Where's the best unexpected place in Michigan you've ever eaten?
Let me recommend: Bill's Hot Dog Stand in Ypsilanti.
It's a drive-in. Open your window and eat in the parking lot. Get their dogs with everything on it + a mug of root beer. If you don't eat dogs, at least get the root beer!!! I don't even like root beer that much, but I now dream about the root beer from Bill's.
Absolute reasonable prices, too: got 4 dogs & 2 mugs of root beer for around 10$ total!
What's your recommendation for unexpectedly good food in Michigan?
There's a Japanese place in Novi called Nagomi that is pretty great. When you walk in it looks like you're in the wrong place because what you see barely looks like a restaurant, just an empty event hall that is a bit run down. The ordering process is confusing to everybody on their first time, but it works really great once you figure it out. The food is awesome. My family goes pretty regularly. I love the pork misoitame, the ramen can be amazing on the right day, and I love the chicken katsu curry with cheese. Their sesame balls are hit or miss. They have a rotating selection of Japanese drinks, with ramune always in stock, and sometimes suntori nonalcoholic beer. They usually play funny Japanese shows with pranks or fails. It's pretty common to see groups of con-goers dressed up after attending a con of some kind. Also there's a public access RC race car track right across the street by the water tower, which is great for families to spectate at, or drive on if you remembered to bring an rc car.
There are pictures of the food on a long table and on the wall above it. There are little squares of paper with the name of the food, and things like "extra noodles" or "add egg" and "here or togo". You get one piece of paper for each item you want, and then fill it out, and give them your stack of paper.