Grand Mere Inn: Stevensville, MI

I love spending time in Southwest Michigan. I love the lake views. I love the small communities. I love the farm life and agricultural experiences. I love the craft breweries. And I love the variety of eateries, gourmet stores, wineries and more.

Stevensville is a place I'm especially fond of. A few years ago before moving to Northwest Indiana, Stevensville was one of the places we contemplated moving to. A while back we made a trip up there around Christmas to pick up a gift card bundle at a Chamber event that had 8 or 10 gift cards for a number of businesses at a discounted price. I loved that we bought the package of gift cards, none of which have expirations, as it has led us back there several times. Those gift cards gave us a reason to visit the area more often and to try out some places we hadn't been before. One of them is Grand Mere Inn. Tonight we went up to check the place out for dinner.

I made a reservation for opening time of 4:30 EST since I thought it would give us an opportunity to get home early due to the time change. We really couldn't have picked a worse day to make the drive as we drove there and back through a snowstorm. But once we were there and enjoying our meal, we forgot abut the snow piling up outside and the uncleared roads. The weather did mean we weren't able to enjoy the sunset view over Lake Michigan, but we both agreed that we'll be making our way back there in the summer to better enjoy it.

We were welcomed by a vintage juke box when walking in the door and we had the option of enjoying our meal in the dining room, which has a large windows on the west wall or the Cranberry Bog Bar, which has dark wood and dim lighting and a cozy fire. There's an abbreviated menu in the bar of slightly smaller portions.The place immediately gave me old school supper club vibes and I fell in love with the atmosphere as soon as I stepped in the door.

They start you off with a plate of their freshly baked breads. This place included garlic toast, cheesy bread and a soft pumpernickel that melted in your mouth. An herbed butter spread and chicken liver paté were inluded.

It was hard to pick an appetizer as there were so many good choices, but we settles on the crab stuffed mushrooms.

For entrees, they specialize in seafood. Neither of us ordered off the regular menu and we both selected specials. My hubby got the beef tips over rice with a sweet chili sauce. I got a parmesan crusted cod that was phenomenal along with a winter salad of mixed greens, strawberries, apples and feta with a vinaigrette. For my side I selected a baked potato and I loved that the sour cream they brought to go with it had cheddar cheese and chives mixed in with it. I've never seen that in a restaurant before, but what a wonderful idea it is. We also shared a cauliflower au gratin side that was very cheesy and creamy. 



Hubby likes cheesecake and decided to have a slice of the mint cheesecake. I opted for a favorite old school after dinner drink - a grasshopper.

The Grand Mere Inn opened in 1980. I was greeted by the owner, who mentioned that his parents had started the business. It's currently open Wednesday through Saturday for dinner from 4:30 - 9 p.m. The place filled up shortly after we checked in. It's a busy place for a reason - good food, friendly staff and TBA on the views. Can't wait to get there later this year for the full sunset experience.