SKANDIA, Mich. (WJMN) – Located along US-41 in Skandia, we stopped by A&M Cafe for this edition in our Restaurant of the Week series. A&M Cafe is a family-style restaurant that, despite its more remote location, has carved out strong community support in Marquette County.

The restaurant was founded by Kim Oliver along with his wife Donna, who has since passed away, as well as his son Scott Oliver. Oliver says he grew up in Midland, Michigan, and moved to the U.P. in 1985 to work at K.I. Sawyer while in the Air Force. Oliver says he planned to retire in the U.P. and built their home in the area.

The family purchased the restaurant building, located at the site of a former gas station, over a decade ago. The building was set to become a car dealership, but when the building became available, Oliver says his wife approached him with the idea of starting a restaurant.

While Oliver says he wasn’t too sure at first, they decided to go through with the plan and began a full remodel of the location. Now in November later this year, the family will celebrate their 14th year owning the restaurant.

Since opening, they’ve gained popularity through word of mouth in the U.P. Oliver says while they have strong support from local residents, they also have patrons from across the U.P. who make a point to stop into the restaurant when passing through the area during different times of year.

Signature Items

When they founded A&M Cafe, Oliver says they set out to keep the menu fairly simple and serve large-portion, homestyle cooking. Today, the large majority of what the restaurant offers is created from scratch. While Oliver says they have a lot of consistent customers coming in for different dishes, he’d probably point to their weekly Friday fish fry, featuring whitefish, cod, smelt, white perch, as well as their breakfast options as two of their most popular offerings.

“It depends on the people,” Oliver said. “The people who do our advertising for us are people that have eaten here. So when they tell other people, that special item is what they really like.”

Take a look at some examples of their lunch, dinner, and dessert specials below:

What items deserve more attention?

Thanks to their more classic and straightforward menu, there aren’t necessarily any items that are often overlooked. However, it is important to keep any eye on their specials that run throughout the week, with some regularly recurring, while others rotate out from month to month.

Baby back ribs are always served the final Wednesday of the month, while other examples of May-specific specials include beef enchiladas, scalloped potatoes and ham, stuffed green peppers, chicken stir fry.

You can see the full May dinner menu here and keep up to date with each month’s specials posted to the A&M Cafe Facebook page.

Take a look at the full menu below:

Additional Information

Coinciding with the theme of the homestyle menu, Oliver says when you stop by the restaurant, plan to sit back and enjoy your meal at your own pace.

“When you come here, you ain’t gotta be in a hurry,” Oliver said. “I don’t care how many are lined up, you sit there and enjoy yourself. It’s all family here.”

If you’re looking for a good chance to try out A&m Cafe for the first time or the 100th time, the restaurant is now taking reservations for their Father’s Day special:

You can stop into A&M Cafe at 9535 US Hwy 41 in Skandia. They are open Wednesday – Saturday from 8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Where should we stop next week? Let us know by emailing news@upmatters.com and put Restaurant of the Week in the subject line.