D’Nicio’s Parlour Restaurant
6880 W. Main StreetToday starts the recovery period. J and I have been go, go, go for the last five days. It started with a quick trip home to celebrate Christmas with my family because we’re not going to be able to make it home on Christmas day due to our work schedules.
After that, my brother and his family came to visit us. They have a two-year-old and a six-month-old. The two-year-old kept us going for the two days they were here.
We got up this morning and contemplated going out for breakfast, but my brother wanted to get on the road to avoid any snow that we were going to get today. With the little ones in the house, J and I got up much earlier than we normally would so were both tired. We sat on the couch and watched a few more episodes of Billy The Exterminator and The Price is Right then got moving so we could go get lunch.
We decided on a simple lunch and went to D’Nicio’s Parlour Restaurant on West Main Street near 9th Street in Oshtemo Township. The restaurant is owned by the same family that owns D’Nicio’s Coney Island in Battle Creek. They took over the former Parlour Restaurant and added the D’Nicio’s name to it. The restaurant is in a small strip mall in front of Menard’s. Other than the fact it’s in a modern development, the shop has the feel of a 50’s diner. The color scheme is pretty much all red and white. There are several lunch counters in the space and booths were waitresses don’t have to leave their lunch counter area. The rest of the space is filled in with more booths and tables. We were both a little surprised at just how big the place is. There is plenty of space and if you like the lunch counter feel, there’s a pretty good chance there will be an open seat just because there are so many of them.
We took a booth along one of the outside walls right in front of the ice cream area. Yup, they have an extensive ice cream and dessert menu. I keep using the word diner, but it’s actually more like an old soda fountain although I’m not 100% on whether they actually do soda’s….but they have almost any type of ice cream treat that your heart desires. Both lunch and breakfast menus are laminated and already on the table.
We pulled a couple lunch menus out although they do serve breakfast all day. A waitress spotted us and came over for drink orders. They have Pepsi products so I got a regular and J got a Diet.
No surprises from me. I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger and added an order of fries. The burger is probably a frozen patty that is topped with really crispy bacon and a slice of cheese. It’s served on a larger than normal food service type sesame seed roll. The sandwich is nothing fancy, but it is classic greasy spoon diner food. I’ve mentioned in every other blog I’ve done on small diners that I always seem to add a ton of salt to burgers from places like this and I did that here as well. My fries didn’t have much taste or salt on them so I added some more. I wiped the extra from my plate with the burger and it was so tasty although not good for my sodium intake for the day.
J ordered D’Nicio’s Sampler Platter. Like me, she loves places like this and goes straight for the good stuff on the menu. The fried food. The plate came with two chicken fingers, four onion rings, fries, cheese sticks, and a garden salad. The salad came out first. It was a pretty basic salad of iceberg lettuce and some veggies. She asked about dressing and the server didn’t really know. She did say there was ranch so J took that. They brought out a big bottle of ranch dressing for her which worked great because she could use them for the fried food as well. The chicken fingers were huge. They were almost full chicken breasts. She ate one and gave me one because there was just too much on her plate. The rest of the food was pretty basic fried fare. She didn’t have a complaint about anything on her plate and ate until she was full.
Our bill was just a little over $16. As much as I love diner food, I love the price maybe a little more. We both left stuffed. Unfortunately, we passed on all the ice cream treats, but there will be another time for that.
D’Nicio’s is a fantastic diner with a throwback atmosphere. The food we ordered wasn’t highly original, but there’s more on the menu than what we were hungry for today. There’s a Mexican section, a big Greek section, and of course, all sorts of Coney options. It’s one of those places that truly has something for everyone. 
Bacon Cheeseburger w/Fries
D’Nicio’s Sampler Platter
SW Michigan Dining 
I confess that this is one of my very favorite places in Kalamazoo to eat for one simple reason….they have THE BEST “Detroit-Style” Koneys I have had in this area. Sooo much better than the two “Coney Island Hot Dog” restaurants in town, and that’s because they use a Chili SAUCE instead of just loose meat on a Dog, which is NOT Detroit-style. The Sauce is EXACTLY like I’d get at the Koney places around Detroit growing up, like Kerby’s or Walt’s or the Senate. Niskers does a pretty good Detroit-style too, but not exactly the same as this place, and I LOVE this place. I usually get 2 Koneys with a side of Chili Fries. Perfection. Nothing fancy, but reminds me of being a kid, and they’re great. Service is always fast and friendly, and the place is extra-affordable too. Now I confess I’ve never tried a Coney at Nagles, or a few other places in town, but I’m the type that once I’ve found exactly what I’m looking for, I stop looking and make it my regular stop, and it took me 18 years of living in Kalamazoo before I found D’Nicio’s, so they’ve earned my business.
By the way….in my last comment, I made a comparison to the two “Coney Island Hot Dog” restaurants in town, and I mean them no disrespect…they are both decent places to grab a bite here in town, but they just didn’t offer the “Detroit-style” Coney Dogs of my youth which was my point of emphasis. And one other thing about the Detroit-style Chili-SAUCE…it has NO BEANS! Very important. In other words, its not just “loose meat”, its a sauce, but its a sauce with NO beans. Very specific. Now, its been a LONG time since I’ve visited either of the “Coney Island Hot Dogs” places in town, and maybe I ought to make a return visit (I like the atmosphere of the one downtown), but since they didn’t have exactly what I was looking for at the time, I haven’t been back. Maybe their options have changed in the years since I’ve been to one of them, but all I’m saying is that D’Nicio’s hits the bullseye IN MY OPINION. Really dig the place.
I don’t think you have to qualify your statement or make excuses for the other places in town. The local places can call them Coneys but they’re just not. Growing up on the east side I grew to love Detroit Style coney dogs. Living here for the past 15 years I had been sorely disappointed that nothing even close was available, but then D’Nicio’s revamped The Parlour and set things right. Their Coneys are delicious and so close to the real thing that I don’t even mind that they don’t use natural casing hot dogs. I do miss the ‘snap’ and taste of a good Koegel but it’s easily forgiven since D’Nicio’s is the only place within 80 miles to get a real coney.
Now all we need is a White Castle in town.
ugh….I hate White Castle….I grew up in the Chicago area and White Castle was all the rage…..I guess not liking onions is probably the reason…but still….ugh…