BEST FRIDAY-NIGHT DINNER SPOT
- LAKE MAGAZINE JULY 2005

EVERYDAY PEOPLE CAFÉ
DOUGLAS, MICHIGAN

TGIF MICHIGAN STYLE What is it that transforms a normal restaurant into a hot spot? "In a word," says Matt Balmer, executive chef/co-owner of Everyday People Café, "it's just that 'energy' that you feel, where it seems like there's a real positive energy or buzz all around. It's infectious." Everyday People Café certainly has a buzz come Friday nights. Located in the resort area of Douglas/Saugatuck, the café draws a mixed crowd of locals and out-of-towners -- the blue-collar, the white-collar, and the no-collar -- with its mix of gourmet cuisine in unpretentious surroundings.

The building in which the restaurant resides, well over 100 years old, has been everything from a dress shop to a butcher shop to a soda fountain. Most recently, it was a diner, owned by Balmer's mother, and the place maintains much of that proletariat air. "We wanted to change the mood," says Balmer of the restaurant's transformation from inelegant diner to hip-but-casual bistro, "but we didn't want to exclude anyone. So 'Everyday People' means we welcome all."

That means on any given Friday night, you're just as likely to see a beachcomber in shorts and sandals as you are to see a woman in a black evening dress--and there's even a good chance the two might be together. Add to that a hip and eclectic selection of music--from soft jazz to alternative--as well as an amiable and approachable staff, and you have a setting sure to set even the most anxious person at ease.

Everyday People Café is located at 11 Center St, Douglas. Open Mon, Tues, Thurs 11am-2pm, 5:30-10pm; Fri 11am-2pm, 5:30-11pm; Sat 8am-2pm, 5:30pm-11pm; Sun 8m-1pm, 5:30-10pm, 269-857-4240.

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