Carriage House Restaurant

Upscale waterfront dining doesn’t get much nicer than the Carriage House Restaurant at the Hotel Iroquois. The hotel’s stunning location provides diners with beautiful garden-framed views of the freighters and sailboats passing through the Straits of Mackinac.

Not surprisingly, the menu highlights seafood and steak. To start, the smoked whitefish cakes ($12.50) offer a classic taste of the Great Lakes, and the warm goat cheese salad ($10.50) is tasty and filling enough to stand in for a complete meal. Giant sea scallops ($36) are fresh and tender; ditto the massive shrimp that complements the mascarpone and sundried tomato ravioli topped with roasted garlic cream sauce ($33).

The Carriage House makes an elegant first impression with a winding, garden-lined path to the entrance and breathtaking harbor views through a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass. White tablecloths, fine china, sky-blue walls and live piano music all make it easy to see why this is perhaps the most romantic restaurant on Mackinac Island. The Carriage House is open seasonally May through October.