The Cherry Hut - Beulah, MI

Posted By Michael Stern on September 30, 2002 8:48 AM

We cannot tell a lie: our favorite way to eat cherries in northwestern Michigan is to stop at a farm stand in the summer and get a bag of washed ones. They are dark maroon, nearly black; their skin is taut, and their flesh is firm and full of nectar. When you buy them by the side of the road they are usually warm from the sun, and there is something about the pop of their skin and that summer-temperature cherry juice flooding the tongue that makes eating these fruits by the bagful of the greatest car snacks anywhere

Our second favorite way to enjoy cherries is to visit The Cherry Hut, a roadside eatery opened in 1922 dedicated to the glories of Michigan’s sweetest crop. Once totally al fresco and serving nothing but cherry pie, this cheerful place now has indoor tables and a short menu of farmland comfort food including biscuit-topped chicken pie and chicken salad dotted with dried tart cherries. Still, the one most important thing to eat is a slice of cherry pie, either a la mode or au naturel. Loaded with bright red cherries, it is sweet and a little tart, with a flaky crust that adds a savory note. This superb pie is made from the same recipe that has defined cherry pie excellence now for more than three-quarters of a century.

Post-pie, most visitors buy jams, jellies, and souvenirs from the Cherry Hut store. Whole pies are available to go.

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Posted By Richard Rowe on January 6, 2012 1:38 AM

I live in Illinois, but take 3-5 trips to the Ludington area every year, mostly doing volunteer work, and on every trip I drive up to Beulah to visit the Cherry Hut for a piece of their excellent cherry pie, several jars of cherry "products", and usually a pie or two. I've been making that trip since I was a kid and do not think that the cherry pie has ever changed. I think my first ever piece of cherry pie was consumed there... a treat from my father who was also a Cherry Hut devotee from HIS adolescence.

As to their cherry jam, my daughter simply calls it cherry crack

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Posted By Dennis W on October 10, 2010 9:51 PM

Wonderful cherry pie. Left us wanting more. Next time I'm backing up the car and filling the backseat with pies. We were only 30 miles away from this restaurant so we knew we had to try it. After about a half hour, we were walking into the restaurant with dozens of summer tourists, and the pies were waiting there at the cash register, warm from the oven. At $7.25 per pie, or $21 for three pies this was a steal. The only regret was not having the scoop of ice cream to put on top of the masterpiece. Can't wait for an excuse to drive the 120 miles back and sample some of the regular restaurant menu.

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