4×4 Grill
2901 Howard StreetThe late night meal options around Western Michigan University are definitely getting better.
I’ve complained for years about late night food. I’ve always really wanted a late night pizza place…and there was one for a while.…but having options other than fast food late at night is something I really love about college campuses.
The late night scene used to be pretty bad, but now with Two Fellas, Que Buenos, Middle Eastern Appetite, The Wing Hut, DP Dough, and B-Side Social House, there are pretty great options.
I’ve had some really long work days recently as I’ve been picking up some overtime after my normal shift. Tuesday night I ended around 10:00 and I was near WMU. I hadn’t eaten much all day and I was pretty hungry.
I passed on all those other great options and picked a place that just recently opened up.
4×4 Grill is in the Campus Pointe Mall on the corner of Howard and Michigan across the street from Western Michigan University. The restaurant is in the large corner spot next to Insomnia Cookies. This spot has been a lot of things over the years. It was a Real Deal: Classic Burgers and Shakes, then it was a Sliders Burgers and Belgian Fries. After that it became Coexist Cafe. Now, it’s back to being somewhat of a burger joint.
There is online ordering but I was already pretty close to the store and not in any big hurry to get home. I did something odd for me and just went to the counter to order.
The restaurant has obviously undergone some changes from when it was a coffee house. The kitchen area is a little bigger and there aren’t quite as many tables as there used to be. It’s much more open and a lot less cluttered than the coffee house concept was.
There a handful of tables for dine-in and there were a couple of groups, even fairly late on a Tuesday night, that were grabbing something to eat as they were working on what looked to be some kind of group project. One thing I’ve noticed that has made it through all of the different conecepts over the years is the subway tile wall. What was once home to the Sliders sign is now a spot for a TV to hang.
Ordering is done at a counter that fronts the kitchen. The menu board hangs high over head above the cash register. I pretty much had an idea of what I wanted when I walked in so it just took me a couple of minutes to look it over to confirm. And yes, I know how old this makes me sound but the music was pretty loud and I had a real hard time understanding the clerk. I felt like I was like 80 as I was trying to read her lips and listen real hard to what she was saying to me but eventually, I got what I wanted.
I put in an order for the 3 Nashville Tenders which comes with- a bun, fries, and slaw. The cost was right around $17. It felt like a lot for three tenders until I actually saw what came in the box.
The tenders were huge. These aren’t kid’s meal chicken tenders. They’re big, juicy pieces of meat fried up super crispy and covered in a Nashville hot sauce. I took the meal home to eat and it was probably a good thing I did. I ended up getting out a paper plate and a fork to slice through these massive pieces of meat. The chicken was really juicy and really tender for such big pieces of white meat. The breading was super crispy even though it was covered in a thick spicy Nashville hot sauce. The sauce was spicy but not overpowering. It had a really good heat that didn’t burn the mouth but had a ton of that peppery flavor. The bun kind of confused me at first but I eventually cut up a few pieces and used it to make a sandwich. I mean, I had a toasted bun just sitting there so why not?
The fries were pretty simple and not much to write about. They were shoestring potatoes that got covered in the Nashville hot sauce from the chicken. That is definitely a positive thing because it gave the fries some flavor…something fries like this are definitely missing. There are options for loaded fries if you want to pay for it but these worked just fine as a side to the tenders.
4×4 Grill is my kind of comfort food. They have a menu of burgers, Philly’s, and fried chicken. The owner isn’t new to the late night food scene in the area. He also has a hand in Middle Eastern Appetite just across Howard Street This place is a different kind of food. The emphasize is much more classic American late night, greasy comfort food and it adds to an ever growing menagerie late night options that aren’t bars near campus.
SW Michigan Dining 