Central Michigan and Indiana

I made a quick trip through Central and Western Michigan and the parts of Indiana between there and Chicago this weekend. While we weren't necessarily on a culinary voyage of discovery, I made an attempt to eat well. This thread will have a few of the places I visited.

We drove most of the day Friday. We left Chicago around 8:30 A.M. and after a stop for a late breakfast at Waffle House America, we made it to Owosso in time to start to think about our dinner plans. We decided to make the 20 minute drive to the neighboring town of Chesaning to have dinner at The Showboat Restaurant and Malt Shop, Chesaning's Oldest Restaurant.

Showboat Restaurant and Malt Shop


As you can possibly see, there is a walk up window for the ice cream fountain and light sandwiches, but also a separate entrance to a sit-down restaurant. As the sign on the building says, they specialize in broasted chicken, but also have a full menu of steaks and a few seafood dishes. All dinners include a trip to the salad bar which, though small in selection, was of better than average quality. A bonus for me was the inclusion of Waldorf Salad, though it lacked any walnuts.

Julie ordered a grilled salmon dish that was served with fresh green beans. She enjoyed it quite a bit.

Grilled Salmon


I went with the "famous" fried chicken, which was prepared in such a style as to have the crust rather smooth as opposed to "craggy". It was fried perfectly. They accommodated my request for all dark meat without an argument or an up-charge. My chicken was served with a baked sweet potato, which I though was a nice change of pace. Fries, hash browns, cottage fries and regular baked potatos were also available.

Showboat Fried Chicken


If for some reason you find yourself in or near Chesaning, MI you can, and probably will, do worse than The Showboat.

242 W Broad St
Chesaning, MI
989-845-2830

During my travels, I came across two roadside BBQ stands, both of which were very good. First, in the town of Ionia, MI, set up in the parking lot of the local Tractor Supply Company was Extreme Roasters.

Extreme Roasters Roadside Stand



Extreme Roasters is a competition BBQ team that routinely sets up a location in this parking lot on State Road, just North of exit 67 on I-96. Being Memorial Day weekend, T. James Connor, the pit master, was off somewhere preparing a whole pig for a party, leaving the stand in the very capable hands of the Women-folk (mom, cousin and sister).

Tending the Pit


By the time we arrived, they were out of most things, with only pulled pork and chicken legs left. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich which, despite being reheated, had some excellent flavor. The pork had a sweet taste to it (Not objectionable by any means), which I believe was from an injection of some apple juice-laced marinade before cooking.

Extreme Roasters Pulled Pork Sandwich


I enjoyed my sandwich so much that I bought an additional bunch of pulled pork to go.

The next day, while traveling through Harbert, MI on Red Arrow Highway, I came across Preacher Man's BBQ on the road near the Harbert Market

Preacher Man's BBQ



The Preacher Man had a steady stream of customers. He turned out a pretty good batch of meaty rib-tips, which I enjoyed but forgot to take a picture of. He also had some very good looking spare ribs and claimed that his chicken "gives me problems because I can't stop eating it." He said that he tries to be in more or less the same location every weekend.

Extreme Roasters
Tractor Supply Company Parking Lot
45 Farm Lane
Ionia, MI
616-835-4168 (Cell)

Preacher Man BBQ
13695 Red Arrow Highway
Harbert, MI
No Phone

We stayed overnight one night in Saugatuck where, after a disappointing dinner at The White House, we saw lots of fudge being manufactured and packed.

Saugatuck's Favorite Occupation


The next morning we headed back out on the highway more or less in the direction of Chicago via the back roads. Eventually, we came across the town of Glenn; "Pancake Town". Glenn is located on the Blue Star Highway between Saugatuck and South Haven.

Welcome to Glenn


One rule that I live by is that if a town has a stack of pancakes on its sign, I'm stopping for breakfast. Glenn is not a very big town. Luckily, the Glenn Restaurant is there to dispense both pancakes and the story of why Glenn is "Pancake Town". It seems that back in the 20's there was this huge blizzard and a bunch of people on their way to Chicago were stranded for a few days. After a while, all they had left to eat in the whole town was pancake mix. The town shared their pancakes with the stranded travelers until the roads opened again and thus a legend was born.

The Glenn Restaurant is a friendly little spot serving up breakfast and lunch every day. We were there late on a Sunday morning and they were quite busy. We sat at our table for quite a while drinking coffee and patiently waiting for our breakfast to arrive.

The Lovely Waitress at The Glenn Restaurant


Always a rebel, The Chow Poodle opted not for pancakes, but for sourdough french toast instead.

The Glenn Restaurant French Toast


The french toast was good, but they don't call this Pancake Town for nothing. Being in the midst of blueberry country, I opted for blueberry pancakes.

The Glenn Restaurant Blueberry Pancakes


These pancakes were heavenly! I can only imagine how good they will be once blueberry season kicks in. While they don't look all that out of the ordinary from the outside, The inside of these golden brown cakes were laden with juicy blueberries.

A Surprise Inside


During the time we were there, I saw some lunch items being served and they looked every bit as good as the breakfast we had. In particular, they tout their award winning chili. If you find yourself in this part of Western Michigan during the breakfast and lunch hours, do yourself a favor and stop in.

The Glenn Restaurant
6999 114th Ave.
Glenn, MI
269-227-3036

Steve,

Great post, makes me want to grab my wife and yell Road Trip!

Showboat Fried Chicken looks terrific, but who can resist BBQ in the parking lot of a Tractor Supply, Preacher Man's tips sound good as well.

Enjoy,
Gary

Steve,

I know you have been to Waffle House before. As for the others, were you aware of them in advance? How much of this post was serendipity shining its' golden light?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Steve,

I know you have been to Waffle House before. As for the others, were you aware of them in advance? How much of this post was serendipity shining its' golden light?

Regards,

Other than my de riguer stop at the Waffle House, it was 100% seriendipity, though we had been to The Showboat on a few earlier occasions.

stevez wrote:We stayed overnight one night in Saugatuck where, after a disappointing dinner at The White House, we saw lots of fudge being manufactured and packed.

Saugatuck has to be one of the most disappointing dining towns on the planet. Cute as Saugatuck is, resist the temptation to dine there and, the next time, get in the car and get thee to the Journeyman Cafe instead. (I'm starting to sound like a broken record. )

Thanks for the tip on breakfast at the Glenn, however.

aschie30 wrote:Cute as Saugatuck is, resist the temptation to dine there and, the next time, get in the car and get thee to the Journeyman Cafe instead.

I wanted to go to Journeyman Cafe and even printed out the post to show to The Chow Poodle. She had her heart set on going to that cute little White House restaurant, so Journeyman was a no go this time. Little did either one of us realize that despite its cute little resort town B&B looking exterior, the actual restaurant was nothing more than a beer hall with the walls painted black; serving food to those who like their servers loud. The highlight of the evening for me was when the server brought out Saganaki (did I mention it's a loosely Greek-inspired restaurant) and before lighting it on fire called out to the entire restaurant in a distinct Harry Caray style, "OK everyone, let's hear it, One, Two, Three...OPAHH!!!!"

stevez wrote:

aschie30 wrote:Cute as Saugatuck is, resist the temptation to dine there and, the next time, get in the car and get thee to the Journeyman Cafe instead.

I wanted to go to Journeyman Cafe and even printed out the post to show to The Chow Poodle. She had her heart set on going to that cute little White House restaurant, so Journeyman was a no go this time. Little did either one of us realize that despite its cute little resort town B&B looking exterior, the actual restaurant was nothing more than a beer hall with the walls painted black; serving food to those who like their servers loud. The highlight of the evening for me was when the server brought out Saganaki (did I mention it's a loosely Greek-inspired restaurant) and before lighting it on fire called out to the entire restaurant in a distinct Harry Caray style, "OK everyone, let's hear it, One, Two, Three...OPAHH!!!!"

Ohh, it gets worse at The White House. At least you weren't treated to the owner's wife's "singing."

I have never found good food in Saugatuck but I found great fudge and ice cream!

I wrote:Welcome to Glenn


One rule that I live by is that if a town has a stack of pancakes on its sign, I'm stopping for breakfast.

I have to completely withdraw this recommendation. The Glenn Pancake House has closed and reopened under new ownership as simply "The Glenn". The new owners redecorated the place and spiffed it up nicely, but the food has taken a severe turn for the worse. The fact that the previously crowded restaurant was empty except for one other table at 12:30 on a Saturday should have been a tipoff, but we soldiered on. My blueberry pancakes were served without butter, and upon asking I was given some type of imitation "I Can't Believe It's Butter" type spread. The pancakes themselves tasted like they came out of an Aunt Jamaima box and the blueberries were sparse. It's a shonda in Pancake Town!

Don't go here!

Glenn Pancake House Blueberry Pancakes, R.I.P.


The Glenn
6999 114th Ave.
Glenn, MI
269-227-3100

it all looks great steve

philw wrote:it all looks great steve

It all is great, except for the new Glenn Pancake House, which should be avoided at all costs. Also, the Preacher Man BBQ hasn't been at that same location during my last three visits. I have no idea where he might be found these days.