The 217 residents of Port Hope are grateful. “Thank you for investing in our town.” “You’ve changed my business by opening yours.” “You put Port Hope on the map.”
Buck’s Port Hope Diner has made downtown Port Hope, at the tip of Michigan’s Thumb, a destination. Tarra Hurlburt opened the restaurant in 2022, after it sat empty for nearly a decade. She spent months and months renovating – closely monitored by the 217 residents – and even commemorated the layers of wallpaper in restroom artwork. The floor was “under two layers of carpet, two layers of padding, linoleum, and two layers of tar paper.” There were seven layers of paint on the (now gorgeous) woodwork. The building is 95 years old.
“We want this building to last another 100 years,” she said.
“It took a long time, but that was a blessing,” Hurlburt said of the renovation period. “We formed relationships. They saw the work we put into it. Sometimes we didn’t get a lot of work done, but we made a lot of relationships.” The former owner of the business next door would often bring over beers at the end of the day.
Tarra entered into restaurant ownership with eyes wide open; she’s the third generation of diner owners in her family. “Buck was my grandpa; his diner was in Oak Park. My mom ran Buck’s Diner in Fairhaven for 34 years.” Tarra worked at the same restaurant for 24 years, “a big one, 300 seats.” Six months before she opened the Port Hope diner, Tarra worked in the kitchen at her mom’s restaurant, after a lifetime of working the front of house. “I needed to know how to do it, because I don’t want to ever have to shut down because of staffing.”
When it came time to open the woman-owned startup business, banks were unwilling to help. Northern Initiatives supported her with an SBA microloan, which wasn’t a hard decision, said Lucy Hoste McCraven, Senior Commercial Lender. “This family has three generations of restaurant experience,” she said. “And Tarra bought and renovated the building with her own money, so there was no business debt to speak of. Plus, Port Hope was really hungry for breakfast!”
Tarra now has close to a dozen employees, half of them full time. They all do everything, with “no front-of-house/back-of-house divide and no waitress minimum wage,” a Michigan law that, for now, lets restaurants pay $3.93 an hour for tipped employees.
“Everyone understands all the roles and how to do them – respectfully,” Tarra said. “There’s no yelling. This isn’t ‘The Bear.’”
“She’s the best boss,” said server Annie Parkkila. “This is the best place to work.” One employee is working on creating a greenhouse, and everyone is well-versed in gluten-free cooking and serving, right down to the dedicated toaster. “My husband is celiac so we’re very careful,” Tarra said.
The customers have responded beyond even Tarra’s wildest dreams. Buck’s Port Hope Diner won 11 awards in the Huron Daily Tribune’s Readers’ Choice Awards, including a first place for Best Diner. Huron County has a lot of agriculture, including a sugar beet harvest that brings in workers from all over, but it’s word-of-mouth that’s bringing in the most customers, Tarra said. Online reviews are spectacular as well. “Made from scratch, huge portion sizes, friendly and attentive staff, and best place for breakfast!”
