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

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!

First time had the Pasties, all were goo. Beef Pasty is my favorite. The owner is very nice and…read morefriendly.

First timer here and I must say what a delicious snack these make…read more I had the chicken as they were out of beef while the gf had a vegetarian which I actually enjoyed more. The gravy though was outstanding and our pup enjoyed it just as much when put on her dry food. Not a local but will be sure to stop again if in the area.

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.

Depending on where you're from, pasties can border on a religious experience. And more often than…read morenot, I suspect it's nostalgia--not flavor--that does the heavy lifting. Let's be honest: there isn't much going on in a pasty beyond some humble, comforting ingredients. Hopefully served with love. At Taste of the UPP, that's definitely the case. The pasties are huge, the ingredients are spot-on, and if you're lucky enough to buy one in person--from the very women who make them--you'll see it's not just love they're made with. It's pride.

We enjoyed the pasties!…read more This is Pasty review update, 9 years later. Today, we ordered 4 Beef Pasties and 2 large servings of Beef Gravy. What we loved: - The size of the pasties are HUGE. Maybe bigger than 9 years ago - The pasties tasted great - The Beef Gravy really carried the meal What we feel could be improved upon: - More beef. We split a Beef Pasty tonight and it had 5 pieces of beef in it Looking at the picture of my Beef Pasty from 9 years ago, the beef peices were smaller and seemingly more abundant, whereas tonight's beef pieces were larger and fewer. My guess is that the weight of the beef today may be comparable to the weight 9 years ago but that the beef isn't broken down as much. In conclusion, we still very much enjoyed the Beef Pasty, and LOVED the Beef Gravy and we have 3 more to eat later.

Pricey but if you like chocolate and candy it's a cute tourist trap. Full disclosure I'm not a fan…read moreof sweets.

Great aroma when you walk in. Ice cream was perfect. Lots of goodies to pick from. I would…read morerecommend this place

The food was absolutely amazing, great experience. The service was amazing and the staff were very…read morefriendly and helpful. I recommend this place

A spot with a true community feel. The restaurant has a classic, casual sports-bar-style layout and…read moredecor that makes it feel immediately comfortable. The moment you walk in, you get that warm "local crowd where everyone knows everyone" kind of atmosphere, and our server was absolutely sweet and attentive. They have a very few decent vegetarian options on the menu. I ordered the black bean burger,, and it was excellent, tasted incredibly fresh and had a perfect, satisfying crunch to it. The fries were also good. For dessert, we tried the deep-fried cookie dough.. It was okay, just a bit too tough on the bite for my liking. Overall, it's a fantastic local gem with a great relaxed vibe, friendly service, and fresh food. Definitely worth checking out!

We took home an amazing ribeye. We also tried the meatball sandwiches. The sandwiches were tasty…read morebut nothing to write home about. But that steak? I'd still be writing.

A gem of SSM and affordable prices too!…read more The hot food area is open Monday - Friday only. The store sells many premade refrigerated and frozen homemade meals and is open on the weekends. They have a lunch special Monday-Friday and they post their specials for the week on their Facebook page. I got the Philly Steak $7.25 (forgot to take a photo as we ate it too quickly) as it was their Friday special and we quickly gobbled that up so we decided to go for the Dinner for 2 as well. The lady was quite accommodating and allowed me to get 1/2 meatball and 1/2 chicken with pasta. We got 6 homemade meatballs and 2 pieces of chicken along with a huge tray of penne pasta with homemade tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. Large portions and everything was delicious! Try to make it Monday-Friday when the hot food area is open. We were staying at a hotel without a kitchen so didn't get a chance to try their premade meals. We really enjoyed our experience here and the food was great and well priced with good portions.