Gibby’s Bar & Grill
139 W. Main StreetI worked late on Friday night so Jessica and the kids went to stay at her parents house somewhere between Sturgis and Mendon. I was going to join them when I got off but I figured I would take advantage of having a quiet house to myself.
Saturday morning J was just going to come home but we started texting each other around 11:00 and decided to just let the kids stay at Nana and Grandpa’s. J gave me the option to continue enjoying the empty quiet house or joining them. I decided to join them.
Around 4:00 we started talking about going home. I hadn’t eaten all day and was starting to get hungry. I asked J’s parents if they wanted to join us for dinner. I figured I could find something close by on the way home but they didn’t want to leave. I was still able to talk J into stopping even though we knew we were taking a chance with two overtired kids.
We’ve learned the “back way” to get to my in-laws house so the only towns we go through are Schoolcraft and Mendon. We could always go the suggested route and hit Centreville and Three Rivers too if we’re looking for something to eat and Sturgis isn’t that far out of the way either. Knowing we had sleepy kids (yes, it was only 5:00 but did you get much sleep when you stayed at Grandma and Grandpa’s?) the most direct route was best.
We chose to stop at Gibby’s Bar & Grill in Mendon. The restaurant is on West Main Street (also known as M-60) near Nottawa Road. The building is pretty typical small town bar. The brick building is connected to several others along the busy road which serves as Mendon’s downtown. . The bar was named after former MSU and Detroit Lions star Kirk Gibson…which I can only assume why wood paneling on the building is painted green.
The space is divided in to two distinct sections. When you walk in, there’s a long bar, a pool table, and a couple of tables. The small kitchen is right next to the door and the wall separating it from the rest of the building serves as an entry hallway. The place is pretty brightly lit compared to a lot of similar bars. The white drop ceilings reflect light giving the space a much brighter feel than expected.
We headed for the large dining room off to the right. Again, they go for a much cheerier look than typical dive bar with white walls, drop ceilings, and a lot of lighting with ceiling fans. The floors are carpeted in the dining room as opposed to the white tile in the bar area. The tables and chairs are cheap restaurant furniture.
I could see what was on the taps when I walked in but nothing stood out to me as craft. Instead of asking, I just went with my non-craft choice, a bottle of Budweiser.
A lot of people rave about the broasted chicken from Gibby’s, but neither of us were in a chicken mood tonight. The rest of the menu is kind of a mix between pub and family restaurant. They have some entree options that include two sides so you can get your salad and baked potato if you please.
I picked a burger called the Tram Slam…yeah, you’ll see a Tigers theme with the burger names. The burger named after Tiger great Alan Tramell is a 1/2 lb patty with bacon, American cheese, lettuce, tomoato, mayo and a fried egg. The sandwich is served on a simple white bun and exceeds all expectations. This burger patty was as tender as it was juicy and the flavor from the burger, the bacon, the cheese, and the egg all stood separate but worked in perfect harmony with each other. A lot of times one flavor dominates but in this case, it was easy to taste all of the different layers and it made the burger so much better. The sandwich came with fries. They were simple frozen restaurant fries. There was mustard on the table so it got used to add a little flavor.
J picked the Pulled Pork sliders. The plate is three homemade BBQ pulled pork sliders with a side of coleslaw to put on top. The pork tasted like it was roasted and not smoked but it was very tender and had a delicious sweet sauce. The sandwich didn’t come with fries but the three sliders were more than enough for J.
The kids menu is pretty limited with only three options none of which are mac ‘n cheese.
The kids were both saying they weren’t really hungry anyway so we juts got them the chicken tender basket to split. The basket is pretty simple with three frozen chicken tenders and the same fries that came with my meal. Surprisingly, each kid did eat some of it despite telling us over and over they weren’t hungry.
The bill for our meal was just a little over $30 before tip. I didn’t have an expensive craft beer and J got a Pepsi so that kept the price down for us for once.
Gibby’s Bar & Grill is a great small town restaurant. It reminds me a lot of the places I used to eat at growing up and places my mom still works at in the small east central Illinois community I spent the first 18 years of my live. The food is much better than you expect from a pub where most of the beer sold comes from Milwaukee or St. Louis. This place is just a few miles from where my in-laws live now and it’s one that I’m confident will soon become a regular in their rotation as they get settled in their new place.
SW Michigan Dining 