Your Spring 2024 Restaurant Guide to Northern Michigan

Flavor, Fusion, and Fresh Concepts

By Northern Express Staff & Contributors | May 4, 2024

Let’s talk about a perfect loaf of bread. Out-of-this-world paninis. Mexican-Anishinaabe fusion tacos. And the beers and other beverages that pair just right with our favorite meals.

Welcome to your spring 2024 restaurant guide. Here, we’ve pulled together seven stand-out eateries we’ve visited in the last few months to help you make the call on your next night (or lunch) out on the town. All we ask in return…don’t leave a single bite behind.

9 Bean Rows

Suttons Bay

Over the last 15 years, Jen and Nic Welty turned 9 Bean Rows from a garden into a CSA and farmer’s market staple, into a full-fledged bakery and eatery. The café now resides on a stretch of farmland just off East Duck Lake Road, where the Weltys have spread their wings (and their fields).

“It offered us land to grow vegetables and a kitchen and a retail space all on the same property,” says Jen. “It was exactly what we had been waiting for.”

After years of being an early-bird meal hub, they’ll be expanding their hours this summer, staying open until 7pm to sling out woodfired pizzas to the post-beach crowd. They’ll also be collaborating with Aurora Cellars to serve wine alongside their fresh-weekly menu.

On the Menu
Customers come from all over northern Michigan for 9 Beans’ stacked sammies, homegrown greens dressed in Fustini’s oils and vinegar, and brioche buns baked with farm-fresh eggs. The all-time bestsellers, foodie must-haves, and Jen Welty’s personal favorites include:

The Sourdough Boule and Sea Salt Fennel Loaves: These hearty, crusty rounds are 9 Bean Rows’ most popular bread loaves.

The Fine and Dandy (Ham and Butter on Baguette): Stacked with rosemary ham on a housemade baguette and topped with a generous portion of Plugra brand butter, this sandwich is Leelanau’s version of Jambon Beurre, a savory French classic.

Wood Fired Raclette Pizza: This melty cheese pie is covered in Leelanau Cheese’s creamy raclette, then layered with caramelized onions, roasted potato, and rosemary ham, finished off with a sprinkle of herbs.

Carrot Cake: Jen says a mainstay of the dessert case is their carrot cake. “It may not always look the same because sometimes we use our purple carrots and other times we use our white carrots. But what doesn’t change is its awesomeness.”

Find 9 Bean Rows at 9000 E Duck Lake Rd. in Suttons Bay. (231) 271-6658; 9beanrows.com

Identity Brewing Company

Traverse City

Meet the new kid on the block on Union Street: Identity Brewing Company. Identity took over the former home of The Dish Cafe, a popular luncheon destination in downtown Traverse City that offered alcoholic beverages and a healthy menu but with limited hours. The eatery officially rebranded as Identity on Dec. 1, 2023.

New owners Josh and Amanda Thomas have backgrounds in hospitality: Amanda spent years in the event industry before becoming a senior account executive for a local technology and training company. She focuses on the event, social media, and business elements of their company.

Meanwhile, Josh’s interest in beer began as a homebrewer. He worked for seven-and-a-half years at Traverse City’s Right Brain Brewing and was head brewer his last three years there.

On the Menu
“Many people loved The Dish and were regulars there when we moved, and we promised to continue to serve the same, fresh quality food they have always had,” Amanda says. “We have continued to see The Dish staples be popular selections, such as the Ahi Poke Bowl, the Buddha Bowl, and our Cuban is always a huge hit, along with our fresh daily soups.”

Other beloved dishes include Chicken Shawarma (with the choice to add whipped garlic toum); oven fried falafel on a thin, grilled pita with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickled onion, and lemon-tahini sauce; and Avocado Toast with micro-greens and lemon parsley vinaigrette on toasted sourdough bread.

Josh and Amanda have added their own version of chili and use fresh, handmade dough from a local vendor for their pizza offerings, which they plan to expand.

Identity’s beers are IPA-centric, more in the East Coast style, meaning they’re fruity and citrusy and less bitter. Josh plans to offer some other styles throughout the year, perhaps some sours or fun dark beers, but he doesn’t want to replicate what is being offered at other breweries. Five beers are on tap, as well as a Mawby sparkling wine; the most popular beers are The Kid and Ja Boom.

Find Identity Brewing at 108 S Union St. in Traverse City. (231) 932-2233; identitybrewing.com

Make Believe Pizza

Traverse City

Is it easy for an artist to switch mediums? In the case of Make Believe Pizza, absolutely. Em Randall is a self-taught northern Michigan artist with a solid following in and outside of Michigan; now, with musician husband Jack Senff, she’s taken their creativity into the kitchen.

Make Believe operates out of West Side Beverage on West Front Street in Slabtown. The space proved to be a good fit and the partnership indicative of the kind of small-town, word-of-mouth dynamic that can make things happen.

Both Randall and Senff have restaurant/pizza/coffeehouse experience, and their goal is to make meals for people who enjoy healthy, flavorful food. “We just want to make good pizza for good people. That’s really it. There are no lofty ambitions for anything beyond or bigger than that for now,” Randall says.

On the Menu
A Make Believe pie is “east-coast inspired,” Randall says, “but it’s definitely its own thing.” That means a thinner crust with a nice chewy “good bread” outer edge. Slices are generous—six pieces in every 16-inch pie—with enough heft for one-handed enjoyment. Randall says the “sauce is super simple,” with “nice tomatoes with nothing much added. [It’s] fresh and bright.”

Expect a small menu with weekly and biweekly changes. Randall indicates that the only constant on the menu is the Plain Red, their cheese pizza with mozzarella, fresh basil, herbs, and parmesan.

The shop is vegetarian, so expect whole dairy products as the standard: whole milk mozzarella and American Grana, or super-aged parmesan. Plant-based pepperoni, tempeh “bacon,” and house-made black bean “sausage” are as flavorful as the real thing.

A pop-up favorite from summer 2023 was the Sausage Onion, with that black bean “sausage” and thin sliced onions. Or look for the Panzanella, with olive oil, mozzarella, ramp cream cheese, artichokes, slow-roasted tomatoes, croutons, and parsley. And the Mushroom Olive, with roasted mushrooms, green olives, fresh garlic, herbs, and parmesan, will surely be on the menu.

Find Make Believe Pizza inside West Side Beverage at 912 West Front St. in Traverse City. makebelievepizza.com.

Boyne River Inn

Boyne City

For several years, Boyne City residents and visitors were impatiently waiting for the reopening of the Boyne River Inn, a popular downtown landmark for a good drink, a great meal, and a river view. After a seemingly endless round of will it/won’t it, the iconic eatery finally reopened its doors in May 2023.

Local chef Russell Yardley is a partner in the venture. “The BRI is the last local bar in town,” says Yardley, “and I didn’t want it to stop being a local bar.”

The point is that no one wanted to change the place into something it wasn’t. Rather, patrons wanted to see new owners make updates where needed, be subtle about it, and keep the same vibe for which the BRI has always been known: a comfortable, friendly place with reliable food and drink.

On the Menu
“I wanted to keep the traditional [menu],” Yardley explains, while he is also including a number of signature dishes from his tenure at other locations. BRI standards include the All-You-Can-Eat Fish and Chips and the half-pound BRI Burger, plus a roster of sandwiches, soups, salads, and sides.

Items from Yardley’s other kitchens include the Bricklayer Sandwich, a two-handed pile of ham, salami, and Italian sausage smothered with cheese; and Lemon Chicken, gently sautéed in lemon butter. And because this is a bar with a Cordon Bleu pedigree, beyond the bar fare, one can also expect a Medjool date appetizer, a charcuterie board, and fine, hand-cut New York strips.

The shiny red pizza oven, the one big addition to the original BRI footprint, serves up fresh pies based on a locally famous sauce and crust recipe.

Expect the full complement of beers and ales, from near and far, both small-batch and industry standards, plus quality wines by the glass and the bottle, from national and international vineyards, and hand-crafted cocktails both traditional and contemporary.

Find the Boyne River Inn at 229 Water St. in Boyne City. (231) 222-4053

Chubby Unicorn

Traverse City

For years, 439 East Front has housed restaurants like Patisserie Amie, Cook’s House, 9 Bean Rows, Sparks BBQ, and most recently, Zest Kitchen. Today, chef Justin Chouinard holds the keys to that cozy little kitchen as the proprietor of Chubby Unicorn, the sandwich-focused lunch destination inspired by his former food truck of the same name.

The brick-and-mortar version of Chubby Unicorn, which opened Jan. 1, 2024, has room for a dozen patrons dining in at once, which gives Chouinard the chance to interact with new customers, get feedback on the menu, and chat with regulars.

Chouinard is only open during perhaps the most ideal hours for a restauranteur to also have a life outside a kitchen: Monday-Friday, 11am-3pm. The hours are also ideal for folks working downtown, especially as lunch hours have been curbed or cut at many of the area’s other eateries.

“As long as I can make a living and keep these doors open, that’s really what I’m gonna try and stick with. Just because it is nice to have a life outside of work,” he says.

On the Menu
A Chubby Unicorn diner fears no flavor: The Dilly Dally salad comes loaded with eleven ingredients including candied walnuts and sundried tomato basil feta cheese, while creatively-titled sandwiches like the Capi-Doodle-Dew loads up garlic asiago Bay Bread with grilled chicken, capicola, provolone, asiago cheese, peppadew peppers, red onion, cilantro, herb aioli, and sweet Italian dressing.

The Thick Little Hottie goes even further, piling pastrami, roast turkey, capicola, gorgonzola, sharp cheddar, peppadew, and crispy jalapeños onto a garden ciabatta roll and topping it with both a roasted garlic aioli and a habanero drizzle.

“[The paninis] became so popular that when the brick and mortar came along, I decided to stick with the exact same thing,” he says. “I think what sets my paninis and sandwiches apart from the rest is that I butter and season the top of every single panini very specifically so that it matches the flavors on the inside of the bread. That gives it a real extra pizzazz, for sure.” (Add one more flavor to the list!)

Specials change every week from a near-endless font of sandwich inspiration.

Find the Chubby Unicorn at 439 East Front St. in Traverse City. 

Room 94 Taps and Bourbon

Petoskey

Odawa Casino is upping its food and drink game with a new venture, Room 94 Taps and Bourbon. Located in the casino’s former buffet space, Room 94 exudes an inviting, welcoming vibe with an eclectic menu, a solid selection of bourbons and cocktails, and Michigan craft beers on tap, including two brewed on the premises.

The former Waas-No-De Buffet closed during the pandemic and never reopened. One of the reasons for revamping the space has been a decline in the popularity of buffets at casinos, and the team at Odawa wanted to envision something fresh.

On the Menu
In the kitchen, the restaurant smokes its own meats, makes its own BBQ and other sauces, uses local produce as much as possible—from a tribal garden and local farmers—and makes its dough and sauce for its popular stone-fired pizzas. “We’ve sold 1,000 pizzas since we opened [in January],” Food & Beverage Director Mickey Cannon says.

The biggest menu sellers are the Smokehouse Sandwiches, burgers, and the Wonton-Wrapped Fried Pickle (a pickle spear wrapped with ham and swiss cheese and then in a wonton wrapper before being fried). The Street Tacos, with protein options such as beer-braised smoked pork carnitas or extra crispy chicken thighs, are also standouts.

Among the sandwiches, the King of Smoke is a customer favorite. It’s a combination of brisket, pulled pork, and pork belly, topped with onion rings, fried cheddar curds, and Asian slaw, accompanied by a cup of gochujang sauce for dipping.

“Nothing goes better with smoked foods than beer and bourbon,” Cannon says. “It’s the perfect combination.”

The bourbon selection includes staples like Buffalo Trace, Basil Hayden, Maker’s Mark, and Wild Turkey but also higher-end choices like Eagle Rare 10 Year, Weller Special Reserve, and Blanton’s.

In addition, Room 94 has partnered with Maker’s Mark to create its own special release, a bourbon aged for an additional nine weeks in barrels fitted with custom-wood finishing and hand-selected staves.

Find Room 94 Taps and Bourbon inside Odawa Casino at 1760 Lears Rd. in Petoskey. odawacasino.com/room-94

La Catrina Mexican Nishinaab

Manistee

Fusion restaurants are not a new concept; the joining of cultures in unique food creations is a practice that’s been around (and popular) for a while. What is less common, however, is finding a restaurant that creates surprising and distinctive menu items from two cultures that are not traditionally combined.

That’s exactly what La Catrina Mexican Nishinaab of Manistee is doing with their Anishinaabe and Mexican fusion menu. The idea to combine the two cultures in the menu was inspired by owner Austin Vela’s son.

“He shares both Mexican and Anishinaabe cultures, and we wanted to create something that represented both cultures,” Vela says. Vela’s fiancée has Native American heritage, while Vela has Mexican heritage.

La Catrina opened its doors in October of 2023. The restaurant is located on River Street in Manistee, just off the Riverwalk trail. There’s a patio in the back that overlooks the river, perfect for enjoying a lunch or dinner outside in the warmer months.

On the Menu
The dishes that Vela and his fiancée would cook at home laid the foundation for the menu. Whether you stop in to sample the fry bread appetizer or come looking for a flaming burrito (yes, a burrito they set on fire!), La Catrina is a great place to try something new.

What has customers raving? Vela points to dishes like the Rez-Wich, a fried spam sandwich on fry bread (a fried flat dough bread) and the Three Sisters dip, a pico de gallo-style salsa created with the three sisters crops of corn, squash, and beans. Also popular are the birria tacos made with shredded three-beef stew, the loaded Indian taco served on fry bread, and the bison burger.

And don’t miss the Authentic Tacos section of the menu. There’s also Burrito Mole, Pollo Toluca (chicken breast with chorizo and cheese, served with rice and beans on the side), and Arroz con Pollo. In addition to food, customers can order local and imported beers and ciders, as well as margaritas.

Find La Catrina Mexican Nishinaab at 350 River St. in Manistee. (231) 887-4376