Courtesy of TRAVERSE (Northern Michigan's Magazine) * July 2005

Excerpts from: Up North Classics; our annual restaurant salute

Text by Patty La Noue Stearns
Photograph by Brian Confer

YOU KNOW THE PLACES

You return to them year after year because summer isn't summer unless you get a hit of their "world famous" burger, whitefish sandwich, pan-fried walleye or fresh raspberry pie. These beloved eateries are all over Northern Michigan—out in the woods, down winding country roads, along the waterfront, on the main streets of our small towns—housed in 19th century saloons, railway stations, funky log cabins and rustic shacks. The menus rarely change. They're unvarnished, unpretentious Up North—just like you remember them.

Hack-Ma-Tack

Watson Beebe built this inn in 1894 as a hunting and fishing lodge on Mullett Lake, between Indian River and Cheboygan on the Inland Waterway. Now owned by the Redding family, it's rustic yet elegant, surrounded by enormous trees just outside the dining room windows. The Reddings serve topnotch food—lobster tail, filet mignon, prime rib and "nationally famous" whitefish, and service is extraordinary. 8131 Beebe Road, Cheboygan, 231-625-2919.