Smuggler's at North Shore Unveils a Renovated Menu
Smuggler's at North Shore has reopened near Newaygo with a renovated menu, serving Great Lakes walleye and three cheese tortellini in a 141 year old building.
RUKAIYA KADIWAL 
Steam still rises faintly off a plate of grilled lobster tails resting on a bed of kale, lemon wedges tucked beside charred carrots, a slice of garlic toast browned just past golden. Nearby, a seafood platter holds shrimp, a seared steak and another slab of toasted bread, the kind of spread that suggests a kitchen working at full, confident capacity. This is the current rhythm inside Smuggler's at North Shore, a 141 year old resort building near Newaygo that has, against considerable odds, found its way back to serving customers on the shores of Hess Lake.
Smuggler's at North Shore reopened its doors in 2023 at 964 E. 88th St., years after the original restaurant closed in 2018 following an electrical fire that threatened to end its story entirely. That gap, five years between closure and revival, speaks to how genuinely difficult rebuilding a beloved lakeside gathering place can be, particularly one carrying more than a century of local history behind it.
A Name Rooted in Prohibition Era History
The building's namesake traces back to the early 20th century, when it first opened its doors as Smuggler's Cove, a name that pays direct homage to the area's history rooted in the days of Prohibition. That historical thread gives the restaurant a genuine sense of place beyond simple nostalgia, connecting its current identity directly to a specific, colorful chapter of regional American history.
Preserving that legacy mattered deeply to the restaurant's current owners, Raenne Huskey and Melissa Shambeau, who took particular care to maintain the charm and spirit that made the original restaurant special. Since Huskey was part of the original team before the fire forced its closure, keeping that legacy alive felt like a natural continuation rather than a fresh start built from scratch.
Rebuilding Through Community Support
Huskey spoke directly about what made the restaurant's return possible after such a disruptive setback. She said thanks to the incredible support of the community and the determination of the team, they rebuilt stronger than ever, a comment that credits collective local investment as much as individual perseverance for the restaurant's survival.
She added that today, Smuggler's remains a cherished gathering place, serving up great food, cold drinks and a laid back, lakeside vibe guests won't find anywhere else. That framing positions the restaurant as something considerably more significant to Newaygo's community than a simple dining option, closer to a genuine local institution that residents actively fought to see restored.
A Menu Built on Familiar Favorites and New Additions
The revamped menu features something for every craving, spanning cheese curds, pork carnitas nachos, pizza, smash burgers, goat cheese stuffed chicken breast, fish baskets, steak, hearty salads and soups, along with a selection of sweet desserts. That range reflects an intentional effort to serve both casual lakeside visitors seeking simple comfort food and guests looking for a more substantial, composed meal.
Notably, the current menu isn't dramatically different from when Smuggler's operated under previous ownership, with starters like onion rings, pork chops, baby back ribs and seafood all making a return. That continuity matters considerably for longtime patrons, many of whom likely built specific memories around particular dishes long before the fire ever forced the restaurant's temporary closure.
Signature Dishes Worth the Drive
Among the standout offerings, the Great Lakes walleye has become a genuine favorite at $28, featuring two five ounce walleye filets prepared according to each customer's preference, either lightly breaded and deep fried alongside Smuggler's own tartar sauce, or pan seared and seasoned with a herb blend finished in a white wine reduction. That dual preparation option gives diners real flexibility depending on whether they're craving something crisp and classic or something more refined.
The three cheese tortellini at $20 has also earned a loyal following, arriving toasted with roasted pepper and Asiago cream, paired with a customer's choice of protein ranging from grilled chicken at an additional $6 to a six ounce lobster tail at $15. Guests seeking something smaller can start with the duck bacon and sweet corn wontons at $22, a popular pairing alongside the restaurant's signature marooned mule cocktail for $9. Full menu details and current hours are available on the official Smuggler's at North Shore website.
What Reopening After Disaster Reveals
Smuggler's story reflects a broader challenge facing independent, community rooted restaurants nationwide, where physical setbacks like fires, floods or structural damage can permanently end a business's story regardless of its local significance or historical value. That Huskey and Shambeau successfully navigated a five year gap between closure and reopening, while preserving both the building's historic character and its original menu identity, speaks to an unusually determined rebuilding effort.
Similar resilience continues playing out across the broader hospitality industry, where operators facing disruption, whether from disaster, closure or simple market shifts, find creative paths back to serving their communities, a pattern also visible in how independent food businesses elsewhere have rebuilt under new formats entirely, as seen in recent coverage of Fire & Pita Mediterranean Street Food's return to Saginaw, where a beloved local concept similarly found new life after its original closure.
A Lakeside Legacy Continuing Into Its Next Chapter
Smuggler's at North Shore currently welcomes guests from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, extending to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, hours generous enough to accommodate both quiet weekday lunches and busier weekend evenings along Hess Lake's shoreline. For a building that has weathered fire, closure and years of uncertainty, that steady rhythm of daily service represents something genuinely hard won.
What remains most striking about Smuggler's revival is not simply that it reopened, but that it reopened recognizably itself, the same lakeside charm, largely the same menu, the same sense of community gathering that first made the building special more than a century ago. For guests settling into a booth with a plate of walleye or lobster tail in hand, that continuity likely matters more than any renovation detail, a reminder that some places, once truly loved by their community, find a way back regardless of what stands in their way.
