My Five Favorite Traverse City Restaurants

About once a week I receive a text or a message from someone asking, “Hey! I’m coming to Traverse City soon and we’d love to go to a nice dinner, any recommendations?” Although I love this question, it is also overwhelming for someone who lives here because there are so many great options to choose from. Are you looking for casual? Italian? Sushi? Farm to Table? Listing all the amazing Traverse City Restaurants would take forever, so instead I decided to make a post about my five favorite Traverse City restaurants for dinner. I will also write a post about more casual options for dinner, but for now if you are looking for a dinner that you will never forget, I recommend trying one of these five! These restaurants are definitely on the more expensive side, but so worth it. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

The Cook’s House

One of the first Traverse City restaurants I was ever recommended when I moved here was The Cook’s House. I was visiting Charlevoix and told someone I just moved to Traverse City. They stopped what they were doing, looked me dead in the eye and said, “Well, I recommend visiting The Cook’s House and after you fall in love, go ahead and make your reservations for the next year or so, because they are so good and impossible to get into.” I knew I had to check it out, so we made reservations for our first special occasion.

The Cook’s House prides themselves on offering an incredible experience and meal, “built on the bounty of locally grown and foraged foods.” After enjoying a few meals here and learning more about the owners, I know why that random woman in Charlevoix made sure I knew about how wonderful The Cook’s House was. I often see the owners shopping at our lovely local co-op, Oryana, see the incredible events and classes they host in their adorable and quaint restaurant, and have grown to love them just as I was told I would. I would say all of these restaurant’s in this post are on the expensive side but if you and your guests decide to indulge in The Cook’s House 5-course pairing meal, it will be a splurge, but so damn worth it. Their menu is always changing; but you can always expect a fresh, local, and delicious meal.

Modern Bird

The newbie on this list and a dining experience you don’t want to miss, would be to enjoy a meal at Modern Bird. Modern Bird opened earlier this year and has wowed so many of us. Modern Bird is owned and operated by a husband and wife (both chefs) whose energy, love, and passion for food you can feel as soon as you walk in the door. My favorite part about dining here (aside from the incredible food and drinks), was the team connection you could feel and witness as you enjoyed your meal. Everyone was working together to create a smooth, delicious, and enjoyable experience.

Their menu will change with the seasons and all of their items are delicious, but their staple items like their cheddar bread with ranch butter and their wings are must tries. Our first experience here was incredible and we can’t wait to frequent as often as we can.

PepeNero

One of our all-time favorites and probably the restaurant we frequent the most out of this list is PepeNero. There is a dish here, pappardelle, that keeps me coming back every time I crave pasta. They also offer amazing GF gnocchi as a gluten-free option for their pastas. Their chef and owner make everything from scratch and it’s always delicious.

Although the menu changes sometimes, they are one of the restaurants on this list that stay pretty consistent, so when you fall in love with something, don’t worry they will most likely have it the next time you visit. My favorites are their pappardelle, their fish special is always awesome, and their new dessert, semifreddo, is incredible.

Red Ginger

Another restaurant we frequent in Traverse City is Red Ginger. Red Ginger offers a fine dining experience with a diverse menu offering dishes from all over the world. It is definitely the best place you can get sushi in Traverse City. The staff here is awesome and we always have a great experience here. We especially love going here for double dates and ordering a huge plate of sushi and either a dirty martini or a couple bottles of wine.

This is another place that sticks to a pretty consistent menu so you don’t need to worry about falling in love with an item and it’s gone the next time you visit! Some of the main dishes will rotate but a lot of it them and the sushi stay pretty consistent. My personal favorites are the Dragon Wings, Pork Belly Bao Buns, Chef Dan’s Signature, and the Dancing Turtle.

Trattoria Stella

Another great place for special occasions is Trattoria Stella. This is our go to for anniversaries, birthdays, or whenever someone is visiting from out of town. Although it’s hard to choose, if I had to pick a favorite from this list for ambiance, it would be Trattoria Stella. I love brick building and experience they provide and their food is so good it’s hard to believe it’s even real.

The menu at Trattoria Stella does change a lot with the seasons, but they keep some staples on their menu year round like their burrata and octopus and they are phenomenal. This is also my favorite place to go and get a drink and an app and the octopus is to die for. Did I mention I love the octopus? Lol.

Thanks so much for reading along! I loved writing about my five favorite Traverse City restaurants and I want to run to every single one of them immediately because my mouth is watering now. It’s actually impossible to choose a favorite out of these five because they are all so delicious and provide an incredible dining experience. I feel so lucky to live where I do and taste all the goodness they put out into the world. Where are your favorite Traverse City restaurants? Click here to read more blog posts about Traverse City.