Bigfoot Burrito
205 W. Monroe StreetI had a pretty slow day at work and didn’t really have an assignment, so I decided to go for a drive. If it was a typical sunny summer afternoon, that would have been a great idea.
It’s not summer and it’s not typical. We’re in the middle of a deep freeze and the roads are crap.
I decided to take a drive to South Haven anyway.
It was a quick trip to South Haven…well, quick once I got there. I just wanted to go get some pictures of the lake and the frozen lighthouse. I had been seeing it on social media and wanted to see it for myself.
It was after lunch time by the time I started home. I could have picked up something in South Haven but there’s a place I was going to pass in Bangor that I’ve been wanting to try.
Bigfoot Burrito is right in downtown Bangor. It’s on Monroe Street/M-43 right on the corner with Railroad Street. The building has been a lot of different restaurants over the years. The last time I was in the building it was Smokin’ D’s The Smokehouse. I feel like there was a restaurant in between but I never stopped there and can’t for the life of me think of what it could have been.
I wasn’t really sure how this place worked from looking at pictures online. Is it a full service restaurant? Is it counter service? It was hard to tell. I decided to just call in an order while I was sitting in South Haven and pick it up.
Turns out, it’s counter service. There’s a sign just inside the door pointing you to a counter at the back of the restaurant.
The restaurant looks somewhat similar to the last time I was in there but it’s also changed too. There is seating on both sides of the room. One side has a built in wooden bench that tables are pushed up to with metal restaurant chairs on the other side.
The other side has some built in wood booths. There’s no padding on any of these wooden benches so it’s a pretty hard seat. The wood floors and color scheme of dark neutrals are still around from this building’s previous life although there has been some new paint put on the walls in some places.
I headed to the back counter to pick up my meal. There was only one person working both the front and the back of the house. There was a bell on the counter to ring to get her attention in the kitchen. I gave it a few minutes to see if she’d come out but eventually hit the bell. I heard a voice from the kitchen say she was on her way.
Bigfoot Burrito has been around for quite some time in a couple of different forms. It started in downtown Paw Paw as TakoKat in downtown Paw Paw…then it moved to where Paw Paw Brewing used to be where they also added Buddha Burger. From there, they moved to Lawrence where it became Bigfoot Burrito but they kept the burgers. Now they’re in downtown Bangor with kind of a mashup of everything they’ve been over the years but focusing a lot more on burritos and subs.
I’m a burger person, so I ordered a burger.
The burger option is a Beefcake with Fries. You can add on things like mushrooms, bacon, and a fried egg and top it the way you want. Not really sure if Beefcakes is a brand or something they do in house. The menu calls it “Michigan’s Native Burger” and “100% locally inspired.” The thick patty is served on a “garlic toasted, hand cut bun” which to me looks like they cut down a loaf of French bread to make it the right size then layered up with the burger. I added on bacon and instead of being on top the of the burger, it was actually wrapped around the edge of the burger. It worked really well because the bacon was super crispy. I topped the sandwich with lettuce, pickles and cheese. It was actually a pretty fabulous burger. It’s totally not a traditional burger just in it’s appearance and flavor profile and that’s what’s makes it so good.
The sandwich comes with fries and they are way better than typical restaurant fries. The hand cut fries are covered in sea salt. I actually started with these fries before getting to the sandwich and I didn’t want the bag to ever empty. They’re similar to Five Guys fries but much better.
The cost of my meal was just under $13.
I’m not really sure why I was never able to get to other iterations of Bigfoot Burrito when it was in Paw Paw or Lawrence. I drove by it a few times, made my usual “mental note” and never actually got there. The meal I had from Bigfoot Burrito was great. I drive back and forth to South Haven quite a lot in the summer time. I need to remember to call in an order as I’m leaving the beach.
SW Michigan Dining 