The city of Marshall, Michigan, dates back to the early 1800s. In fact, the city was recently recognized for its collection of historic nineteenth- and twentieth-century town architecture, with about 850 buildings listed as national historic places. Within and around this unique, small urban community are numerous shopping and dining options, including several German-style restaurants, a testament to the area's German heritage.
Mediteran, located in nearby Lansing, Michigan, offers traditional Eastern European fare, with a particular focus on the culinary heritage of the Germanic region. Dishes with roots in the Deutschland include traditional Vienna schnitzel; European-style pork medallions; Jager schnitzel, made with the "original German recipe"; and lamb or veal chops. Other specialty dinner entrees include Cevapi, a dish made with minced beef flavored with minced onions; Catalunya Schnitzel, made with chicken; and grilled pork loin. For lunch, a selection of sandwiches is offered, including roast beef, turkey and ham. A selection of desserts is always available, made from scratch.
Mediteran
333 South Washington Square
Lansing, MI 48933
517-372-1072
restaurantmediteran.com
Schuler's Restaurant & Pub offers traditional pub fare with an Americanized flare. The restaurant has been serving guests for a century, going four generations strong. The cuisine certainly has a European touch, as evident in specials such as traditional Easter brunch or kalamata olive bread. Specialties include Swiss onion soup, prime rib, braised beef in a bordelaise wine sauce and pot roast. A selection of German wines are available, including Riesling and Schlink-Haus, a sweet red wine. To add to the Old World atmosphere, famous sayings are presented around the restaurant and pub in Old English script, accompanied by murals of nineteenth-century Marshall, Michigan.
Schuler's Restaurant & Pub
115 South Eagle Street
Marshall, MI 49068
269-781-0600
schulersrestaurant.com
Mama Bear's Cafe, in nearby Lansing, is a bakery and eatery that specializes in German fare. In fact, the eatery's contributions to the annual mid-Michigan Oktoberfest have included bratwurst, ham and cheese brotchen (rolls), German-style artichoke dip, and desserts such as German sugar cookies and German gingerbread cake. In addition to serving coffee and pastries, the eatery serves up sandwiches with an Old World flare, including a club sandwich with Appleschram organic pork bacon and Swiss cheese, the Preuss Fish Sandwich (tuna fish with chive and celery), and a grilled prosciutto and smoked provolone sandwich. The eatery is closed on Mondays.
Mama Bear's Cafe
1224 Turner Street
Lansing, MI 48906-4340
517-485-6262
sites.google.com/site/mamabearscafesite/
Just a bit further out, in nearby Kalamazoo, is Bell's Brewery, Inc., which brews several styles of German beers, including a traditional lager, an Octoberfest (served September through October), and a traditional dopplebock. The brewery operates an eatery, the Eccentric Café, that serves a selection of foods with German or Bavarian roots, including pretzels with spicy tavern cheese, grilled Vienna all-beef hot dogs, and a wild game (ostrich or bison) sandwich. The cafe, which opened in 1993, also serves small-batch brews that are not distributed, and can only be found in-house.
Bell's Brewery Eccentric Café
355 East Kalamazoo Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3807
269-382-2332
bellsbeer.com
