1844 M-119The drive back from the Upper Peninsula was happening around lunchtime. We left the Garlyn Zoo sometime around 12:30. There weren’t a whole lot of lunch options along M-2 heading back towards the bridge so once we got good cell phone service, we started looking in St. Ignace and Mackinaw City for a place to stop and eat.
We decided to stop at Darrow’s Family Restaurant. We went in, got a table, then got ignored. Waitresses walked past us several times and after about ten minutes, we got up and left. B was beyond nap time and wasn’t content on sitting and if it took that long to get drinks, how long was lunch going to take? B wasn’t going to make it.
Everyone was now hungry and cranky as we started to drive back towards Petoskey. B fell asleep by the time we got off I-75 so J just told me to find someplace to stop and she’d stay in the car with B while L and I went to eat.
At this point, I figured I’d just go back to Petoskey. There was still a brewery that I wanted to eat at and if we were going to be eating lunch after 2:00, we wouldn’t be eating dinner until late and restaurants have a habit of filling up quickly at dinner time. I didn’t want to miss out on this brewery, so we headed there for lunch.
Petoskey Brewing Company is just outside of the Petoskey city limits on M-119 heading towards the Petoskey State Park. It’s not a building that is easily missed. The building has been many things over the years but actually started it’s life as a brewery in 1898. Petoskey Brewing Company took over the location in 2012 and returned the building to it’s roots.
We pulled in just before 2:00 and noticed the parking lot was pretty full. There’s a building next door that has a sign saying we could park there so we did. B was still asleep so J told us to go in, get a table, and they would join us when he woke up.
L and I headed in to find a pretty full restaurant. The host station is right inside the door among merchandise and beer for sale.
The building has the look and feel over a 100+ year old brewery. The walls are all brick, the floors hardware, and the ceilings exposed. The first room off the lobby is the bar with a number of pub tables and a simple bar that spans most of the rooms.
Around the corner is another dining room with booths and several two top tables. We would have preferred to sit in this area but the booths were full so the hostess asked if a pub table was alright. I was hungry, so we took it.
We were sitting in the corner by the mug club. L was really wanting to pull one of the mugs off the wall to drink her lemonade out of so I had to try to explain what a mug club was. That just made her want to buy one of them so she can drink out of it “next time we come to Petoskey”
I started with a flight which is four beers. I have had a few of Petoskey’s beers in the past so they’re not a new brewery to me. I was excited to try the things they don’t put in cans though.
I started with the really heavy stout like I usually do on the flights. I picked the Morning Fog Mochajava Stout. This has big coffee and chocolate hints to it. It’s a smooth drink and went down pretty quickly.
The second beer I picked up was Robusta Nut Coconut Chocolate Porter. A little nutty, a little sweet, a little chocolatey. Interesting, tasty porter.
Beer number three was the Juicy New England Style IPA It’s not quite hazy like M-43, but a delicious, citrusy, drinkable beer.
The final beer I thought I was getting something I couldn’t get anywhere else, but turns out, I actually had a can of it a few years ago. The Hopsessed Double IPA is their big, hoppy Imperial IPA. It’s the kind of beer I could drink a couple of and feel really good about.
The pub menu is…well, a pub menu. Sandwiches and burgers are the main attraction. I ordered myself the Smokin’ Betty Burger. This sandwich is fresh ground beef from Toski Sands Market topped with Plath’s bacon, jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, and a chipotle mayo. The sandwich is served on a toasted, fresh made bun alongside chips. I upgraded to beer battered fries for an extra buck. I started by scrapping off the big glob of mayo that came on the bun. It was quite tasty but there was way too much of it. The meat on this burger was amazing. The hamburger was a loosely packed and very juicy. The bacon was nice and thick and very crispy. The fries were super crispy as well but needed a little salt or something. They were a little bland but perfect for dipping if you like ketchup.
There is no kids menu but luckily there is a chicken strips appetizer on the menu. I ordered that and added on some fries for L. The fiver tenders come with a side of ranch which L was very happy to have for dipping. The tenders were juicy and crispy but likely frozen ones dropped in to a deep fryer. We ended up taking a couple of the tenders and fries back to the cabin with us.
B stayed asleep for our entire lunch so when our food came out, I asked to put in a to-go order for J. She got the black bean burger with Cheddar cheese. The sandwich is served on the same grilled, fresh bun but the patty is a grilled spicy black bean patty. L had some extra fries so J stuck to chips on hers.
The bill came out to just over $40 before tip. Our lunch at Petoskey Brewing was kind of rushed due to B’s napping in the car and me not wanting to leave J out there very long but this place was one of the two places I didn’t want to miss in Petoskey. I love the building and the atmosphere of the place and the food and beer really make Petoskey Brewing an enjoyable, must stop place for a meal when visiting the area.