During a recent trip to the Lake Michigan coast we had three excellent meals. When traveling out of town we love to go to the local diners versus the large chain restaurants. You get a better feel for the town and the people. Plus, the special of the day is usually a town favorite.
We were not disappointed with these stops. Excellent food and service. The first restaurant that we visited was for lunch at the North Country Cafe in Scottville. It’s a homey cafe along with a party size room that contains a buffet bar. Being that the broasted chicken was on the sign on the side of the building, I decided to give it a try and opted for the leg and thigh. They were very tasty and super hot in temperature. On the tables were log cabin shaped holders for the condiments. I don’t normally take pictures of the condiments, but I had to that day.
The second restaurant that we went to was The Brown Bear in Pentwater. I had heard of this restaurant from the ads in the travel magazine in the hotel we were staying at. In the ads it said they were famous for the notorious bear burger. I thought that meant that the burger was made out of bear meat. This is northwestern Michigan and it would not have been very surprising. However, it was just named for the restaurant and not for the type of meat they use, which according to their menu is 100% fresh USDA Select Ground Chuck. I ordered the Pine-A-Peno Burger, which came topped with a pineapple ring, honey smoked ham, tangy bleu cheese crumbles and fresh jalapenos. The staff is very accommodating for those picky eaters and you can order it minus anything you don’t like, which I did. Although it was not bear meat, it did have a lot of flavor to it. I would stop here again, but I would choose to sit upstairs where it is open to the outside.
For our third stop, we decided on Brenda’s Harbor Cafe in downtown Ludington. This was a breakfast stop and I missed seeing the specials board when we walked in. We were seated right away at a nice table for 2, kinda wide in between us, but that’s ok there was plenty of room for food. Being in a lakeside town the cafe was decorated in nautical motif. For me, it was just enough without being overdone. Our waitress’ name was Brenda, the owner of the cafe. She was very attentive, although they were really busy. This is always a good sign for a restaurant. Brenda had me at coconut cream stuffed french toast with bacon. I didn’t even need to look at the menu at that point. When my breakfast came out to the table it looked delicious and every bite confirmed I was correct on the first impression. I ate the whole thing. This is another great find and we will return again when in town.
After visiting these three small town restaurants, I would return to all of them when in town. I highly recommend that you visit them yourself. Here are my TripAdvisor links for them:
Brenda’s Harbor Cafe – https://bit.ly/2XRxwiZ
North County Cafe – https://bit.ly/2JBGTun
Brown Bear – https://bit.ly/2XLFtWB