The Driftwood Sports Bar
My second night in Northern Michigan was actually the first day I had to work on the Island. I hopped on the first ferry at 7:30 AM and got back on the ferry at 6:30 PM. It was a long day and I still had some work to do before I could go to bed for the night.
I had eaten breakfast at the job site but I didn’t have time for lunch. By the time I got back to the mainland and decompressed for a bit, it was pushing 8:00. I was hungry and needed to find a place to eat.
There are a number of pubs along the main stretch of road that I passed on my way in and I didn’t really know much about any of them. I ended up picking the one closest to my hotel just because the menu looked good enough to me.
The Driftwood Motel is on State Street south of Reagan Street in St. Igance. It sits right across from one of the Arnold Transit Ferry Docks. The motel has been in St. Ignace for a couple of decades. It has both a restaurant and a sports bar attached to the main motel. The restaurant sits further back from the road and has it’s own entrance. I was heading to the sports bar which is right next to State Street.
I walked in to see the bar right in front of me. There was a please wait to be seated sign but I walked around it and went to a barstool. I think I heard the bartender say something about me doing that as I was heading to the bar area which is actually quite huge. It’s a large horseshoe shape with a wall in the middle separating it in to two rooms. I’m not sure if the bartender was annoyed at me or not but once I sat down, she was pleasant and asked me right away about a drink.
The decor is kind of dated as it’s a mix of sports bar and UP North lodge. There’s a combination of faux brick walls and wood paneling. Those walls are filled with pennants and banners from Michigan sports teams as well as some beer advertisements and the flat panel TV’s that make a sports bar a sports bar.
I saw on the blackboard on the wall they had Two Hearted but when I asked for it, the bartender said she just blew that tap and they didn’t have another one. She suggested Huma Lupa Licious from Shorts Brewing. It was a good suggestion and was going to be my back up anyway so I said yes to that.
I asked for a menu when I sat down but the bartender got distracted. It’s clear this is a locals bar as pretty much everyone in the restaurant knew each other. One guy even got up to leave and the bartender asked if he was going to pay now or come back and pay later. He said he needed to run home and get cash and she said, I’ll see you then. Didn’t even hesitate that he wouldn’t come back. I eventually got her attention again and asked for the menu and she realized she never brought one over.
I was really trying to not be a fatty and order the biggest burger on the menu although it did sound good. Instead, I ordered the U.P. Burger which is two 1/3 lb patties with bacon, American cheese, and Swiss cheese. When the runner brought out the plate and set it down in front of me, it was not that burger. It was the Mighty Mac Brunch Burger…the one I thought about ordering. I questioned thinking I ordered the other one. He went to the POS and looked up my order and sure enough, I ordered the UP Burger. I told him I’d eat it…he didn’t have to remake the burger. He took it back to the kitchen and I could see him arguing with the cook…then he came back out and asked if I was sure it was OK. I told him it was fine, I had thought about ordering that burger anyway. I was just trying not to be a fatty.
The Mighty Mac Burger is a monster of a burger. It’s two 1/3lb patties topped with pulled pork, bacon, cheddar cheese, and a fried egg. I didn’t even know how I was going to get this thing in my mouth. There was enough pulled pork on top of the double cheeseburger that it could have easily been two sandwiches. It was really tasty though. The BBQ sauce really drove the flavor. I was getting hints of the salty bacon and even some pepperiness from the fried egg but it was the thick, sweet BBQ sauce that I got all over my hands and mouth trying to eat this thing without embarrassing myself.
Instead of regular fries, this sandwich comes with Poutine. The standard restaurant frozen French fries are covered with brown gravy and shredded cheese instead of cheese curds. Poutine isn’t my favorite way to eat fries so I’m not really an expert on the Canadian dish. This one was tasty though. I couldn’t eat all of the fries though because I was way to stuffed from the sandwich.
The cost for my meal was around $27 before the tip. They charged me for the burger I ordered, not the one I got but it was only a $2 difference so it wouldn’t have made too much of a difference in the final bill.
Like I said earlier, The Driftwood Sports Bar seems to be the locals bar in St. Ignace. Everyone knew each other which creates a unique atmosphere in a town that sees a lot of tourists. I had a really unique burger and a really unique experience. I picked it because it was close to my hotel but the food and the atmosphere made it worth the stop.
SW Michigan Dining 