What’s next for the iconic Leland eatery
A beloved local establishment, Trish’s Dishes, is looking to the future with plans to wrap up its time in Leland this fall.
Owner Trish Kropp, who has rented the building at 407 S. Main Street since 2014, said she plans to close her storefront and go strictly wholesale in November. Fortunately, Kropp’s signature handcrafted sandwiches will still be available at the 15 locations they’re currently serving in Leelanau and Grand Traverse counties though.
With both of her kids, Howie and Henry, now graduated from high school, Kropp said it felt like the perfect time to transition in her career.
“It’s a good time to make a change. I was going to wait until I just couldn’t,” Kropp said. “I will miss feeding people because I really do enjoy it.”
Going forward, Kropp said she wants the business to focus exclusively on wholesale, and hopes to eventually find a property in Leelanau County to operate out of.
“I want to take the sandwich business and I would like to expand it. I have been approached by a couple businesses and I never really got back to them because I felt like I was spread too thin, and I just couldn’t really go in,” she said. “So what’s exciting is now I’ll be able to knock on those doors and hopefully open some new wholesale accounts.”
Trish’s Dishes has adapted and evolved since the business first opened in 2008 in Northport. Kropp operated out of the Northport storefront for about three years, offering popular cooking classes that sold out and building a clientele that would allow her to continue expanding.
In search of a larger work space, Kropp later operated out of a building in Lake Leelanau for another three years, until she found herself looking for even more space. When the building on Main Street in Leland became available after Stone House Bread moved out in 2013, Kropp took the opportunity to expand to a bigger space once again.
“When I heard of this place being open, and with my kids going to Leland, it just seemed like the perfect fit,” she said. “I basically centered my hours around the school hours, so I was able to take them into school before I opened and pick them up after I closed.”
Leland residents Jim and Elizabeth VanSteenhouse purchased the building on Main Street in September 2025. The decision to acquire the property came easily after Kropp, a dear family friend, came to them genuinely concerned that she might lose the place. Jim said he remembers seeing how much that uncertainty weighed on her, and noted how the purchase wasn’t a difficult decision after that discussion.
“The building itself certainly wasn’t the attraction. It’s an old building with significant challenges and will eventually require a great deal of attention and investment. But none of that mattered much at the time,” Jim said. “For us, the decision was simple. If Trish wanted to keep serving Leland, we wanted to make sure she had a place to do it.”
The VanSteenhouses’ said that when Kropp shared with them recently that she was ready for her next chapter in her career, she was also concerned about the time remaining on her lease. The couple immediately relayed to Kropp that she’s free to go whenever she’s ready to, but as long-time supporters and friends, they also hate to see the restaurant go.
“Trish’s Dishes was one of the first places our family fell in love with when we were considering making Leland home. We were regulars during the construction of our house, and I’m still there several times a week,” the VanSteenhouses’ said. “Over the years, Trish has done more than serve great food. She’s created a place where people gather, where people know one another, and where you feel a little more connected to Leland when you walk out than when you walked in. More importantly, Trish has become a dear family friend. She has served this community wonderfully for many years. We’ll miss walking through that door. But we’re thrilled for Trish, and we’ll be cheering her on in whatever comes next.”
While long-term plans for the building after Kropp exits are not yet finalized, the VanSteenhouses’ acknowledge that the aging building will require considerable work, but they believe the property has tremendous potential for the community and understand that whatever comes next will require good stewardship to get there.
“Given the condition of the building, the location, and the intricacies of Leland zoning, Elizabeth and I believe this is one of those decisions better made thoughtfully than quickly,” Jim said. “If the right opportunity comes along, we’d consider putting this property in the capable hands of someone with a track record of exceptional work. It is the type of property that years from now we want people to look at and say, ‘this is something special.’” Kropp recalls the countless good times — both casual and celebratory — that helped make the storefront the special place that it is today. She said she remembers her kids stopping by to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and bringing their friends along with them, a quick stop for so many groups and individuals to gather and grab some good eats.
“It was just like the best pit stop. It was so cool for my kids,” she said. “My favorite memory would be having my own personal parties. I’d have Easter brunch with family and friends, or I’d do employee Christmas parties. I did the sunrise party for Leland school for the seniors, and my favorite part about it was being able to offer this venue to graduation parties… we had good times in this place.”
Kropp said Leland, the town she’s operated out of the longest, has served as a second home to her and the kids. The strong community support for her sons and the business, especially in the winter/off-season, made all the difference.
“It was amazing to have that here for them. When they (the kids) were little, in the summers, they’d do their yacht club and then they’d come here and I’d grab some staff and have them go babysit them,” she said. “The (storefront) staff was mostly all pulled from Leland, so it really couldn’t have been designed better, especially as a single mom, it was literally perfect.”
With a passion for serving good, tasty food to anyone that stepped into the building, Kropp said she knows the community will always be there, even after she’s gone.
“I feel like I’ll always have the community. All you have to do is just come and get dinner at The Cove,” she said.
