The Lansing poll winner of Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining is a deck over the Looking Glass River

PORTLAND, MI - Oh, that deck.

In the summer time, when there’s no pandemic, the deck over the Looking Glass River at Fabiano’s River House Bar & Grill in Portland is rocking. Live music on the weekends, a huge fireplace, big big crowds and good times.

“You know what that deck’s like,” said Bill Fabiano, who opened the restaurant in December of 2014 with his wife Rachelle. “The patio is the big draw.”

He’s referring to the day Michigan’s Best visited in 2017 when we were the search for Michigan’s Best Chicken Wings. On that day we sampled their wings sauced by Michigan-made Sauce Gone Wild, right on that deck.

But we did that without Bill and Rachelle. They were at the hospital for the birth of their first child, Vivienne.

“We went into the hospital the morning you guys came in,” Fabiano remembered. “She’s not so little any more. She’s 3 1/2 years old.”

READ: Your Guide to Michigan’s Best chicken wings: Where we were, wings we ate, who we met

Well, we remember the day well, and that beautiful, spacious deck right on the water.

It’s the reason Fabiano’s was voted as the top spot for Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining in the Lansing area with 58 percent of the vote, winning in a landslide over Lansing Brewing Company, which has 12 percent of the vote, and Acapulco Mexican Grill in Charlotte with 3.8 percent.

Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining - Fabiano's — Fabiano's River House Bar & Grill is known for its deck over the Looking Glass River in Portland, Michigan. "The patio is the big draw," says Bill Fabiano, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife Rachelle.Courtesy of Fabiano's Riverhouse Bar & Grill

Fabiano said the deck, which is actually located where the Looking Glass River meets the Grand River, is typically shut down each winter.

In fact, they had just winterized it when the second shutdown closed Michigan restaurants and bars from Nov. 18-Feb. 1 to limit the spread of Covid-19.

“We had to move everything outdoors,” he said. That meant adding heaters, fire tables and even carpeting to the deck, which typically has a capacity of 80 people.

It also meant no running water, sinks, pop guns or draft beer on tap. That was all indoors.

“The girls had to go in out for everything,” Fabiano said.

Were they happy about that?

“They were happy to be working,” said Fabiano, who laughed, but in all seriousness praised his staff of about 25 employees who have worked so hard through the roller coaster ride of the pandemic.

“But they’re wearing snowsuits and mittens and doing their best to stay warm.”

With indoor dining back at 25 percent capacity, he has put the sides down to use the space as additional indoor dining.

But “as soon as the sub-zero weather breaks, we’re going to push the sides back up and call it outdoor dining again. The wood-burning fireplace makes a difference out there. Forty degrees in the spring is whole lot warmer than 40 degrees in the fall.”

A booming delivery service within a 5-mile radius of Portland also helped them get through both shutdowns.

Fabiano said he invested in insulated carriers and car tops just before an historic flood in February of 2019 on the Grand River. The community was declared a local state of emergency. Fabiano’s had to close for two weeks.

READ: Local state of emergency declared for Portland after ice jam and flooding

Delivery was put on hold.

Then, when the first shutdown happened in March, he was ready to hit the ground running. Literally.

“That first day, we had everything ready to go,” Fabiano said. “It was a saving grace... I didn’t realize the demand for deliver in Portland in such a small town.”

Food

As for food, customers love the wings, of course. The garlic parmesan is the top-selling flavor. And the popular Friday Fish Fry is back with $12.99 all you can eat cod.

But Fabiano said pizza also gets rave reviews from customers, especially the chicken bacon ranch specialty pizza.

The Fabiano name is synonymous with pizza, and goes back to the 1970s with his aunt and uncle’s party store in nearby Wacousta, he said. His uncle, Steve Fabiano, owns the Eagle Inn (which was also on our search for Best Wings). There’s Fabiano’s Pizzeria in Westphalia. And his dad had Fabiano’s on the River on Torch Lake for many years until selling in August.

“All the same family, all independently owned and operated,” Fabiano said.

As for the patio, people are still using it, despite the cold weather.

“We’re actually going to leave the patio open year round now,” he said.

It opens at 4 p.m. on most days, and at noon on Saturdays.

A Portland High School graduate of 2001, Bill and his wife Rachelle live in Eagle. Both have full time jobs, too. Bill is a firefighter for the city of Grand Rapids, and Rachelle works for a credit union in Lansing. Plus, they have the little one.

They love the Portland community.

“We’ve had great support....people are coming out,” he said. “They don’t mind it being a little chilly.”

The search for Michigan’s Best Outdoor Dining is sponsored in part by Warm Fitness.

IF YOU GO

Fabiano’s River House Grill

104 W. Grand River Ave., Portland, MI 48875

517-647-4400

Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays and Tuesdays; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Saturdays; closed Mondays. The outdoor patio opens at 4 p.m. most days; on Saturdays it opens at noon.

More info: riverhousebarandgrill.com or facebook.com/FabianosRiverHouseBarAndGrill/