Smoke-N-Buns – Sprinkle Road
3530 South Sprinkle RoadI spend a lot of time on the road and a lot of time eating in dinner in my car. Fast food gets old. In fact, I do my best to not eat fast food, but sometimes, it’s just inevitable.
Spending so much time on the road means I spend a lot of time at gas stations as well. I typically seek out Speedway’s just for the Speedy Rewards and the fact they usually have something hot to eat…even if it is just Tornado’s off the roller grill.
Every so often, I’ll come across a gas station with actual food. One that has a grill inside of it cooking up something fresh. I like those.
Ridderman Oil is one of those companies that have added grill’s to a couple of their stores. The D Avenue BP was the first to add Smoke-N-Buns over a year ago. The Sprinkle Road location followed suit recently and added a Smoke-N-Buns of their own.
The second Smoke-N-Buns location is inside the BP station on Sprinkle Road just south of the I-94 interchange. This location is a little bit bigger and a little bit fancier than the operation in Alamo Township. While that one looks shoehorned into the store, the Sprinkle Road location fits in to the corner nicely and has an actual kitchen area.
The other difference between the two stores is ordering. The Sprinkle Road Smoke-N-Buns has touchscreens to order sort of like the Speedy Cafe in Wayland. You don’t ever have to talk to anyone. You select your order on the touchscreen then it prints out a ticket that you take to the register to pay. The food is made fresh to order while you wait then a number is called when it’s done.
Last time I ate at Smoke-N-Buns, I ordered the pulled pork sandwich. They also have brisket and a pulled chicken sandwich that are both slow smoked, but this time, I ordered a burger.
I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe and added an extra patty to it. I skipped the whole “deluxe” part and left off the whole lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. The cook double checked to make sure I didn’t want any ketchup or anything. I guess that’s weird or something to just want meat and cheese. I’m ok with that… I enjoy being weird when it comes to burgers.
I also added an order of fries and grabbed a couple of Pepsi’s from the gas station cooler instead of doing a fountain pop. In total, my bill was a little over $11.
There were a couple of people in front of me, so it did take about ten minutes for my burger to be cooked, bagged, and handed to me. Once I got it, there’s really no place to sit and eat, so I headed back to the car. I had to get gas yet and continue my drive back to Grand Rapids, so I was somewhat in a hurry anyway.
I started in on the fries while I was pumping gas. They were seasoned, battered fries that were really crispy and really hot. They came right out of the fryer before they were handed to me, so I had to eat very carefully for a few minutes despite the fact that I was really hungry and didn’t want to wait. They were really good fries though and much better than what can be got at the fast food giant down the street.
The burger was surprisingly good. It was a simple burger, but those are the burgers I like the best. The two fresh meat patties are smashed down on the flat top and they were covered in cheddar cheese and topped with bacon. There is absolutely nothing special about this burger but that’s exactly what makes it so special. Simple burger with meat, cheese, and a sesame seed bun, but the fresh meat and the hot, seasoned flat top make so, so delicious.
Smoke-N-Buns is such a great alternative when it comes to quick service restaurants. Getting fresh cooked food while pumping gas is something I really like. It’s a little disappointing that they close at 7:00 PM…especially being near Wings Event Center, but when I am in the area during their open hours, the fewer stops I have to make, the better and getting something that’s absolutely delicious while I’m on the road is always a treat.
French Fries
Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe w/Extra Patty
SW Michigan Dining 