Michigan City up to South Haven

I'm planning a little trip around Lake MI up to the South Haven area. Any good places to eat? Anything worth seeing?

I knew it...there is nothing there is there!

What about GNR Stop 50? Or, if you're into beer, what about Shoreline Brewery, mentioned here?

Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizzeria
500 S. El Portal Dr.
Michiana Shores, Indiana

Shoreline Brewery
208 Wabash St.
Michigan City IN 46360

razbry-

I did a quick, messy search for South Haven and found the following posts on LTH. Many of these cover the general area around South Haven.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9678
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=18855
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4879
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15604
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13629
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9100
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3842
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3943
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1222
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=474&p=3446

South Haven-- fruit stands should be open for some berries soon.

I don't know how far North you are going, but I believe this coming weekend is the MIchigan Asparagus Festival in Shelby (Oceana County). Here is a link to the list of growers in Western Michigan.

http://www.asparagus.org/maab/suppliers.html

In Ludington, I like this ice cream place. They have Blue Moon, a popular Midwestern flavor that I don't "get," as well as "Wedding Cake" which tastes exactly like a boxed cake mix- I'm glad I had it once. They have turkeys roasting on a rotisserie, which for me, are the real draw, even with average stuffing and gravy, it's nice to have an off-season meal once in awhile.

http://www.houseofflavors.com

402 W Ludington Ave
Ludington, MI 49431
(231) 845-7360
Get directions

There are many, many good places in the area. In South Haven, the best restaurant there is Clementine's (http://www.ohmydarling.com/). They have a wide variety of foods and are known for their great Lake Perch. They are very popular, so a wait for a table is very possible. Also good in South Haven is Harborside, which has a nice view of the Black River Harbor. Lots of other places, ice cream, etc. with a walk along the river front. Right off Exit 20 on I-196 is the famous and great Sherman's Ice Cream Parlor at which there are often lines out the door to get served.

Close to South Haven (but a few miles south of it near Exit 7 on I-196) is DiMaggio's (http://www.cybitek.com/dp/) which serves up some of the area's best pizzas.

In Stevensville (Exit 22) there is the Grande Mere Inn (http://cybitek.com/gmi/) which has a great view of Lake Michigan from atop a bluff on which the restaurant exists. Another very popular and famous restaurant with great food is Tosi's (http://www.tosis.com/), 4337 Ridge Road, Stevensville, MI, which is a couple of miles off of Exit 23. Great Italian and other foods.

In downtown St. Joseph there are two excellent restaurants: Schu's Bar & Grill (http://www.schus.com/) which has a great view of Lake Michigan, and the Pump House Grill (http://www.pumphousegrille.com/) just around the corner.

Down in New Buffalo, one of my favorite restaurants is Hannah's (Exit 1) at which a lot of Chicago politicians (including the Daley family) dine. See http://www.hannahsrestaurant.com/entrees.html. The best pizza in New Buffalo IMO is Villa Nova, which serves the best old-fashion, crispy thin crust style pizza. And, of course, there's the famous hamburger joint, Redamak's (http://www.redamaks.com/site/menus.htm), in New Buffalo, too. While still extremely popular and busy, I haven't been back much ever since they instituted their new policy of only cooking their famous hamburgers "well done." That's not for me, but maybe for others.

This just scratches the surface of some of the great places at which to snack or eat that I can think of at the moment. I'm sure others will have many more suggestions. Have a great trip. Unfortunately, we've had a cool and rainy spring so far. --BTB

Belated thought: you mentioned "up to South Haven," but if you were inclined to travel just 20 miles further north, the little town of Saugatuck (and Douglas) is a nifty resort/yacht area with a lot of activity, shops and food places. See http://www.saugatuck.com/businessdirectory/Business_listing.asp?Desc=Restaurants%20/%20Bars%20/%20Food%20/%20Comestibles.

Thanks to you all! Now I'm feeling more upbeat about this trip.

We stopped at Redamack's on our way home from South Haven last August. The place was packed, but we didn't wait more than 15 minutes for a table. I myself prefer my burgers rare, or at the very least, medium. there was no pink meat to be found, but they were quite edible. I can't remember anything especially stellar, but everyone at the table enjoyed their lunch and we left well sated for the trip home.

Suzy

A couple of quick notes:
1) Pablo's Cafe on Red Arrow Highway (actually 12857 Three Oaks Road, Sawyer, MI) opened just five weeks ago, still waiting for a liquor license. Tasty Mexican food, a few non-Mex latin items (pinchos of manchego, a steak with chimichurri, ropa vieja). The sign outside says "light dinners" but sorry, Mexican food isn't light. MrsF had flautas, very tasty. I had the enpanadas which were a bit of a small serving (four very small pastries), balanced by the papas rellenos (potato balls stuffed with chicken).

The food is good, but could use a little more spice -- they're dumbing the food down a bit too much, and it looks like they're capable of better. The table roja salsa is basically red. That's it, no flavor. Ask for the verde, much better.

2) Ozzies Frozen Custard
Directly opposite Redamaks, it does burgers, dogs and an "Adult Grilled Cheese". We split a burger and a turtle sunday. Not Koops-level, but good, and certainly in and out faster than Redamak's on 4th of July weekend.

In New Buffalo there is a tiny Mexican place called El Rio, it is just down the road from Oink's. They make a kicking guacamole and have very good tacos. It's all outside seating on old picnic benches but it is quite good.

I second the motion for DiMaggio's Pizza on the Blue Star highway . . . it is Old School but their sausage is always spiced so well, it seems homemade. The pizza is a tad on the greasy side but in a good way.

We ate at Redamak's this past Monday on our way home. It was totally packed but we didn't wait long either. (We have 2 young boys so the video arcade is a plus.) We ordered 4 cheeseburgers with fries and a couple of sodas. The cheeseburgers were good-slightly greasy, and of that squishy bun in wax paper variety, what I think of as sort of "Wimpy burger" style. We gobbled them up. Our bill was just over $20. I said to my husband, "You know this place has all the trappings of well, a tourist trap, but to still be charging only $3.50 for a burger with these kinds of crowds and serving up a good product . . . I am impressed."

Oh and we picked cherries on 4th of July at the Jollay Family Farm in Coloma, MI. The rainiers were dripping off the trees (which are dwarf so even my 2 year-old could pluck them off). They charged $3.25 a pound. A lot of fun.

bjt

This is too late for you, but I thought that I would post this anyways. One of my favorite bakeries is in Stevensville, MI. Here is some info: http://www.bitofswiss.com/locations.html and http://www.bitofswiss.com/notableslist.html

I have to chime in given the Redamak's posts above. I don't get how this place stays in business. Their reputation was made 25-30 years ago when competition was minimal. It bears noting that their attempt to break into the Chicago market didn't last very long. That's the key, if you live 60 miles from good burger joints, then it's going to be an acceptable option, but if you've just left Chicago with its far superior burger options and are heading there for a quick weekend, I don't get why it would even show up on your radar.

If you want a good local joint for breakfast/lunch then try Blue Plate, less than 10 minutes up the road (head North on 12 for about a mile, then follow Red Arrow for a few miles (it's on the left). They do all their baking on-premises, great breakfast/brunch options (possibly one of the best homemade veggie burgers out there).

Down in New Buffalo, one of my favorite restaurants is Hannah's (Exit 1) at which a lot of Chicago politicians (including the Daley family) dine.

According to their website, Hannah's closed on July 19, 2009.

At at Clementine's Too in St. Joseph on Friday. Very nice atmosphere. We sat outside and watched the marina; saw a couple of boats go by.

Food? Well, the onion rings that come stacked up on a rod (6 inches or 12) were good. Very crispy and not too greasy.

Most of us had the lake perch sandwich, which was pretty sad. The perch was tasty, but a little soggy. It came on a bun that seemed both tough and too big. Cole slaw came in a little plastic cup, and was tasty.

We all ordered the "potato pancakes". Big mistake. They're not pancakes in any incarnation that I've ever had. They were the same shape and size as McDonald's hashbrowns, but the inside was sort of flaky. Almost fish-like, which was very strange. And the spices were odd, too. My family are potato pancake hogs (at our big p.p. feast, we peel 20 pounds of potatoes.... ), but we took one bite of these and that was that.

We were on a desperate hunt for Jonathon apples, and had no luck at several orchards. We finally hit paydirt at Stovers on Rte 31 south of St. Joseph. They were so nice, and even picked them for us. They go to the Oak Park Farmers' Market, and I recommend them! They also had a 1/2 bushel of mixed "utility apples" for sauce for only $5, and pitted and frozen pie cherries.

Final stop was at Lemon Creek Winery. They have the oldest cab sav vines in Michigan (some 20 years old), and the reds were surprisingly good. All wines are made with Michigan grapes. We tasted the 2005 vintages and they were good; the 2006 vintages are all on sale as they aren't quite as good.