The Undercover Divas love exploring, especially when we travel up north. We found the best neighborhood bar and restaurant. It's called Chatter's Bullpen Bar & Grill, and is located in the town of Atlanta, Michigan. Chatters is a unique, baseball themed, bar/restaurant: a seasonal haunt for elk-viewing, morel mushroom hunting, snowmobiling, and the annual Sno*Drift Rally. Atlanta is a crossroads up-north town that has been in need of a new eating establishment for quite some time and it looks like Chatter's fits the bill. Chatter's is a “happening” neighborhood bar with a good menu selection.
The Detroit Tigers' spring training game had just started when we arrived and we observed the community bonding of lots of Tiger fans, who otherwise were complete strangers, coming together, cheering their home team. As die-hard Tiger Baseball fans, we DIVAS were happy to observe that the game was on many televisions within the restaurant. While walking to our table, we loved seeing sports memorabilia everywhere. There were jerseys on the walls and sports collectibles everywhere.
There was just one waitress available when we sat down, she was doing everything. She had the bar patrons, and the lunch crowd all depending on her for their needs. She did her best, and I commend her for that.
We ordered a starter of Boneless Chicken Wings ($8.75) that came three ways, bare, BBQ, and spicy. We chose the BBQ, which was very good, and a little on the spicy side. Then for lunch we ordered a Philly Wrap with fries ($7.75) and a Chicken Quesadilla ($6.75). There were many different types of burgers on the menu costing between $7 - $9 and all included wonderfully-seasoned fries. The food was exceptionally good. We checked Chatter's out on the advice of friends and we were not disappointed.
Atlanta is the Elk Capital of Michigan. Surrounded by 1,000 square miles of state land, lakes and streams, and is known for camping fishing, hunting, swimming, canoeing, snowmobiling, ATV riding, skiing, bird watching, berry picking, and morel mushroom hunting. Atlanta is the only town in Michigan that sits on the 45
th Parallel, which is halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.
Spring is the time to explore in Northern Lower Michigan. Elusive and delicious, morel mushrooms are a wonderful spring time delicacy found near Atlanta. When you add hiking and fishing, you have more than a weekend of outdoor fun awaiting you.
The Sno*Drift Rally is a yearly event, usually at the end of January, and is a performance rally that features prepared 2 and 4 WD cars. These cars race on real roads in a time based competition. This dedicated snow and ice event is the most unique on the Rally America National Championship calendar, promising plenty of sliding in even the worst weather conditions. You will find many of the participants at Chatters during the snowy season.
Chatters is located on M32 (Main St.), between Alpena and Gaylord. Their telephone number is (989) 785-2222. They are located on the sunrise side of Michigan, in Atlanta, known as Michigan's Elk Capital. We truly enjoyed our visit, the air was fresh, the people were country-friendly, and the food was worth the visit. We will be back, and next time it will be for their weekly Friday Fish Fry, as we heard it was the best. Maybe we'll see you there.
