Everyone wishes they had another one of themselves around to get things accomplished. No one wishes that more than Chris and Cathy Szabo, owners of
Patrick Sinclair's Irish Pub on Mackinac Island and part-owners of The Antlers restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Szabo family first opened Sinclair's in 2000, naming it after Patrick Sinclair, who was famous for moving Fort Mackinac from Mackinac City to Mackinac Island in the late 1700s. Sinclair had a Scottish and Irish background and as legend has it, he was a bit of a drinker and a wild card, which fit perfectly into their pub-themed restaurant.
When the Szabo's looked to refinance Sinclair's they had the opportunity to take on The Antlers which has quite a history of its own. They transitioned into their ownership along with another local family in the summer of 2009.
Visiting Mackinac Island when he was in college, Chris began working in the summers at the Lakeview Hotel and Pilot House Restaurant.
"It's nice to still be associated with Mackinac Island and Sault Ste. Marie. The restaurant business is quite social especially in small towns with a lot of local clientele," Chris says.
The first thing you notice about The Antlers is of course, the antlers. With deer on every wall, it seems only fitting that The Antlers became a check point this year for the
Q1 Buck Pole contest. Over 300 ornamental antlers from animals all over the world can be found suspended above you while you eat. Their newest addition is a giant muskie from a local fisherman.
Each taxidermy animal needs meticulous care to preserve it. "It's like a classic car collection," Chris says.
If walls could talk, or rather if stuffed animals could talk, The Antlers would have a long story to tell. Formerly known as "The Bucket-of-Blood Saloon and Ice Cream Parlor," the restaurant was open during prohibition under the guise of an ice cream parlor with bootlegging in the basement.
Later, episodes of the western television series
Gunsmoke were filmed in front of a large timber bar that once stood in the restaurant.
The history may attract customers, but the food is what keeps them coming back for more. Attention to detail and true home-cooked meals can be found at both establishments.
"We don't buy chicken tenders and cheese sticks; we cube and bread our own and fry them ourselves," Chris notes.
Each restaurant serves buffalo burgers from Circle K Buffalo Ranch in Rudyard, Blue Harbor Seafood from Green Bay and
Plath's Meats from Petoskey, among others.
Sinclair's and The Antlers prepare their food from scratch including their famous Soo Stew Canoes at The Antlers and the 2010 Mackinac Island chili cook-off winning chili at Sinclair's.
For U.P. Second Wave's photoshoot, Chris hand-prepared the Antler's Burger, complete with hand-cut fries and a freshly baked bun and then added a bowl of World Famous Soo Stew Canoe Michigan Gumbo that is loaded with whitefish, sausage, celery, corn, okra, tomatoes and rice.
Chris says, "We get a lot more respect out of people when we give them a hand-pattied burger on a homemade bun with hand-cut fries. It takes more effort but pays off in the long run."
Speaking of long runs, Chris makes plenty of his own, traveling from Sault Ste. Marie to the island about once a week in the summer and a couple times a month the rest of the year. Though it's tough getting to Sinclair's in the winter, it's even more difficult for food and beverages to make the haul. Once the lake freezes, items are flown out of St.Ignace by
Great Lakes Air, and then transported by horse and carriage two and a half miles from the airport to the downtown restaurant.
"It's a juggling act," chuckles John Slevin, general manager of Sinclair's.
Sinclair's is unique in that it is the only Irish pub and one of three restaurants on the island that remain open year-round.
"We provide discounts to local customers; we realize they don't often have steady winter work so we make it affordable," says Slevin.
To wipe away the winter blues, Sinclair's provides live entertainment for local clientele and snowmobilers that come by an ice bridge. The restaurant hosts local island-dwelling artists like
Mary Mcguire and musicians from farther afield, such as
Chris Brantley of Detroit.
With Sinclair's going strong into its 11th year the Szabo family looks to put more time into their new business venture. Plans to renovate The Antlers next fall include rebuilding the bar and remodeling the banquet and game room to a more rustic décor which, of course, means filling them with more animals. And as far as both restaurants are concerned, the owners plan on keeping their local customers a priopiority.
"People seem awfully appreciative that we're improving the resteraunts, not just running them as tourist traps," says Chris.
Raised in historic Calumet, Victoria Peters always dreamed of pursuing a career in journalism, or becoming an "ABC girl," as she referred to the profession in her kindergarten days. A recent graduate of Michigan Technological University, she now resides in Sault Ste. Marie in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Peters currently works as a receptionist, freelance writer and copy editor. She can be reached via
email.