Ever pause while eating your basket of smelt or tater tots or drinking an IPA at Art’s Tavern and glance up at the pennants attached to the ceiling above you? Ever wonder how they got there? We did, and we asked Art’s owner Tim Barr for the story.
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A big weekend awaits Glen Arbor. On Saturday, during the much hyped Michigan vs. Michigan State football game at noon, Art’s Tavern will offer bargain deals. “We’re going to double the price of everything on the menu and then take 50 percent off,” boasted Art’s jovial co-owner Tim Barr. “For both Wolverine and Spartan fans!”
Maggie Maclellan (above) has been working at Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor for 14 years (except for the winters when she left). An Empire local, Maggie has worked as a bartender, waitress, and hostess at Art’s, and this year she worked 70 hours during the Fourth of July week. “Generally I work 50 hours a week, and that’s not bad. That’s typical.” This summer Art’s has been short “maybe 20 people,” Maggie says. Usually we employ 60-70 through the summer; this year it’s around 40 or 50,” says Maggie as summer winds down: “I would like some time off. I’m gonna go camping one night, just by myself.”
Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor is a go-to spot for burgers, beers and—if you’re in the mood—shots of liquor. On Wednesday, May 5, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. it’s also a great spot to receive free COVID-19 vaccination shots. No appointments are necessary. Staff from the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department will be on hand to administer Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots to anyone age 18 or older.
The bustle of late-May and the annual race toward Memorial Day weekend are obvious at businesses in Glen Arbor. Of course, there is NOTHING normal about this holiday weekend—the typical start to the tourism season in Leelanau County. The state, the nation, and the world remain on virtual lockdown—and yet, restaurants and bars in Northern Michigan were suddenly given the exclusive green light by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday to reopen today. No one knows how busy—or not—this Memorial Day weekend will be.
Local businesses are showing signs of life, despite the global coronavirus pandemic and statewide shutdown. Art’s Tavern and Blu in Glen Arbor are both open for curbside service, as are Leland’s Riverside Inn and Empire’s Friendly Tavern.
On Saturday, November 23, an unprecedented event occurred in Glen Arbor. An old abandoned graveyard came alive again, thanks to some very caring folks from here and from Interlochen.
Having tested the waters in other climes, Leelanau County local Mike Gauthier boomeranged back home from South Carolina for good in 2002. He has been slingin’ beers and mixin’ drinks behind the bar at Art’s Tavern since 2008.
Click the photo for a tasty list of area restaurants, grouped by town, including descriptions, photos, locations and contact information, and reviews.
Art’s Tavern has been located at the corner of Lake Street and M22 is some form or another since before prohibition. Originally called the Blue Goose Saloon when run by Frank Sheridan, it was renamed by Frank’s son Art when he took over after his father’s accidental electrocution in 1934.