Whitehouse Restaurant
613 N. McEwan StreetIt’s that time of the year again. I have to go to Mackinac Island for a few days for work.
This isn’t like the spring trip though. Instead of four days, I’m only gone two.
I left work Thursday morning a little before noon. I did some work with my office mate then left him to finish things up while I made the drive.
I’ve made this drive so many times over the last several years that I tend to get bored with it. I’ve been changing it up some and not always going through Grand Rapids and Cadillac.
This trip, I decided to take I-94 to US-127 to I-75.
I didn’t really have a reason for doing this but it did give me a chance to explore some more restaurant options.
I knew I wanted to stop in Clare either on the way there or on the way home to pick up donuts from Cops and Doughnuts. I figured I should probably look around Clare to see what the restaurant options were since I was pulling off the highway anyway.
I ended up finding this amazing diner that was nowhere near my radar. I’ve never heard of this place. Never seen it on any best of lists in Michigan. That’s really surprising to me.
I stopped at the Whitehouse Restaurant on McEwan Street north of Fifth Street in downtown Clare. The restaurant is a tiny white restaurant that looks out of place on the street. It’s been there since 1935 with the neon sign out front that just says “Open Hamburgers.”
The restaurant is really tiny. I walked in around 4:00 on a Thursday afternoon to find a small dining room with just a dozen tables. It’s all booth seating. Three on each side of the walkway.
I sat at a booth near the door on the side that sits next to the kitchen. The waitress came over and asked about drinks while I grabbed one of the paper menus off the table and started looking it over.
There really isn’t much separation between the kitchen and the dining room. It’s just a half wall that serves as the wall to the booth. If you’re a more talkative person than I, you can have a conversation with the cook while the food is cooking. I mean, I really could have almost reached out and touch the grill.
I ordered a 1/2 lb. bacon cheeseburger with mustard and pickles plus an order of French fries. The cost for the meal was right around $18 before tip.
The cook just turned around and put my basket on the table as soon as everything came off the grill and out of the fryer. I started with the fries because I didn’t think I would be able to pick up the burger until it set a little bit more. The fries were frozen skin on fries. I grabbed the salt off the table because these are the kinds of diner fries that just need salt.
The burger was two 1/4 lb. burger patties with cheese between each and crispy bacon on top. The sandwich was huge because of the two burger patties. Those patties were really juicy and had a little bit of a salty crust to it. I just got mustard and pickles on the sandwich and that really made a mess. I had a hard time putting this thing down for a couple of reason. One, it was so good. But two, it started to fall apart almost immediately. I got about halfway through the burger and had to put it down and turn to a fork. This was such a great burger and it’s such a classic diner burger. I don’t think I could have made a better stop on my way to Mackinac.
How have I never heard of Whitehouse Restaurant before? Yes, this is the first time I’ve ever stopped in Clare but it still seems like the type of place that would ping my radar. I’m glad I got off to get donuts in Clare. Otherwise, I’m not sure I ever would have found this place.
SW Michigan Dining 