Find good food off the beaten path Colin Merry Venture Staff Writer There are a lot of great places to eat in Benzie County, but there are a few off the beaten path visitors and residents might miss if they’re not looking for them. Here’s a few to get you started. Port City Smokehouse Located at the far east end of Main Street in Frankfort, opposite the busy downtown, is Port City Smokehouse. Here diners can get out of the crowd and enjoy a variety of smoked meats as well as fresh fish for lunch and dinner, either carry-out or at one of the several tables outside the smokehouse. Fried fish dinners include whitefish, walleye, perch, bluegill, lake trout and smelt, with a side of fries and coleslaw. Fish sandwiches are also available, along with clam strips, onion rings, fried shrimp and chicken strips. For those looking for something else, Port City Smokehouse also offers barbecue chicken, pork, beef brisket and ribs. True to its name, the smokehouse offers smoked fish, including whitefish and lake trout, but it is known for its smoked salmon. Port City Smokehouse also offers fresh fish, jerky, house-made dips, snacks, salsa, frozen sea food and an assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Visit www.portcitysmokehouse.com for information an hours. East Shore 2GO Also located at the east end of Main Street in Frankfort is East Shore 2GO, the recently established expansion of the popular East Shore Market, in Beulah. East Shore 2GO focuses on deli sandwiches, the most popular being the Judy, which features ham, turkey, salami, roast beef, swiss and Colby cheese. Other popular subs range from Italian varieties, roast beef, turkey, ham and swiss and
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vegetarian offerings. Diners can request specific toppings, but the standard sub comes on wheat or white bread topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, hot peppers and Italian dressing. East Shore 2GO also has hot subs, like the Hot Vegan, Jarlsberg and turkey, pizza sub and Rome Kansas, which features roast beef and capicola, provolone and Colby cheese. Salads are dressed up in a variety of ways, such as chef salad, farmer salad, antipasto, house and Greek, which includes beets, Kalamata olives, artichokes and feta cheese with various vegetables. Reach East Shore 2GO at (231) 399-0049 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/eastshoremarket.
like anything usually offered for Asian cuisine in stateside. Mary’s Asian serves up two main dishes, sesame chicken and adobo pork, both of which can be bought alone or with bacon fried rice and hand-made spring rolls. The sesame chicken tastes more like sesame than a sugary sauce, and the adobo pork has a unique pork flavor. Mary’s Asian Cuisine also serves up rice noodles and vegetables, an Asian taco, an Asian steak stir fry pita, a steak sandwich and sweet potato fries. Visitors can order take out, or eat at several picnic benches. For more information on Mary’s Asian Cuisine, visit their Facebook page.
Lighthouse Café Those looking for the classic diner experience can visit the Lighthouse Café in Elberta, just on the other side of the Frankfort-Elberta causeway heading south along M-22. Open for breakfast and lunch, the Lighthouse Café is known for its breakfasts; diners can create their own omelets or order omelets like the western, farmers, corned-beef hash and cheese. Other breakfast items include eggs, hash browns, sausage, ham, bacon in different combinations, as well as sweet-crème pancakes and French toast. Breakfast burritos and specialty hash brown dishes round out the breakfast menu. For lunch, the Lighthouse Café serves up hamburgers, sandwiches like the club, Ruben and classic BLT, turkey and chicken wraps, soup and salad. The Lighthouse Café also has specials not found on the menu every day. For more information, search for the Lighthouse Café on Facebook.
Area 31 Just down the road from Mary’s Asian Cuisine is Area 31, also located on U.S. 31, and home to a trio of food trucks that serve up anything diners could possibly want. Wingz & Thingz is well known for its 14 different flavors of wing sauce, eight of which are inspired by Asian flavors. However, that’s just the tip of the menu, as Wingz & Thingz serves around 60 different items, which includes hot dogs, pizza and barbecue, as well as a sizable selection of deep-fried treats, featuringfries, onions rings and cheese sticks, fried mushrooms, pickles, ravioli, and macaroni and cheese bites. Tacoz & Nachoz, the second food truck, can satisfy that craving for tacos, nachos, burritos and quesadillas, all with ground beef, chicken or steak options. The newest edition, Noodlez & Rice, provides even more Asian inspired offerings to the area, serving sweet and sour chicken, teriyaki chicken, Korean ribs, pepper steak, spicy garlic shrimp, lo mein noodles and several variety of maki rolls. Orders come with rice and a vegetable, but can be upgraded to come with fried rice. For more information, search for Wingz & Thingz on Facebook.
Mary’s Asian Cuisine Outside of downtown Beulah along U.S. 31 is Mary’s Asian Cuisine, a little yellow food trailer that serves up Asian flavors. While the menu is small, the food isn’t quite
DESTINATIONS 2021 ❖ Published by The Pioneer Group
