Posted by Michael Stern on June 01, 2002
It was Warren Pierce, dean of Detroit radio, who told us we needed to go to Juilleret’s of Charlevoix. He said it was the quintessential Roadfood restaurant; and he was absolutely right. What an amazing little place it is! Unpretentious, totally – it’s just a café on the outskirts of town; it serves only breakfast and lunch. But once you’ve had a slice of Juilleret’s grilled cinnamon raisin toast or Michigan maple roll or a broiled whitefish sandwich on homemade whole wheat, you will believe the house motto, inscribed on the back of the menu: This is not just another restaurant… this is JUILLERET’S!.
The pancakes belong on our short list of the nation’s best. They are large, so large that one is a nice-size meal, but amazingly they are not gross or doughy. In fact, each cake is a rather elegant piece of food, like a fine pastry but with all the good buttery character of a griddle-cooked flapjack. They are made plain or infused with raspberries or blueberries and available with house-made syrup, powdered sugar, honey or peanut butter, or (for $1.50 extra), maple syrup from a nearby farm.
Breads at breakfast and for lunch sandwiches are homemade, except for the listing under the “Bakery Items” heading on the menu that says store-bought toast. Available loaves (by the slice or whole) include cinnamon, cinnamon-raisin, white, banana-walnut, and whole wheat; you can get a slice plain, toasted, or grilled. The alternative to these excellent breads is a homemade roll, also available warm or grilled. Juilleret’s offers cinnamon rolls, maple rolls, nutty rolls, and cinnamon raisin rolls.
Lunch is extraordinary, too. Mashed potatoes for the side of hot sandwiches are real and delicious, topped with homemade gravy. Local whitefish is broiled to a fine, fragile, crisp-edged succulence, sandwiched in Juilleret’s good bread, and served with excellent pickly-sweet tartar sauce. Hamburgers are served on made-here buns; even the tuna salad, made fresh the Midwestern way with Miracle Whip, is a cut above.
At the risk of blubbering with joy, we should simply say that desserts maintain the highest standards. Juilleret’s coconut cream pie is one of the best anywhere, its dense, coconut-chocked custard so intensely flavorful that you want to call it savory, its meringue topping light as a puff of steam.
Not only is the food something special. The ambience, although casual, is truly civilized. The bright dining room is trimmed in nautical blue; the waitstaff knows the menu and offers good advice about what goes with what; and a sign just outside the front door declares the interior of Juilleret’s to be a cell phone free zone.
Juilleret's is closed Wednesdays.
Overall: Worth driving from anyplace
11 out of 11 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
Reviewers "Must Eats" List
grilled cinnamon toast
($3.00)
pancakes
($6.00)
cream pie
($3.00)
fruit crisp
($2.00)
"Local whitefish is broiled and served on thick slices of Juilleret's-made white or whole wheat toast. The milky-sweet flavor of this fish is one of the culinary joys of Michigan."
Michael Stern
"A coconut cream pie so intensely flavorful that other pies seem frivolous by comparison"
Michael Stern
"The waitress will ask if you want your toast merely toasted or grilled. We prefer the latter, which infuses the delicious homemade bread with a butter savor."
Michael Stern
"At the entryway to Juilleret's, a glass case holds the day's fresh-baked breads and rolls."
Michael Stern
"A single raspberry pancake is a nice little breakfast. To top it, you get a choice of regular made-here syrup or, for $1.50 extra, local maple syrup."
Michael Stern
"This unpretentious roadside cafe serves some of the best roadfood in Northern Michigan."
Michael Stern
