Catching up - Review of Grand Marais food scene, Part 1

Houghton MI (Mostly Sunny High 75 Low 55)

Subtitled: A Foodies Paradise, Part 1

We still haven't done much more than enjoy sitting outside and reading or chatting with our neighbors and enjoying the view of the Portage River so we thought we would catch up on some postings from our recent stay in Grand Marais. As promised in an earlier posting here is our review of the food scene there. Grand Marais is a small town of 1351 on the North Shore of Lake Superior about 40 miles from Canada. For such a small town the food scene is amazing due to the number of summer visitors enjoying the cooler temperatures, except when we were there :-(

Bob had three food places to check out on his list before we even hit town so let's deal with those first. The very first place we ate at was brunch at the 'Blue Water Cafe' because we heard the pancakes and french toast were good there and we heard correctly. They make a blueberry wild rice pancake that is very good. The cinnamon french toast is also quite good. 

The next place on his list was the 'Dockside Fish Market' which is the supplier of fish for the town and also serves fish and chips and soups and desserts. The walleye, whitefish, lake trout and herring were all fresh and amazing, much better than the fish we had last year in Wisconsin and Michigan. The soups and chowders were good and they have a tri-chocolate cake that is very good.

'My Sister's Place' was the third one on his list with burgers, gizzards and pizza listed. We first tried the burgers and they were very good and unique. They serve a sliced green olive and cream cheese topping on a burger that was flavorful with the crunch and brine of the olive and creaminess of the cheese. The gizzards were also good but a little chewy as they sometimes can get. The best thing on the menu though is the pizza, specifically the 'My Sister's Special', a italian sausage, pepperoni, onion, mushroom, green pepper, black olive combo that may be the best pizza we have ever had. One time we substituted green olives for onions and it was even better. The sausage is homemade and mild, the crust is thin and it is wood fired in a stone oven. 

Once we get to a place we start asking around where to eat. The office staff recommended 'South of the Border' for breakfast so that was the second place that we ate at. You are probably thinking like we were that this was a mexican place but south of the border up here refers to the Canadian border. This place serves good food, nothing spectacular, but good food at a great price. The Grand Marais food scene can get a little pricey so more reasonable pricing was nice for a change.

The place was crowded when we walked in and a very friendly local named Ann offered to share her table with us. We of course struck up a food and sightseeing conversation with here and got many more tips on places to eat and some of the sightseeing tips we have blogged about. The food scene is incredible in Grand Marais, so much so that we need to break it into multiple parts so stay tuned for our next edition of the Grand Marais Food Scene.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo