Subway (Sprinkle Road)
Sandwich chains two nights in a row. That’s really unusual for me.
I headed out to Wings Event Center after work to pick up a kid. I didn’t know which one but I knew one of them had to stay later than the other.
I got there a little bit early to pick up B. L wanted to stick around because a lot of the little kids that she helps coach in the club’s Learn To Skate classes were practicing for this weekend’s Skate the Zoo competition.
B didn’t care about that and wanted to go home.
J had gotten the kids Jimmy John’s so they didn’t need anything else to eat. I had Jimmy John’s the night before so I didn’t want that again. I didn’t want to go too far out of my way or make B sit in the car while I went inside to grab something so I just resigned myself to the fact I was going to get fast for or something along Sprinkle Road…or it was going to be a frozen pizza night.
I really wasn’t in the mood for a fast food burger or a slice of gas station pizza so I opened up my phone and put in an order for a Subway sandwich.
The closest Subway to Wings Event Center is on the corner of Sprinkle Road and Covington Road just barely inside the city limits of Kalamazoo. The building looks a little warn. It’s a two storefront commercial building with grey vinyl siding. The Subway has been there for well over 15 years according to Google maps and if you scroll through the old street view pictures, you can see how the chain has changed branding over the years.
Read more…Jimmy John’s (West Michigan Ave)
I’m not the type of person that does a lot of restaurant loyalty programs.
I don’t eat at the same place very often. I like to try new things.
One of the few places that I do actually pay attention to the rewards program is Jimmy John’s. It’s the one place we eat at at a lot.
When we skated over at Wings West, there was a Jimmy John’s just down the street. There is other fast food there but Jimmy John’s was always the easiest to grab and to bring back to the rink.
When we moved over to Wings Event Center, there is a Jimmy John’s right on the corner of Sprinkle and Vanrick we pass to get to the arena. That became the go-to for before practice, break, and after practice meals so signing up for rewards was well worth it.
I’m the only one that really pays attention to those rewards points though so when I’m sitting at work and money is a little tight, I can almost always use rewards to get myself a sandwich.
That’s exactly what I did Monday night.
I was working in downtown Kalamazoo and had about an hour before my next assignment. I needed to run out towards campus so when I redeemed my rewards and put in an order, I chose the Jimmy John’s right next to Waldo Stadium.
The Jimmy John’s in the West Main Hill Neighborhood is one that is kind of in an odd location. The address is West Michigan Avenue but that portion of Michigan Avenue is only two blocks long and it sits on the north side of the train tracks across from Waldo Stadium. The restaurant is on the corner of West Michigan Avenue and Eldred Street in a very residential part of town. The parking lot kind of dips down and you can’t even see the sign for Jimmy John’s from the street. The sign is only visibible from across the tracks as you’re driving on Stadium Drive. There are actually spots for two businesses in this very small building. The back part of the building used to be the Kalamazoo Cat Cafe…that’s where we got our two kitties from…but they moved a while ago to a spot on Westnedge.
Read more…Tacos Porvenir
It’s been a really long time since I’ve had good tacos.
I have no idea why that is. There are good tacos all around me. I just haven’t ventured out to the places I normally go to get them.
I was pretty much on my own at work for the majority of last week. The colleague that usually works in the office with me was on vacation and I only had one day where a Grand Rapids colleague was sent down here to work with me.
I did what I could to keep busy and didn’t end up eating out nearly as much as I wanted to.
I found some time on Wednesday to get away from the office for lunch. I had an idea on Cork Street but I told myself that if I saw a taco truck out and it was open, I was going to stop. I intentionally went down Portage Street because there are two locations where there are trucks somewhat permanently parked.
As I approached the Town and Country Market on the corner of Portage and Reed Street. I saw one of the trucks I was looking for. The window was open and the generator was on so I pulled in.
Tacos Porvenir has been parked in the back of the parking lot of the Town and Country Supermarket for quite a while. The brightly painted trailer is hard to miss when driving by. I’m just usually in a hurry when I drive on this side of town so I never get a chance to stop.
Read more…J’Harvey’s BBQ
It was another Lunchtime Live! in downtown Kalamazoo but I had to make a run out to Portage on my lunch break.
I was still planning on getting back to the park in time to grab lunch. I had to take a co-worker down to a business on South Sprinkle Road way down by Romence Road.
As we were driving south, I spotted a food truck I had never seen before. I was going to do a food truck downtown but here was a BBQ truck that was new to me.
On my way back to the office, I decided to stop.
J’Harvey’s BBQ is parked on the corner of Merideth Street and Sprinkle Road in the parking lot of Lume Cannabis which, many years ago, was a Circle K. The all black food truck with painted flames around the bottom sits in the back of the parking lot near the road. I just parked in a spot up near the building since there were several open spots and walked to the truck.
Read more…The Fire Hub
Battle Creek built some really spectacular fire stations in the early part of the 20th Century. I realize that they’re not really practical as fire stations anymore but the buildings are so great it’s hard to tear them down.
My colleague and I were in Battle Creek last week for an assignment. I had planned to check out the new Jack In the Box for lunch but I soon realized we were on the west side of downtown.
I could have still made my way back to I-94 via Capital Avenue but I passed another spot that recently reopened that I’ve been itching to try.
The Fire Hub is in one of those old fire houses in Battle Creek….the old Station 4. It’s on Kendall Street just north of the train tracks and Dickman Road. This conversion to restaurant was initially done by Firekeepers Casino but that version of the restaurant closed in 2023. The building sat vacant for a couple of years until new owners took it over Spring of this year. The old name stayed the same as the restaurant started another new life in this historic building.
Read more…Erbelli’s Gourmet Pizza (Oshtemo Township)
The Southport Summer Classic figure skating competition at the Pleasant Prairie Rec Plex in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin always takes place on Father’s Day weekend.
We typically leave on Wednesday and get back sometime Saturday evening. By the time we get home, I usually have a lot of stuff to do on Sunday so I just kind of ignore the whole Father’s Day thing.
J always asks where I want to go out to eat but we just spent a ton of money over the last several days out of town so I just say I don’t want to go anywhere unless there is some new restaurant I really want to go to…but that wasn’t the case this year.
I spent my Sunday mowing, cleaning up the yard, and grocery shopping. When I got home from the store, I’m pretty sure everyone was taking a nap. It was around 4:30 and I hadn’t eaten yet. Since it was Father’s Day, I just made the executive decision to order a pizza from one of my favorite pizza places that we almost never order from.
Erbelli’s Gourmet Pizza has two locations in the Kalamazoo area. One is on Portage Road in the southern part of the City of Portage. The other one is right down the street from us in Oshtemo Township on Stadium Drive just north of Sunset Road. The restaurant is in a small shopping center and it takes up several store fronts in the building. It’s easy to spot in the building because all the windows are covered by graphics which help set the mood inside the dining room.
Read more…Shelby Campbell’s Eatery & Bar
Friday at the Southport Summer Classic in Pleasant Prairie, WI was exhausting.
We only had one competing and she was done by early afternoon. It wasn’t a great day for her though so after finishing up at the Pleasant Prairie Rec Plex, we headed back to the hotel for a while.
J and L wanted to head over to the Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets to do some shopping. I asked J if she had plans on buying anything for B. She said no so I asked if we could just stay in the hotel and watch TV.
My parents came to town for the event too and they too went to the Outlets on their own to look for some things. J ran in to them and dinner was brought up. I had already told my mom I could just meet them at the restaurant at our hotel since it was right across the street and I honestly was not up for venturing out to Kenosha.
We made plans to meet at the restaurant around 3 PM. L wanted to go back to the rink to watch friends so J took her back. She and my parents pulled in to the parking lot of the DoubleTree hotel we were staying in at the same time so B and I headed downstairs to meet them.
Shelby Campbell’s Eatery & Bar listed address both on it’s website and on Google Maps is on 108th Street in Pleasant Prairie. It’s connected to the DoubleTree by Hilton Pleasant Prairie that has an address of 120th Street in Pleasant Prairie. The road that runs in front of the building is 120th Street. 108th Street is the road at the curve that 120th turns in to so as long as you look for the DoubleTree, you’ll find the restaurant. It’s right across the street from the Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets and runs right along I-94/41 on the very south side of Pleasant Prairie. There is a large parking lot for the hotel and plenty of parking in front of the main entrance for the restaurant which is on the west side of the building.
Read more…Waterfront Warehouse
We’ve been making trips to Pleasant Prairie, WI for a figure skating competition for four years now. It’s one of our favorite competitions. We like the Pleasant Prairie/Kenosha area and we’ve liked exploring it over the past few years.
We were in the area last week for the annual Southport Summer Classic at the Pleasant Prairie Rec Plex. We got to town Wednesday night and competition started first thing Thursday morning for us.
Thursday was, by far, the busiest of the three days of competition. L had two skates in the morning, B had two skates in the afternoon then L had one more skate in the evening.
My parents always come to this competition and this time, they decided to stay for the entire weekend. They usually do a day or so but they hadn’t seen B’s free dance at all and they’ve only seen L’s once so they wanted to stay and watch those.
B finished up his Thursday event at about 2:30P PM. He got his medal and got changed then I asked what the plan for the rest of the day was. L had another event at about 6:30 PM. She wanted to stay at the rink and asked if I’d go get her Chipotle. J decided she was going to do the same. B also wanted to stay at the rink but he just wanted something from the concession stand.
I took my parents to get Chipotle for J and L. We dropped it off then we headed over to their hotel in Kenosha so they could get checked in. We still had a couple of hours before we needed to be back at the rink and they were hungry. They knew that I had some ideas so they left dinner up to me.
I had a couple of ideas in mind. We had some time so we could venture away from Pleasant Prairie a bit. I headed towards the shores of the wrong side of Lake Michigan.
I picked Waterfront Warehouse on Sheridan Road near 35th Street in Kenosha. It’s actually about a block from Lake Michigan but you can see the lake from the amazing deck they have along Sheridan Road. The restaurant is a sister restaurant to La Fogata which is just down the street. Waterfront Warehouse has been around for about a decade. It opened in 2016 after an extensive remodel of the former Animal House restaurant which had a much, much smaller deck that didn’t have the views that the current restaurant has. The parking lot is off to the south of the building and that’s where the main entrance is. It was pretty empty when we pulled in but it was also 3:30 PM on a Thursday. The hours said it was open so we walked in.
Read more…Jimano’s Pizzeria (Pleasant Prairie)
After a couple weeks off, we’re back on the road for a figure skating competition.
We headed to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin last week for another one of our favorite competitions. The Southport Summer Classic at the Pleasant Prairie Rec Plex.
I took Wednesday off because we had to drive over Wednesday evening. J got off work around 3 and we left as soon as she got home.
The drive was actually pretty smooth until we got to downtown Chicago on the Kennedy Expressway. There was a crash on the inbound side and it was holding up traffic on the outbound side as people had to gawk as we drove by.
We got to Pleasant Prairie around 6:30 and got checked in to our room at the DoubleTree Hotel right on the edge of town not too far from the ice arena.
I asked if anyone wanted pizza for dinner because I did. Everyone else said no. They just wanted to go to the Kwik Trip down the road and stock up on snacks, drinks, and their delicious grab and go hot food. I knew I was going to do that several times over the next three days so I told them I’d take them to Kwik Trip then I was ordering myself a pizza.
When we got back to the hotel, I pulled up the website for Jimano’s Pizzeria. I had ordered from them once before when we stayed in Gurnee, IL so I knew I liked their pizza and they would have a specific type of pizza that I really wanted.
The Jimano’s Pizzeria in Pleasant Prairie is on 76th Street and 91st Avenue on the far northside of Pleasant Prairie. That whole stretch of road is kind of odd because 75th Street/WI-50 is the main stretch of road and the dividing line between Pleasant Prairie and Kenosha but the buildings are only accessible from what is almost an access road behind them or off to the side. There are no driveway entrances from 75th. In the case of Jimano’s, that road is 76th Street. The pizza joint takes up a corner building in a larger shopping center and you can’t even see it if you’re on 75th Street.
Read more…Tous Les Jours (Portage)
My kids are creatures of habit when it comes to breakfast. My daughter prefers Starbucks. My son ALWAYS wants Dunkin’.
B wanted to get up early to skate on Tuesday morning at Wings Event Center before we headed to a competition in Wisconsin on Wednesday. As soon as we got in the car, he asked if we could get Dunkin’. I was going to try to get him to go someplace else but I figured it wasn’t worth the argument. I got him Dunkin’ then headed home.
I dropped him off and still had about an hour before I had to be at work. I decided I was going to get the breakfast I wanted to get.
Tous Les Jours is a South Korean based chain of French-Asian bakeries. There are over 1000 stores worldwide, mostly in South Korea. There are four here in Michigan with the newest one having opened up on South Westnedge and Idaho Avenue in Portage. The French-Asian fusion bakery opened up back in May in what used to be a Medewar Jewelers.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 