Crane's Pie Pantry Restaurant & Winery — Restaurant in Ganges Township

Crane's was an absolutely welcome surprise in the area. While on a weekend vacation in the Saugatuck area, we saw an ad in a local brochure for Crane's and on a whim decided to give it a try. What looks like a cozy, rustic kind of combination cider mill/winery/restaurant/bakery... is exactly that. The building is an old barn full of charm, history, and old antiques that remind me of going to auctions and flea markets with my grandma up north, with some old farming and baking equipment, and history of the farm and family on the walls to enjoy.

Going into the restaurant, the host was pleasant, and the staff was friendly. The menu is simple enough with things like breakfast sandwiches, a breakfast burrito, some skillets, and plates, but what really stood out was how incredibly well executed everything was. We're still in a post-COVID period where a lot of restaurants are still struggling to keep their staff, limiting their menus, and the quality of food has been suffering. But here, the Corned Beef skillet and the Two Hands Breakfast Sandwich were the best breakfast I've literally ever had. The skillet potatoes were nice and big, with a nice fried outer crust and a soft fluffy inside. The scrambled eggs on top were those silky buttery eggs you see in cooking videos that were prepared with technical expertise, and all of it was moist and delicious without being greasy or wet like diner style breakfasts can so easily be. The breakfast sandwich had a delicious sauce on it, with those same perfect eggs, on a buttery croissant with cheese and jalapenos baked into the top that managed again to be moist and delicious without being sloppy (which is impressive for a croissant with melted cheese, on top of two sauces and sliced avocado). It came with a side of applesauce that was incredibly smooth and creamy, and delicious. Both meals also came with their Jalapeno jam that's only slightly similar to a pepper jelly you might expect. This stuff is more saucy and kind of like preserves, with a little less sweetness and more of a spiciness. The closest I could compare it to would be between a pepper jelly and like a thai sweet chili sauce. It was excellent on both dishes, gave a little bit of sweetness with some nice mild burn. The coffee was good quality coffee too with some body and flavor to it.

After breakfast, we went into the bakery/shop and we ended up spending over $100. We got Apple Crisp, Apple Dumplings, and Applesauce, as well as a Chocolate Pecan Pie, Sloppy Joe mix (pre-made, frozen), Chili, and some other things. They have a very good selection of gluten free and sugar free things that are still products made fresh by them and available as frozen things to take home. We bought two of their mini pecan pies as well, and the crusts were fully baked on the bottom, and incredibly flaky and buttery. Whoever they have doing their food prep at Crane's is seriously amazing, their staff is trained super well and all of the food was prepared like I'd expect to find at a much more upscale, expensive kind of establishment, which is a huge compliment to them! Crane's really shows themselves as a business that's been doing this for years and honing their trade/craft with a huge pride in their work. Even in the shop, the cashier was super friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, and their staff was super willing to run into the freezer to grab stock and give us advice on how to keep everything and get it home in good condition. There wasn't a single thing in the whole experience that was phoned in or just stapled on. We'll be coming back here everytime we're near town, and ordering online if they offer shipping. Obviously, I highly...

Update to my last review. It's been almost 7 years since I was last here. How time flies.

The atmosphere here is still the quaint little hide away, that feels like you jumped back in time by about 50 years. Overall a very comfortable, if somewhat touristy place.

I started out by ordering an appetizer the Apple Butter & Gouda Toast ($12). This is grilled Sourdough topped with apple butter, smoked Gouda, and honey drizzle. It was unique and fantastic. It's a little hard to describe, but the apple butter and Gouda, plus I thought I tasted cinnamon and I think the honey might have been slightly spiced. Yum was it good. For my main meal I again ordered the Sloppy Joe ($11). I very much enjoyed it this time. It got it's own unique spices that maybe I just enjoy more now 7 years later. I got the chips this time and no complaints there. Also the Cider was much better this time, nice and cold. The person I was with ordered the Burger of the Day ($14). Today's was Boursin Bacon Burger. They apparently did an excellent job cooking it Medium Rare, and the burger was classified as excellent. So much so they repeated themselves the next day stating how much they enjoyed the burger.

From the bakery I got a Frozen Pumpkin pie, a Frozen loaf of Apple Butter Bread, and a Cinnamon Roll. The Cinnamon Roll had nuts mixed into the cinnamon mixture. I don't like nuts so that was a bummer. However if you like nuts it's a good cinnamon roll. The Bread was fantastic. Lol, I got home and cut the frozen pie into quarters and put a quarter in the fridge to thaw. Well I didn't realize, because I didn't read, the pie needed to be cooked 1st, from frozen. I still baked the mush and it was good. I'm guessing the other three quarters baked correctly will be even better.

The service was excellent. Everybody was very friendly and helpful.

Overall this time was an easy 5 stars. Would I return? Yes. Excellent Bakery and...

When we got here, we were told there was a wait and that we could hang out at the cider/wine tasting bar which was perfect since I wanted to sample some of their ciders anyways. The girl behind the bar was friendly and helpful. You can get a tasting which is 4 2oz pours or a flight which is 4 5oz pours. Once at our table, unfortunately our server didn’t seem interested in us or clearing our plates, so luckily the food was good. We shared the spinach & artichoke dip appetizer which was good. I had the Crane’s Signature Salad (kale salad with goat cheese, shredded carrot, pepitas, and sweet potatoes with house lime vinaigrette) which was good and an okay price, but there really wasn’t much to it. My boyfriend got the lobster lettuce wraps (served in Bibb lettuce topped with a chipotle honey drizzle and sliced carrots, served with hummus and vegetables) which at $8 was a great deal and he really liked it. Since we REALLY came for their pie flights that was on the agenda for dessert. The flight includes 4 1/3 slices of pie, but to us, it seemed more like ½ slice as there was a lot of pie in those mason jars. You do not get to select your flavors so the day we went the flavors were apple, blueberry, raspberry rhubarb, and cherry. You also have the option to add a mason jar of vanilla ice cream to compliment your pie. The pies themselves were warm, sweet, and delicious. If you also get food, I would recommend sharing a flight as they are larger than they appear. The restaurant also has a bakery where you can buy pie, jam, cider, and wine to take home. If you participate in a tasting, you get a coupon for $4 off a $20 purchase...