The Filling Station Microbrewery — Restaurant in Traverse City

My wife and I wanted pizza for supper, so based on the reviews, this was our choice.

The restaurant was busy when we arrived, so we had to wait about 20 minutes for a seat. When we received our text that our table was ready, we went to the hostess, who walked us to the far end of the restaurant. I couldn’t believe how much seating this place had because it is so long.

We were seated at a large picnic table with another family. But that wasn’t a problem - the tables are big enough that you felt like you could still carry on a private conversation.

We were given menus and told that this place operates like a pub. We’d figure out what we want and go to the bar to order it. You’d get your drinks right away, and the food would be delivered to your table later.

The bartender asked if I wanted to open a tab, but we just wanted pizza and a couple of soft drinks, so I just paid for everything. We decided to order the Burlington Northern, which had pear, prosciutto, Brie and other toppings.

The pizza came out fairly quickly. It had balsamic vinegar drizzled across the top. I’m not a fan of that, but there wasn’t a lot of it, so I didn’t mind.

If you have soft drinks, you just go back to bar for a refill.

Parking seems like it would generally be plentiful.

While I enjoyed the pizza, I’d probably try some other places in town. And while we were comfortably full afterwards, if you have a hungry party, you might need to plan on more pizza. For example, a party of 4 might easily...

This was place was an awesome find (suggested to us by someone working at a mission peninsula winery last year- shoutout to Riley) and I’m so glad we made time for it this year. We ordered a few salads, a few flatbread pizzas plus the s'mores one, some beer flights, a couple glasses of beer after trying the flights, a kids grilled cheese meal and the spinach artichoke dip. Everything was ridiculously good! We were all blown away by the flavor of everything and found the portions and prices fair. The atmosphere was unique and fun, being seated under a covered roof (old train depot) but outdoors next to tracks and a lively garden across from that. Parking was a little tight but there seemed to be a good amount of spots. It was LGBTQIA+ friendly and dog friendly (with leashes). We went with a group of four adults, two toddlers and one baby on a Thursday night and did not have to wait. They had high chairs and slings but no booster seats since the seating is benches. There were a lot of staff walking around similar to servers, but they seemed to be around mostly to grab dishes and bring out food, since we had to order both food and drinks from a bar, which is probably our only complaint, just because it made it a bit tricky for us. If we come back to town, we will likely...

I absolutely loved everything about this place. We came in at 5 pm on a Friday night with a party of 12 (including 6 kids from 8 to 2 years old). I thought the pub style service was going to be a hassle, but it worked out great. Instead of just having one server the whole place took care of us. Special shout out to Fallon, Stephanie and the dude that looks like Dave Grohl. They were friendly, knowledgeable, fast and super hospitable. Bringing 6 kids to dinner on a Friday night could have been a nightmare and they made it great.

Food: Salads are huge and flavorful. The pizzas were cooked perfect and had great flavor. Get the Spartan next time you’re there. The prosciutto really added a lot to the flavors. Also, the s’mores pizza for desert was a big hit for the kids (ok and dad’s).

Beers were great. The Betsie River Bourbon Stout was the best. Careful, almost 10 ABV, but really a great beer if you’re tired of IPAs. The porter was great too and my wife loved the Citrus beer she had.

Seriously, it’s old and cliche but it’s true. I’d give this place 6 stars if you’d let me. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Traverse City on vacation and if I was a local I think I’d...