Ellen, do you have any idea as to their timing? When do they expect to leave the island? I'm only about an hour southwest, so my suggestions might not be very helpful. If they plan on taking the most direct route, they would be traveling south through the center of the state, to I-94 at Jackson, then west to Chicago.

Nancy

Do you know what kind of food they like?
If they want to stay right in Dearborn, there are some wonderful Lebanese restaurants. I'll ask my family for suggestions.

If they don't mind a 10-15 mile drive, I'd highly recommend going to Royal Oak. The downtown area (Main St.) has wonderful shops, restaurants, clubs, very walkable area. Nice area to just hang out.

And a recent discovery, Cafe Habana, is wonderful! Great Cuban food, great prices, very cool atmosphere. Great for breakfast. (www.cafahabanas.com)

There are two other restaurant by the same owners that I hear are great, but haven't tried... also in the same really cool restored 1930s building... Bastone (Belgian style restaurant-brewery www.bastone.net) and Vinotecca (wine bar, small menu www.vinotecca.com)

And then there's always Greektown in downtown Detroit, a perennial favorite!

Ann

If they are meat eaters, I'd suggest Five Lakes Grill in Milford, proprietor chef Brian Polcyn co-authored the book "Charcuterie" and the prices are amazingly reasonable for a chef and restaurant with all the awards this one has. If they are wine drinkers the place has an extensive wine cellar. Chef Polcyn cooks with as many fresh and local ingredients as possible.

They have a special monthly five course meal with a special ingredient, May's focus is morel mushrooms. I think July is "pig and bourbon", LOL. The monthly meals are more expensive than the menu items.

Dearborn has a large Middle Eastern population, I'm not really familiar with the restaurants there. And, as Ann mentioned, there's always Greektown.

Anywhere along the lakeshore on either side of the state, you can't go wrong with lake perch, and no one should ever visit Mackinac (nope, not Mackinaw) without having a pasty, it's a local delicacy with contests and good natured bragging going on everywhere about who has the best. Don't bother with the food substance Mackinac is most famous for, the fudge. Eh. It's just fudge, not oustanding in any way that I can determine.

Other than Dearborn, which route are they planning to take? As Nancy mentioned, the quickest way is right up the middle of the state, Michigan doesn't have that many "big" roads, so the routes are a little more limited than some other, more populated states, LOL.

And what do they like? Many people don't care for fish, or won't eat pork, or are allergic to dairy, etc. Do they have any favorites?

When will they be here? Depending on the time there could be a Cherry Festival in Traverse City or something going on in Petoskey, there are always winery tours along the west/north side of the state. Farm markets are nearly everywhere and strawberries will be available in just a couple of weeks, cherries right after that, and sweet corn.

If they do go through Jackson, definitely eat at Darryl's. Ann Arbor has some interesting places too, like Zingerman's Deli and Cake Nouveau, owned by Courtney something-or-another, who has won several cake challenges on Food Network and has a daily cupcake flavor. Great Ethiopian restaurant in Ann Arbor too.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Five Lakes Grill

Thanks for the quick responses! They're leaving the very end of May or first of June, but I'll reconfirm and get back to you. They seem to eat it "all", but I don't know about specific tastes, other than he isn't a big chocolate fan...its hard to believe we're related! LOL

Here's her response about their route etc--

"I'm sure we will take the most direct route between Mackinac and Chicago because it's a long drive as is.
WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?
I would imagine we will want to stay in Dearborn for dinner after we spend the day at the Henry Ford and Greenville."

Additional suggestions? TIA

The Whitney in Detroit is fun, although a bit expensive. I left Dearborn a few years ago and have a bad feeling many places are gone...LaPita is good reasonably priced Lebanese. LaShish is also decent but I think they may have died. There is a good Vietnamese place whose name I forget on Michigan Ave. near Oakwood.

Almost across the street from the HF/Greenfield Village is the Dearborn Inn with a well-regarded restaurant. The hotel is historic in its own right.

Chelio's chili bar is OK for regular food as is Buddy's pizza.

And the Holiday Grill is (was?) our favorite greasy spoon coney. Some Sysco, some homemade, good tzatziki on the gyros. Flaming cheese.

Except for the Whitney, those are all close to the Henry Ford because, well, that's where we lived. There is of course the Oscar Meyer place by the Wienermobile inside the museum.

Al-Ameer is another very good Lebanese restaurant in Dearborn, on Warren.

As far as the drive up to Mackinac...
Unless there's roadwork going on (can they avoid the weekend?), it will take about 5 hours to get from Dearborn to Gaylord. Please have them watch for State Troopers that hang out between West Branch and Grayling.
It's then another hour or so to get to the Bridge. Right off the freeway, you have the usual chain restaurants (Big Boy, Bob Evans, etc.) Gaylord is the biggest town along the way, but it's not really a foodie mecca. All the really great restaurants in Northern MI seem to be clustered in the northwest corner.

Depending on what they want to do, if they headed west at about Indian River to Harbor Springs, there are many wonderful restaurants there. It would add about a 2 hour detour though to their drive, but the Charlevoix/Petoskey/Harbor Springs area is so beautiful, lots of fresh produce, picturesque towns... Worth the detour if they're not in a hurry.

Are they staying in Mackinaw City, or on the Island?

Ann

Hi- Oscar meyer sounds fun!
Ann, they're staying on the Island. I don't think that they have time to detour, the trip is really about seeing family in Chicago and this Michigan portion is just for fun.He's a big history buff, so I guess that's why they're going to Dearborn.
They need places to stop and stretch, maybe a bite to eat. Like in CA when you're driving up route 5 and the kind of thing that she's hoping to find.
Great info about the police hot spots too!
Thanks and keep it coming!

Ok, The trip up...
The center of the state is just not a foodie's mecca. Best I can say is look for a local hole in the wall... maybe in West Branch or Roscommon or Grayling. All I can remember in Gaylord is chain restaurants.

I will say, wherever they stop, if the restaurant is serving fresh whitefish (or lake perch or trout or fried smelt) get it! I don't think I've ever had bad fresh whitefish in Michigan. Also, if they're going soon, they might find morels on the menu. Definitely go for the morels. I still dream of a dinner of whitefish with a morel cream sauce that I had in Harbor Springs about five years ago. Or if they see a sign for homemade pasties...
And for a snack, look for smoked whitefish (maybe even smoked whitefish pate!) yum!

On Mackinac Island, the Fort is will be really interesting for your history buff cousin. Mostly, they just need to get away from Main Street. I remember the Woods as a good though somewhat expensive restaurant... get there by bike or carriage as it's inland and fair bit away from Main Street. And there are a couple of restaurants associated with Island House hotel that I recall being pretty good.

On the way back, down to Chicago, if they're going through Grand Rapids... Restaurant Bloom or Marie Catrib's were two of my niece's suggestions.

OK, I think I've exhausted my pieced together Michigan memories.

Ann

Terrific, thanks so very much! I'll report back after they've gone!

The best burger's in the world are at Miller's on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn. No menu. Just burger's (with or without cheese), fries and onion rings.9and of course a full bar) When you cash out, you go to the bar and tell them what you had. Careful, there's often a line for week-day lunch.

I also strongly recommend one of the Arabic restaurants. (In Dearborn this mostly means Lebanese) El Ameer is considered one of the best. I also like Cedarland. Cedarland has a drive through, so it used to get my business for Schwarma and Falafel on the way home from work or my voice lessons. East Dearborn has the largest North American arabic population outside of the middle east. Head to Warren and Schaefer. There are lots of good bakeries and coffee shops, too! La Shish is well known - a local chain. The original is La Shish / Talal on Michigan Avenue. Still.. make the trip, go to El Ameer.

Greek Town or Mexican Village in Detroit also have good examples of the food of the ethnic neighborhoods. If they are interested in either, let me know. Also, there are some good Polish restaurants in Hamtramck, but I know less about those.

If they are looking for Michelin star eating the Lark is supposed to be wonderful. It's on my list, but I've never been. I agree about the Whitney, by the way.

At the other end of the scale, they should definitely go to a Coney Island. Lafayette and American are the original, but Senate, Kerby's, any would be good. Coney Dogs are a must-get for my husband when we are in town. I get greek salad and coney fries.

We're headed back to Detroit during Memorial Day week... and we're definitely hitting a coney island. Another must-go for us is The Earle in Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor has lots of culinary choices. if it's on their route let me know!

Also on the trip up, I have a friend who MUST stop in Frankenmuth for Chicken. A mostly a tourist town of German Heritage. I think the food is overrated, but the two main restaurants there are still kind of fun.

Also, there is a restaurant off the exit at West Branch that we always had to stop at on our way "up north"... even before the outlets were there... Tony's... In our 20's a bunch of us singles made a road trip there (a few hours from home) especially for the bacon sandwiches... 1 pound of bacon between toasted bread. But really, they do have other good sandwiches, too...

Otherwise, our drive "up north" had fast-food stops on the way. Destination eating at the other end in Traverse, Petosky, or on Mackinaw Island...

If they do like sea food though, fresh lake fish (the perch or whitefish are my favs) can be awesome!!

Are they driving from Dearborn to Mackinac? And then back to Chicago? Two very different culinary routes. The ride either way is long though, longer than five hours, at least the way I drive. If they're trying to make time, the best thing to do IMHO is take a cooler and stop off at a nice state park or roadside park for a picnic lunch. There are some great little parks in MI, a lot of them on lakes. That's how I usually play it. Destination restaurants on either end. Up at the straights of Mackinac, the best thing to eat is fresh lake fish--whitefish, lake perch, lake trout and walleye. And stop at a farm stand for great fruit and baked goods. Also good wines from the MI wineries that aren't found out of state. The fudge is just fudge.

Stop off at a Middle Eastern Deli in Dearborn, load up the cooler with yummy goodies, fill a thermos with coffee, get some pies and fruit at a roadside market, and you're set for the trip. Once in a tourist spot, after a dinner of fresh fish, find a place that sells wine, buy a jug of that and a loaf of bread, grab your "thou" and head to the beach for the sunset!

Bizzo-
I forgot all about Miller's Bar. I used to go there all the time in college! (I went to U. of M. Dearborn). Yes, if you like burgers. Don't bother with anything else except a cheeseburger with fries or onion rings as I recall. Brings back memories...

I wouldn't worry too much about the state police, except that it's a holiday weekend and so we have federal road dollars for enforcement during that weekend.

The headlines have just announced that Michigan is laying off 100 Troopers, and so there won't be much enforcement going on for the summer, it seems. I do agree with Lpink, though, it takes me more than 5 hours to get from Detroit to Mackinac, and several more than that to get to Chicago from Mackinac.

Bizzo, I agree that the chicken in Frankenmuth is far over-rated, as is that Christmas Shop, Bronner's, that you see billboards for from one end of the state to the other. It's acres of Christmas stuff and looks like an army of elves had a nervous breakdown with tinsel. The chicken is mediocre but they do have a couple of good beer places, microbrewery types.

As for Tony's, oh yeah, they are interesting. That one pound bacon sandwich made it on the Travel Channel, LOL, but their food has always been pretty good. It's not "gourmet" by any stretch, it's sandwiches and fries/diner kind of food, but still good in its own right.

Definitely gotta get a pasty, and they'll see signs everywhere when they get "up north". I can't recommend any restaurants on the island, either. No motor vehicles allowed on Mackinac, just horses and bikes, but the Grand Hotel has a pair of beautiful Irish Cobs. The fort will be interesting if someone is "into" history, as is Fort Michilimacinac in Mackinaw City. It was built in the early 1700s and was first French, then British. It was a fort and trading post and is now preserved as an open air historical museum.

Don't eat there. LOL.

Annie

If they come down through Grand Rapids, Pietro's Italian is great. All homemade pasta, but other great dishes as well. That's where we met Chase, where we ate at Babes and Beefcakes, and where some of us who are getting together over the holiday weekend are eating as well.
Very tasty!

Actually I said it's 5 hours from Dearborn to Gaylord, and another hour to Mackinac Bridge, so a total of 6 hours. (But still... maybe I have just a bit of a "lead foot", hence the reason I know about the State Troopers!)

A