Long Island Cafe (Springfield)
256 Helmer Road NorthSome days I do nothing at work. Some days I’m so busy I wonder if I’m even going to get time for a lunch break.
Last Tuesday was one of the busier days. I came in early for a job assignment. Got sent to something unexpected that almost tied up the rest of my day then headed to Battle Creek to meet a co-worker to help him out with something.
It was when I was in Battle Creek that I realized I was hungry. I was out by the airport so I just punched that in to Google to see what was around me. I was being kind of lazy and looking for places with online ordering. I found more than one that was close by but the lure of a diner burger won out.
My pick was Long Island Cafe in Springfield. The restaurant is on Helmer Road and 6th Avenue in the small enclave of Springfield. The restaurant is right across the street from the Western Michigan University College of Aviation. This is the OG Long Island Cafe. There is a second one in Portage on Portage Road near…well, the airport…these guys really like setting up next to airports.
The online ordering was what really sold me on this place. I liked the meal I had in Portage but that was breakfast. They do breakfast all day and it was super tempting to go head and order something with bacon and eggs but I was really in the mood for a good burger.
I put my order in as I was finishing up at the job site about ten minutes away. To my surprise, the sandwich was bagged up and ready to go when I got there about 15 minutes later.
I knew before I went in that I had been to this building before. The last time we were here it was Territorial Brewing Company. The theme then was German Bier Hall. The layout of the restaurant is pretty much the same with the bar still near the door although they don’t do beer anymore. It’s more of a wait station now.
The dining room isn’t very big but even at 1:00 in the afternoon, there were quite a few people still eating lunch and watching the Olympics on the TV behind the bar. The walls now bear a tropical island theme with a mural painted on the back wall and some typical nautical theme wall hangings on the other walls.
My order was the Long Island Burger with fries on the side. The cost before the tip was a little over $13.
I was pretty hungry as I was making my way back to Grand Rapids. I stopped at the Johnny’s right off the highway on Columbia Avenue to get gas and pick up a coupe of bottles of Pepsi. When I got back in the car, I popped open the to-go container and started in on the fries.
The fries were the Sidewinder fries. They’re a little thicker, a little fluffier, and a little more potatoier than regular fries, but they have a very crispy outside covered with a dusting of salt. I wasn’t really paying to much attention to them as I was grabbing them out of the box without really looking and eating them as I traveled down I-94. They did a great job of holding me over until I got back to the office to dig in to the burger.
The Long Island Burger is two 4 oz. beef patties with cheese, pickles, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, and mustard. I left most of that off and added bacon. The waitress was concerned I ordered it wrong because I left so much off so she called me to double check. Nope. I’m just really boring and like my burgers without a bunch of extras. I left on the pickles, cheese, and lettuce but took off all the sauces.
The sandwich was really everything I like in diner burgers. It’s simple but tasty. The meat is a little salty and juicy. The cheese melts into the meat and the bacon gave it a little bit of an extra salty crunch. There are times when I really like the super fancy pub style burgers but for the most part, I’m always going to be happy with the simplicity and deliciousness of a burger from a breakfast joint.
I assumed Long Island Cafe was going to be a solid lunch choice and it was. There’s such a different yet somewhat familiar atmosphere in the building since the last time I was there. The food was everything I expect and love about diners. It’s not going to be super fancy. There’s not going to be some exotic ingredient. But it is going to be filling and delicious. Long Island Cafe exceeded that standard.
SW Michigan Dining 