Pizzawala’s (Kalamazoo)
3620 W. Michigan AvenueWe are creatures of habit. Friday night is pizza night. After a week of watching how much we’re spending, we can go a little nuts on payday and get something we all enjoy.
We have been trying to mix up our pizza choices lately. I’ve mentioned several times on this blog that Cottage Inn is our usual pizza of choice. The last few weeks we’ve done Little Caesars and Pizza Hut just to mix things up some.
A few weeks ago, we were driving to Lawson Ice Arena to drop the kids off at practice. We passed a pizza place on West Michigan that I read about in Mlive back in February. I didn’t think they were open yet but a few blocks later, we saw a guy walking with a pizza box from that store.
This past Friday, the kids were skating at Wings Event Center. L wanted me to come pick her up when I got off work because she was hangry but there was a K-Wings game that night which meant just getting in to the parking lot would be a mess at 6 PM when I would have been getting there.
I told her I was going to get pizza and have it there waiting for her when they got home.
Pizzawala’s is a newish fusion pizza chain with five locations across the country. The newest location is in Kalamazoo on Michigan Avenue west of Lancaster Drive. The pizzeria moved in next door to Munchie Mart in a space that was most recently Fresh ‘n Clean Barber and Beauty. The shop isn’t too far from Western Michigan University’s campus and it’s in an area that is surrounded by student apartments. This is the second Pizzawala’s location in Michigan with the other being in Canton. There is also one being built in East Lansing as a sit down restaurant and brewery.
Read more…Rolling Soul BBQ Joint
FOOD TRUCKFood truck season is back.
The weather is getting nicer…I guess….and it’s that time of year where all the food trucks who packed up for the winter are starting to reappear.
I was in Portage this past Friday for a job assignment. We weren’t really near Westnedge but once we got done with what we were doing, I headed over to Westnedge because I knew one of the food trucks I could never get to last summer has started posting up at it’s usual spot.
The Rolling Soul BBQ Joint typically sets up shop near the corner of Westnedge and Romence Road in the Tuffy Tire and Auto Service Center parking lot. As soon as I got to the corner, I could smell the BBQ and could see the red truck parked up against the building.
Read more…The ‘Zoo Scoop
3262 Stadium DriveIce cream for dinner was a thing I used to do quite a bit with a co-worker 10-12 years ago. We would end up in Holland a lot and she loved Captain Sundae. Instead of hitting fast food, we’d just grab ice cream and sit there on our dinner breaks.
I don’t really do ice cream for dinner anymore. I’m sure the kids would love…at least B would…if we did it more often.
This past Sunday, the kids were skating at Lawson Ice Arena. There was a MyWay wrestling tournament going on at Wings Event Center so we had to find ice somewhere else.
They got done at 3:00 and we had no plans the rest of the day.
As we got in the car, J asked if I was hungry. I’m always hungry. She suggested stopping at an ice cream place on the way home. I didn’t want ice cream but they also have sandwiches so I was on board.
The ‘Zoo Scoop is on Stadium Drive west of Rambling Road in the Stadium Shoppes plaza on the north side of the road. The small ice cream shop has been an ice cream shop before. It was the original home of Rollup Ice Cream and Tea back in 2020. Before that, it was a couple of pizza joints. It was Jasper’s for a while and a Gumby’s Pizza before that. It became The ‘Zoo Scoop on Black Friday last year.
Read more…Roy’s Squeeze Inn
1315 E. Michigan AvenueIt’s been a while since I’ve been asked to work a Saturday. I haven’t missed that at all.
I was asked to work this past Saturday in Novi. I didn’t have anything going on and it was a 100% overtime shift that I knew would go more than eight hours so I took it.
My day started with an early morning drive to the east side of the state. I got to Novi around 9 AM and wrapped up the job by a little before 4:00 PM. I hadn’t had time to eat since I stopped at a gas station on my drive over so I started looking around for something to eat.
There were some places that sounded good but nothing was really jumping out at me. I remembered I saw a Tik Tok not too long ago about a place in Ypsilanti that I really wanted to try so I decided to head there in stead.
Roy’s Squeeze Inn is on Michigan Avenue just to the east of Burbank Avenue in Ypsilanti Township just to the east of the town proper. The small…very small…circular shaped building started it’s life as something else before becoming Roy’s Squeeze Inn in the 1950’s. The restaurant got it’s name because they would have to “squeeze” customers into the tiny parking lot when the restaurant first opened.
Read more…Richland Lanes
9900 East D AvenueAnother Thursday night. Another trip to Richland.
Actually, I kind of messed up. There was a MyWay Wrestling tournament going on at Wings Event Center so the kids were skating at The Rink in Battle Creek instead.
I assumed that L would just get a rid to Richland like she always does but it was the night before Spring Break started and ice time was a little different in Battle Creek so her usual rides ended up not going.
I assumed wrong…..but I also didn’t text anyone to ask. I got out of work early and was hungry so I just headed to Richland to find a place to eat. It wasn’t until I checked L’s location on my phone in the middle of my dinner to realize I didn’t actually need to be in Richland.
That didn’t stop me from having a tasty meal though.
I’ve almost made it through all the restaurants in Richland but there are still a couple left. This week’s stop. A bowling alley.
Richland Lanes is on the east side of Richland on East D Avenue/M-89 just to the west of 34th Street across the street from the Gull Lake Schools campus in Richland Township. The building is a pretty simple one story, long metal building that has been there for quite a while. Some cosmetic updates were made about ten years ago but the structure of the building has stayed the same. The inside, on the other hand, underwent a complete renovation last year.
Read more…Big Apple Bagels (Portage)
3838 West Centre Avenue #100Getting old sucks. Sure, I suppose I’m “wiser” than I was 20 years ago but that doesn’t make up for not being able to walk without some kind of pain.
I’m not as good as I need to be about going to the doctor. There’s nothing majorly wrong with me but a lot of those things that start to happen with age are creeping in.
I had an appointment last Thursday just to go over some bloodwork and refill prescriptions. Nothing major and something that wasn’t going to take too long. I just needed to do it.
I dropped B off at school at the normal time and I still had about 45 minutes until I needed to be at the doctor’s office. It was kind of stupid to go home at that point so I decided to just go grab breakfast.
I headed toward Portage and was actually thinking I was just going to grab fast food breakfast. Then I remembered there was a bagel place near where I was going and picked that instead.
Big Apple Bagels in Portage is on West Centre Avenue in the Woodbridge Village shopping center just to the west of Moorsbridge Road. The small counter service sandwich shop sits on the west end of the shopping plaza before you get to the building occupied by Fieldstone Grill. This restaurant used to share space with Sweet Duet Frozen Yogurt but that shop is gone and now it’s just a Big Apple Bagel.
Read more…Penn Station East Coast Subs (Gull Road)
5909 Gull RoadI got really excited about a new sub place that opened in Westwood way back in 2009. It was a chain, but it was a chain we didn’t have in Kalamazoo and one I had never heard of before.
That Penn Station East Coast Subs opened on West Main in late 2009.
Not long after, locations opened on South Westnedge in Portage and on Gull Road in Comstock Township.
I ate at the Portage and Westwood locations often but that sorted of faded over the years and I don’t know why. I can’t even tell you the last time I was in Penn Station.
As I’ve blogged about several times, I’ve been making trips out to Richland to pick L up from a strength training class she does three nights a week. I usually do it on Thursday but last week, J needed me to go get her on Tuesday night. B had parent-teacher conferences at the same time and since I couldn’t make it to his school on time, J went that way and I went to get L.
I was really hungry when I left work just before 6:00. I didn’t have time to take a lunch break so I survived the day mostly on Pepsi and gas station snacks. I had some ideas in Richland but I wanted to get something that I knew would fill me up.
Every time I drive down Gull Roads, that Penn Station grabs my eye. I knew as soon as I left work that’s where I was going to stop to eat.
The Comstock Township location of Penn Station East Coast Subs is on Gull Road west of 26th Street. It’s in a small shopping plaza that also has a Qdoba, Wingstop and Roll Up Ice Cream. There are a lot of food choices on this stretch of Gull Road and this sub shop has survived the test of time. It opened in 2011 as the third location in the area.
Read more…Auntie Anne’s (Meijer North)
5121 S. Westnedge AvenueI have so many things I really need to fix around the house. I just don’t have time so it keeps getting pushed off.
One of the things high on the list was a new porch light. The last one I bought was an LED light so there was no way to replace the bulbs when it started to dim.
I went to Menards, got a new light, and made quick work of replacing it.
I went to caulk around the light just for that added protection (I’m a shoddy contractor) and I realized I didn’t have enough caulk laying around the garage to go all the way around.
I was heading to a K-Wings game later in the day so I figred I would just stop at Meijer on my way home.
The K-Wings have been playing 4:30 games on Saturday’s this season so I was out of the game around 7:00. I headed over to the Meijer right off I-94 to pick up what I needed. d
As I was checking out, J asked for a couple of things. Boba tea and pretzels. Meijer has shops for both on the way out.
I actually planned on stopping at the Auntie Anne’s inside the Meijer on Westnedge in Kilgore in Portage anyway. I did all my shopping then headed for the mall food court like shop just past the registers on the way out. It’s actually a combo Auntie Anne’s and Cinnabon but I was just there for pretzels this time.
Read more…Subway (Oakland Drive)
3025 Oakland DriveSub sandwiches have become a cornerstone of our diet.
We spend a lot of time at ice rinks and since we’ve moved over to Wings Event Center, we’ve eaten less fast food and more Jimmy John’s.
I found myself in a situation last Friday where I had some time to grab lunch. My first thought was Jimmy John’s, but I do that all the time. I kind of wanted a sandwich though and not a fast food burger.
I had a job site over by Asylum Lake just before my lunch break. On my way there, I passed a Subway and thought it’s been a while since I’ve had Subway so why not?
There are many Subway’s in Kalamazoo but the one I passed is on the corner of Oakland Drive and Whites Road in the Oakwood Plaza Shopping Center. The restaurant almost looks like an afterthought. The Plaza underwent some renovations about a decade ago and most of the buildings got a facade update. The Subway appears to be the one spot that didn’t as it still has the design of the original plaza with the slanted metal roof. The shop is on the end of the building right next to White’s Road. It sits next to what used to be Treat Street although a burger shop will be opening in that space soon.
Read more…The Dock at Bayview
12504 East D AvenueThursday’s have really become my day to eat out. I’ve explained over the last several weeks that L is doing strength and conditioning classes in Richland three nights a week. J has to do a lot of the running back and forth because I work later than she does.
The night I can help out is usually Thursday. L gets a ride to Richland and she gets done at 7:30 so I usually have plenty of time to get there to pick her up if I can’t get off in time to get her there.
This past Thursday I would have gotten off early to get her there but she told me she was riding with a friend if I could just pick her up. I decided to take advantage of that and left straight from work to go get dinner.
There’s a place just outside of Richland I have wanted to stop at forever but it’s far enough out of the way that we wouldn’t go there just to eat and it’s just a little too far for me to drop L off first and get back in time to pick her up.
The Dock at Bayview is right on Gull Lake on D Avenue near M-89. Well, that’s the offical address anyway. Most people will enter the parking lot from M-89 just to the east of North 38th Street. There’s a Marathon gas station right in front of the restaurant and that’s probably the easiest thing to look for when you’re heading down the road. The building looks kind of like a house overlooking the lake to the west. It sits just high enough on a bluff that you can see the lake over Gull Lake Marina.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 