Chamois Restaurant & Car Wash

• 55040 N. Main Street
• Mattawan, MI 49071
• (269) 668-7668
• Website
• No Online Menu

I wish I could take credit for finding this one.  There’s nothing I like more than finding these out of the way, hidden restaurants that serve up great food, but I can’t take credit for this.  I read an article for the place in the Gazette last month and tucked it away in the old memory bank for the next trip home.

The next trip home was last Thursday.  I had tickets for a “guy’s night” at US Cellular Field on Friday and J took the day off so we could go home Thursday afternoon and see our nieces.

When she got off work at noon on Thursday, we loaded up the car and started heading south.  Before we left the house, she said she was hungry and I asked if stopping at a car wash was ok.   She thought I was a little crazy.

Chamois Restaurant & Car Wash is on Main Street right as you come in to Mattawan from I-94.  Just like you’d expect, it’s a car wash.  It looks like a car wash from the highway and if you didn’t know there was a restaurant tucked in the building between the bays, you’d drive right by.  They do have some signage out on the road, but seriously, are you really going to pull in to the car wash thinking that sign went with that building? 

There’s not a ton of parking.  There are few spots right in front of the door and then some more parking along the outer edge of the driveway.  I drove around the building looking for a good spot before I finally settled on a parallel spot on the side of one of the car wash bays.

The restaurant isn’t anything fancy.  There are a couple tables in the front of the space and the order counter and small grill take up the back.  The menu is written on dry erase boards hung up in a little alcove.

Once again, you don’t have to guess what I got.  The article I read said the burgers were the stars here, so that’s what I went with.  I got the Bacon Double Cheeseburger basket which comes with skin on fries.  The burgers are made fresh on a grill.  The meat is fresh, and hand pattied.   The sandwich doesn’t look like more than a typical bacon cheeseburger, but the grill they use gives it a nice smokey flavor.  The burger was delicious and a mouthful.  It was very juicy and cooked just right.  They didn’t leave any pink in the middle, but it was far from overcooked.   I couldn’t tell if the fries were fresh cut or just skin on frozen fries which are gaining popularity in the restaurant supply biz, but they were good.

Since I don’t have a menu in front of me, I don’t remember exactly what J got.  I know she got a chicken sandwich that was also flame grilled which is how almost all of their food is cooked.  She topped with BBQ sauce, lettuce, and cheese.  She said it was delicious and I got a “good choice” when we left the place.  She also got the basket in order to get the fries and we both added drinks which were fountain Coke’s.

Chamois looks like they do really good business.  When we got there, no one was waiting and there was one table finishing up.  As we were finishing up our order, the place all of a sudden got packed.  It looked like there may have been a construction site on lunch break or something because within a matter of minutes, the line was out the door.  The two people working did everything they could to keep up.  When we got there, a lady was working the front by herself.  Before long, she had to get help so she could just take orders.  Still, we waited less than ten minutes for our food.

For a little over $16, we got a great meal.  There is no way I ever would have found this place on my own.  They don’t do much advertising that I’m aware of, but they have a great product.   I didn’t need a car wash on this trip, but what a great idea.  I hate washing my car, but I’m sure I’d do it more often if I knew I could get a great burger to reward myself.

Grilled Chicken Breast Basket