Giovanni's Roadhouse - Traverse City, MI

It took my parents and I a little bit to find this place, but we were lucky we did.  My Mom had driven by Giovanni's and thought it looked good so we were on a mission!  It's a quaint restaurant, but in my experience those usually end up being the best.  I started with the caesar salad, it was creamy with homemade croutons.  Yum! 

My Dad tried the soup of the day.  Add a little crackers and what a perfect way to start out dinner.

My Mom and I shared their pasta special.  Pumpkin, mushroom tortellini with goat cheese and almonds.  It came in a light creamy sauce.  It was really tasty, and I was a little sad I split it because I could have eaten it all up by myself.  Then again.. it made sure I had room for dessert.

All three of us split two desserts, the carrot cake.  The cake had coconut shavings on top of the frosting which was interesting and very delicious.

And at the request of my Dad, we had to try the ice cream brownie sundae.  

Our whole meal was really great.  It's a low key place with really good food, can't go wrong with that.  See you back here tomorrow. 

Green House Cafe - Traverse City, MI

I've posted a few of my favorite places to chow down in Traverse City already, and have a few more to go! I spent around a month there this summer, with friends and family visiting, so I have more restaurant reviews than I know what do with.  The day we went to Green House Cafe I had my cousin, best friend, a friend from Milwaukee, her daughter and my Mom in tow.  We had a big group and needed a good, kid friendly spot for lunch.  Green House Cafe did all of that in a great way!  They have a pretty extensive menu, and daily specials.  I opted for the special sandwich with one of their soups of the day.  The soup was cheddar potato.  It was creamy and delicious!  I will admit though it was very hard to pick the soup, all of their daily soups sounded amazing. 

The special sandwich was a chicken cherry salad on a croissant.  How fitting for a post this week since I've already shared recipes for chicken salad and a cherry dessert.  They coincided nicely! 

It was delicious and served with a big pickle.  Yum! 

Even the baby liked it!  She was digging in.  

Green House Cafe is a great place downtown Traverse City if you're looking for a fresh lunch with loads of flavor.  Check them out and let me know what you think!

The Cove Restaurant - Leland, Michigan

As you may or may not have known, I've spent the past month or so in Michigan. Spending my time all around the state visiting family and friends, going to weddings, catching up and enjoying being outside in August and September!  Today, I head back to Phoenix, and it's a little bittersweet.  I've really missed C and Mia, but nothing beats Michigan.  Especially Michigan in the summer!  In honor of spending the last weeks at the Cove (nickname for our cottage), today my post is about the restaurant The Cove in Leland Michigan.  A friend of mine sent me this article about Mario Batali spending his summers in Traverse City and that the Cove was one of his favorite places to eat.  We had to try it out!  Even the wine glasses were Cove themed.

Their speciality is their fresh fish, caught in Lake Michigan, which you can see from the restaurant if you sit outside.  Their menu has a lot of other great things to offer as well though.

The fish dinners include Caesar salad, yum!

Garlic rolls also included, you can taste the freshness of the bread.  Got me more and more excited for the meal!

My Mom ordered the almond whitefish.  I had to try and taste and it delicious!

My friend Ashley and I both ordered the garlic Parmesan white fish.  It came served with mashed potatoes and the fresh seasonal vegetable, which was corn on the cob.  It was so good!  You could tell the whole meal was very fresh, and made with love.  It was a large piece of fish, but I ate every bite.  

Mom, Ashley and I after our dinner

Here's the Mario Batali article framed inside the restaurant.

Thanks to The Cove for a great fresh meal, and for the Cove (cottage) and my parents for a great time in Michigan!  Until next summer...

7 Monks Taproom - Traverse City, MI

For the first time in the history of our "friends vacation" the kids took a day trip without the parents.  We're all over 21 now (I'm talking to you Ber) so we decided to do lunch and some wine tasting.  7 Monks Taproom for lunch and beer was perfect!  I like lighter beers so I had one of the ciders that they had on special.  Their beer menu is extensive, with 46 beers on tap, and I'm positive you'd find something you like.

We started by sharing the meat and cheese board.  It was awesome, and had all kinds of goodies.  Brie, Gorgonzola, jelly, mustard, olives, prosciutto, rabbit sausage.  Delish! 

Crostinis, crackers, seasonal fruit, a pretty complete sample if you ask me!

C and I shared the chicken pizza, with pineapple and Gorgonzola cheese.  It was amazing.  They make their menu everyday pending what fresh ingredients they have to use.  I could really tell the difference in the food, it was so great! 

Had to take a picture of the mac and cheese, which someone else ordered.  I even got to taste it, the cheesiest!

Two beers each and lunch and we walked out pretty happy campers!

Dish Cafe & Ambrosia Gelato - Traverse City, MI

Before all the visitors arrived in Traverse City my Mom and I had a day to run errands, get groceries and spend some time together before the craziness began!  We took some time out from running around to have lunch in downtown Traverse City.  I had heard great things about Dish Cafe, so that's where we ended up.  They are known to have all natural ingredients in their food and specifically their great smoothies.  Smoothies would have to wait for the next visit, we both ordered soup and sandwiches this time.  First cane the tomato curry soup, which was so delicious!

For my half of sandwich I had the smoked turkey which came with tomatoes, avocado, cheese and honey mustard.  And a pickle side of course!  I really liked the lunch selection at the cafe, and will hopefully be back soon to try more of their menu and the famous smoothies.

On our way back to the car we walked by Ambrosia gelato, and it twisted our arms and we had to stop!  They had a lot of flavors and my mom ordered the cherry gelato.  While in Traverse City you have to get your fill of cherries!  

I ordered the salted caramel.  It was so tasty!  I loved the little chocolate A's they put on top of each scoop. This place was really new, when we went it they had only been open for two weeks, so make sure if you're in the area you try them out and help support new businesses in the area! 

Boone's Long Lake Inn

While visiting Traverse City over the holidays, we tried out a place called Boone's Long Lake Inn.  It was my parents, my friend Ashley, me, a bottle of wine, some steak, and of course, started with bread.  A night can't get better than that!

Ashley ordered the pasta primavera with chicken.  It was a creamy Alfredo sauce with mixed fresh vegetables.  It looked delicious!

I was too busy eating my dinner to try anyone else's!  I got the 6oz filet, cooked medium rare.  Yummmy!

The steaks come with a side, I choose the potato crisps, which were very good.  I will say my only complaint is they didn't have mashed potatoes.  I'm not really a baked potato type girl, so I had to make do, but they were pretty tasty!

Also got a side of their mushroom sauce to smoother on my steak.  I love mushrooms more and more, and on a tasty steak you can't ask for much more.

I really enjoyed Boone's, the atmosphere was really friendly and welcoming.  The restaurant is huge, and I'm excited to go back in the summer when they have their large deck open!

For more information on Boone's please click on to their website here.