Donckers

In 1914, Fred Donckers opened up a storefront on Washington Street in Marquette. It also happens to be where the storefront sits today. He also was the owner of the movie theater to the right, until leasing it to Delft Theaters Inc. (as locals have known as "The Delft", which will apparently be re-opening as a dinner theater place).

Until the last few years, it was always a store to buy unbelievable homemade candy and confections, as well as other novelty type gifts. Now they have a restaurant serving up some amazing mac and cheese and sandwiches. They also have a soda fountain offering some sweet ice cream concoctions in the style like it would have been had you ordered it back when the store opened. My husband and I were in town for an appointment and I have been dieing to eat here for years, but never had the time to stop. 

We are both big cheese-a-holics so we ordered a bowl of Donckers Mac to share. The creamy cheese sauce is filled with melted white cheddar and smoked Gouda cheese. They have other variations that sound amazing like the broccoli mac and the spicy bacon mac. We will have to try those out at future visits!

We ordered two sandwiches, and then since they were both cut in half we split both of them. My husband ordered the Scarecrow sandwich on cracked wheat bread. It comes with turkey, bacon, roasted red pepper, avocado spread and smoked Gouda (one of my favorite cheeses). It was a great combination of ingredients stuffed into what I call a "high class" grilled cheese.

I ordered the Uptown Club flatbread. Mine came with very similar ingredients. There were layers of turkey, bacon, ham, Gouda cheese, lettuce, tomato and pesto mayo. This was my favorite of the two (although I would have had half the amount of turkey and more ham, personal preference). The pesto mayo and Gouda cheese made the sandwich, and there was a great smokey flavor. We both ordered the side of Terra vegetable chips, and a pickle spear.

Instead of hitting the ice cream we picked out a few pieces of homemade candy. Pictured above is I believe the Irish Cream truffle with milk chocolate coating. All of their chocolates are absolutely amazing. I have been picking out chocolates as a special treat here since I was little. This was the first time that I have been here since they had a restaurant. If you REALLY want to make your mouth water....you can check out the fudge making station in the basement.

This restaurant is a must-stop. A link to their Facebook page and main website are below:

Donckers, Facebook Page
Donckers Main Website

Mickey-Lu-Bar-B-Q

On our way home from WI Dells, we decided to stop and get something quick to eat. My husband had posted something a few days earlier about this restaurant and I told him it was really good. I had the opportunity when I was in middle school to eat here with my family. Mickey- Lu's is like stepping back in time. There is a small menu, but everything is cooked to order and is amazing (especially if you love that char-grill flavor).

The restaurant is pretty tiny (although in middle school I had a broken ankle and was using crutches, so you'll do just fine). You can chose to sit at the counter or at one of the tables or booths. Since there were four of us we chose a booth. Our waitress, who gave us brief history of the building (how it was moved there), also told us she had been a waitress  there for over 20 years. She was very friendly, and kept teasing my nephew trying to get him to smile.

She explained that the burgers are pretty small, and to get a double if we were really hungry. So that is exactly what I did. I ordered the double cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles. Yum! These really are some of the juiciest burgers I have ever had!

So okay.... I guess the sign does slightly lie just a bit. There is no actual BBQ here...but the food is still great. And why change a name that everybody knows and loves, just because the food is now different? That is also why there is a HUGE sign above the name of the restaurant, that says "charcoal broiled sandwiches". I would recommend getting a shake on the side, which is also home-made just like everything else here.

This is a must-stop when you are visiting or driving through Marinette! The burgers are definitely worth it!

A link to a "Facebook" page that I BELIEVE is theirs is below. There are also many other positive testimonials from people who absolutely love it.

Mickey-Lu Facebook Page

Howie's Restaurant

This was one of the best finds of our trip. Breakfast in the resort was unbelievably expensive and no one wants to eat PB & J's for breakfast every day. It was close to 11am, and we drove until we found somewhere that served breakfast still. Seeing the "Huge breakfast" on the top of the sign, we took a chance. Howie's, open since 1958, only serves breakfast and is open until noon every day. We lucked out!

This restaurant is definitely diner style, and had a little bit of old school charm. Our waitress was very kind and we had drinks and our order in in less than 5 minutes. Before I describe the food, let me say that it was so good, we went back on our way out of town to grab breakfast. Instead of doing two posts (since we had the same waitress and the food was JUST as good if not better the second time around), I'm going to combine them into one.

The first morning we stopped in, I ordered the Western omelet with no onions. Yum! It may look small in the picture, but that is only because it was rolled and not tucked in on the sides like how they normally come when you get them at a restaurant. It was cheesy and packed full of veggies and sausage. The side of hash browns were crispy on the top and soft on the inside, which is exactly how I like them.

Oh yes, that most definitely IS cheese sauce on top of my hash browns. Pictured is the Country Breakfast. I chose bacon for my meat, and my eggs to be over easy. I HAD to add cheese sauce to my hash browns, and had I been paying attention the previous time we went, I would have gotten it then also! This big plate of food with a coffee was less than $10.

I wish we had more home cooked breakfast restaurants at home because I would eat there often. It is kind of off the beaten path while driving through town, but if you are headed towards Walmart coming from Kalahari Resort, it will be on the left hand side. Make it a point to stop here! You won't be disappointed!

A link to their Facebook and main website is below:

Howie's Facebook Page
Howie's Main Website

Mexicali Rose

Mexicali Rose, located right on the River in Wisconsin Dells, has great food to go along with the amazing view of the river and dam. We happened to stumble upon this restaurant while driving around looking for places to explore in the area and we were all very glad that we stopped here.

The outside seating area, that I don't believe was open yet regardless, looked about ready to fall apart. Even if it was a hot day I'm not sure I would sit out there because it doesn't look like a lot of care is still being put into that area...unless this past winter really tore that up. The inside however, was as you would expect. Everything was clean and had touches of Hispanic/Latino/Mexican decor throughout.

We were seated and told that they were short a cook, so that it might be a while before we got our food and they asked if that was okay. Although we were all starved the food smelled so good that we all agreed to stay.

For dinner I ordered the chicken tamales. They were unbelievable. They were a tad bit dry towards the outside (I added some salsa on top and it was perfect), but the inside was soft and the chicken was seasoned well. They came on a bed of rice, which was also very good. I'm not too sure about why they added shredded cheddar on the side. I would have preferred some shredded queso blanco or homemade cheese sauce, but it was delicious regardless. That and eating tamales feels like you are unwrapping an edible present...

There were a few hiccups here and there with service, but our waiter was very apologetic and kept bringing us more chips and salsa while we waited. The manager also brought us out a pitcher of what I believed to be strawberry margaritas? And I mean a beer pitcher full of it. We ended up getting 10% off of the bill for the wait (even though we kept telling them it was fine) and got offered free desserts, to which we turned down only because we were all stuffed! This is definitely a great place to stop and relax, watch some people fish and have a bite to eat!

A link to their main website is below:

Mexicali Rose, Main Site

Wisconsin Brew Pub

 

Last week, I had the opportunity to get out of the Upper Peninsula for a few days and go on my nephews "Spring Break". I put that into quotes, because we left with a whole lot of snow, and went to Wisconsin Dells, to which there wasn't any. We stayed at the Kalahari Resort, which was HUGE. This was my first time to the Dells, and minus me being a person who hates crowded places, I had a lot of fun.

On our first night of vacation we decided to check out the Wisconsin Brew Pub located inside the resort. If I ever open up a restaurant, this would be the type of food I would serve. Talk about the most RANDOM ingredients put together to create one dish, and you know what? It worked!

Let me describe some of the dishes that they have on the menu. Two people at our table ordered the "Bavarian Beer Mountain". This was grilled Kielbasa set on top of mashed potatoes, doused in a stout beer cream sauce, with mushrooms and onions. I stole a bite of the mashed potatoes with the beer sauce and it was delicious. Another dish that stuck out is the "Diamond Grilled Cranberry BBQ Salmon", which I hate fish, and almost ordered. It is a homemade BBQ sauce grilled salmon, with a house made cranberry relish, and steamed broccoli. Almost everything on the menu I would eat, and want to try, but I would have to stay at the Dells for a few weeks and eat there every meal to do it (and let's be honest, the Kalahari is NOT a cheap place to stay....).

For dinner I ordered the Pepper Jack Pico Chicken Sandwich. I really wanted a burger, but chicken at the same time, and a sandwich that hopefully wasn't too greasy. I nailed it. On top of the bun was a juicy piece of grilled chicken, with melted pepper-jack cheese, topped with pico de gallo, fresh sliced avocado and salsa verde. It came with a pickle spear, and normally a side order of fries. I am not a huge fan of fries, but I love me some cheese curds.....so I made the right choice and substituted! It was all amazing. I can't even find the words to explain how good this sandwich was. And they toasted the inside of the bun but didn't slather it in melted butter or oil, which I HATE a greasy bun.

For "dessert", I ordered the Yahara Bay Espresso Martini. It wasn't bad, even though it was served in a champagne glass, and I am a lover of coffee. But this drink was on the  borderline bitter side. They didn't lie when they said there was a straight shot of espresso in there. What they don't tell you is that there is no sweetness, and even the whipped cream on top (that also wasn't sweet) didn't help. What can you do? It's booze, you ordered it, so you drink it....

If you are staying at the Kalahari I highly recommend this restaurant as a go to for a meal. Do NOT go here however, if you have a headache or can't stand loud restaurants. We couldn't hear people down at the end of our table, it was that loud. The food was surprisingly decent priced, and made everyone's stomach very happy. I mean come on....who wouldn't love a place that serves burgers with cheese curds INSIDE of the burger?

A link to their Facebook page and website is below:

Wisconsin Brew Pub, Facebook Page
Wisconsin Brew Pub, Kalahari Website
(To access the menu, scroll down to the bottom of the page on the Kalahari website.)

Das Steinhaus

Finally, after I don't know how many months of wanting to eat at Das Steinhaus in Marquette, I had the opportunity! I hadn't been in that building since it was the old New York Deli (actually, for me about 10 years or more). It has never been necessarily a "large" space, in fact, it's pretty small, but they made great use of the space that is there.

For an appetizer, we ordered the Charcuterie Plate. The plate comes with two in house mustard's, one being more of a hot Dijon style with a horseradish type of a kick, the other being sweet and more like a stone ground mustard with mustard seeds. There were four types of meat, which included duck peppercorn salami, spec, truffle salami, and uncured. My favorite was the truffle salami (I love things with a hint of truffle). It also is served with cornichons and fresh bread.

For dinner I ordered the Jager Schnitzel. The spatzel underneath is topped with a breaded pork cutlet, smothered with a mushroom rahmsauce, and I added an egg for $1 extra. Add the egg, it is worth it! It also comes with a side of red cabbage. If you can get a little bit of everything on the fork together, it is amazing. My only negative comment would be that I wanted more of the sauce! It was on the dry side.

I only ate half of my dinner to make sure that I had room for dessert. All of them sounded amazing. Everyone else ordered the creme brulee cheesecake, but I am a choco-holic through and through. I ordered the chocolate port flourless cake. It is so rich that I couldn't finish it all! And sadly, it didn't taste like anything but chocolate, but it was still really good.

The menu changes as the local ingredients do and are printed out on a daily basis. They use fresh ingredients and all of the recipes are homemade. I would love to come here to eat again and get the "Four Course Tasting Menu" to be on the more adventurous side (and there are no substitutions). If the pictures themselves aren't enough to get your mouth watering, take it from almost everybody that has written a review on Das Steinhaus. It is absolutely delicious!

A link to their Facebook page and main website is below.

Steinhaus, Facebook Page
Steinhaus, main website

Venice Pub and Pizzeria

I have been very hesitant to eat here again. Before the ownership and name switched over to something new, I wasn't a huge fan of The Venice Supper Club. At one point in time I'm sure it was amazing. You could tell that there used to be a dance floor and half of the inside looked original to when it started. But other than the pizza, which was amazing, there was never really any flavor to the food. Ishpeming has so many Italian restaurants that you really have to have something to make yourself stand out to get people coming back for more. I never had that connection.

Now that it has been a few years since things have changed, we decided to give it a try again. I found the menu on their Facebook Page and we called in and ordered pickup. I didn't get to see how the inside has changed, other than from other people's photos posted on TripAdvisor and Urbanspoon, but the food has definitely changed for the better.

For an appetizer we ordered the Chili Cheese Fries. Oh my goodness.... they were perfect since I was craving something cheesy. The chili wasn't spicy and was loaded with meat and beans. The picture doesn't even do justice to how much cheese was actually melted on top of these. A great way to start off dinner.

For my main meal I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo. I was very skeptical at first before opening the lid because I was expecting to see what you get at most places, which is noddles literally DROWNING in white sauce. This is exactly how it looked when I took the lid off. The Alfredo sauce was so light and buttery that it was just enough to coat the noodles. It was almost more of a butter cheese sauce than a normal Alfredo made with cream or milk that ends up being really heavy.

I have heard many mixed reviews from people about the new menu here and I will have to say, making my own opinion obviously, that they have changed for the better. I will definitely be getting food from here again, and next time I will have to physically go and eat dinner there now that I know that the food is worth going!

A link to their Facebook page is below (I couldn't find, and maybe they don't have a main website yet).

Venice Pub and Pizzeria