Clementine’s Too

• 1235 Broad Street
• St. Joseph, MI 49085
• (269) 983-0990
• Website
• Menu

For quite a while now, J’s parents have talked about meeting us halfway between Kalamazoo and Chicago for lunch.  Today, J calls me while she was still work and told me to find a place to eat.  Her parents wanted to take a Harley ride.

Since J was running late, we picked a place in St. Joseph figuring her parents would get a head start on us.  It’s about an hour drive for us and a little under two for them on the bike.  The place I wanted to eat at closes before we could have made it there and I forgot about a place in Benton Harbor I’ve been wanting to go to, but I did remember Clementine’s had a St. Joseph location.  We liked the South Haven Clementine’s and St. Joseph has the same menu.

Clementine’s Too is on Broad Street in St. Joseph a few blocks from downtown.  It sits right on the Pier 33 Marina.  From Broad Street, there’s a parking lot, but the building actually has the backside facing the street.  The frontside of the building faces the marina, but the Marina is private and there’s no access to the Marina from the restaurant that I could find.  The front door is off to the side of the building.

J and I got there pretty early and figured we’d sit outside until her parents got there.  That when we figured out the marina was private and the picnic tables we could see were on the other side of the fence.  No worries.  There were a few planter boxes in front of the door, so that’s where we sat and waited.

Once her parents got there, we were met by a very frazzled waitress (I think..maybe a hostess).  Not quite sure what she was freakin about.  There were more waitresses than tables, so they weren’t swamped.

After slamming a couple doors and grabbing some menus, she took us to a booth along the windows that over look the marina.  There’s also an outdoor patio, but J’s parents just came in off the bike and wanted the air condition.

The dining room has a very heavy nautical theme.  There are stuffed fish hanging on the walls and captains wheels are used heavily as decorations.

The menu at Clementine’s Too is the same as the South Haven location.  I looked and looked, but kept going back to the Birkshire Burger.  That’s the same sandwich I got in South Haven and I wanted to try something different, but I wasn’t in the mood to be “adventurous,” so I went something familiar.  The burger is charbroiled and topped with monterey pepperjack cheese and bacon.  The burger was good.   A little overdone again.  Same deal with the South Haven burger, but still good.  The sandwich comes with choice of side.  I went with the fries which are skin on and they were quite delicious.

J’s step-dad also went with a burger.  he stuck with the Gold Miner’s burger which is a cheeseburger topped with American cheese, lettuce, and tomato.  He also ordered fries and didn’t  have any complaints that I know of.

J headed towards the appetizer menu.  She ordered Homemade Chicken Fingers and since they were on the appetizer menu, they didn’t come with fries, so she ordered those as well.  The chicken fingers would have made a great meal, so I’m not sure why they put them on an appetizer menu.  Same with chicken wings.  I’ve never understood that.  Appetizers are supposed to be things you don’t eat as a meal.  These chicken fingers were delicious.  They were battered and deep fried.  Luckily for me, the basket of fries was so big, J offered me a couple of the chicken strips.  They are by far some of the best restaurant chicken strips I’ve ever had.

J’s mom ordered the same salad J did at South Haven.  The Strawberry Patch salad is SUPPOSED to come with mixed greens, charbroiled chicken, fresh strawberries, feta cheese, walnuts, red onions, and a raspberry vinaigrette.  I say supposed because just like in South Haven, the salad was predominately iceberg lettuce with a few mixed greens mixed in.  There’s just something wrong about a fancy salad with iceberg lettuce.  Still, she enjoyed it and took about half home.

The bill was just under $50.  There were other issues which were no fault of the restaurant that hung over dinner.  It was kind of a bad day that got worse.  The one highlight of that bad day was our lunch.  The location still seems weird to me, but the food was just as good as the South Haven location.

Birkshire Burger w/Fries

Homemade Chicken Fingers