You gotta go!
Great little retro bar & grill. It's not decorated retro, it is retro. Great local joint. The best steaks, chicken, and fresh water fish.    [17 Mar 2006 15:33:53]

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Recommended Dishes: New York Strip & Pickerel

     ­Charlie   

The front door with its round porthole window and deco styling truly is a portal into the past - pull it open and enter a place that hasn't changed much in the past 40 years.

The bar is small and friendly, lit with neon and looking much as it must have a half-century ago. It's the kind of place where your dad probably enjoyed a cold bottle of Hamm's or Old Style with his buddies after knocking off work back in the 50s. Back then, every neighborhood seemed to have a small local place where the guys met to tell stories and drain a bottle or two. They all seemed to have been called "taverns" in those days.

The restaurant is a bit larger than the bar, and the booths always seem to be full. There's good reason for that. The specialty is fried chicken, served up hot and crispy. The large neon sign outside advertises "Chicken in the Rough", the logo being a rooster dressed in 30s vintage golf gear. Once a national franchise, this chicken dish has dwindled to a very few places. The half-chicken that arrives at the table hot, juicy, and delicious, is proof that better doesn't always win out. If so, KFC would be a rarity and Chicken in the Rough a national symbol.

Also on the menu are steaks and fresh water fish from Lake Huron, both very good.

Those who don't smoke (such as me) might find the cigarette smell from the adjacent bar objectionable. Bear with it - the food compensates for the smoke.

My only complaint is with the french fries served with the chicken. They're tasty, but far too greasy.

A wonderful retro place with good, solid classic food. Next time you're in the mood for something quick, don't head for a national chain. Go here. It's an island of individuality in a cookie-cutter world, and the kind of place that's rapidly disappearing from the American scene.    [30 May 2006 00:42:08]

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     ­Anonymous