With everything from premium steak and duck to fried hotdogs and “Michigan Pot-Hole” ice cream, Jonesville ranked 30th in a national ranking of the “30 Great Small Towns for Food Lovers” by Top Value Reviews in January.
Citing Olivia’s Chop House, Saucy Dog’s Barbeque, and the Udder Side in the review, the list ranked Jonesville among tourist destinations such as Traverse City, Michigan, and Walla Walla, Washington. Only small towns with notable restaurants or food events and a population of under 100,000 were considered by the reviewers.
Jonesville native Wayne Babcock, the owner and chef at Olivia’s Chop House and Saucy Dog’s Barbeque, said he appreciated the list’s recognition of Jonesville.
“It’s absolutely wonderful,” he said. “Comparing Jonesville to other top cities puts a smile on my face.”
Babcock opened Olivia’s Chop House in 2011, after a fire destroyed the Chicago Water Grill in 2009.
“After the fire, which was horrible, we had the opportunity to rebuild, and we did,” Babcock said. “We wanted to give it a fresh look, a fresh feel.”
Olivia’s Chop House, described in the Top Value review as a “restaurant that feels like it belongs in Vegas or L.A.,” features a dinner menu of seafood and steak, and a more casual lunch menu. Customer favorites include the prime rib and salmon.
Wednesdays we bring in fresh perch,” Babcock said. “That goes over well. We also cut almost all our own steaks in house.”
Sophomore Abigail Engel said she enjoyed her dining experience at Olivia’s Chop House.
“I went there with a couple of friends, and the food was delicious,” she said. “The duck was so good. It was a little expensive, but if you split an entree with someone else, it’s not bad.”
Babcock also owns Saucy Dog’s Barbeque, which he opened in 2005 to cater to a younger crowd.
“The Chicago Water Grill was very successful for 4 years, but there was a market I didn’t tap into — those under 25, the high school students and the college students,” he said.
When he had the opportunity to open a second restaurant, he decided to open a barbecue-based restaurant after studying for several weeks in Memphis, Tennessee. There, he learned how to make fried hot dogs, one of the unique foods now found at Saucy Dog’s Barbeque. The chefs there also shared recipes and ideas for the new restaurant.
“We make our own sauces, and we make everything to order,” Babcock said. “We cook our brisket for around 12 hours, low and slow.”
Both Olivia’s Chop House and Saucy Dog’s Barbeque stem from Babcock’s experiences in the food industry.
“In college, they taught me about the business side of restaurants,” he said. “Then I worked at a casino in Reno for around nine years, in the food business, and I was always curious about cooking the beef, and baking, so I would learn while I worked. I always wanted to open my own restaurant. I knew that to be successful, I would need to know as much as I could about the business, from staffing to baking.”
Babcock said the review reflects hard work of his employees.
“The review was great,” he said. “For all the hard work the employees put in, it’s a tribute to them — the restaurants are what they make it.”
The Udder Side, also mentioned by Top Value Reviews, is owned and managed by Dave and Julie Bauer. Truly a family business, Julie Bauer worked at the ice cream shop as a 15-year-old in high school. She later became a manager after the shop changed hands, and met her future husband Dave Bauer, who then worked as a grocery delivery boy. They married, and bought the ice cream shop from the previous owner in 1990.
Now, the Udder Side features a variety of cleverly-named “cow creations” and over 30 flavors of ice cream, from dinosaur egg (green vanilla ice cream with frosted cake pieces) to Michigan Pot-Hole (chocolate ice cream with fudge and chocolate chunks). They also have a full grill menu.
“People really like the manure spreader ice cream, slow turtle, and mud pie,” Dave Bauer said.
For the Bauers, running the restaurant and serving customers is all in a day’s work.
“We just come to work every day and do the best we can,” Bauer said.
