One Nation Tap & Table
544 W. Columbia AvenueI never would have thought that the sport one of my kids got passionate about was ice skating. We started Learn To Skate a few years ago because L had shown some interest in hockey. That changed when I told her she’d have to wear hockey skates to play hockey. She hates hockey skates..so her passion quickly changed to figure skating.
She’s leveled out of Learn to Skate so we started private lessons to keep her skating. With private lessons, she’s starting some competitions.
She wants to practice pretty much every night but we’re still not comfortable with her on “club ice.” She’s still pretty much a figure skating beginner and she’d be out there with girls who are way more advanced. Our concern is about her not paying attention and getting hit with an errant skate from someone doing a spin or something.
Public skates are really hard to find around here. The Wings West hours really suck. They have open skates every day during the noon hour….when she’s in school. On weekends, those open skates are late Saturday evening and during her lessons on Sunday….plus Wings West is always packed. We used to really like Lawson’s open skates but they haven’t done those since the pandemic started two years ago.
L had her first competition coming up and she really wanted more time to practice. I started looking around the area to see who had ice time. The Rink in Battle Creek actually had a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon.
L and I went skating but J and B came with us. They sat in the stands and watched while L practiced her routine several times over the course of an hour and a half. When the horn went off signaling the end of skating, we packed up and headed out for lunch…because we center everything around finding new restaurants.
I have a whole list of sit down places in Battle Creek that I’d like to get to soon but the one at the top of the list this Saturday afternoon was One Nation Tap and Table on West Columbia Avenue near Beckman Avenue. If you’re familiar with Battle Creek restaurants, this is the old Moonraker West location.
The restaurant is huge. There are three rooms with different dining options. Right inside the door is the smallest of the three rooms. There are a few pub tables in this wide open space where the kitchen is. This area is between the two large dining rooms and looks more like an over flow space.
To one side of this entry room is the bar. It’s got a pretty typical sports bar feel with TV’s hanging above the bottles of liquor. There are tables in this area and most were pretty full.
The last room is the main dining room. We were taken to a booth in this space which had a few other families seated when we sat down. This is a more traditional dining room set up but if there’s a game on your hoping to watch, you won’t have to worry about missing it. There are a number of TV’s throughout the dining room including a bank hanging from the ceiling.
When the hostess took us to our booth, she sat down three tablets on the table. Of course, the kids reached for them thinking they had games but that was actually the menu.
B didn’t get one because the kids’ menu is printed on a placemat with the typical restaurant games. L looks much older than she actually is so while she should have gotten the kids’ menu, the waitress guessed she was older and grabbed a tablet for her instead.
J and I both started with drinks. One Nation has a pretty good tap list and I had a hard time decided what I actuallly wanted. I ended up choosing the Amber Cream Ale from Lansing Brewing Company. I don’t think this was one I’ve ever had before and since I don’t see Lansing Brewing Company beers on tap very often, I picked it.
J was sold on a drink she found on a sandwich board near the entrance.
She picked a drink called The Fat Tuesday. The drink was rum, grenadine, blue curaco, and Sprite. She expected the drink to be blue but it was actually purple. It was served in a pint glass with ice. She didn’t really say much about it other than commenting on the color.
We don’t really eat out like we did pre-pandemic. We’ve been eating in restaurants a little more the last few months but not like we did. I really miss burgers. I grill my own burgers about once a week and they’re delicious but I just miss ordering burgers from a restaurant.
I went with the Build Your Own Burger with bacon and Pepperjack cheese. I also upgraded my side choice to the Steak Fries. The burger was pretty typical. Everything on it was good but also pretty standard. The steak fries were a different story. There were only four of them which I found odd at first and I was a little turned off by their size but this is a don’t judge a book by it’s cover situation. The wedges are very large but they’re perfectly cooked. The outside is crispy and the inside is soft and fluffy. These kind of fries can get really chewy and the inside can really easily be undercooked but that was not the case. The fries were dusted with a seasoning and they smelled like they had been cooked in a smoker. There was a a distinct smoky hint to the wedges. I did not expect to like these fries at all but I actually really loved them.
J ordered the Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese. This dish is their signature mac ‘n cheese topped with pulled pork, a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce, banana peppers, and green onions. The dish is topped off with crushed tortilla chips. This mac was amazingly good. The pulled pork was so tender and smoky. The mac was soft and creamy. The banana peppers added a weird..but good weird…twist to a classic dish.
L did what she usually does and orderd a salad. She’s over the kids’ menu stuff and typically just wants a salad with ranch. She just got a side salad with carrots and cheese. Simple but tasty.
She also really likes bread so she got an order of Garlic Bread. This bread was delicious. It was two slices of Texas Toast with garlic butter and spices.
B ordered the Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese. The sandwich was the same Garlic Bread L had ordered but with American cheese between in. B’s one of those kids that just eats the middle of the grilled cheese and leaves the crust so I got to do a little bit of clean up with this delicious Garlic bread. He chose the Ranch Chips for his side. He ate a few of them but offered them to L and J who loved the home made Ranch flavored chips.
Our bill for lunch was about $65 before tip.
One Nation Tap & Table is a great spot in Battle Creek. We were in the area because we went ice skating but this is the type of place that would be worth driving over for a date night if you’re looking for something new. They have a great space alongside a great menu.
SW Michigan Dining 