Bob’s Place
7515 US-31I told you in my last blog post that my plan was to drive to Mackinaw City (via Petoskey) and just find a place to eat along the way. When I got to Petoskey, I kind of panicked though. I assumed I’d find some little hole in the wall or gas station with food along the way but that didn’t happen.
I should have just kept going.
I was bout a half hour from Mackinaw City when I drove through the small town of Alanson. There were actually three places I passed between Alanson and Mackinaw City that I thought, “damn. I wish I would have waited.”
I already had my pizza from Corktown Pizza & Pub in Petoskey so I couldn’t justify stopping. That didn’t stop me from going back the next night after my work on Mackinac Island finished for the day.
My travels led me back to Bob’s Place in Alanson. The restaurant is on US-31 near East Street in the small Emmet County village. The thing that caught my attention was the somewhat retro sign on the exterior of the building that initially led me to believe this place was more of a family diner kind of restaurant than a pub.
The restaurant is more of a pub though.
I walked in around 6:00 on a Tuesday night. The host stand is right as you walk in the door. There was a couple in front of me already waiting and we stood there for quite a while. Another patron sitting nearby said they were unexpectedly swamped tonight and there were only two waitresses so things were moving a little slow.
I wasn’t in a hurry so I stuck around. It took a few minutes but one of the waitresses grabbed a menu and told me to just grab a table in the bar area. There were a couple of pub tables for two so I just took one of those. The bar itself was also an option but I was fine at one of the tables kind of up against a wall and out of the way.
My waitress came over a few minutes later. I put in an order for the 45’er IPA from Austin Brothers Beer Company out of Alpena. It was served in a logo pint glass with the same retro style logo on the sign out front. The beer was a pretty solid IPA but nothing that really stood out as something I had to get more of.
The menu is pretty typical pub food and I went straight to the burger section. I put in an order for the Big Ben Burger. This sandwich a burger patty topped with hickory smoked bacon and cheddar cheese. The bacon on this burger was super crispy but not burnt and there was a lot of it. It’s the kind of bacon that crumbled as I pressed down on the bun. The burger was also really juicy and kind of crumbly.
As an extra touch, the toasted bun had “Bob’s” branded on to it. Doesn’t really affect the flavor but it was a nice little flare. This burger is a really solid burger and a burger that was really worth the drive over from Mackinaw City.
The sandwich comes with “skinny fries” but you can upgrade to steak fries, onion rings or tots. I stuck with the skinny fries. They’re frozen skin on fries with some salt, pepper, and parsley. They’re actually really good for frozen fries. There was a lot of them as well so I didn’t walk away from Bob’s hungry.
The cost of my meal, before tip, was a little over $22.
Bob’s Place was absolutely worth the drive from Mackinaw City. I didn’t even mind the fact they were a little understaffed. The waitresses were friendly and apologetic though they didn’t really need to be. I had my meal and was cashed out in less than an hour. I don’t think that’s an obnoxiously long time to wait.
Bob’s Place has been in Alanson in some form since the mid-1980’s. It closed in 2011 but was brought back in 2013 and I’m sure the town was happy to see it back. Alanson is kind of a “drive-through” town on the way to Mackinac Island but places like Bob’s Place make it a place you should stop along the way.
SW Michigan Dining 