Information on Traverse City, Michigan and the surrounding Northwest Michigan area

07/18/2006

Let's Do Lunch

Poppycock's

by doug davenport
For more restaurant profiles, see our Let's Do Lunch page

Poppycock's on Front Street in Traverse City is a great place for good food and drinks over conversation with friends.

Restaurant: Poppycock's

Address: 128 Front St., Traverse City (GET MAP)

Phone: 941-7632

Cuisine: Poppycock's is billed as "Casual Contemporary Cuisine." That sums up the wonderfully eclectic, flavorful lunch and dinner menu selections of salads, pasta, sandwiches, plus vegetarian, fish, beef, pork and chicken entrees. Choose from generous salads like Poppycock's Greek, strawberry chicken, Up North Cob, warm mushroom and artichoke ($7.95-8.50 for lunch, $8.95-9.50 for dinner).

Check the board for the daily homemade soups, and then chose from luncheon sandwich choices including grilled four cheese with tomato and basil, apple, pear & brie melt, mahi mahi tacos, hot honey ham and others. Price range is $6.95-8.95. A shorter sandwich list is available for dinner, ranging from $7.95-8.95.

Try tasty pasta dishes like creamy pesto, garlic herb primavera, Poppycock's marinara, creamy seafood fettucine and more. ($7.95-10.95 for lunch; $11.95 to $14.95 for dinner.)

Stop in for dinner to enjoy their superb entrees. Vegetarian choices include portabella risotto stack, baked wild mushroom ravioli, Thai sweet corn cakes, and Mediterranean couscous stuffed acorn squash (all priced under $15). Non-veggie choices include whitefish, salmon, mahi mahi, yellowfin yuna, chicken breast or pork tenderloin ($18-21).

You won't be able to resist the dessert case in the front of the restaurant. These are award winners, made fresh from scratch on premises. The décor is soothing and comfortable. Live "Late Nite Jazz" is featured on the weekends. Poppycock's is a great place for good food and drinks over conversation with friends. The restaurant features a wonderful selection of wines to pair with your food choices.

My Selection: I started with a bowl of delicious chicken and spaghetti squash soup. Wonderful! Though normally a steak person, I was intrigued by the baked wild mushroom ravioli from the vegetarian entrees, and delighted with my selection. Porcini, portabella, and shiitakes in egg pasta, smothered in a creamy morel mushroom-leek ragout and topped with Monterey Jack and scallions — the tastes were delightful. My wife chose the Mediterranean couscous stuffed acorn squash and raved about the flavor. The squash is a favorite among customers.