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Ottawa Inn, Ottawa Lake, MI---good stuff!

Just had a really nice surprise!! We were wandering around the back roads tonight and ended up on the west edge of Ottawa Lake. It's familiar to us from days past going up and down 223, but we had never come into town from that side before. I headed east on the one main road and just before 223, we saw this little well-lit place on the right, it was busy, we were hungry and thirsty, so we went in.

What a treat! I had a very very good margarita that was not made with a mix, nice and clean-tasting, 2 in fact, and an appetizer that was one of the Best Things Ever. Can't remember the name exactly, but they were described as Canadian-style ribs with a dry rub and they were great!!! 6 bones, deep fried, rubbed with salt and pepper and a side of sauce that was a wonderful thin smoky vinegar red, mmm-mmm-mmm!!! Such a nice change from the bones drowned in sticky sugar sauce you usually get, you could actually taste the meat, SO nice!! I asked and the waitress confirmed the owners make their own and she offered to sell me a bottle but I said, no, I'm coming back and bringing friends and eating it here, it's a treat!!! The little blurb on the menu said they are addictive and I can see they would be!! The thick steaks and big baked potatoes at the next table look great, too.

It's a nice clean happy place, only one tv on and nobody was watching it, everybody was laughing and talking, I LOVE small town homey places. Gotta go back and try the burger!

created by nana on Nov 06, 2009 at 10:22:17 pm     Comments: 5    

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Comments ... #


Don't you love stumbling across stuff like that? Thanks for the post.

posted by Ryan on Nov 07, 2009 at 09:06:51 am     #



Indeed! There's a birthday coming up here and a new place for a casual B-Day dinner is a good idea.

posted by holland on Nov 07, 2009 at 08:12:00 pm     #



Finally made it there today. Very deceptive building, cute inside. But they just took the ribs off the menu 2 weeks ago when they changed things around. :(
Just my luck, lol.

posted by Ryan on May 15, 2010 at 09:05:29 pm     #



Oh NO!!!!! I was just thinking about them today, dammit!!! that sucks, guess I was the only one who liked them, ha. I looked all over the net after that visit to find Canadian-style ribs and got nothin, so if anyone ever comes across them again, or a recipe, please let us know! I should go up there and ask them, since they don't make them anymore.

posted by nana on May 15, 2010 at 11:51:18 pm     #



This is one of my favorite restaurants! What a coincidence that we ate there last night... unfortunately they did just change their menu. Luckily they still have their prime rib, though it is only available on Friday and Saturday nights now instead of all week. Their fried shrimp was always delicious but that was one of the casualties of their new menu :( They also used to have a side dish that was redskin potatoes cut in half and fried with a parmesan sauce drizzled over them. Those also are off the menu now too which is pretty hard to understand. The chef came out of the kitchen to chat with us and he said that they're just trying something new with the shortened menu. I have a feeling it had something to do with the new smoking ban in Michigan, maybe they're expecting lower attendance or something. The food was still top-notch so I'm not disappointed in that at all, just kind of disappointed in the overall small menu.

posted by dell_diva on May 16, 2010 at 06:57:52 pm     #


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