I’m Not Keeping This Local Gem Pasty Shop in Michigan a Secret Anymore

Sometimes it’s hard to share a hidden gem, especially a locally-loved spot that could be altered by a huge increase in foot traffic. There’s a fine line between spoiling it for the locals and uplifting it for the owners. But in the end, it’s not a secret if it’s well-known and celebrated within the community. And ultimately, if I don’t tell you, someone else will. So here we go, I’m revealing one of my favorite eats in all of the Midwest, a genuine local gem in Michigan.

Way, way up north, in the Upper Peninsula's remotest parts, I found a pasty shop in Houghton that completely changed my perception of international foods in the Midwest. Prior to my family’s arrival on the Keweenaw Peninsula, I had never even heard of a pasty. But when I asked locals what we must eat while on the peninsula, the recommendation for Rory’s Pasties on the Portage Canal was endlessly repeated. 

Little did I know that a pasty closely mimics an empanada, one of my family’s favorite Latin foods, and something we search high and low for all over the Midwest. But beyond the crimped crust, it doesn’t taste like an empanda at all; instead, a pasty is a traditional Cornish food, filled with meat, potatoes, rutabaga, onions, and carrots. Many locals describe it as a handheld pot pie, and I agree. Pasties are a delicious, heart-and body-warming heritage food brought to the Upper Peninsula by immigrant miners who arrived here in the 1840s. They became so widely loved, shared, and celebrated that in 1968, Michigan’s Governor Romney designated a Michigan Pasty Day (May 24th). 

Today, pasties are symbolic of the Upper Peninsula, but some locals say the farther north you get, the more authentic they are. And well, you can’t find one further north than on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Roy’s Pasties and Bakery is a family-owned business, celebrating more than a quarter century on the peninsula. A true local gem in Michigan, they hand-craft several succulent versions of the pasty: the traditional Cornish pasty, a vegetarian version, a chicken-and-broccoli pasty, an award-winning turkey-cranberry pasty, a breakfast pasty, and a pizza pasty. We tried them all throughout our visit, with our go-tos becoming the traditional Cornish version and the chicken-and-broccoli rendition, both of which genuinely taste like old-fashioned pot pies.

As strange as it might sound, half the charm of these handheld, savory pies is their indirect connection to the outdoors. The Keweenaw Peninsula boasts an incredible story of rewilding, rebounding from a flourishing mining region a century ago into an abundant natural playground today. In the beginning, pasties provided the ultimate pocket lunch for underground workers; now they're a desirable to-go lunch for outdoor adventurers who need fuel for their wild, remote explorations across the peninsula. We carried brown bags full of pastries all across the beaches, bays, and dunes, into the waterfall-laden forests, and to the tops of gleaming lighthouses. But for our final Keweenaw meal, we set up on Roy’s patio with one-of-a-kind views of the iconic, blue lift bridge across the Portage Canal.

Want to learn more about Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula? Try planning your own trip with Only In Your State's AI-powered itinerary planner!