The Twirl
220 S. Broadway StreetIt’s not often I get sent to Cass County for work. I was telling a co-worker who was meeting me there I could probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve been to Cassopolis on an assignment in the 13 years I’ve been in my job….but last Friday, I got sent to Cassopolis.
The job wasn’t hard and wasn’t going to take a long time. The drive there would eat up more of my day than the actual work I did.
We got to town around 11:00, did what we needed to do, then had to head back to Portage for a different assignment. We had a little bit of wiggle room and since I was in a city I don’t get to very often, I had to stop somewhere for lunch.
We passed a little restaurant right on Stone Lake. I looked them up and saw online ordering, so without hesitation, I put in an order before leaving town.
The Twirl is a small restaurant on South Broadway Street at Water Street. The brick building sits right along the access to Stone Lake Beach. There’s a small parking lot next to the building for restaurant patrons and it’s an easy walk up the path from the beach to grab a quick meal or some ice cream.
I had already ordered my food online so I just had to pick it up when I got to the shop.
I didn’t know if I was expecting a counter service joint or a sit down restaurant when I walked in. Turns out, it’s counter service with the order counter right in front of a very small kitchen. Opposite the cash registers is a standup lunch counter so you could grab your food and just turn around and eat if you were in a hurry.
There’s also a pretty small dining room just off the order area. There are just a few booths here but if you want to sit down and eat, you can do that too.
My order was for the Chicago Burger and an order of fries. The sandwich was boxed up and ready by the time I got to the restaurant to pick it up.
The Chicago Burger is a 1/4 lb of beef topped with Italian beef, giardiniera and cheese on a toasted bun. I added on some bacon too for a little extra. The sandwich is a classic, flat top diner burger. It’s slightly salty and juicy with crispy little bits around the edges. The addition of the Italian beef and giardiniera on top give the best of both worlds….a delicious sandwich that is both Italian beef and burger. I didn’t have high expectations for this place but they nail the diner burger. I could eat one of these every day and never be mad about it.
The fries are the frozen battered kind of fries. These aren’t my favorite but there was a lot of them and I was hungry so no complaints from that. I’m just not a fan of the battering on these. They need some mustard to be dipped in to and since I was eating on the go, I didn’t have that.
The cost of my meal was right around $12.
I’ve only been to Cassopolis a few times and I’ve seen this place almost every time I drive through town. I’ve always wondered if it was worth stopping and I found out last week, yes, it is worth stopping. They have a large menu of classic diner food made the right way.
SW Michigan Dining 