In Praise of Hang-Outs: Raise a Glass to Your Home Away from Home

Everyone should have a hang-out -- that cozy, rough-around-the-edges place where you can always find a friendly face along with the latest gossip and a line on what’s happenin’.
A good hang-out isn’t a place “where everybody knows your name,” like in the Cheers song. A place like that tends to be a burden; most likely it’s where you work -- the place you’re trying to get away from.
No, a good hang-out is a place where you’re slightly anonymous among a crowd of friendly strangers. Chances are you have a few friends and acquaintances there, but the appeal of the place is people-gawking at the faces in the crowd and the chance to make new friends.
I’ve been blessed with many cool hang-outs through the years, most of which were jam-packed with partying people in their hey-day, but are now as extinct as the dodo bird due to some strange affliction that proves fatal to hip scenes over time. Hang-outs have a way of moving on.
Does anyone remember Trainer’s Tavern at Woodward and 10 Mile Road in Royal Oak? It’s a freeway now. Or oldie’s night at the long-gone Aorta Bar on Six Mile in Detroit? Did you ever dance at the Coral Gables on Woodward, or the 20 Grand or West Side Six (aka Silverbird) on Telegraph Road? Remember the Wagon Wheel in Troy? Did you ever check out the 3 a.m. dining scene at Ted’s on the Park in Detroit? The Traffic Jam at Wayne State U.?
Maybe I saw you there.
Other towns, other scenes: Maybe you used to catch those .40-cent shells at The Blackstone in Mt. Pleasant. Perhaps you were a habitue of Lizard’s in East Lansing, Club Soda in Kalamazoo, Antler’s Bar in the Soo, Mr. Flood’s Party in Ann Arbor, or the BOB in Grand Rapids.
Locally? Well, that’s what the accompanying list is for -- to honor those hallowed hang-outs of Northern Michigan that put the spice in life around here.
My first memory of the hidden underside of Northern Michigan was walking into the U Lounge in Traverse City on a weekday night in 1984. I hadn’t been part of a hang-out scene for years at the time, so it was a shock on par with stepping through Alice’s Looking Glass. The place was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone talking at once -- a racket like a fox in a chicken coop. It was fantastic. Who knew this world even existed? Who knew there was such a dynamic social scene in sleepy old Northern Michigan? Only those who dared to venture out.
Some might claim that a gym can be a hang-out, or even a church. Hey, whatever works, but those are places dedicated to getting specific things done, either physically or spiritually. A true hang-out, by contrast, tends to be a place to let your hair down, let your backbone slip, and indulge in some serious yakking.
A good hang-out is a party that goes on every evening for years. It’s a place where the laughs come easy, but also a place where you can stare a hole through the mirror behind the bar if your heart is on the rocks.
Speaking of which, a good hang-out also tends to be a mausoleum where old memories are buried along with the lust for old flames. You see old what’s-her-name or what’s-his-face in the crowd and barely recognize them. And you wonder what the attraction was when you were out spinning around the dance floor way back when.
That’s the beauty of hang-outs. Things change, but they stay the same. See you there.

And the Winners are....

Best Monday Nite Hangout

Grand Traverse Lil’ Bo’s
Leelanau Leelanau Sands Casino & Resort
Benzie/Interlochen Crystal Mountain
Antrim/Kalkaska Vasquez Hacienda Emmet Knot Just A Bar
Boyne/Charlevoix Whitney’s of Charlevoix
Gaylord La Senorita
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Brown Trout

Best Tuesday Nite Hangout

Grand Traverse Trattoria Stella
Leelanau The Cedar Tavern
Benzie/Interlochen The Hofbrau
Antrim/Kalkaska Short’s Brewing
Emmet Leo’s Lounge
Boyne/Charlevoix Pippins Seafood Grill
Gaylord The Broken Pub Club
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Brown Trout

Best “Hump Day” Hangout

Grand Traverse Streeter’s
Leelanau Kejara’s Bridge
Benzie/Interlochen Dinghy’s
Antrim/Kalkaska The Alden Bar & Grille
Emmet Knot Just A Bar
Boyne/Charlevoix The Tannery
Gaylord The Duck Blind Grille
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Brown Trout

Best Thursday Nite Hangout

Grand Traverse Streeter’s
Leelanau Kejara’s Bridge
Benzie/Interlochen N/A
Antrim/Kalkaska Torch Riviera
Emmet The Noggin Room
Boyne/Charlevoix Snowflake Lounge
Gaylord Timothy’s Pub
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Boathouse Restaurant

Best 20 something Hangout

Grand Traverse Streeter’s
Leelanau Kejara’s Bridge
Benzie/Interlochen Marlin’s House of Brews
Antrim/Kalkaska The Dockside
Emmet Harmony Grounds Café
Boyne/Charlevoix Villager Pub
Gaylord Tyrolean Restaurant
& Lounge
Mackinaw/Cheboygan N/A

Best Non-Music Venue Hangout

Grand Traverse The U Lounge
Leelanau Scott’s Harbor Grill
Benzie/Interlochen Dinghy’s
Antrim/Kalkaska The Riverwalk
Emmet Northern Lights Recreation
Boyne/Charlevoix Red Mesa Grill
Gaylord Brothers Coffee & Tea
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Boathouse Restaurant

Best Blues Club

Grand Traverse The Big Easy
Leelanau Kejara’s Bridge
Benzie/Interlochen N/A
Antrim/Kalkaska Short’s Brewing
Emmet City Park Grill
Boyne/Charlevoix N/A
Gaylord Tyrolean Restaurant & Lounge
Mackinaw/Cheboygan N/A

Best Alt Rock Club

Grand Traverse The Loading Dock
Leelanau Kejara’s Bridge
Benzie/Interlochen N/A
Antrim/Kalkaska N/A
Emmet City Park Grill
Boyne/Charlevoix N/A
Gaylord Tyrolean Restaurant & Lounge
Mackinaw/Cheboygan Dixie Saloon

Best Live Music

Grand Traverse Union Street Station
Leelanau Kejara’s Bridge
Benzie/Interlochen N/A
Antrim/Kalkaska The Alden Bar and Grille
Emmet City Park Grill
Boyne/Charlevoix The Sportsman Bar
Gaylord Big Buck Brewery and Steakhouse
Mackinaw/Cheboygan Gold Front

Best Dance Scene

Grand Traverse Streeter’s
Leelanau West Avenue Grill
Benzie/Interlochen N/A
Antrim/Kalkaska The Alden Bar and Grille
Emmet The Upstairs Club
Boyne/Charlevoix The Wolverine Dilworth Inn
Gaylord N/A
Mackinaw/Cheboygan N/A

Best Happy Hour

Grand Traverse North Peak Brewery
Leelanau Fischer’s Happy Hour
Benzie/Interlochen The Roadhouse
Antrim/Kalkaska Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen
Emmet Knot Just a Bar
Boyne/Charlevoix Red Mesa Grill
Gaylord Tyrolean Restaurant & Lounge
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Brown Trout

Best Place To Be Seen

Grand Traverse 310
Leelanau Scott’s Harbor Grill
Benzie/Interlochen Les Sirenes Galerie D’Art
Antrim/Kalkaska Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen
Emmet Chandler’s A Restaurant
Boyne/Charlevoix Garrett’s On Water Street
Gaylord The Duck Blind Grill
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Brown Trout

Best Place to Meet Singles

Grand Traverse Shimmers Lounge
Leelanau O’Keefe’s Firehouse Pub
Benzie/Interlochen The Cabbage Shed
Antrim/Kalkaska The Dockside
Emmet Knot Just a Bar
Boyne/Charlevoix Whitney’s of Charlevoix
Gaylord Timothy’s Pub
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Dixie Saloon

Cutest Clientele

Grand Traverse 310
Leelanau Scott’s Harbor Grill
Benzie/Interlochen Crystal Mountain
Antrim/Kalkaska The Torch Riviera
Emmet Knot Just a Bar
Boyne/Charlevoix Red Mesa Grill
Gaylord Legends on the Hill
Mackinaw/Cheboygan The Boathouse Restaurant


Best Poetry/Open Mike

Grand Traverse Horizon Books
Leelanau Kejara’s Bridge
Benzie/Interlochen Merlin’s House of Brews
Antrim/Kalkaska Short’s Brewing
Emmet City Park Grill
Boyne/Charlevoix N/A
Gaylord N/A
Mackinaw/Cheboygan N/A




View On Our Website