasn't bad at all, filled with gooey cheese and huge chunks of canned pineapple (I personally would have cut the pieces smaller).

I guess it is one of those hit or miss kind of places. The prices are good considering our total bill was around 23 dollars (he got water, and I got coffee). I am sure we will venture there again sometime in the next year. It really isn't terrible food, it just isn't anything to write home about either. The link to the menu and their Facebook page is below:

Country Grill, Facebook Page

Country Grill Menu

Moose Drop Inn. Everything from scratch, and made with love.

This past weekend, some of my favorite guy friends were up at camp in Michigamme having what I like to call a pre-bachelor party for a friend who is getting married in September. With there being four boys and myself, I didn't feel like cooking and wanted to have more time to do important things like fishing, boating and being "floaters" in Lake Michigamme.

One of the best things that has happened restaurant wise in Michigamme was getting new owners at the Moose Drop Inn. In the past few years, they have put out nothing but great food. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is made from scratch, right down to the pizza crust and homemade pesto sauce. I have eaten there many times in the last year, but what is great is now having the convenience of getting takeout from there. The boys and I decided to get some pizzas to go!

 Chicken Pesto pizza with smoked Gouda cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan, chicken, and bell peppers.

Supreme pizza, with olives, onions, peppers, mushroom, sausage, pepperoni, ham, and marinara sauce.

Taco pizza, with mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, seasoned ground beef, olives, tomatoes and we leave off the onions. Also served with a side of salsa, sour cream and jalapenos. 

With every pizza, you get the choice of a homemade traditional crust, or sourdough. The sourdough is my personal favorite. 

You can tell that the new owners of this restaurant are filled with passion. The food always tastes amazing, and they always make you feel welcome. This will definitely not be the last time posting about this place. They are also the home of my favorite sub sandwich, and desserts to die for.

Check them out at:

Moose Drop Inn, Facebook

Menu

Corner Cafe. A tiny, yet pleasant surprise!

I have been going back and forth between Ishpeming and Channing (for about 4-5 years), and Ishpeming and Michigamme, MI since I was little. In especially the last 5 years, I have stopped at Koski's Korner to get gas and items in the store I don't know how many times, and I never realized there was a restaurant across the street. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention, and thought it was always just a hotel.

My husband and I have now had the pleasure of getting food from there twice. The first time was about 2 weeks ago, after I had found out about a death in my family. I got woken up out at camp to the awesome smell of breakfast coming from a Styrofoam container. It was perfect morning comfort food, with amazing homemade bread.

My husband got the ham and cheese omelet with homemade Rye bread (pictured above).

I got the farmers omelet with homemade Sourdough bread (pictured above).

This past weekend, we headed back there, and this being my first time going into the building, I was excited to see what this tiny little building looked like from the inside. I love diner style restaurants, and I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in. 

This building was packed with old-school charm. There is a circular counter with old round stools that are fastened to the floor, rustic kitchen accents using old kitchen utensils, and gorgeous stained glass art in the windows. They even have Yooper touristy souvenirs that you can buy (along with the stained glass).

For breakfast (or technically brunch I suppose since it was about 11 A.M. when we stopped in), I ordered the Miner's Omelet (minus the onions, because I hate raw onions), and my husband ordered a half order of biscuits and gravy. 

 My Miner's Omelet was amazing, and packed with mushrooms and other veggies, with a side of rye bread.

My husband's biscuits and gravy (which can you believe this was a half order?!) was also delicious and was topped with over medium eggs and shredded cheese.

Next time we go back for breakfast or lunch, I am going to have to order what my husband got. I love a good omelet, since eggs are one of my favorite things to eat for any meal, but I actually HATE biscuits and gravy, and could eat a whole plateful of theirs! They don't put an overwhelming amount of sausage in the sauce, and the texture is smooth and creamy. And of course they topped it with an egg, which makes it even better!

To finish, we both shared a homemade lemon bar that packed a tangy punch!

The only negative point that I could possibly make of this diner, is that they are only open from 7 A.M. to 3 P.M. I wish they would stay open for dinner! Amazing homemade food in a small hole-in-the-wall diner setting. You have to stop in!

Corner Cafe and Motel, Facebook

Main Website, with menu