Pigeon Inn
110 Chicago RoadI don’t get to White Pigeon very often. Most of the time it’s just a drive through on US-131 on our way to the Indiana Toll Road. I’ve probably only been to the town a couple of times of for work.
A few weeks ago, a co-worker and I spent the better part of the day in town. We didn’t have a lot of free time so I ended up eating lunch at Speedway and he got Subway.
There was a place that I wanted to know more about. It is right in the heart of town and has a great old sign hanging off the front of the building.
The restaurant is the Pigeon Inn. The small restaurants sits on Chicago Road (also US-12) near the intersection with Kalamazoo Street which appears to be the main downtown intersection. The building sits pretty close to the very busy street. There is a parking lot behind it and they also use the lot from Poor Boys Pizza & Subs next door which is no longer open.
The building looks like it has been part of White Pigeon’s restaurant scene for quite some time. On the inside, the place looks like a typical small town bar. Cheap, black chairs sit on a concrete floor that is dimly lit from single bulb lights hanging from the ceiling. There’s a bar in the back corner and the rest of the space makes up the dining room. There’s TV’s spread throughout the space that is brightened up just a bit with corrugated aluminum front the bar and used as a chair rail.
We were on our way to pick up something at J’s parents house so I really wasn’t in the mood for a beer. I briefly considered it but it was New Year’s Eve so I knew I was going to have a couple later that night. I just stuck to Pepsi and so did J.
The reason we went out of our way to stop at Pigeon Inn was because I did some Googling when I got home after a work day in White Pigeon and a few unique things on the menu that really sounded good.
The first of those things that we tried was the Bacon Bread Bowl. This thing is listed as an appetizer that feeds four and J and I tried to tackle it ourselves. The warm bread bowl is stuffed with a bacon dip and cheese. It’s served with the pieces of bread that have been ripped out of the middle to make the hole. This thing….wow was it good right out of the oven. The bacon dip is so rich and tart. We ate quite a bit and even started pulling off bread pieces around the dip but there was no way we were going to finish it on our own. The waitress packed it up so we could take it home. It didn’t reheat very well though so I’d really encourage you to bring enough people to finish this thing. It’s really worth filling up on before your meal comes.
The thing that really brought me back to White Pigeon was the Famous Burger Bowl. This half pound burger comes stuffed with your choice of ingredients, cheese, and sauce. I picked bacon and a fried egg plus Cheddar cheese. I skipped the sauce entirely as well as the lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo that typically comes with burgers. They call these Burger Bowls because there is a well in the burger where the ingredients sit. The bacon and egg both overflowed from the well so it just looked like a regular burger. The sandwich was delicious. Each part of the sandwich was distinguishable in every bite. The beef was fresh, the egg was a little runny, the bacon was crispy, and the bun wasn’t the typical white bread. The fries for this sandwich are an add on for a buck. They’re simple frozen crinkle cut fries that need a little something to dip in but fine on their own.
J had considered sharing a meal with B but decided on a sandwich for herself instead. She picked the Chicken Ranch Wrap. This starts with a grilled flour tortilla and is stuffed with grilled or crispy chicken, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, and ranch dressing. J did the crispy chicken and left out the tomatoes. The wrap has a really good crunch on the top and bottom of the tortilla adding to the crispiness from the chicken. Her sandwich came with the same crinkle cut fries I got with mine.
There is a kids menu with all of the kid favorites….
….but L didn’t want any of it. She asked if she could just get a salad. I noticed a salad bar sitting along the wall and an option for it on the menu.
The waitress said there’s an option for just one trip to the salad bar. L doesn’t usually go back for seconds so that worked out pretty well. J just loaded up her plate with lettuce, cheese, and ranch dressing. L pretty much cleaned her plate too. Salad is the one thing that she seems to really like and we don’t have to yell at her to “take three more bites” so if that’s what she asks for at restaurants, I’ll pay whatever price they throw at me.
B was not like his sister. He did order of the kids menu. J was initially going to do chicken strips and share with him but she did a wrap of her own and he wanted the Grilled Cheese. The sandwich is simple. Perfectly toasted bread with a slice of cheese. B ate about a slice and a half as long as you don’t count the crusts as part of the sandwich. He chose fries for his side.
The bill for our meal was a little under $45. Pigeon Inn was totally worth a trip out of our way. It’s a great small town pub. The waitress knew just about every one who walked in and was bringing drink orders to them before they sat down. My mom waitresses in a place like this and I grew up in similar pubs. I love finding places like this in the small towns throughout Southwest Michigan and I know as our adventures reach further and further into St. Joseph County, we’re going to find so many more.
SW Michigan Dining 
Loved reading this thaank you