Leo’s Coney Island (Ann Arbor)
160 S. Zeeb RoadAre you tired of reading about my kids figure skating yet?
Buckle up….it’s a pretty busy month and there will be lots of travel.
We finished up the Margaret Faulkner Springtime Invitational at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube in Ann Arbor on Sunday. We thought both kids were going to skate but B’s event was moved to Friday night so it was just L on Sunday.
L’s event was pretty early on Sunday morning so we could have left by 10:00 but she wanted to stay and cheer on her friends. That’s most of the fun for the weekend…hanging with and cheering for friends, so we stuck around until about 1:00.
J had asked about lunch as we were walking out but I didn’t really have any place in particular that I wanted to go. I told her we’d see what was along the way.
We got on I-94 and started to head back west to Kalamazoo. Not too long after getting on the highway, I saw a sign for a coney island. I asked J if that worked knowing they’d have breakfast still for L and a burger for me.
We got off of I-94 at Zeeb Road and headed south to Leo’s Coney Island. The restaurant is in a highly commercialized area of Scio Township. There are several other chain restaurants in front of the Meijer that sits on Zeeb Road just south of Jackson Road. Leo’s Coney Island is a pretty large regional chain with over 70 locations…mostly in the Detroit area but there are locations in Lansing, Flint, and Grand Rapids
Parking was kind of atrocious. There is a small, narrow lot in front of the building and a small, narrow driveway that leads to the backside with more room. We found a spot just before that driveway in the front and I kind of squeezed my way in.
It was about an hour before closing time when we walked in at 2:00 but the restaurant was still plenty busy. The vibe is that of pretty much any diner. It’s loud, fast paced, and set up for efficiency. The hostess took us to a booth and dropped off menus and the waitress was right behind her to grab drink orders.
“Coney Island” restaurants in Detroit are family diners in any other part of the country. Leo’s has a rather large menu of classic diner fare ranging from breakfast to burgers. It’s literally the kind of place that has something for everyone.
I was just going to go with a simple cheeseburger but I noticed the Bleu Cheese BLT Burger. I didn’t really need the L or the T but damn, am I glad I ordered this sandwich. It’s really a pretty simple 1/3 lb burger with a mound of tangy bleu cheese and crispy bacon on top. I keep using the phrase “classic diner” because that’s really what this is. The burger was a little extra salty and the cheese was a little extra tangy. It was such a good, simple burger. I was bummed when it was gone. The burger gets some pretty simple, standard fries as an accompaniment. They were pretty blah but there was mustard on the table so I grossed L out for the second day in a row by dipping my fries in mustard.
J really likes a simple grilled cheese from these kind of places and that’s what she got. There was nothing fancy at all about this sandwich. It was just a classic grilled cheese with fries. She loved it.
L ordered breakfast…like we knew she would. She ordered Breakfast Special #3 which is pancakes or French toast (she got pancakes) plus bacon or sausage (she got bacon). She then added on a side of white toast. The three pancakes she got were huge. She ate one then boxed the rest up for later. B actually ended up eating them four day later. He looked at me after I gave them to him and was like “those are really good pancakes!” Just think if he had gotten them hot off the gridle instead of hot out of the microwave.
The bacon was perfectly cooked the way L likes it. There were four strips of crispy but not burnt bacon. She polished off that plate pretty quickly
The cost for our meal, before tip, was right around $35. A pretty cheap meal for us but it was a meal we were all super happy with.
I don’t know how this was my first time at a Leo’s Coney Island. I’ve passed them many times and even stayed next to a 24 hour location in Royal Oak a few weeks ago but decided sleep was more important than food that particular night. We were really happy with our meal after such a long weekend. It was cheap and delicious. Hard to argue with that.
SW Michigan Dining 