Archive for the ‘Indian River’ Category

If you have never been to Topinabee, it’s one of those little so called one horse towns, if you blink while driving through you might miss it. It consists of one gas station, a small hardware store, and a post office. The old train depot has been converted into a museum loaded with information and photos dating as far back as1881. You will also find a bar on the edge of town, and right in the middle of town is a quant little restaurant called the café Noka. This rustic café is serving up some of the best breakfast and lunches in northern Michigan. The café noka is furnished with original Rittenhouse furniture from the Rittenhouse factory that was located at the north end of town. Owner Theresa Pearson of fifteen years starts her day at 5:00am the old school way, making everything from scratch, and using the freshest ingredients possible. Starting out with the highly guarded secret pancake recipe that even her daughter can’t get her hands on. Pies, cakes, muffins, and soups are all homemade and also her famous cinnamon rolls, which are a local favorite.

In the center of the cross roads of, Good times & good food sit’s a quaint rustic lakeside tavern loaded with history dating back to the 1940. You can spend over an hour gazing at the old photos covering the knotty pine walls, sparking the memories of yesteryears. Sit and watch your favorite sports game on one of 15 Tvs or challenge your skills on one of their pool tables.“The Breakers is a local watering hole for everybody.

It’s gone threw several changes since the 1940s, horseshoe stile bar, and a kitchen was added a few years ago, we just finished our out side patio, now we can offer out side dinning with a spectacular view of beautiful Mullet lake. We have a long dock for our guests that arrive by boat, you can also find your way to the breakers by snowmobile, were about 100ft off the trail that runs through Topinabee. We get an occasional plain that lands on the frozen lake in the winter” (Owner Derrick Schittekat explains)

We offer the areas best pizza starting at $7.99 House made soups and Breakers chili, shrimp, fish, chicken, corn beef, turkey, and pastrami Sandwiches, pitas, and the all famous “Breakers Burger” all our meat here is fresh and at the highest quality possible.The olive burger, I think, is the favorite of most, although our pizzas are gaining strength in popularity“.

The Breakers has plenty of snacks & starters, like, Buffalo wings with a spicy hot BBQ sauce,$7.99 Buffalo shrimp jammers at $6.50, or Con queso dip with chips $5.99.  Enjoy the famous Breakers burger starting at $4.75, or the “Shamrock“, pastrami, Swiss cheese, coleslaw, and 1000 island all on an onion role $5.99, maybe the Big Alls pita, pita bread filled with diced chicken tenders, lettuce, tomato, mayo and Swiss cheese at $6.25, and a lot more to choose from. Wet your whistle at the bar, they offer many different kinds of beer both domestic and import and a huge array of spirits. You have got to try there 60oz margarita, either strawberry, raspberry, mango, or the traditional sweet & sour.

You will also find a kids menu for 12 and younger at $4.50, and lots of video games to keep the younginns occupied  “When it comes to customer service we are second to none, our highly trained staff is here to serve you as soon as you walk in the door. Team work is our motto, we make sure every customer leaves here with a smile on there face.  We try to create a home kind of atmosphere, were everybody is comfortable, kind of like the 70s TV show cheers were you would expect to see Norm sitting at the end of the bar holding a mug of beer, (says Derrick). We now offer soup & salad bar, and daily lunch specials. We have a lot more plans for expansion in the near future. Were presently adding a large full service kitchen that will allow us to add many more items to our menu, and some day we will be adding a second story to the Breakers“. There is a lot of strange or funny stories at the breakers in the past, one of which (Derrick recalls) I heard from a local, back in the late winter of the 40s someone would park a car on the lake out in front and bets were taken as to when the car would sink.

owner Derrick Schittekat and long time employee of 28 years, Beth Blaskowski

 The Breakers is located at 967 N Straits hwy Topinabee. You can also visit them at

www.breakersbar.com or call them at (213) 238-0108

TRUBUNE REVIEW

It’s Friday night, and were trying to figure out where to dine tonight. We haven’t been to the Brown Trout in quite some time, so we thought we would pay them a visit. If you have never been to the Brown Trout it’s a must see, built in the 1930’s, the Mor-Joy was a reception hall used for weddings and school dances. A few years after it was built it was turned into a popular tavern. Serving drinks, soups and sandwiches.

Over the years the Mor-Joy has changed hands first to Bill’s Saloon, then to Rog Kar’s Saloon, and most recently to the Brown Trout. This big old log building has been beautifully preserved with a few additions, like a full service kitchen, a huge covered patio and large bathrooms. When you enter, it’s like a blast from the past. As you walk through the foyer you see the wall to wall bar, a sturgeon made out of little stones imbedded in the original large stone fire place. Rustic décor from knotty pine tables & chairs, open rafters, and huge log beams throughout support this beautiful structure.

When we arrived, we were seated immediately. As we gazed over the menu trying to decide, our server arrived to see if we would like a glass of wine or a cocktail. Our waitress returned quickly with a couple of Manhattans, and took our order. My wife chose the prime rib at $18.95 and for me it was a battle between the steak fajitas at $14.99 or the Shrimp Lenny gourmet pizza at $12 99. I’m always looking for some good Mexican food so I had to try it. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the prime rib, it was a generous 10oz cut, lean and juicy, accompanied by tender asparagus and a bake potato. The steak fajitas were lightly seasoned, (on the heat scale about a 2, if you like it hot you might ask them to kick it up) served with sautéed red & green bell peppers, white onions, with warm flour tortillas. Spanish rice, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa, and a spicy sour cream. The fajitas were filling and quite enjoyable. After all that we were both packed, and then here came our server to tempt us with desert. They have a nice variety of pies and cakes but we had to decline, until I found out they have deep fried ice cream, my favorite, so we ordered a dish to share. If you’re unfamiliar with deep fried ice cream, you’re probably thinking, “no way” it will melt in the fryer. This is a Mexican desert, about a 3 or 4 oz ball of vanilla ice cream, dipped in an egg wash, then rolled in cinnamon and sugar, corn flakes or coconut. The later of which is served at the Brown Trout. The frozen ball is then dropped in the fryer, for about 10 seconds to crisp up the outside, then served in a flour tortilla bowl, dusted with cinnamon, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Wow, it was really good.

If you’re looking for a place to eat, with a real Up North feel, check out the Brown Trout, 4653 S. Straits Hwy., Indian River MI. They have a huge, easy to read, full menu with a nice variety of salads, seafood, steaks, chicken, pasta’s, Mexican, burgers, sandwiches and gourmet pizzas. Prices $7.99 on up. We enjoyed dining here, and know you will too!`

R.G.S. Review by.

C.J. Ray.