Mikulich General Store

A friend from the Munising area told us about this great place serving up smoked barbecue over a year ago, and I'm sad to say I had completely forgotten about it until we decided on a whim to go and try it this past weekend. It, for us, is completely in the middle of nowhere, and not on a drive to anywhere we normally go, so after deciding to drive all the way there, I was hoping it wouldn't have been for nothing.

The store was built in 1922, and purchased by Louis Mikulich in 1925. In 1927 he became the postmaster and opened an office in the store, moving his family to the second story. Back then, this store was considered one-stop shopping for the town (see pictures above of how the store used to look). The Mikulich General Store was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. In 2013, David and Laura Coleman reopened the store as a restaurant, serving up some amazing pit-style BBQ, pizzas, sandwiches and even Tex-Mex.

From the outside, I'm not sure what I was expecting to find on the inside exactly, but I know it wasn't this. The ceiling and walls are a crisp white, which makes the small store feel huge. Everything is spotless, to the point that you could probably white glove the floor and end up with very little dirt on them. There is a small seating area for people to sit and eat. I'm assuming most people that eat here usually get takeout unless they are from out of town and are making the trip, like we did, just to eat here.

There were so many items on the menu to choose from, that I would need a good month to try everything that I wanted to. I had heard that their portions were huge, but I couldn't choose just one type of meat so I ordered the 2 Meat Plate option. Now, most people are going to look at the prices for some of the menu items and try and call the place pricey, but I'm telling you the portions are well worth it, and none of us left hungry. In fact most of us had a to-go container with over half of our meat left.

I ordered the chicken and pulled pork., with a side of corn off the cob and cold macaroni salad (also served with Texas toast). The corn was amazing, and had sweet pepper and onion mixed in. I don't normally like cold macaroni salad because most places put way too much mayo in it, but the ratio of ingredients in this one was perfect and just enough sauce to cover the noodles. I need to make a point to mention, that if you do not like smoked meats, or that smokey flavor, order something else on the menu. The chicken was slightly on the dry side, the pork was cooked perfectly and you could see pieces of what once was a smoke line, and after covering the meat with their homemade BBQ sauce, it was all amazing.

It is a shame that we don't live closer, because if we did we would eat here often. With the wide variety of everything from smoked meats to hot dogs, sandwiches, soups, ribs, loaded baked potatoes, salads, burritos, nachos, pizza and MORE, you could eat here every day of the week and never have to eat the same type of food twice. This is worth the side trip to come here and eat. We were definitely not disappointed and will be back again.

Mikulich General Store, Menu

The Flour Garden

Labor day weekend, my family and I decided to brave the Labor Day Craft Show with over 500 vendors in Harrisville, Michigan. After about an hour and a half in 90 degree weather, we all decided it was lunch time and to find somewhere to sit down. The Flour Garden happened to be right across the street so we decided to check it out. We walked in through the gourmet market entrance that carries over 400 imported domestic wines and over 300 imported domestic beers. It also has weird baking and cooking items, baked goods, and old fashioned candy. Since we ate their for lunch, the menu was small, but in this case for me that was a good thing because many of the options looked delicious.

As soon as I saw the BBQ pork sandwich on the menu, I was sold and literally looked no further. I had been craving some good BBQ and my eyes just gravitated towards the word. With your sandwich, you receive a pickle and chips on the side, no substitutions. You can order a side of fries, onion rings etc, but that bumps up the price from around $9 to around $14 or $15. The chips were plenty, as the sandwich was stuffed with pulled pork. Then bun was soft and luckily for me, not buttered on the inside which drives me a little bit crazy. I want my bread for these kinds of sandwiches to be soft, not crunchy.

A few family members ordered the Reuben sandwich, and raved about it. My husband's Uncle stated that it was one of the best Reuben's he has ever had. There were also some not so excited family members that said the burgers were okay, but nothing special. According to everyone's Yelp, Zomato and TripAdvisor comments, this is one of the best places in town for breakfast. I will definitely have to remember that next time we are down that way. A link to their Facebook page is below.

The Flour Garden, Facebook Page

Roxane's Smokehouse Restaurant

On our way back from the Paranormal Convention in Sault Ste. Marie, we were starved and stopped for lunch at a restaurant that I had been wanting to eat at and had written down as a "must stop while on this trip". Roxane's Smokehouse Restaurant is located in Eckerman, Michigan and has been in business since May of 2012. They serve slow-smoked BBQ, homemade pizza, subs and hamburgers. From 9AM to 1PM on Wednesday through Sunday, they also serve breakfast. And still have room for dessert? How about some homemade pie or some Jilberts ice cream!

The inside feel is like an old diner, filled with Coca-Cola and Betty Boop items. There are old fashioned bar stools at the counter, and the classic checker style black and white pattern on the floor.

They also have their own line of BBQ sauces that are homemade, and can be purchased by the bottle (to which of course we did). And oh man....those BBQ sauces! They have a mustard style sauce, pictured above on the left. More of a sweet and tangy sauce that is pictured in the middle. And a maple sauce that is on the right hand side. Forgive me for forgetting what the actual names of them are.

I had the Pulled BBQ Chicken Sub. The menu may look slightly pricey, but once the food actually gets to the table you should be able to see why it is priced pretty perfectly. The portion was HUGE! (And that is not a complaint!) The sub was packed with pulled smoked chicken and melted cheddar cheese (or any cheese of your choice). It also comes with a side of coleslaw (which I ate, and I hate coleslaw), and a side of crispy fries. I didn't limit myself to any one BBQ sauce that they had, I tried it with all 3, and STILL ended up taking half of my sub home.

My husband ordered the Beef Brisket dinner, which came with three sides of your choice. The brisket was juicy and perfectly cooked. It is always a good sign to look at the smoke rings that form when places smoke their own meats. And this brisket definitely had some amazing and tasty smoke lines. He ordered the baked beans, mac and cheese and coleslaw for his side dishes. What is not pictured is that he also got a slice of pie with his meal, which he ordered the banana cream pie. I also had to help him taste test the pie, and to no surprise it was also very tasty.

Whether you already live close by, or are driving to or from the Sault Ste Marie area, you should stop here and eat. I have been to Tennessee and have had some great Memphis BBQ, and I am a BBQ fanatic. I promise you that you will not be disappointed!

Roxane's Smokehouse Restaurant, Facebook Page

Kewadin Casino's Dream Catchers Restaurant and the Trail Deli

This past weekend, my husband and I had the awesome privilege of attending Kewadin's 6th annual Michigan Paranormal Convention, otherwise known as MIparacon. For those of you that don't believe in anything paranormal, that is okay. This is after all a blog about restaurants and food.  For those of you that do believe and weren't able to go, the lineup this year was amazing!

The lineup includes, and is not at all limited to the people in the above pictures. Dustin Pari from Ghost Hunters (who painted his face like a member of Kiss), John Tenney from Ghost Stalkers, Andrea Perron, the oldest daughter from the Perron family that the movie "the Conjuring" is very loosely based off of, and Josh Gates of Destination Truth. The bottom picture is my husband and I getting our picture taken with the hit movie Ghost Buster's very own, Ernie Hudson. Niff Groff was also a speaker from Ghost Adventures, and John Zaffis the star of Haunted Collection. And the list goes on (and yes I have many, many more pictures and got to meet everybody). It was an amazing experience and I suggest to everybody who reads this that you get tickets next year and attend. Anyways.....back to the food.

I don't normally remember about room service, or use the opportunity when I have one, but since we were on vacation and the hotel was packed, we ordered room service for breakfast on Friday morning. I believe it was made at their Dream Catchers restaurant. We both ordered the ham and cheese omelet with hash browns and toast on the side. Not only was it very satisfying, and still piping hot from being in the hot box (or whatever you call it), but it was to our room in 15 minutes.

We stopped at the Dream Catchers Restaurant on Friday afternoon for lunch.

For an appetizer we ordered the Thai Peanut Chicken. The flavors were great, and you could taste the soy sauce and what I'm assuming might have been a hint of peanut butter? But this to me was more of a grilled chicken breast with sauce on it, that should have been placed in a salad or left whole and served with side dishes as a main entree. It was a very strange item for an appetizer and not at all what we expected.

For my main dish, I ordered what they called the 'Indian Taco'. They have some items on the menu that are marked with a dream catcher to let you know that it is Native American inspired. It is supposedly a Native American fry bread topped with the usual seasoned ground beef, cheese, tomato, olives, onion and lettuce like you would find on a normal taco. It was also served with salsa and sour cream on the side. It was very tasty, and very filling. The only problem that I had with it, is that it tasted more like a thick biscuit batter and was dry and bread like on the inside. I have had authentic fry bread before, and this tastes nothing like it. But nevertheless, it was very good.

If I was smart, I would have ordered the buffet like my husband did. (I am NOT a buffet girl.) I tried little bites here and there of his selections and I could have eaten a whole pan of that maccaroni and cheese.

Friday night, we ordered a large cheese pizza from the Trail Deli. It was some of the best pizza I have had in a long time. And I was very lucky, because cheese is the only kind that they serve. I think if they were to change that and have more types of pizza, that the pizza would do better than any of the sandwiches or other items that they sell.

This was an amazing trip, full of great people, experiences, and food. Like I said before, I suggest that you sign up to attend Paracon7 next year. I know that we will be there!

Kewadin Casino, Dining
MI Paracon

Joshua James Grill and Chill

While headed out of town this past weekend, we needed to stop somewhere for a late dinner and I found Joshua James Grill & Chill through TripAdvisor on my phone. I looked at the inside pictures, and it seemed to be a nice dive bar that looked clean and like it had a good menu. We pulled up and judging by the outside, had the mentality of "I guess we can give this a shot". We were pleasantly surprised, and it was a great example of not to judge something by what it appears like on the outside.

For an appetizer, we ordered deep fried pickles. I have ordered these at a few other places, and they always deep fry the ones that are cut into circles. This is a much better way to do it, and ends up being easier to eat, just like a french fry. You can pick your choice of dipping sauce, but the automatic and obvious choice is usually ranch dressing.

My husband ordered the Ultimate Turkey Club sandwich, that came with a side of fries. It was a double stacker and looked amazing. He said it was good and very filling, and was not expecting it to be that large! It was stuffed with bacon, turkey, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise.

I was not terribly hungry, so I ordered the Grilled Ham and Cheese sandwich, with no side (aka, no fries). It was a typical grilled ham and cheese, made with American cheese I'm assuming, but it was very good and perfectly crunchy on the outside, and gooey on the inside.

This restaurant/bar was a great find while on our trip. We normally wouldn't have stopped here, mainly because when you drive by so quickly, it's hard to decipher if places are strictly bars that you may get lucky and serve nachos or frozen pizza, or if it is a bar and grill, that serves some tasty eats such as Joshua James did. It is definitely a place worth stopping!

I couldn't find a main website, or a main Facebook page for this restaurant, but be sure to check out reviews and pictures on TripAdvisor, Zomato and Yelp!

Char's Cafe

After an adventurous afternoon visiting Bond Falls, we decided to take the route through Bruce Crossing on the way home and stop and get lunch. I had looked up Char's Cafe the night before on TripAdvisor and it had great reviews so we decided to stop. 

The outside makes it look and seem as though when you walk in, you will see a dive bar. It was not what I expected at all, and in a good way. Everything was bright white and light blue with country decor. It was like stepping into an old diner. Our waitress was very nice and since we were new, and didn't see any signs anywhere, she told us we could pick our table of choice.

They serve breakfast all day, minus pancakes and French toast after 11AM. I went for something off of the normal sandwich menu which sort of ended up being breakfast anyways.... I ordered the Denver Egg Sandwich, which was almost like a Denver omelet folded up and stuffed into two pieces of bread. It had ham, green pepper and onion on the inside. The only thing I wish I would have asked for, is adding cheese. It was served with a side of chips and a slice of dill pickle!

Every review on every website for Char's Cafe stated that even if you do not have any room left, that you need to try at least one of many of the homemade pies here. We decided to get two slices to go, one of the strawberry rhubarb, and one dutch apple. I am not sure how they made it back to camp an hour away but they did. And lasted about 10 minutes after we got there. They were both tart and fresh. I wasn't a huge fan of the pie crust, but I usually am not a fan of most pie crusts to begin with. The strawberry rhubarb was my favorite.

If you are stopping through Bruce Crossing or on an adventure at Bond Falls, be sure to stop here to get some good food. It isn't a fancy 5 star looking joint, but it has friendly people and food that will satisfy your stomach. And make sure you order pie!

Check out what they have to offer on their Facebook Page!

Char's Cafe, Facebook Page

Sindaw Eats

 

This past weekend my husband and I planned a trip to Bond Falls. I had never been to that part of the UP before, so I went on TripAdvisor to see if there were any good restaurants on the way there and back to get breakfast and lunch. There was a top rated restaurant in Sidnaw, Michigan, (which no offense to anyone, I had never heard of the town before), that serves breakfast from 8:30 AM to 3PM, which is also their hours of operation.

The building, which used to be a gas station, has been made into a very cute, small diner. I overheard the owner telling another table that most of the decor items throughout the inside were donated by friends or customers. They also ask every customer that comes in if they can take their picture for their Facebook page, which is a great way to get your name and business out there. Especially if people tag themselves. If you hate your picture taken, don't worry, you can respectfully decline with no problem!

I ordered the Sidnaw Saute, since I usually always order breakfast if it's offered all day, and it was before noon. You had your choice of meat, which I chose ham, that is sauteed with green peppers, mushrooms, onions and mixed in with a big heap of hash browns. It is topped with two eggs, cooked however you would like (I always prefer over-easy), and comes with a side of toast. It was not only scrumptious, but the portion was perfect, and I actually ended up taking half of the hash home to cook with later. My husband had pancakes that were filled with fresh fruit and served with real maple syrup in the glass jar right at the table.

This restaurant is one of those places that once you eat here or hear about it, you know when you head back to the area that you will stop. The food is fantastic, the owner is personable, attentive and makes you feel like you are eating at their personal dinner table. This is definitely a place to stop if you are driving on M-28, taking a trip to Bond Falls (26 minutes away) or just want somewhere amazing to eat!

Check out their Facebook page and main website at the links below:

Sidnaw Eats, Main Site
Signaw Eats, Facebook Page