Nico’s Pizza & Grinders
606 N. Cedar StreetThe annual work trip to Mackinac Island. It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year. It’s a lot of work and working on the Island is hard without a car…but it’s also working with one of my favorite co-workers in a typically gorgeous setting.
The assignment is Tuesday through Thursday. I usually want to leave on Monday and come home Thursday while co-worker wants to leave on Tuesday and come home on Friday. I prefer late night driving over early morning so we typically don’t drive together.
Monday is Memorial Day so I spend the weekend with the family at the lake then head out Monday afternoon. It’s a little over 4 hours from Kalamazoo to my hotel in Mackinaw City and I take my time. I make stops along the way and typically find someplace to eat.
There are a few ways to go once you get to Cadillac. One way will take you two lane roads to Gaylord. The other will keep you on US-131 after the freeway ends and go more towards Traverse City before branching off and hitting I-75.
I chose the second way which is slightly longer just because there are more food options along that route that I haven’t stopped at yet.
I ended up going through Kalkaska and I planned that so I could stop and get a pizza. I’ve taken that was a few times in the past and I always notice a couple of pizza places. I looked them up online and, of course, chose the one with online ordering.
I stopped at Nico’s Pizza & Grinders on North Cedar Street (US-131) near Arbor Street on the north side of Kalkaska. The small pizza shop is part of a Mobil gas station. There isn’t any seating inside but there is a small patio in front of the pizza shop part of the building.
I kind of picked this place because they have online ordering. When I was about a half hour away, I pulled off the highway and put in an order. I was just going to get a pizza and some kind of breadsticks. I noticed they had a special for a large 3 topping pizza plus bread nuggets and a 2-liter of pop for just over $22. That was perfect so I put that order in with my three toppings being pepperoni, Italian sausage and bacon.
I got the shop almost exactly 30 minutes after I ordered. I found parking on the side of the pizza parlor and went in. There is just enough room for a pick up counter right inside the door. The pizza shop is openly connected to the gas station although they do have separate doors so you don’t have to walk through the gas station to pick up pizza.
I gave the lady working the counter my name and she grabbed the boxes off a shelf next to the oven. I totally forgot about the 2-liter and so did she so I never got that. It was much later I realized that I had ordered that as well.
I still had a little bit of a drive to Mackinaw City so I opened the boxes on the hood of my car in the parking lot. I started with the bread nuggets. These little twists of dough were covered in garlic butter and Parmesan cheese. There was also garlic butter for dipping so they were very garlicky. I love garlic and butter so the extra garlic butter was amazing. The dough balls were really chewy but also slightly crunchy on the outside. They were really good.
I ended up eating about half the pizza while standing the parking lot. I opted for the thin crust which was really thin and crispy around the edges. The middle got a lot softer because there was a lot of toppings on this pizza. I did the three topping because it was a special. Normally I would have just done pepperoni but the sausage and bacon were piled on this one as well. The pizza was cooked to a dark, golden brown but it was even close to being burnt. The bacon had some crispy edges to it but it just made the bacon even more tasty. I probably could have stood in the parking lot and ate this whole pizza…it was soooooo good. But I decided to close the box and get back on the road. I knew I’d need a late night snack later.
The cost of the 3 topping large pizza, bread nuggets, and 2-liter of Pepsi (I forgot to grab) was right around $23.
Nico’s Pizza & Grinders is a place I’ve passed many times on my way to Mackinac Island. It was definitely worth making the stop. I love local pizza places that are just enough different from the large chains. The pizza at Nico’s was simple but they do the simple really well.
SW Michigan Dining 