Fall Eating in Washtenaw County
Cider mills, apple farms, and the restaurants that cook with what October gives them.
The spring guide covered morels and asparagus. The summer guide covered berries. This is the fall chapter, and it's the easiest one to write because fall eating in Michigan sells itself.
The season runs from Labor Day through Thanksgiving. Apples peak in September and October. Cider mills press through November. Squash, root vegetables, and late-season greens carry the farmers market into December. The restaurants that follow the seasons shift their menus toward braised meats, roasted vegetables, and the kind of cooking that makes you want to sit inside with the windows closed.
The Cider Mills
Dexter Cider Mill (3685 Central St, Dexter). The oldest continuously operating cider mill in Michigan, running since 1886. They press with an authentic oak press and use Michigan apples for unpasteurized cider. The setting along the Huron River is the best of any mill in the county. Buy a gallon of cider and a bag of donuts and sit on the deck. Already in our Dexter guide.
Wiard's Orchard (5565 Merritt Rd, Ypsilanti). The full fall experience: cider mill, hayrides, corn maze, U-pick pumpkins. The orchard store opens in early September. Weekends get crowded. Go on a Wednesday afternoon if you can.
Wasem Fruit Farm (6580 Judd Rd, Milan area). Family-owned for generations. U-pick apples, cider, and a farm stand that stocks the full fall lineup. Wasem sells at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market year-round, and their apples are the ones the market vendors stack highest in October.
Alber Orchard & Cider Mill (13011 Bethel Church Rd, Manchester). Over 100 apple varieties, including heirlooms that you won't find at any grocery store. The drive to Manchester takes 30 minutes from Ann Arbor, but if you care about apples, this is the destination. The variety is unmatched in the county.
At the Market
The Ann Arbor Farmers Market (315 Detroit St) runs Wednesdays and Saturdays through December. Fall is the market's peak. The tables overflow with apples, squash, potatoes, onions, late-season tomatoes, garlic, root vegetables, honey, preserves, and baked goods. October Saturdays are when the market feels most like the center of the city's food life.
What to look for: Honeycrisp and SweeTango apples from the area orchards. Winter squash in every shape. Potatoes from farms that grew them in Washtenaw County soil. The Brinery's sauerkraut and pickles, fermented from Tantré Farm cabbage. Bread from bakers who've been at the market all year.
Argus Farm Stop in Ann Arbor stocks fall produce from local farms daily. If you miss the Saturday market, Argus has you covered.
Restaurants in Fall Mode
Spencer (113 E Liberty St) shifts toward heartier preparations as the season turns. The fall menu leans into roasted squash, braised meats, and the kind of technique-driven vegetable cooking that made the spring menu so strong. When Spencer has butternut squash or late-season mushrooms on the board, order them.
Zingerman's Roadhouse (2501 Jackson Ave) runs fall specials that reflect the harvest. The sourcing is documented on the menu: which farm grew the squash, which orchard supplied the apples. The mac and cheese with fall vegetables is the seasonal comfort food that the Roadhouse does better than anywhere else in the county.
Miss Kim (415 N Fifth Ave) adjusts the banchan and bowl ingredients for fall. The fermentation program means that kimchi and pickled vegetables shift character with the seasons. Fall at Miss Kim is heavier, warmer, built around root vegetables and the kind of ferments that suit cold-weather eating.
Raterman Bread Haus (8080 Grand St, Dexter) runs seasonal soups that change with the calendar. A bowl of fall soup on sourdough bread in a Dexter bakery is one of the better low-key fall meals in the county.
What to Cook
Buy apples at Dexter Cider Mill or Alber Orchard. Make a pie or a galette. Buy squash at the farmers market and roast it with olive oil and salt until the edges caramelize. Buy potatoes and make soup.
Fall cooking in Washtenaw County is not complicated. The ingredients do the work. The farms are close, the produce is fresh, and the cider mills have been doing this since before most of the restaurants on this list existed.
The Dexter Cider Mill has been pressing since 1886. The farmers market has been running for 107 years. The seasons keep turning, the farms keep growing, and the food keeps getting better. Drive to a mill, buy a gallon, and drink it cold on the way home. That's fall in Washtenaw County.