Mode's Bum Steer on Grandview Parkway has been a Traverse City institution since 1956, serving steaks and classic American roadhouse fare with a view over West Grand Traverse Bay. The waterfront location gives it a setting that most cities of this size would envy, and the sunsets from the dining room are excellent. Prices are moderate for what you get — proper steaks, lake perch, whitefish from local waters — and the atmosphere is casual and reliably good-humored.
It is exactly the kind of place that long-time visitors return to year after year, which says something about the consistency. Order the Lake Michigan whitefish if it is on the menu that day; the Great Lakes whitefish is an underrated fish and they handle it well.