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Hometown Tourist: The Back Lot in Petoskey

Sitting and enjoying a meal al fresco. It’s something to be delighted in especially this time of year, and now, in Petoskey, there’s a fresh new place to get your grub on: . It’s a new beer garden with food trucks for all taste buds.

“So right now we have Happy’s Taco which is obviously a cult following in town, so we have Cheese and Co. which does grilled cheese and we have Hotdoggers which has two retail spaces, one in Bay Harbor and one in Charlevoix doing hot dogs,” said owner David Meikle.

And it’s hard to choose, from a gourmet grilled cheese at Cheese and Co. that defines comfort food and gives it a new name, tacos that are made fresh and with style at Happy’s or a classic Coney Dog and more at Hotdoggers,  you may spend some time trying to decide.

“We have an indoor bar with twenty five taps, we have 19 beers and six wines, we also have a frozen slushy machine and then on the outside we have twelve beer trailer,” said Meikle.

A fresh brew, open air style, and picnic vibe, all with space to grow for more options. David says pizza and barbecue could be on the horizon.

“In the summertime, the intent was people want to be outside and we created a spot where people can hang out outside. If you go to any major city, you’re going to have some variation of this where there’s food trucks, and outdoor space and people hanging out. So that’s what I tried to bring here,” said Meikle.

With the aromas of food trucks, the delights of local fare, craft beers from Michigan and beyond, you’ll be sure to come back to the back lot for a perfect night out

“To me, it’s just really the ability to sit outside and chill hang out. Summers are precious here, and they’re quick, so we just want to be able to take advantage of that. Just casual chill, it’s just a real easy going place,” said Meikle.