St. Ignace Restaurants

Bessie's Original Homemade Pasties
(906) 643-8487
Most area pasty shops are on U.S. 2 west of the bridge. Bessie's offers eat-in convenience and a deck, too, just north of downtown. Very good pasties ($5.50) use steak or chicken—or vegetables. Sandwiches ($6), hot dogs ($3.50), and pizza are also on the menu. Eat in, take out, or have delivered.

Fred's Pub at Gateway Lanes
(906) 643-8476
After 30 years in law enforcement, in St. Ignace and with the Sault tribe in Sault Ste. Marie, Fred Paquin was looking for a change. He bought this bowling alley in 2008, and things have snowballed ever since. Home cooking—no Sysco, no GFS. A burger basket is $5.75 and specials $6 and under. On the hot beef sandwich, the gravy is made of pan drippings, and the beef is prime rib. Fresh whitefish dinners are $9, except for the $8 Friday fish fry. Reservations are taken and, for Friday dinnertime, recommended. Before the Mackinac Bridge opened in 1957, Ferry Lane was jammed with cars lined up to get on the ferries. "Gateway Lanes" refers to Ferry Lane being the Gateway to the Upper Peninsula. Today this history seems lost on many local kids. Fred commissioned two big murals showing all the ferries at St. Ignace.

Jose's Cantina
(906) 643-1519
Java Joe has opened St. Ignace's first Mexican restaurant—one with an authentic, improvised, super-vivid cantina feel. It has all the favorites and more: chicken marinated in red sauce ($11), shrimp Diablo, sweet potato and bean burrito ($10). Enchiladas come with three sauces, and everything can be ordered vegetarian. 6 imported Mexican beers; 4 kinds of margaritas.

Mackinac Grille
(906) 643-7482
The Grille's atmosphere is at once relatively sophisticated and small-town. The main dining area is the depot from the old merchandise dock. Here Soo Line freight was loaded onto rail car ferries crossing the Straits to connect with the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads. The Waterfront Pub offers a beautiful view of Moran Bay. An enclosed deck in back increases capacity in summer.
   Soups are exceptionally good and hearty. The big salad bar with soup is $5.79 at lunch, with refills, or $3 if a sandwich is also ordered. Whitefish is prepared in unusual ways. Of the dinner entrées (mostly $12-$15, including soup or salad bar, fresh bread, and potato), specialties are whitefish Rockefeller (baked, then served under creamed spinach, bacon and wild onion sauce) and "poor man's whitefish," steamed in foil with vegetables. Steak or whitefish are baked on a plank ($15). Personal pizzas and pastas suit many diets. Dinner reservations adv

Marina Pub
(906) 643-0556
This convivial, surprisingly large bar with a pub menu sits up with a fine view of the marina and bay. There's occasional live music, happy hour from 4 to 6, and outdoor seating, but the regulation rail obscures part of the view on the deck. The view's actually better from the bar. Specials and lots of little touches make this stand out. Homemade onion rings ands fries, whitefish, and lavosh pizza are specialties. Quarter-pound burgers with chips average $7 and $8; homemade fries $1 more. Every chair back has a donor's name, so the décor is a who's who of local boaters.

Bentley's B-N-L Café
(906) 643-7910
A beloved downtown diner, Bentley's B-N-L Café has been refurbished by owners Brenda and Leeanne to play up its classic soda fountain and vintage look. Now there's a juke box, checkered tiles, and Coca Cola memorabilia, plus interesting old things they found in the attic. The 10 o'clock coffee crowd of local businesspeople still meets here, and the 3 p.m. old-timers.
   "You know what I like about this place?" commented a visiting fourth-grade to his father. "It's one of a kind."
   Brenda and Leeanne prepare most all the food on the premises, including soups, hand-formed hamburger patties, hand-cut fries, green beans, real mashed potatoes, chili, and pies. They're known for fresh whitefish sandwiches ($7 with slaw) and dinners ($10). Here are big shakes, malts, floats, and more (around $3.50) and homemade pies ($2.50/slice). Order whole pies a day ahead. Lunch specials (soup and sandwich, under $5) are served all day. Most dinners are around $8. The takeout window in front offers many flavors of ice cream cones. No credit cards.

Droiftwood Restaurant & Sports Bar
(906) 643-9133. (906) 643-9133 (bar)
Open year-round for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Big local reputation for pizza. Daily lunch specials are $5 with beverage and $6-$7. The wide-ranging menu covers all the bases: burgers, salads, soups. Many entrées, including authentic Italian pasta dishes. Fresh whitefish, a specialty, is around $14 planked with a soup and salad bar. Dining reservations accepted.
   The separate bar looks out onto the harbor. Its sports memorabilia bring back memories: Kaline, Aaron, Mantle, MSU vs. Notre Dame in 1949. Entertainment one night most weekends year-round, with a band or DJ in the bar, Saturdays karaoke. A limited bar menu is available ‘til 12:30 a.m.

Java Joe's
(906) 643-5282

Java Joe's is a kick-back, improvised, personal place—in contrast to the big, brand-name hotels behind it. Joe Durm, proprietor with his behind-the-scenes wife, Sandy, wears a baseball hat and Hawaiian shirt. He circulates through the cozy place, with a long, grey ponytail and Hawaiian shirt, coffeepot in hand, greeting customers, pouring refills, humming to himself. The food is simple. Great breakfasts, all day, feature dozens of kinds of omelettes and pancakes ($4.29 for a full stack), or waffles with fruit. There's pizza any time in summer, including the unusual Pizza Margarita (olive oil, garlic, basil, tomato slices, cheese) and a popular Rueben pizza. A 9" pizza that could feed two is under $7. Many vegetarian choices; Joe himself doesn't eat meat. There are ice cream cones ($2 and $3), cappuccino malts and shakes ($5), and a huge signature strawberry shortcake (under $9). Sandwiches (mostly $6-7 to $10 for whitefish), three soups, two salads, some pastas are on the menu. Kids' menu under $4. Decor consists of loads of photos of happy customers, immensely varied in age and dress, and some 300 teapots for sale. More seating is on the screened porch in back. Parking is tight; thus far local tow trucks refuse to tow offending diners.

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