Traverse City Record-Eagle,  DECEMBER 19, 2003
Road Food: Finding good eats in strange places
When we hit the road (as Northern Michiganders tend to do this time of year), we often find it hard to score good food when we land in a town where we don't know one restaurant from another. After years of trial and error, and more than a few bad meals, we've devised ways to improve the odds. This week we'll share a few of them and tell you about some places they've led us to.

First, we read menus. More and more restaurants post menus not only outside the door but also on websites, so before we even leave home, we can start looking for evidence of things we'd seek or avoid. We're leery of menus with a dozen or more appetizers or entrees because it's hard to do that many things well. We prefer menus with perhaps three or four interesting starters and five or six main dishes. And if we see "all you can eat" written anywhere, it suggests a place that values quantity over quality. Phrases like "salad Bar" or "Friday fish fry" make us wonder how long the kitchen has gone without a new idea. So do nachos, quesadillas and Buffalo wings atop a menu. These wouldn't be our choices, but if you love these sorts of restaurants, go for it!

Local intelligence is invaluable. But since good restaurants seldom have to buy good reviews, we're skeptical of advice from hotel concierges, who often steer guests to restaurants that reward them for it, and of anything in those ad-filled "restaurant guides" we find in hotel rooms. In our experience, the most consistently reliable recommendations come from proprietors and clerks in delis, wine stores and other places where people know and care about good food. That's why we tend to trust the advice we get from bed-and-breakfast hosts (unless they insist on making reservations for us).

Once we have a few candidates, we check them out in person to get another look at a menu and seek more evidence of good food, such as activity in the kitchen in mid-afternoon. We avoid places where we don't find any, on the theory that good food does, indeed, take time. If it's already mealtime, we look for customers. A full house doesn't necessarily mean good food, but an empty one strongly suggests the opposite.

Our final and most reliable test is the sniff test. If we don't smell good food when we walk in, we walk right out again

It was the sniff test that led us to three superb meals in Birmingham on a trip downstate last year after a few highly recommended spots failed both the customer and sniff tests. Then we walked into a place we'd never heard of and found it jammin' with people and alive with aromas. The place was called "220," and we had dinner there two nights running and lunch in between. Don't be put off by the crush of mingling singles in the front-room bar; just press on through to the restaurant in back. Best to book ahead. 220 is at 220 Merrill St.; 248-645-2150.

Local intelligence some years ago from a U-of-M surgeon named Steve Feinberg put us on to Ann Arbor's West End Grill, and we head there whenever we're in the area. West End Grill, 120 W. Liberty St.; 734-747-6260.

Local intelligence also first led us to two great spots in Grand Rapids. If the stock market's been kind, we like the Amway Grand Plaza's 1913 Room, an elegant French restaurant where coats are expected of gentlemen. It's one of Michigan's very best. Somewhat less pricey is the sublime Italian fare at Tre Cugini just up the street. 1913 Room, Pearl & Monroe Sts.; 616-774-2000; Tre Cugini, 100 Monroe Center; 616-235-9339.

One of the best Italian restaurants within 200 miles of Traverse City is Franzisi's, a classy little family-run place in Soo, Ontario. Try it en route to the Agawa Canyon train or some skiing at Searchmont or Stokely. Franzisi's, 256 Bruce St., Sault Ste. Marie, ON; 705-253-1500.

As a college town, Marquette offers ample choice, but on a holiday trip last summer our menu, customer and sniff tests all led us to a place called Vierling's. It was packed, even in midweek, but the 15-minute wait was worthwhile to the max. Vierling's, 119 S. Front St.; 906-228-3533.

And finally, what can you do when mealtime finds you in your car, trapped along the chain-food wasteland of the Interstate? Our answer is always Subway for lunch and Red Lobster for dinner, because the food is reasonable, and there's plenty that's fresh, lean, and not deep fried.