Samuel Mancino’s (Mt. Pleasant)
4153 E. Blue Grass RoadYup. Back in Mt. Pleasant.
I’ve spent several Saturday’s in Mt. Pleasant this fall and I’m not complaining about it. The work I do on these Saturday’s pays really well. I have one more weekend after this. I’m looking forward to having my Saturday’s back but I really can’t complain too much…especially when that check hits the bank account.
I wrapped up fairly early this past Saturday. It was just before 6:00 PM before I hopped in my car and started to make the drive back to Kalamazoo. I was hungry though and I still have a few ideas for quick places to grab food before I leave town.
I put in an order to one of my old standby’s. Samuel Mancino’s. I’ve blogged about Mancino’s several times over the years and explained how this was one of my favorite restaurants growing up near Kankakee, IL. I didn’t realize at the time they were somewhat of a chain but when I moved to Michigan, I was excited to see them again.
The Mt Pleasant, Mancino’s is part of the Samuel Mancino’s chain. Most of the Michigan locations are in Southwest Michigan except for this one and one in Carson City. This one is on Blue Grass Road to the east of BL-127 in the Indian Hills Plaza. It’s also just down the street from Kelly/Shorts Stadium and the rest of the Central Michigan University Campus. The small restaurant sits in the south end of the shopping center between TJ Maxx and Sally Beauty.
I put my order in online and I didn’t order a pizza this week. The thing I’ve always loved about Mancino’s is the grinders. They’re such a unique sandwich with such a unique flavor and unique bread. My order for the last 20+ years has been the same. The Pizza Grinder. I used to order the whole 16″ but that go too expensive. It’s up to almost $27! 8″ isn’t really enough though so I forked over the cash for 12″ To my surprise, it gave me some kind of discount for ordering online and it ended up only being a little over $15. Had I known, I probably would have ordered the 18″.
The store is set up with the order counter in the back in front of the kitchen. There’s a small dividing wall that seperates off half of the dining room that leads you back to the order counter. This is to prevent people from getting in the space of dine-in patrons while they’re waiting in line.
The dining room itself is kind of dark with dark red walls and a wood chair rail. They were relying mostly on natural light coming in from the large windows at the front of the building to light the room. There are some string lights around the edge of the ceiling and some hanging single bulb light fixtures but that’s about it. The decor is already set up for Halloween and it’s mixed in with the permanent CMU and Lions flags hanging on a wall of faux brick picking through what’s supposed look like stucco.
My sandwich was ready when I got there. The lady behind the counter grabbed the bag with the foil wrapped sandwich and handed it to me. I headed back to the car where I tried to decide if I should eat it standing there or get on the road.
The sandwich I picked…the sandwich I always pick…is the Pizza Grinder. It’s a simple sandwich. Marinara, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni on their delicious, toasted bread.
This sandwich doesn’t look like much in the pictures but still, after all these years, it’s one of my favorite things to eat. It’s all in the bread. The flatness gives it a delicious crispiness from the ride through the oven. It never takes good pictures but it always tastes amazing. The sandwich was a little messy from the greasiness of the cheese and pepperoni but the bread holds most of it in. I don’t think there will ever be a day I don’t crave a Mancino’s grinder.
Stopping at Samuel Mancino’s was a good call on this particular day as I was leaving Mt. Pleasant. I got a delicious sandwich….it’s still a form of pizza which is my usual go-to on the road, and it didn’t take long for me to get it and get back on the road. Mancino’s has a soft spot in my heart. Partially due to nostalgia. Partially due to just how dang good it is.
