Scotts Country Store and Deli
8374 36th Street SouthScotts is on the way to Vicksburg from Kalamazoo….right?
I had an assignment in Vicksburg last Friday night but I also had some time when I was done in Kalamazoo and when I needed to get to Vicksburg. I’ve pretty much tapped out all of the restaurants in Vicksburg that would be open at that time so I widened the search looking for a place to eat that I haven’t been to yet.
My widened search got a hit at one of the places I drive by and say “I really need to make time to get back there one day.” Well, today was the day.
Scotts Country Store and Deli is, first and foremost, a grocery store for the small town of Scotts in the eastern part of Kalamazoo County. The store sits on the corner of 36th Street and Norscott Street just as you enter the village from the north. 36th Street is as close as Scotts gets to a “downtown” with the street also home to Scotts Corner Cafe and Scooters Malt Shoppe.
The deli part of the store is right as you walk in from the Norscott Street side where the parking is at. There is a small order counter behind the cash register as well as a glass display case for pizza slices. I had already put my order in over the phone so when I walked in, I just told them I had a call in order and the lady that was stocking shelves at the time headed back to the kitchen to grab my pizza.
I had ordered a 16″ Meat Eaters pizza. In addition to the pizzas, Scotts Country Store also does grinders, wraps, and burgers. The cost of my pizza was about $23 and I added on a Pepsi from the drink cooler to wash it all down.
I got back in my car and headed towards my next job site before taking out a slice. I didn’t really want to burn my mouth and I watched them take the pizza out of the oven as I was walking in so I gave it some time to cool.
The pizza has a crust that is a little bit thinner than traditional carry-out places. It’s thinner and more dense. It’s the type of crust I like on a carry-out pizza. Not too thin. Not too thick. The edges were a little well-done though so it was hard to eat all the way to the edge. That didn’t stop me from trying though.
The Meat Eater comes with pepperoni, sausage, ham, ground beef, bacon, and extra cheese. From looking at it, only the pepperoni was immediately noticeable. The rest of the meat was underneath the cheese. I was about to ask if they had given me the wrong pizza when I checked it in the car but noticed some sausage balls sticking out.
The sauce was a little on the sweet side and the extra cheese really made things stringy. If the crust was slightly less cooked, this would have been a pretty great pizza. It was still really good and still the kind of pizza I like to get from take out.
I have driven right past Scotts Country Store and Deli so many times. Every time I think that this is the time I’m going to stop and see what they have. It was a little out of my way to drive from Kalamazoo to get to Vicksburg this way but it was worth the little detour. I talk a lot about great hometown pizza places but this is really the ideal hometown pizza place. It’s in the back of a grocery store but they sling out some really tasty pies.
SW Michigan Dining 