Mackinaw Pastie & Cookie Co.

About

Hunt's Mackinaw Pastie & Cookie Co. Proudly serving the finest pasties to the nicest people since 1964.

Story

The Mackinaw Pastie Shop was founded in 1964 by William A. Heikkila of St. Ignace at the present site, 516 S. Huron in Mackinaw City. He sold the business to Gordon and Margaret Allen of St Ignace later the following year. Gordon and Margaret operated the pastie Shop making handmade pasties and developing a loyal following. In 1974 they sold the business to retired Lansing assistant fire chief, Bill Grew and his wife Wanda. Wanda Grew's grandmother was from Cornwall, England (which is where pasties originated), so Bill & Wanda started using her grandmother's recipe. The reputation of the Mackinaw Pastie Shop grew with Bill & Wanda working 15 to 18 hours a day in the summer season until they decided it was time to retire for a second time.

Dick & Jean Hunt of Cheboygan bought the business on July 1, 1983. Bill & Wanda continued working with Dick for the next five years teaching him the fine art of pastie making.

Over the years other flavors of pasties were added. Pastie varieties now include the traditional beef pastie, the chicken pastie, and the vegetable & cheese pastie.

A line of gourmet cookies was also added, baked fresh every day. We use only the finest ingredients available including fine quality chocolates used for making hand dipped chocolates.

In the spring of 2000, Dick and Jean decided to make another major change and acquired a second pastie shop. This store is on the west side of Mackinaw City. It is located at the south terminus of the Mackinac Bridge at I-75 and just two blocks from Fort Michilimackinac. This new location will be open year round and will give our customers easy access to our pasties when traveling on I-75.

Dick and Jean remained the sole owners until 2012 when they started passing the torch on to their children, Donna and Rob. Donna and Rob learned the art of making pasties from Wanda herself when they were about 12 years old. They understand the importance of keeping the recipe and technique exactly as it was taught to them by Wanda and they have pledged never to change Wanda’s grandmother’s recipe for the Mackinaw Pastie.