10 Spectacular Saginaw Restaurants That You Must Visit in 2022 

Tired of Googling where to find your next bite to eat in Saginaw? With so many great dining options in the city, that search can be particularly time consuming. Save yourself the effort, bookmark this page, and make your next meal a winning one.

SAGINAW—These are ten of the most noteworthy restaurants in Saginaw.

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1. The Maple Grille Restaurant and Microbrewery

With farm-to-table lunch and dinner, Maple Grille is all about dining local. And if you’re looking for a rustic, cozy place for dinner and a drink, it doesn’t get more local than The Maple Grille.

Sourcing its food from Michigan farmers and producers, many of them in the Saginaw area, the restaurant menu is constantly changing based on whatever happens to be in season—and whatever happens to be growing in its on-site garden, which supplies much of the kitchen’s produce.

Just about everything on the menu has been cooked over a wood-burning fire—including its specialty wood-fired pizzas, which are topped with seasonal ingredients before going into their brick pizza oven. The Grille also has a variety of sandwiches, burgers, soups and stews. There’s a plethora of vegetarian options as well, such as the ever-delicious Grilled Eggplant Sandwich.

And to wash it all down, The Grille has an expansive menu of house-brewed beers, also sourced from local ingredients and heated over woodfire. Those also vary with season, with some of its latest autumn offerings consisting of Caramel Apple Ale and a special Oktoberfest brew.

2. Peter and Chia’s House

If you’re in the mood for Thai food, this family-run restaurant is sure to satisfy the craving—with plenty of Thai and Chinese favorites like fried rice, pad thai, and pho—for either dine-in or to-go. This year, the kitchen is also offering a separate, vegan-friendly menu.

Peter and Chia, a Hmong-American couple with passions for both food and people, opened the restaurant in 2021. The shining star is the caring service behind the tasty food. 

3. Fralia’s 

Locals love this place—and you can tell by how busy it gets during the lunch hour.

Fralia’s is known for its familiar classics, as well as some delicious originals. The traditional Reuben, for example, is one of the best in the Mitten.

But sandwiches like the Braunschweiger (mostly liverwurst sausage) also invites more adventurous eaters to take a bite. 

And vegetarian options, like the Beet Sandwich (beets, greens, goat cheese, walnuts, and raspberry vinaigrette) are enough to make a carnivorous diner’s mouth water.

With other creative soups, salads, and pie on the side, it’s no wonder that Fralia’s is so popular.

4. Saginaw Old Town Junction

Named for the old red train caboose incorporated into the building, the Junction provides American pub fare and drinks in a fun, colorful environment. Historic railroad decor adorns the walls. You can eat downstairs, upstairs in the overlooking loft, or outside on one of two patios.

Order a burger or sandwich, and fries, and grab a beer or cocktail from the bar. You’ll notice many of the menu items also have railroad-related names, including “The Cow Catcher” (like a french dip with au jus on pita bread), “The Tie” (a customizable Greek gyro), and “The Rails” (two sausages on a bun, topped with chili). Even their french fries are called “Golden Spikes.”

The Junction has events throughout the week, including karaoke—making it a fun, quirky tavern to have a drink and bite to eat. It may have a bar, but it’s family friendly with a kids’ menu, too. 

5. Old Town Drive-In 

The “car hop” concept has virtually disappeared from the American restaurant scene, but the tradition is still alive in Saginaw. Open since 1941, Old Town Drive-In offers a blast to the past.

Simply park your car, order up, and they’ll bring the food out. You can also eat inside the diner.

The menu is filled with nostalgic diner fare like burgers, hot dogs, coney dogs, fries, and milkshakes. And if you’re there, a frosty mug of their homemade root beer is a must-order.

6. Pasong’s Cafe

Serving up combinations of Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese cuisine, this Asian fusion restaurant has a menu packed with bold, creative flavor. Enjoy classics like pho, pad thai, and lo mein, as well as several curries and soups. But also expect the unexpected at Pasong’s Cafe. Even the traditional dishes you thought you knew have found refreshing new flavors at this restaurant.

Consider dining in rather than ordering carryout. Just as colorful as the menu are the walls and ceilings, which are adorned with copper panels and paintings from a variety of local artists.

7. Intermission Deli

The Intermission Deli has been a Saginaw sub sandwich staple since it opened in 1982. The name of the game at Intermission is simple, delicious sandwiches. Locally baked bread and freshly prepared ingredients have kept people coming back to the simple shop for 40 years.

Pro tip: Don’t be the last one in line. Sometimes the deli runs out of bread. 

8. Fuzzy’s Restaurant

A classic family diner boasting an old school vibe, Fuzzy’s is a local Saginaw icon. Retro adornments like neon signs and checkered tile floor help set the stage for a retro meal.

Come for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and stay for dessert. Fuzzy’s is well known for its burgers and folded sandwiches, all served on homemade bread. You can order from their breakfast menu all day, and if the house pie doesn’t sound good, then the 32 flavors of ice cream will. 

It’s a great place to go out with the family, as well as for a quick pit stop while out on the town.

Fun Fact: Then-Vice President Joe Biden visited the restaurant in 2010.

9. Levi’s Food and Spirits

Providing a fun, playful take on American comfort food, Levi’s is a family-owned restaurant with plenty of style—and ironically kitschy antiquities under stained glass lights. Think tchotchkes your grandma might have had, mixed in with an assortment of the most eccentric oddities.

There are model airplanes and horses dangling from the ceiling, and vintage advertisements covering the walls. There’s a traffic light in one corner, and a taxidermied wolf in a glass case.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Levi’s has a menu that’ll make you feel right at home— including burgers, quesadillas, fried fish, meatloaf, pizza, and pasta. The restaurant is famous for its honey-glazed ham, and you can even call ahead to reserve a whole ham for the table.

10. Artisan Urban Bistro

If you’re looking for fine-dining in downtown Saginaw, Artisan Urban Bistro is the place to go.

An open kitchen serves up an ever-changing menu filled with seasonal ingredients and creative new recipes, and the walls are adorned with original artwork unique to the restaurant.

The wine list is huge. Appetizers include fried plantains, calamari, and “drunken mushrooms,” which are also cooked in red wine. Seemingly simple entrees on the menu are enhanced with daring choices—such as the Pork Chop served over pepper jam. And for dessert, the menu simply says “Lonnie’s Whimsy”, where chef and owner Lonnie Paser picks dessert.