Funistrada

I have been going up to the Glen Arbor area for years and somehow just recently tried this place out! My family and I felt like we were in the Italian countryside when we walked in. At 9:00 on a Sunday night this place was packed, which leads me to say: make reservations ahead of time, especially on a holiday weekend. I got a pasta dish with smoked duck in a cream sauce. The pasta is not homemade but it was so good that I had to ask. Prices are not cheap… but in line with most places in the area. If you are debating whether to eat at Arts or Boone’s, please I beg you — just come here instead.

This place is in the boonies. Although we’ve been coming up here for many years, we drove right by it (and yes, Siri was calling the shots on navi). Set in a rustic cottage, it’s jam packed on weekends with some 75+ vacationers.
At $ 100+ for two (two entrees, one appetizer and dessert — one glass of wine), it may not be exactly what you’re expecting at this price point. Paneling straight out of your parents’ 1950s family cottage, banquettes.
To be fair, everything was incredibly fresh and mostly locally-​sourced (which takes some doing in a place with tundra-​short growing season).
My heirloom tomato salad was fresh, sweet but sprinkled with an odd bleu cheese crumble and large diced onions. The caesar salad was farm-​fresh romaine lettuce from a farm up the road, anchovies (yesss) and shaved parmesan. Perfection, not too wet, just garlicky enough.
The lemon artichoke chicken ($ 26) was tender and moist, dredged in egg batter and generously sauced with lemon butter and a side of home made pasta (I chose spaghetti in red sauce).
Husband’s spaghetti and meatballs were a bit spicy and needed bit more sauce ($ 22) on the side, so don’t be afraid to ask.
We finished with chocolate bread pudding and vanilla bean ice cream — not quite chocolatey enough for me, but moist and warm, mmm.

This has been a favorite of ours for years, until tonight. Some in the party look forward to their veal chop — a specialty — for a year. We made sure to tell the restaurant a week in advance we wanted two veal chops that night. However, when we arrived, we discovered they only had one left. Additionally, the restaurant owner showed very little regret and did very little to accommodate the mistake.
On top of this extreme disappointment, we felt overall the meal was lackluster. The dishes were nothing special or innovating. In fact, I felt my veal piccatta (not to be mistaken for a veal chop, which is quite different) was disappointing. None of the dishes are remarkable. While the meal is not bad and the service is not horrible, we certainly will not return again.

LOVE this place. Food, drinks, service… fantastic every time. I LOVE the setting — its in an old house. If you are looking for a quiet atmosphere though, this place is not for you. Its always busy and because its small, its always loud. But if you choose to skip it because of that? I really think you are missing out. I love the shrimp and artichoke pasta. The duck terrine appetizer is literally my favorite thing in the world, but its a special and they don’t always have it. We love the prosciutto wrapped asparagus — its always a favorite amongst our family. The portions are perfect and the wine list is amazing. We try to go every time we are in Glen Arbor. As I said before, its always busy so I suggest making a reservation, far in advance.

We are from out of town and when we got recommendations from several different people we thought we should go. Great food and portions but need to make reservations. I had lasagna bolgonese. It was at least 3 meals!

I do not like asparagus. My mother grew it because she loved it, but I hate it. I ate the stuff because I needed a place to live. But not once since moving out of my parents’ house have I had to eat asparagus. Even at our wedding reception my wife, God bless her, had the venue swap out the asparagus on my plate for broccoli. A kind gesture from a woman who really freakin’ loves asparagus.
One evening in May, 2015 my wife and I ate at Funistrada for the first time. One of the appetizer specials was asparagus with morel mushrooms. Normally we don’t order an appetizer but because it was our first time at this restaurant I thought we should have the all-​courses experience. And because I love my wife I offered to order and share with her the asparagus with morel mushrooms.
I’m not sure if it was because I’d downed a glass of wine in preparation for what was about to attack my tastebuds, or because the asparagus was locally grown and freshly picked but, honestly, it was damn good. I mean so good I had two spears. Crazy, right? I can only imagine how Funistrada’s asparagus must taste to someone who actually gives a damn about the stuff.
As for the rest of the evening, my steak was one of the best I’ve ever had. My wife’s duck was a bit dry but still tasty. The suggested wine was very good, the service was pretty good, the bread was average. (A place this good should have some amazing bread.)
There are comments on the Internet about Funistrada being noisy. This is true if it’s busy, which it was on this night. But I survived asparagus so the rest of the night was a win. It’s a small place with close-​up seating so the noise wasn’t surprising and my wife and I could still hear each other talk.
We vacation in Glen Arbor every few years and we’ll definitely be back.

Our favorite restaurant in the area — consistently excellent food and service that never disappoints. Our favorites: Linguine w/​Salmon in Gorgonzola Cream Sauce and Chicken Saltimbocca. The mid-​week specials off-​season are great. Cons: the dining room can be very noisy and some tables can be chilly for me in winter. I am surprised by some reviews comparing Funistrada unfavorably to La Becasse, which we have found to be overpriced and only OK (e.g. very disappointing Boeuf Bourguignon during one visit).

My husband and I have been going to this wonderful restaurant for seven years… whenever we are in the area. I love the staff and have NEVER been had a bad meal… love the veal saltamboca… all of the pasta is amazing

Absolutely fantastic! Great food, attentive staff, and intimate setting made for a dinner we will not soon forget!
We came up with a group of 6 for my wife’s 30^th birthday during the «Toast the Season» wine tour event. After a day filled with multiple wine stops, this relaxing, cozy atmosphere was just the ticket we were looking for.
I made the reservations online (really easy on my phone through the OpenTable portal) a few days in advance, and the table was set and waiting for us when we arrived. The atmosphere reminded me a of a small town restaurant I visited while in Russelsheim Germany. It is definitely ideal for an intimate evening with great conversation.
Now for the food! We started with the mussels for an appetizer. They were juicy, flavored well, and were difficult to stop from eating! Next, we had our salads — mostly house, but I had the Caesar. All were done well, nothing outstanding or disappointing. For the main event, we had a variety of choices from the menu; I had the roasted duck, my wife had the anniversary chicken, and the others had veal piccata, linguini w/​goat chesse pesto & chicken, veal ravioli, and lemon artichoke chicken. The portions were decent size; most left with a doggy bag. Everyone praised their meal that evening and the following day. I can tell you my roasted duck was meaty, seasoned to perfection, and the pairing with caramelized onions was to die for!
For dessert, we ordered and split tiramisu. It has earned a spot in my top 3 all-​time favorite desserts. It was moist, not overpowering, and light. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone seeking an intimate setting, great food, and wonderful conversation!

I come to this place every time I am in Glen Arbor. The food is top notch and the staff is amazing. We go with a local resident of Glen Arbor that eats here at least once a week, so maybe that is why we are treated so well. Last visit I had the duck pasta which was amazing to say the least.

Fantastic, enjoyed the atmosphere, 6 different entrées, all were delicious. Extremely enjoyable experience!
Wine selection was fabulous!

AAAMAZING!!! My husband and I went here for our 5 year anniversary and we had the BEST food. We had the Broiled Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto as an app and then I had the Veal Piccata and my husband had a HUGE piece of the hand cut Ribeye! We definitely did not leave hungry. Worth every penny we spent. Next time we are up there, we will be making a stop back.
Great atmosphere. It is a tiny place, but I think thats what makes it worth it! ENJOY!

Great atmosphere, delicious food and great service. Dined here with a friend who was visiting and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of food, ambiance and attentive service we received. This will be my go to place with visitors as I’ve just relocated to the area. Will definitely choose this over Martha’s in Suttons Bay!
UPDATE: changed this to a 5 star rating. I’ve taken many visitors here over the past year and a half and this is definitely my favorite place to eat in Leelanau county. Everything I’ve had has been exceptional, the service is great and you can’t beat the cozy atmosphere!

If you want to head to this place to grab a drink at the bar, be warned. There are 2 seats and it’s cramped. Not to say you still can’t put the ‘fun’ in Funistrada! Just expect to grab a seat at a table, and there are 2 ‘bar-​ish’ booths that are more casual than the rest of the dining area.
Despite this, two of us enjoyed a wonderful vino and app time at the bar, and the staff there were exceptionally nice and accomodating. For the local customers, Funistrada offers some slammin’ good deals during the week: two pasta entrees and a bottle of wine for $ 42! or maybe 25% off your bill! yes, they have this!
it’s small and quaint, a perfect italian gem. i can’t say what it’s like during peak season, but for the mid-​week dinner, it’s golden.

Busy place in summer.
Very laid back atmosphere. Friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable staff, and excellent food.
Located on the far side of the lake from downtown Glen Arbor it is definitely a great place if your want Italian.

This place is really busy each time we pass it, so reservations are a must.
I was hoping for a treat, just like La Becasse down the street, but I’ve honestly had much better Italian in many places. I’m not sure what the draw to this place is. The noodles aren’t fresh. The sauces taste typical. The ingredients are typical. The salad was something you’d get from Olive Garden. My veal saltimbocca did not have a balance of flavors. The side of pasta was literally spaghetti that you’d make at home — noodles in basic marinara. The bread was also bland. The prices were also really high for mediocre food — definitely check out Trattoria Stella’s instead!

The food was insanely wonderful as well as the service, they didn’t have a problem swapping or leaving out some ingredients for us (which is really helpful when you are ok with seafood but not meat) The only thing was it was a bit loud, and made conversation a bit hard with all the background noise.
Besides all of of pasta dishes being great (I had the linguini with clams), the portion sizes were healthy too.
My wife had us finished with a tasty tiramisu and coffee. It was a fairly laid back really welcoming atmosphere, we left with the feeling of having a wonderful night out at a new place.

Okay, so it turns out there was a restaurant other than Art’s that was open the evening before Thanksgiving. We had to drive about 10 minutes out of Glen Arbor to take advantage, though!
Funistrada was a good mix for our range of grou. It felt nice enough that the adults actually felt like they were going out but casual enough that the two six-​year-​olds could act like themselves and not disturb anyone. The restaurant was cute and had a nice, varied menu for which they made kid options. Service was a little slow, but the food was delicious. My meatballs were filling enough that I brought half of it home for leftovers — perfect for pre-​Thanksgiving food!
I’d come back again the next time I find myself up in Northern Michigan.

Very laid back atmosphere. Friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable staff, and excellent food.
We came near the end of dinner service and our waitress first let us know everything that they were out of for the night so we didn’t «get our hopes up.» I am glad she did because everything was very tempting.
After enjoying the great bread and antipasto salad, we shared dressed heirloom tomatoes to start and two pasta specials. Tortellini in a perfect cream sauce with bacon and peas, and a penne with broccolini, white beans, italian sausage, and hot garlic oil. Both were excellent. Blueberry cobbler for dessert with a scoop of tasty vanilla ice cream.
All the ingredients were high quality and used well.
You could tell that the staff all love working in the cozy restaurant. If you are put off by things like the servers quietly talking and enjoying a glass of wine together by the bar as service winds down, be warned that it is that type of atmosphere. We thought that it was perfectly appropriate for the summer northern michigan vibe, and had a really lovely evening.

This was formerly Bev and my restaurant known as the Glen Lake Inn.
If you are in the area; you can do a lot worse than visiting.
Here is the information from their web site:
Trattoria Funistrada was started in 2000 by Tom and Holly Reay after they located the perfect property for an Italian restaurant in Burdickville. Tom and Holly, long-​time residents of the Leelanau Peninsula, ventured into their own business after noticing a distinct lack of quality Italian restaurants catering to tourists.
– Incidentally, Tom was a former bartender at Art’s Bar in Glen Arbor for 10 years (where you can occasionally catch him slurping a few brews) while Holly was the manager of Dave’s Place in Empire.
Chef Tom soon took Funistrada to fantastic heights, winning the «Best New Restaurant in the North» award in July 2001 by the local acclaimed publication, Traverse Magazine.
Funistrada is known for its excellent, authentic cuisine using the freshest ingredients that even mamma in Italy would be proud of.