Holy moly! The day after arriving at our rental cottage in…read moreMoran, Michigan on Brevoort lake, we noticed plenty of mosquitoes! Serious mosquitos! So the first thing on our list of needs, was buying a can of Off! Being that the cottage is in a fairly rural area, there aren't very many stores. But on our drive in, I noticed King's Fish Market. It was close, so I drove up. Turns out they don't sell bug spray, only smoked fish and a million other things, including Venison sausage. I purchased some smoked white fish and some venison cheddar sausage. OMG-Fantastic! They also have a little cafe and you can order fish and chips, chicken fingers etc as well. Big local beer selection too. After walking around checking everything out, I walked past a couple of women having lunch. I figured I'd ask how the food was. They then told me it was delicious, and that they have lunch there several times a week. Needless to say, my lovely wife and I will be back! And then before cashing out and leaving, the friendly owner sent me down the road to a gas station that sells Off! Bonus!

Wherever I can support local during my travels, I'm all for it. Last week, I brought a group of…read moreTexans, Missourians, and Californians here for lunch during our week-long tour through both Michigan's Lower and Upper Peninsulas. While we found this to be a charming local fish and specialty market, we were unfortunately underwhelmed by the food. Most of us ordered the 2-piece whitefish basket with fries. The fish itself seemed fresh, but the batter lacked seasoning and could have been much crispier. The fries were also fairly soggy. We also tried the whitefish chowder, which desperately needed salt. Adding a bit ourselves made a huge difference in flavor. We arrived well before the lunch rush and practically had the place to ourselves, so perhaps this was just an off day. Still, the fish baskets felt severely under-fried and lacking overall flavor, which was disappointing given the local reputation and specialty focus.

Well looking on the outside don't let it fool you. Fantastic smoked whitefish they were out of the…read moreother fish. We grabbed the smoked fish dip. Very pleased with it all.

The smoked trout and whitefish dip were excellent - service was friendly and knowledgeable - we…read morewill definitely be back! This is how smoked fish is supposed to taste at a reasonable price - far superior to the place that begins with a G on highway 2.

Our goto smoked fish shop, just amazing. The owner actually gave us a quick lesson on how to debone…read morethe smoked fish, so easy now. Fish is the best. Highly recommend.

Their Smoked Fishes are AMAZING ... I enjoyed the smoked Trout especially. I am an Indiana gal ,…read moreand I will make a special trip just for the smoked fish at Big Stone. Thank You Big Stone Bay Fishery , for all your great service ,the wonderful atmosphere, and the excellent products .

I haven't reviewed Gustafson's?…read more Giving credit where credit is due, this was another Jane & Michael Stern find from the 2005 update of their classic book Roadfood. Man, do your remember travel books? If you find one in a used book store, pick it up. The classics stay classic. And speaking of the classics, Gustafson's is the real deal. Roadside gas station with a handful of smokers to transform the bounty of the great lakes into delicious succulent morsels of delight. If you don't know, I have what I affectionately call a fat-tooth. And the fish that swim in those frigid fresh water lakes develop such beautiful and silky fat. The lake trout especially! Gustafson's isn't fancy. Walking in the door you may ask yourself, "This is it?". But when you tear open your pouch of smoked lake trout, and pull the meat off the bones with your fingers, with a little of that fat dripping down your arm and chin, you'll say to yourself, "Yeah, this is it." This is a required stop anytime I'm up in the UP. Last visit they were out of the whitefish, but so it goes. And looking back on the listing in Roadfood, the Sterns mentioned seeing smoked menominee in the case, but I've never noticed it before. I'll have to ask next time I'm up. Sure, you can get the salmon. I imagine it's delicious. The Gustafson's crew are great at smoking and salmon takes smoke well. But I say go for the local stuff. Get out of your comfort zone and buy a whole whitefish. Don't fret about heads and bones. Don't worry that you won't finish it (there is a bunch of negative space inside, they aren't as big as they look). You've got this. I believe in you!

Arguably the best spot in the U.P. To get smoked fish and meats! The service is friendly, and the…read moremeat and fish is smoked to perfection! The salmon is delicious! We also like the Slim Jim's. There was plenty of parking. There is a lot of local made goods here and there is always something new to look at. Casual spot for snacks!

Thier smoked products n dips are top notch. I tried other smoked white fish by the bridge farther…read moreuo north. Not as good as here.

We like to stop for smoke fish whenever we are north. This is the first time we stopped at…read moreKruegers. We got the white fish spread and the smoked salmon, and of course, some crackers. Absolutely delicious. So happy we found the spot.

The best! Customer service top notch. Dips are amazing…read more Smoked fish..perfection A must stop while in Charlevoix

Visited on vacation - whitefish dip is delicious as everyone has said already, and the fresh…read moreoysters I got were amazing. Found several pea crabs in them, which just goes to show how fresh and clean their sourcing is. Kind and helpful staff as well, will certainly be a staple of my Michigan visits.

Awesome new spot with all kinds of fresh goodies. Some of the best smoked fish dip you'll ever try…read more Cant beat the convenience of boneless smoked fish fillets. Real easy to find, right off US-2. Highly recommend.

Saw their sign that read fresh Smelt on US=2. Pulled a u-turn to go there. We found out they sold…read moreout this morning. The old bait and switch! Lol

We took home an amazing ribeye. We also tried the meatball sandwiches. The sandwiches were tasty…read morebut nothing to write home about. But that steak? I'd still be writing.

A gem of SSM and affordable prices too!…read more The hot food area is open Monday - Friday only. The store sells many premade refrigerated and frozen homemade meals and is open on the weekends. They have a lunch special Monday-Friday and they post their specials for the week on their Facebook page. I got the Philly Steak $7.25 (forgot to take a photo as we ate it too quickly) as it was their Friday special and we quickly gobbled that up so we decided to go for the Dinner for 2 as well. The lady was quite accommodating and allowed me to get 1/2 meatball and 1/2 chicken with pasta. We got 6 homemade meatballs and 2 pieces of chicken along with a huge tray of penne pasta with homemade tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. Large portions and everything was delicious! Try to make it Monday-Friday when the hot food area is open. We were staying at a hotel without a kitchen so didn't get a chance to try their premade meals. We really enjoyed our experience here and the food was great and well priced with good portions.

Meat Monkey's in Conway is hands-down one of the best kept secrets in northern Michigan. I've been…read morebuying meat here for a while now, and every time I walk away impressed with both the quality of the cuts and the personal service. The steaks are thick and beautifully marbled, the ground beef is fresh and flavorful, and the prices? Unbeatable--especially when buying bundles in bulk. You can tell it's a family-owned business from the moment you interact with them. The staff is super friendly and genuinely cares about what they're selling. "Fantastic Local Butcher - Quality, Service, and Value!"

Lyal and Lois are always great. Prices cannot be beat. If they are, you are usually getting a lower…read moregrade of meat.