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This
is not an all inclusive list of area resturants. It only includes St.
Ignace resturants most often frequented by the staff of the Straits Scuba
Center. For other resturant choices please refer to the "related
sites" page.
Traditional
Dining
The
Driftwood.
This restaurant and sports bar is located directly across the street from
the Straits Scuba Center. It has a rich tradition as a favorite watering
hole for locals and visitors alike. The bar and restaurant have been recently
refurbished and the bar expanded. The staff is very accommodating.
The local favorites include
pizza, buffalo wings, and a "fishbite" appetizer (now only on
the late nite menu), which would pass as a dinner at most places. The
bar can even make a true black and tan. You can get food from the restaurant
menu until it closes around 10 pm. After that, you order from a limited
bar menu until the bar closes at 2 am.
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The
Mackinac Grill.
This is the up scale appearing restaurant you see as you enter St. Ignace
from the Bridge side. It features a bright red painted caboose and a lot
of parking. The walls are hung with old construction prints of the ferry
boats. It has a full menu but service can be slow during tourist season.
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The
Village Inn.
Located across from the Mackinac Grill, this restaurant and bar rounds
out the big three of major establishments in town. It parrots the menu
selection from its big brother on Mackinac Island. The food is usually
well made, presented, and served. The house specialty is planked whitefish.
The pizza is regarded by some as the best in town.
A nice bar occupies the center
of the room and the staff will accommodate larger parties by combining
tables.
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The
Galley.
This is a family style restaurant with a liquor license that works the
tourist crowd. It has the advantage of being on the water. During busy
times, this brings out the disadvantage of limited parking and it can
become a job getting in and out. The staff is friendly and the food generally
meets your expectations. The menu runs to traditional fried food and dinners
but it also includes what may be the best steaks in town. Breakfast is
also served.
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Northern
Lights.
This family restaurant lacks a liquor license. If you like a coke or coffee
with dinner (or breakfast), the food is good and the decor features an
interesting collection of ship pictures and nautical memorabilia. Not
all of this stuff belongs to the area, but it is interesting to look at.
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Chee
Peng Family Restaurant.
This small Chinese restaurant is located in a little storefront on State
Street. This place is unique as the only St. Ignace entry in the ethnic
cuisine trade. It also features very good Thai Food.
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Less
Traditional Dining
Clyde's
Drive-Inn.
If you have a longing to turn the clock back to the old days of roadside
drive-inns with covered canopies, this place will provide an interesting
diversion. If you want to eat inside, instead of your vehicle, you have
to belly up to a little stainless steel bar. If you prefer, you can eat
outside on one of the picnic tables.
The house specialty is the
"Clydeburger", which is more than a normal person can eat.The
fried food is the typical chicken and fish strips with fries.
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The
Truckstop.
We cannot say enough good things about this place. It is a true "greasy
spoon". There is nothing phony or sheik about it. What you see is
all there is. It is also open around the clock and the food is cheap.
The decor features well used Formica covered tables and booths but you
aren't paying for high priced decor anyway.
The breakfast, served anytime,
is as good as you can get in town. The fried perch dinner is perhaps the
best in town. The dinners like fried chicken and meatloaf are as good
as anything else you are likely to get in the area.
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Java
Joe's.
This tiny eatery occupies a little corner of a motel parking lot on motel
row North of the Straits Scuba Center. Part diner, partcoffee shop, part
breakfast place and part tourist trap, it features the world as viewed
by the owner - Java Joe. According to the menu he hands out, he arrived
in St. Ignace under mysterious circumstances. Anyway, if you want to indulge
this guy's arrested development (or your own) in a quasi-Jimmy Buffet
atmosphere, this is the place. It's open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and offers pizza delivery.
The coffee is very good and the food is creative and well made.
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Subway.
There are now two Subways in town. One is just West of the Bridge on U.S.
2 and the other is on State Street just north of the Straits Scuba Center,
and an easy walk from there. The one on State Street is open until long
into the night on summer weekends (10 or 11 pm). It is a good place to
get a sandwich for the next day's diving.
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Dial-A-Dessert.
Where did this name come from? Until midnight or later in the summer,
you can either eat at this local storefront or you can call them to deliver
to your hotel room, or to any other location, just about anything you
want to eat. Not just dessert (which includes pie, ice-cream, cheesecake,
snickers pie, etc.) but also lasagna, shrimp, French fries and other foods.
The stuff is good and, if you don't mind tipping for them bringing you
food, it is worth the price. Menus are easily found at all the motels
and most local stores. It may also be in the local phonebook.
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