Wendy’s (Sprinkle Road)
3805 S. Sprinkle RoadLast week was a conserve money week. We had big plans for the weekend. The kids’ Christmas gift this year was tickets to the US Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis. As much as we wanted to be there the whole week, we only did the weekend pass so we wouldn’t miss too much school or work.
I took Thursday off and the plan was to make L go to school for her morning classes then pull her out right before lunch and start the drive. There was no point sending B to school for two hours and I just took the whole day off because my job doesn’t really work well with taking just the afternoon off.
As much as the kid’s wanted to leave Wednesday night or early Thursday so we could get to St. Louis in time for Rhythm Dances, it just wasn’t going to work out.
Wednesday night was a normal night for us at the rink. Both kids skated then L had some stretching classes over at The Space Dance Company not too far from Wings Event Center. L was going to get done before B was done at Wings and there was a high school game at Wings. I don’t really like showing up right before a high school game starts and trying to explain that I’m just there to pick my kid up….not watch the hockey game so please don’t charge me. I volunteered to just go get L.
I got out to the area pretty early and I was hungry. I hadn’t had time for lunch. Again, this was a conserve money week so my best options were the fast food options along Sprinkle Road.
I picked the Wendy’s on the corner of Sprinkle Road and Covington Road in Kalmazoo’s Milwood Neighborhood. The building is still in the older style of Wendy’s. The design after the sunrooms went away but before the more modern, sleeker design. It’s the same design as the now closed store on 9th Street and Texas Township.
I had some time so I went in to order. I figured I could just seat and eat in the store instead of eating in my car. Either way, I had about 30 minutes to kill.
The store was empty during dinner time on a Wednesday night. I walked in to find an empty order counter. That was fine because I actually wanted to look at the menu. I decided to go to this Wendy’s because I wanted to try the chicken fingers.
I put in an order for a large Four Piece Chicken Tender meal and a regular Classic Frosty. The cost was a little over $16.
They took the self service Coke machine out of the dining room so the cashier filled that up for me then I waited for the food to come up. The dining room is, again, pretty dated. It’s the design from the Sunroom Era but they took the sunroom’s out of these buildings in the early 2000’s. The dining room has that patterned carpet and green pleather on the seats and booth backs. The space is clean, it just has a very dated feel to and it’s not comparable to the newer Ultra Modern Concept stores. It kind of brings back some nostalgia but these stores also just kind have a gone by the wayside feel to them.
It only took a few minutes for my food to come up. I grabbed the tray and headed to the dining room. I had my pick of seats as I was the only one in there.
I started with the fries first. Wendy’s have always been some of my favorite fast food fries and I know that’s a hot take. I know they’re not fresh cut but I do like the skin on fries. I’m not a ketchup person so I always raw dog my fries and these are the best for doing that.
The tenders were very fast food tenders. They obviously come in premade and that’s fine. It’s fast food and Wendy’s is not a fast food chicken joint. The tenders are a decent size. They’re not huge but they’re also bigger than nuggets. I got two cups of the Scorchin’ Hot sauce which isn’t really scorching hot but it does have a good kick to it. The tenders are a little dry so they really do need something to dip them in but overall, these aren’t bad. I’d absolutely order them again.
No meal is complete at Wendy’s without a Frosty. I stuck to the Classic which is a chocolate ice cream concoction. It’s not technically ice cream but that’s fine. This is the nostalgia part of Wendy’s for me and I assume most people. The Frosty’s were so unique at Wendy’s when I was growing up. It’s kind of a milkshake. It’s kind of a soft serve. It’s not really either but it was always the best way to end a fast food meal when I was a kid. They have other flavors now and some that are almost “Blizzard” like but I stuck with the original.
I think I’ve said it before. If have to eat fast food, Wendy’s is usually my pick. I went a little different this time and ordered the Chicken Tenders instead of the Baconator but I was happy with meal and it killed just enough time until I had to pick L up from school.
SW Michigan Dining 