Art’s Tavern Spotlight: Glen Arbor, Michigan

People have been stopping at Art’s Tavern after a day at the beach or a drive down M-22 for decades. The tavern sits at 6487 Western Ave in Glen Arbor, a few miles from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and it has become as much a part of the Northern Michigan summer ritual as the dunes themselves.

Art’s is a classic northern Michigan bar and grill with no pretensions and no need for any. The burgers are hand-formed, cooked right, and the kind of thing that tastes exactly like you want a burger to taste after a long day outdoors. The Lake Superior perch, when available, draws people who have been planning the trip specifically around eating it here. Sandwiches, wraps, and a menu that handles lunch and dinner without overthinking it round out the options.

The beer selection leans toward Michigan craft with enough variety to satisfy most preferences. The patio out front catches the Glen Arbor foot traffic in summer, and the inside carries the relaxed energy of a place where everyone is on vacation and nobody is in a hurry.

Art’s Tavern is the kind of place that becomes part of a family’s annual tradition without anyone deciding it consciously. You stop once, it’s great, you tell people about it, and suddenly it’s somewhere you go every summer without questioning it.

Michigan Small Business Spotlight is proud to feature Art’s Tavern as one of Northern Michigan’s most authentic and well-loved small businesses.