Nonla Burger (Mattawan)
24050 Front StreetIt’s actually a pretty normal long weekend for me. I sort of get the whole weekend off…I have to drive to Mackinaw City on Monday but I can do that at my own pace.
The thing that’s different about this weekend compared to previous years is L. She’s gotten really in to figure skating and is preparing for a competition next weekend in Traverse City.
Instead of going to J’s parents house on the lake this weekend, we spent most of it at the ice rink. L skated Friday on club ice, Saturday at open skate and she had her coach and more club time on Sunday.
I spent a lot of the weekend unmotivated and laying on the couch. J usually takes L to the rink because she volunteers with the club so I stay home with B who locks himself in the basement playing Fortnite on weekends.
Open skate at Wings West is at 6:00 on Saturday nights. At about 4:30, I asked J if she wanted to go grab some dinner and a couple of drinks before we all headed to the rink.
My idea was to pick up burgers from Nonla Burger in Mattawan then have a drink or two at Murray Street Brewing. We were going to Wings West anyway so it wasn’t that far out of the way.
We started our quick dinner and a beer with carry-out from Nonla Burger in Mattawan. This is the third Nonla Burger in the area with the other two being in Oshtemo and Kalamazoo. The Nonla Burger in Mattawan replaces Nonla Vietnamese Street food on Front Street in the very small downtown area of Mattawan.
The building is tiny. It’s a standalone building with a small outdoor dining area. I was never in the building when it was Nonla Vietnamese but I did stop in for a pizza once when it was a pizza place. The first time was way back in 2009 when it was a Kazoopy’s then again in 2013 when it was Bella Mia Pizzeria & Italian Grill by Stefano. The layout of the restaurant is the same with a small order counter in about the middle of the space and a small dining room with about half a dozen tables.
I left the family in the car parked right out front on the street because I was smart enough to use their online ordering system so our food would be ready when we got there.
The menu at Nonla Burger in Mattawan is the same as the other Nonla Burger locations. The specialty is burgers but they do have chicken sandwiches and even chicken nuggets for the kids.
I grabbed the bag then we headed down the street down to Murray Street Brewing to eat. I’ll write more about that place in a separate blog post (HERE..I wrote more here) but we ended up sitting outside on their small porch area. J and I got a couple of drinks while the kids sat on the patio furniture outside.
I ordered the N.B. Double. I customized the sandwich by leaving off the tomato, onion, and Nonla spread but adding jalapeno and bacons. I really don’t have an opinion on the Nonla spread other than I don’t love it so I left it off. The N.B. Double is pretty much what it sounds like….a delicious double cheeseburger. I forgot to add bacon to B’s burger and he got made when he saw bacon on mine so I took a piece off and gave it him. The jalapenos really made the burger spicy.
J’s pick was the NB #2 Cheeseburger meal. This is the same burger as the Double but it’s only a single. She also asked to leave the onion, tomato, and Nonla spread off hers but they must have missed the no onion part. She scraped most of the off but that also took off a lot of the cheese. She powered through with few complaints but would have been happier without the onions.
B has been a big cheeseburger guy recently so I ordered him the Kids #1 Junior Cheeseburger Meal. He hate about half of the cheeseburger and said it was “really good.” It was better after he got half my bacon but it was worth it to make sure he got food in him that wasn’t Cheez-Its.
There’s not a lot on the menu L will eat so I tried the Kids #2 NB Nugget Meal. These nuggets were fantastic. L was really in a mood though…not sure what the deal was but she was mad at the world despite the fact we were leaving this meal and heading to the ice rink for her. She ate mostly fries and wouldn’t really even try the nuggets. J and I didn’t let them go to waste. They were just different. These were not out of the bag from GFS…these were super delicious nuggets.
Everytime I order from Nonla Burger I end up with a ton of fries. I didn’t order myself a meal because I didn’t want the drink and I think I ordered L a fry before I ordered her a kids meal so we ended up with a lot of fries…a lot.
That’s ok though because Nonla’s fries are amazing. The fresh cut fries are a little bit crispy yet still a little bit soft and fluffy. We didn’t even come close to eating t hem all but I was not going to let them go to waste. I took the extra box home and heated them up in the air fryer the next day. It’s not as good but they’re still damn delicious fries a day old and reheated.
Our bill for dinner was right around $46.
I know a lot of people were sad to see Nonla Vietnamese go away. I have never really had Vietnamese food so I never really had a reason to to make the trip to Mattawan. That’s a little different with a Nonla Burger. We had been wanting to try Murray Street Brewing for a while and since they don’t have food, it’s not great with the kids. We figured if we could bring some food with us, J and I could have a couple of drinks….and it was a pretty great plan to get some food in our bellies before some ice skating. I have loved every meal I have gotten from Nonla Burger…no matter which location it’s from.
SW Michigan Dining 