Quality and Selection: Definitely, 4. No-added sugar…read morechocolates for dad and dark chocolate marshmallow bunnies for mom and I. Delicious. There is an ice cream counter. No worries. We eventually got our treats, nbd. Availability of staff/salespersons: More like 3 1/2, but only due to understaffing, otherwise service was fine. Thanks.

Holy moly! The day after arriving at our rental cottage in…read moreMoran, Michigan on Brevoort lake, we noticed plenty of mosquitoes! Serious mosquitos! So the first thing on our list of needs, was buying a can of Off! Being that the cottage is in a fairly rural area, there aren't very many stores. But on our drive in, I noticed King's Fish Market. It was close, so I drove up. Turns out they don't sell bug spray, only smoked fish and a million other things, including Venison sausage. I purchased some smoked white fish and some venison cheddar sausage. OMG-Fantastic! They also have a little cafe and you can order fish and chips, chicken fingers etc as well. Big local beer selection too. After walking around checking everything out, I walked past a couple of women having lunch. I figured I'd ask how the food was. They then told me it was delicious, and that they have lunch there several times a week. Needless to say, my lovely wife and I will be back! And then before cashing out and leaving, the friendly owner sent me down the road to a gas station that sells Off! Bonus!

Wherever I can support local during my travels, I'm all for it. Last week, I brought a group of…read moreTexans, Missourians, and Californians here for lunch during our week-long tour through both Michigan's Lower and Upper Peninsulas. While we found this to be a charming local fish and specialty market, we were unfortunately underwhelmed by the food. Most of us ordered the 2-piece whitefish basket with fries. The fish itself seemed fresh, but the batter lacked seasoning and could have been much crispier. The fries were also fairly soggy. We also tried the whitefish chowder, which desperately needed salt. Adding a bit ourselves made a huge difference in flavor. We arrived well before the lunch rush and practically had the place to ourselves, so perhaps this was just an off day. Still, the fish baskets felt severely under-fried and lacking overall flavor, which was disappointing given the local reputation and specialty focus.

I haven't reviewed Gustafson's?…read more Giving credit where credit is due, this was another Jane & Michael Stern find from the 2005 update of their classic book Roadfood. Man, do your remember travel books? If you find one in a used book store, pick it up. The classics stay classic. And speaking of the classics, Gustafson's is the real deal. Roadside gas station with a handful of smokers to transform the bounty of the great lakes into delicious succulent morsels of delight. If you don't know, I have what I affectionately call a fat-tooth. And the fish that swim in those frigid fresh water lakes develop such beautiful and silky fat. The lake trout especially! Gustafson's isn't fancy. Walking in the door you may ask yourself, "This is it?". But when you tear open your pouch of smoked lake trout, and pull the meat off the bones with your fingers, with a little of that fat dripping down your arm and chin, you'll say to yourself, "Yeah, this is it." This is a required stop anytime I'm up in the UP. Last visit they were out of the whitefish, but so it goes. And looking back on the listing in Roadfood, the Sterns mentioned seeing smoked menominee in the case, but I've never noticed it before. I'll have to ask next time I'm up. Sure, you can get the salmon. I imagine it's delicious. The Gustafson's crew are great at smoking and salmon takes smoke well. But I say go for the local stuff. Get out of your comfort zone and buy a whole whitefish. Don't fret about heads and bones. Don't worry that you won't finish it (there is a bunch of negative space inside, they aren't as big as they look). You've got this. I believe in you!

They have the best smoked fish in the UP, and their canned goods are top notch. The candied…read morejalapeños are addictive.

We originally found out about Tassier's products when we spotted their Maple Rub at the Franklin…read moreCider Mill here in the Detroit area. The rub combines maple syrup, paprika, sea salt, garlic powder and other spices...and it passed my label test (the ingredients were all things I could spell and understand...no impossible to spell chemicals or other hard-to-define ingredients!). The company also produces a number of other maple-based products like barbecue sauce, maple sugar sprinkles (great on oatmeal) and (of course) maple syrup. We stopped by the business when we visited Les Cheneaux Islands last year to stock up on maple syrup, maple rub and maple sugar sprinkles. They're mostly a mail order biz, but they have a small store at their sugar bush location...we wandered in and one of the owners came out to help us make our purchases. Nice people, good Michigan product.

We have been enjoying maple syrup from this farm for many years, courtesy of a kind friend. Dan,…read morethe owner, gave us a tour of his facilities today and we got to buy maple syrup products to bring back home for friends. We wanted to get their maple syrup candy, but he had run out. We will be back soon!!

my go to spot for my family's health and nutrition needs. the staff are incredibly knowledgeable…read moreand so helpful every time i'm in. they have all the answers to whatever my ailment is at the time and are so sweet in their efforts to assist me. they carry an amazing variety of products - even pet supplies! there really is something there for everyone :)