Restaurants in Owosso

The chefs at Wrought Iron Grill design dishes that are artfully executed down to the last detail. Take, for example, the housemade barbecue sauce that complements the grilled pineapple and black forest ham on the Maui Wowie pizza, or the veal demi-glace they make to flavor hand-cut, marrow-encrusted filet mignon. They also take care to incorporate local ingredients, coating wild-caught scallops with Michigan morel mushrooms and flash-frying fillets of Michigan perch.

Housed in the five-story brick structure that once held Woodard Furniture Company, Wrought Iron Grill's decor harks back to the building's industrial past. Flooring reclaimed from a welding room tops the bar, and 110-year-old windows hang over the heads of bartenders as they pour Michigan beers and mix drinks such as signature bloody marys garnished with spicy Mandingo pickles, 45th Parallel asparagus, and jumbo shrimp. Live bands often play atop the building's loading dock, allowing singers to be conveniently wheeled away after they've finished performing.

The menu at Ruggero’s offers a wide variety of Italian favorites: bruschetta, fettuccine alfredo, veal parmigiana, baked manicotti, chicken marsala, shrimp scampi, pizza, calzones, and seven varieties of lasagna. Of course, the selection wouldn’t be complete without the country’s signature desserts making an appearance. Chefs pump cannolis with bavarian cream, slice espresso-flavored pieces of tiramisu, and serve spumoni—an Italian-style ice-cream cake with a nougat center.

Waiters bring this bounty of Italian food out to an elegant carpeted dining area where framed art hugs swirling green wallpaper. Wide sconces blend their photons with the ones coming in through the front wall’s windows, and a fireplace casts warmth on guests. Adjacent to a row of padded booths stands a full bar, rife with liquor and enough sleekly stained wood cabinets to make Paul Bunyan cry an actual river.

The Max & Erma's menu opens with appetizers that run the gamut from finger-friendly chicken tenders ($7.99) to a gooey plate of guacamole and sour-cream-topped nachos ($8.99). Completely fresh gourmet burgers ($9.29 for 10 oz., $8.29 for 6 oz.), sided with seasoned fries, let more carnally inclined 'vores flex their finger muscles around the Ragin' Cajun with a special blend of spices and pepper jack cheese, or indulge in tropical tastes with the pineapple-and-fruit-salsa-stacked Caribbean burger. Those hankering for a less meat-based meal can opt for salads such as the Third Street ($9.29) with chicken, seasoned almonds, blue cheese, bacon, tomatoes, and red onions. Vegetarians will appreciate the black-bean veggie burger ($8.49), served with baby greens salad. Characters in Hitchcock films, meanwhile, can conceal the blood stains on their shirt before the police officer sees them with a little help from the house specialty, fall-off-the-bone barbecue ribs ($14.99/half). For dessert, spoon indulgent mouthfuls of triple chocolate cake with eight layers ($4.99), made-from-scratch banana cream pie featuring a wafer crust ($5.49), or Max & Erma's signature fresh-baked cookies ($5.99/half dozen).

Max's Wine Dive is renowned for its culinary-chutzpah-filled dinner menu, which turns chili dogs and burgers into gourmet flavors. Their fried chicken was deemed one of America's Best by Travel + Leisure. Try the signature Texas haute dog (a Strube Ranch Wagyu hot dog topped with your choice of beer-braised sauerkraut, Dijon mustard, pickles or chili, jalapenos, and cotija cheese, served with fried onion strings and frites; $14). Or opt for the Kobe beef burger (a Strube Ranch Wagyu Kobe beef burger with Belletoile triple-cream brie, in-house pickled jalapenos, local hothouse tomatoes, and organic Bibb lettuce, served with frites; $17), another favorite. If you're feeling ravenous, hang a fang in the all-you-can-eat fried chicken and waffles (chicken thigh, leg, and breast with jalapeno and buttermilk marinade, deep fried, served with a waffle; $19) during Sunday brunch. Woman's Day once named Max's grilled cheese (Gruyère, provolone, and roasted red pepper, served with a cup of tomato soup; $13) one of the 10 best in the nation.

When searching for their lab partner, a Michigan State student might first check the dorms. The safe second option is Georgio's Pizza. The Lansing staple doles out gourmet, hand-tossed pies whole or by the slice until 3 a.m. on many evenings, following the sage business model that brought the family-owned business from Greece—settle in a college town and feed the masses. Today, more than 50 New York–style pizzas populate menus at three Georgio's locations.

The pizzas' toppings run the gamut from traditional cheese and pepperoni to creative combinations such as barbecue chicken and tortellini or eggplant and tomato. Like many forms of deep-sea pizza, Georgio's pies often disguise themselves as a different food—a taco, perhaps, or a baked potato, complete with chives, bacon, cheese, and sour cream—in a short-sighted attempt to avoid being eaten by predators. In his review for Michigan Live, Troy Reimink remarks that Georgio's served "the most interesting and tasty slices I've wolfed down in recent memory, although I felt as if I was disrespecting the creations by not nibbling them with silverware off fine china."

Georgio's is so dedicated to treating customers to a gourmet experience that its staffers actually take the pizza out of the oven before it is finished. They then wait until a customer selects the pizza before popping it back in—often adding extra ingredients—which ensures that the pies are always served piping hot without having to line the crust with charcoal briquettes.

There aren't many restaurants anymore where you can sit in the same booth your parents might have dined in 40 years ago. But such is the case at Beggar's Banquet. The self-proclaimed restaurant and saloon took root in 1973, founded by Bob Adler and named after his favorite Rolling Stones album. The pub-like main dining area remains down-to-earth and casual, welcoming guests with wood-paneled walls and stained-glass windows. The names of "beggulars" are etched on gold plates above the bar, and local families celebrate milestones in an elegant room dedicated to private parties. All of this, coupled with the nostalgic atmosphere and tasty, homestyle dishes, has helped Beggar’s Banquet earn praise as one of Lansing's best restaurants by 10Best.

Twenty ever-changing craft beers on tap and a wine list that ranges from malbecs to piesporters fuel the jovial ambiance. Cooks innovate creative spins on classic comfort food, adding muenster, havarti, and gouda to their baked mac 'n’ cheese and a blueberry compote to char-grilled pork chops. They also serve breakfast until 2 p.m., the time each day when orange juice magically transforms into soda pop.