Welcome to Jeannine’s

Get to know Northport’s newest restaurant

In a bright and cozy space at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula sits Jeannine’s Restaurant, which opened in Northport’s celebrated Tribune building late last year. Owners Ron Marcotrigiano and Jeannine Logie aim to take up their predecessor’s mantle and become a go-to spot for hearty and delicious breakfast and lunch meals for years to come.

Northern Express sat down with the husband-and-wife team to find out more about their hopes, dreams, and (of course) food.

Long Island to Leelanau

Ron and Jeannine are both from Montauk, a small town at the very tip of Long Island in New York state.

Jeannine first came to northern Michigan about 10 years ago on a whim after reading that Sleeping Bear Dunes was the most beautiful place in America. Upon seeing the area for herself, she decided that was largely true and bought a home here.

She later returned to Montauk and met Ron while working at a restaurant there, she in the front of the house and him in the kitchen (the same holds true at Jeannine’s). The two traveled for a while all over the country, and she eventually brought him to northern Michigan.

“I didn’t really want to come up to the Great Lakes. I didn’t quite believe some of what I had heard. It can’t possibly be [that beautiful],” Ron says. “But then when she brought me up here, it was even better. Once we were here, I was immediately trying to figure out how to have a livelihood here.”

They traveled some more, but the pull of northern Michigan was strong. They were headed to Idaho when they first heard about the Tribune space becoming available, a space that very much meshed with their dreams of opening a restaurant in the area.

Ron and Jeanine know that some might be wary or critical of outsiders opening a restaurant in a small, somewhat insular community, but they believe they’re very well suited to perform in this exact situation.

“We come from a teeny tiny town that was infiltrated about 10 years ago by people from Manhattan and business owners from Manhattan, so we were on the other end of what we’re doing now,” Jeannine says. “We know what it feels like on both ends of the spectrum and we feel for people.”

Cold-season Trial Run

Ron and Jeannine took occupancy late last year and decided to open by winter to iron out kinks before the crush of the tourist season.

“I’m happy we did it in the winter because we have time to actually get ready for summer,” Ron says. “We were going to get everything going in April, but then you put in all that effort and right away you’re getting hit in the head [with big crowds].”

They were open every day for a two-week stretch right before the holidays to get the word out, and have been open on a more limited basis (breakfast and lunch four days a week) since then. So far, things have been “going wonderfully.”

“People are loving it and they’re coming back, which is just great,” Jeannine says. “I mean, we’re in northern Michigan in the middle of winter in Northport, but a lot of people have been in here every weekend, both days, so we’re pretty happy with that.”

They’ve been dinged in the Google reviews with some people complaining about their prices (which at under $20 for most items on the menu, aren’t out of line with many other area restaurants). Ron and Jeannine contend their prices are plenty fair.

“The priority for us entering this situation is to provide as high a quality a product we can across the board,” Ron says. “And that comes with a price.”

“Nothing is overpriced,” Jeannine adds. “This is 2026 in northern Michigan, and the prices reflect the quality of the food, and it’s a great value. You’re spending $20 to get a huge plate of food, more than enough to bring home, with great fresh vegetables, mostly organic.”

Living and Breathing Food

About that food: Ron and Jeannine are pretty proud of it. Breakfast is their greatest joy, with plenty of good selections.

“The frittata is amazing. He makes different frittatas, and it’s all fresh ingredients all the time,” Jeannine says. “Right now ours is sweet potato, cherry tomatoes, bacon, and cheddar.”

The list goes on. “We make a killer hash. The benedict is great,” Jeannine says. “His pancakes are amazing.”

Don’t sleep on lunch, though. “The patty melt is phenomenal,” Jeannine tells us. “We don’t have a burger on our menu, and we’re confident to do it because the patty melt is [so good],” she says. “It’s a really really, really good patty melt.”

“I’m doing it on focaccia with a nice garlic aioli and an onion jam, but I caramelize the onions low and slow,” Ron adds. “It’s just a good one.”

The menu is ample, but not overbearing. This is by design and stands in stark contrast to the 10-page menus at some of the big chain breakfast places.

“I'm a fan of a smaller menu when I go out to eat,” Jeannine says. “I don’t want to spend so much time thinking about this and that—I love when the thought has been put in there for me and I can just use a dish that I know that the chef has thought about really well.”

Jeannine credits Ron for a menu driven by constant innovation.

“I have been around the restaurant industry my whole life, and I’ve known a number of chefs, and I will say that this guy is living and breathing food,” she says. “He’s thinking about the menu all the time, even when he’s not at work…and it really shows in all the food. So when someone asks what’s great on the menu, everything is great. They’re really high quality dishes.”

The next step for the couple will be activating the space in the evening hours with some good takeaway options.

“We’re getting this breakfast and lunch thing anchored in really well, and then we want to expand into high quality ice cream, and we’re thinking lobster rolls in the afternoon or evening,” Jeannine says.

Find Jeannine’s Restaurant at 110 E Nagonaba St. in Northport. (231) 386-1041; jeanninesnorthport.com

View On Our Website