Grand River Deli & Burgers
2901 Grand River AvenueAnother night on the road means trying to find another place to eat.
I was meeting a bunch of co-workers at the Motor City Casino in Detroit for a job early last week. Once we got started around 4:00, there wouldn’t be a time to take a break and eat until after midnight so I knew I had to eat beforehand.
I met my co-workers from Grand Rapids at the Casino instead of driving to Grand Rapids and caravanning with them. I could see their cars there when I arrived but I couldn’t find them right away. Sure, I could have just texted or called one of them but I wasn’t feeling well and just wanted to get something to eat first so I headed inside.
Motor City Casino has a few different food options in their food court. There’s the usual buffet, a Little Caesars, a coffee shop, a full service sit down restaurant and a somewhat fast food place. I chose the somewhat fast food place.
The Grand River Deli & Burgers is right next to the Little Caesars restaurant inside the Motor City Casino in Detroit. The food court is pretty close to Sound Board kind of near the Brooklyn and Temple Streets entrance to the Casino on the east side of the complex. It’s kind of a mall food court type set up except you order at a kiosk instead of at the counter.
The kiosks are touch screens with the menu on it. It’s pretty easy to navigate and find what you want and even customize your order. All of the kiosks take credit, some take cash, and you can even swipe your room key if you’re staying to charge it to your room.
The menu is pretty simple. It’s mostly burgers and sandwiches with a couple of soup and salad options. I put in an order for a Triple Burger, an order of fries and a fountain Pepsi. The total cost was exactly $16 which I paid for on my credit card. A ticket is printed with a number and you just wait at the end of the counter for your number to be called to be called to pick up your food.
It took about fifteen minutes for my order to be called up and that seemed like a really long time to me. There were several people who ordered after me who got their food before I did. I could see my order finally being made and the cook made a smartass comment to the lady packing it up not to drop it on the floor this time…so my assumption is she dropped my order on the floor and it had to be remade….that’s why it took so long.
I found a table in the large dining around surrounding Grand River Deli & Burgers and Little Caesars. Again, it’s very mall food court style with tables sectioned off by short walls to give you some semblance of privacy.
I started with the fries which really weren’t much to write home about. They were simple, frozen, battered fries. They were nice and crispy and had just a little salt on them. Nothing bad just nothing that really stood out about them either. They were good filler.
The burger was surprisingly good. The sandwich had three thin, juicy burger patties on a toasted bun with a crispy circle of bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato. I was really taken aback at just how good the burger was. They cook the patties on flame broiler conveyor similar to what Burger King uses. The meat came out with a crispy exterior but was still very juicy and full of flavor. The toppings just enhanced the deliciousness of the meat which, again, was very surprising. I was expecting a bland frozen patty and that’s not at all what I got.
I’m not much of a casino person but the few times I have eaten at one, I always leave the taste of mass produced frozen food in mouth. Grand River Deli & Burgers was partially that but I still can’t get over how tasty the burger was. The Triple turned out to be a little more than I actually needed and I actually felt pretty bad about having to throw a few bites away.
SW Michigan Dining 