Some Things Change, but These Restaurants Stay the Same

Three local establishments that have been around the block (and back again)

By Eric Cox | Oct. 4, 2025

There are a lot of grand old restaurants in northern Michigan. (Looking at you, Sleder’s Family Tavern, aka the state’s oldest continuously operated restaurant, having opened way back in 1882.)

When we started thinking about eateries that have stood the test of time—serving up the same beloved recipes, holding onto the same beloved staff—there were too many to fit in a single article. But, for now, here’s a start. Let’s take a look at three dining hot spots from Empire to Pellston to Johannesburg that have served generations of hungry locals.

Joe’s Friendly Tavern, Empire: Opened 1940

Joe’s Friendly Tavern turned 85 this year, nearing nine decades of smiling service and delicious burgers.

Currently owned by the Lerchen family, the late Chet Salisbury opened the original Friendly Tavern in 1940. Then just offering beer and wine, the business operated in tandem with a hardware store. Six years later, Salisbury sold both to Mark and Warren Deering, local brothers returning from World War II.

The Deerings kept the tavern, but replaced the hardware store with Deering’s Market. Capitalizing on a good supply of fresh ground beef next door, the brothers took the logical next step of offering burgers and fries at the Friendly Tavern, initiating a legacy of near legendary hamburgers and cheeseburgers, known far and wide for their quality and lauded in local publications, as well as the New York Times and Detroit Free Press.

Years later, Joe Wiesen, the tavern’s namesake owner, took the reins. Wiesen and his family went on to own and operate Joe’s Friendly Tavern from 1974 to 2006, becoming the longest owners to date.

Frank Lerchen watched it all grow as the tavern’s manager from 1996-2006. He loved the place so much that he and his wife, Mary, bought Joe’s from Mike Wiesen, a son of Joe’s who had carried on the business after his father’s death.

On the phone, Frank Lerchen embodies his tavern’s amiable nature. Easygoing and affable, he reflects on his changing roles and how he operates the restaurant. “It’s been a smooth transition, going from general manager to owner,” he says. “We’re just running it the way it’s always been run.”

Lerchen says generation after generation of customers continue to patronize Joe’s Friendly Tavern, reinforcing that whatever they’ve been doing in terms of food and service has been 100 percent correct. “If I change too much, they’d holler,” he laughs. “They wouldn’t like it. They wouldn’t like it at all.”

Joe’s Friendly Tavern has a variety of other fare, but it’s the burgers that really ring everyone’s bell. A top seller is the Rodeo Joe, Joe’s cheeseburger with smoky bacon and BBQ sauce. If you really want to smile (and maybe laugh?) pair that burger with a popular appetizer, the Curd Ferguson!, which is a hearty helping of crispy fried white cheddar nuggets smothered in “Michigan Gravy” (ranch dressing).

Dam Site Inn, Pellston: Opened 1953

“It’s quite challenging at times, but really rewarding as well,” says third-generation Dam Site Inn owner Steven Brinks. “Seeing everyone and all the faces that show up year after year is very nice. It gives you a good feeling.”

And good feelings are what it’s all about at this well-known comfort food haven in the heart of northern Michigan.

Open Easter through mid-October, this 72-year-old eatery south of Pellston has been family-owned since its 1953 inception. The Brinks family is the latest in a series of owners that started with founders Ken and Kathy McLaughlin.

Ken was a Flint Buick dealer who bought the property, which was once a log cabin dance hall known as the Battle Creek Club. The club owners purchased the property from sisters Nancie Hady and Elbie Effting, who had operated the Maple River Inn across the road since 1923.

Visitors could lodge and dine at the inn, then walk across the street for drinks and dancing at the club. Neither of those enterprises stood the test of time, but over the years, the inn’s food gained a solid reputation.

Recognizing that fact, the McLaughlins built their fledgling restaurant’s menu around the Maple River Inn’s most popular offerings: fried chicken, whitefish, walleye, and steaks.

The restaurant’s name must’ve been a logical choice, since a dam on the nearby Maple River was part of the property for decades. That storied dam is long gone, but the name remains. And to many locals and visitors, that name is synonymous with heaping platters of crispy, golden brown chicken and colorful bowls of whipped mashed potatoes, decadent homemade noodles, buttery corn, and more.

The Dam Site Inn is primarily noted for its all-you-can-eat, family style chicken dinners ($31.99 per person). The waitstaff, which adheres to decades-old service traditions, truly gives a tinker’s dam as they flood the table with wave after wave of homestyle food.

Those uninterested in gorging can order a range of salads, steaks, seafood, and more, including Plath’s smoked pork chops, New York strip steak, broiled whitefish and walleye dinners, English style fish and chips, and frog legs, among others.

Also, don’t forget to check out the inn’s incredible retro bar, which features a Naugahyde bar and walls, held over from Ken McLaughlin’s Buick days. It’s truly one of a kind.

“Why fix it if it’s not broken?” Brinks wonders aloud about his restaurant. “This great tradition has been handed down to us, and our customers tell us they want us to keep the legacy going. They show up every single year. Business has been great. Can’t beat it!”

The Old Depot Restaurant, Johannesburg: Opened 1987

“It’s all about the quality and the tradition. They go hand in hand,” says Chris Pohutsky, second-generation owner of The Old Depot.

Nestled on the corner of M-32 and Heatherton Road, The Old Depot has been churning out high-quality food for 38 years. Pohutsky’s parents founded the eatery in 1987, after purchasing a defunct restaurant. Leonard and Karen Pohutsky remodeled and reopened, offering a range of Polish food, sandwiches, a hearty breakfast menu, and popular homemade pies and cakes.

A restaurant in that area has been a staple in Johannesburg for generations. Though it’s called The Old Depot, the current business is actually housed in a newer structure built in 2000. The original depot structure, once located about a hundred yards east, was razed years ago. The building also housed Ed’s Village Inn, a forerunner of the current restaurant.

The Pohutskys are all self-trained in the food business. Chris watched his parents operate the establishment, and he enjoyed the tutelage of a longtime Gaylord butcher, Lester Dowker, who trained him in meat cutting, sausage making, and more.

Sixty-year-old Chris has been working in The Old Depot for 34 years, learning more and more, before finally taking over as his parents retired.

They shared all their knowledge with him, including his mom’s pie and cake-making abilities.
The result is an expansive menu with dozens of tasty offerings, including about 40 different kinds of eggs benedict, a roster of pies and cakes that could trigger a sugar coma by just looking at it, and a tempting plate of savory and comforting Polish dishes.

Currently, The Old Depot’s breakfast menu has Classic Eggs Benedict that features farm fresh eggs with Dearborn Ham on a toasted English muffin with hollandaise sauce and a side of American fries. Or opt for the Irish Eggs Benedict with corned beef hash, while the Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict is built on homemade biscuits topped with fresh spinach and sliced potatoes, crispy bacon, hollandaise sauce, and American fries.

A variety of pancakes and other typical breakfast fare, including several different omelets are also available. Lunch offerings include a Whitefish Ruben, a Salmon Burger, and the Caprese Chicken Sandwich, which is a house-seasoned and grilled chicken breast with mozzarella cheese on fresh-baked sourdough bread with fresh spinach, tomato and basil pesto. Dinner hours are temporarily suspended in light of staffing difficulties.

Chris says maintaining the traditions that have resulted in the restaurant’s success is key to its survival. “It’s definitely more labor intensive this way, and we could probably find cheaper ingredients, but that’s now how we want to do it. We try to do things the right way.”