Pizza Perfect
5118 West D AvenueMan, this weather has been brutal. I don’t get snow days in my line of work and when the weather’s bad, it usually means I’m on the road more.
Last Friday was one of those days. I met my co-worker at the Gun Lake Casino exit on US-131. We had planned to stay in Allegan County all day but plans change and we ended up back in Kalamazoo with his car still at the park and ride near Wayland. That means, after work, I had to drive him back to his car before going home.
Friday night is typically pizza night in our house. J had ordered Dominos for herself and the kids. I don’t usually mind Dominos but I really don’t love their thin crust. The kids like it though so that’s what J gets. I figured since I was going to have cold pizza and it was one I didn’t really like, I might as well just bring one home for myself.
I noticed a new business on those blue highway signs near the exits as we were heading north on US-131 near D Avenue. I caught just enough of it to see that it said pizza. I did some Googling once we got to the park and ride and found what I was looking for.
Pizza Perfect is inside the BP gas station on D Avenue just east of the US-131 exit ramp. The small space used to be a BBQ place called Smoke ‘n Buns. They went out of that location quite a while ago and it appears this pizza place has been around since last summer.
Green Top Tavern
250 E. Michigan AvenueI really wanted to take advantage of being on my own for dinner and go to a couple of places I wouldn’t necessarily take my family. It was only four nights on my own but I made sure to go some place new or revisit someplace I hadn’t been in quite a while.
Wednesday night of my week alone was going to be a short one. I had to pick the family up at the airport on Thursday so I needed to adjust my work schedule. Instead of going in at 9:30 AM, I went in at 3:30 AM. That meant I needed to get dinner and get to bed Wednesday if I was going to get any sleep at all.
I left work right around 6:30 on Wednesday and headed down Michigan Avenue for dinner. There’s a bar that’s been in Kalamazoo for almost 100 years yet I still haven’t stopped in for a beer let alone something to eat.
Green Top Tavern is on Michigan Avenue just to the west of Edwards and it’s been there since the late 1920’s. The tavern is an old brick building connected to the the buildings on either side. There is street parking out front but I chose to park in the paid lot behind the building near Bates Alley.
Waldo’s Campus Tavern
1408 W. Michigan AvenueMan, did I want wings this past weekend. It was a horrible time to get a craving because grocery stores can’t keep fresh wings in stock on Super Bowl weekend. I ended up making some “boneless wings” at home with some chicken breast. The flavor was fine but boneless wings are not wings….they’re delicious chicken strips.
We don’t really have a good wings restaurant in Kalamazoo. We have some bars that do really great wings but it’s not their main focus. The best I’ve found so far is CJ’s Pub. Those wings are just fantastic and worth the trip to the other side of town.
J is still in Florida with the kids for a quick vacation which means I’m on my own for dinner. I can go where ever I want, eat whatever I want, and not have to listen to kids whining about not wanting dinner.
The wing craving was still lingering but I needed to get home after work and get a few things done so I didn’t want to go out of my way. I decided it was time for a revisit to place I haven’t been to in almost ten years.
Waldo’s Campus Tavern has been a staple on West Michigan Avenue near the Western Michigan University Campus since 1982. I’m curious what this building was before Waldo’s moved in. It’s in a somewhat residential neighborhood and almost looks like it may have been a house or apartments at one time. Read more…
Steve’s Pizza
447 Bedford Road NorthIt’s OK to eat pizza every night while my family’s away…..right?
I actually wasn’t planning on eating pizza Monday night but we ended up in Battle Creek at dinner time which almost never happens. There’s a pizza place there with dinner only hours that I have heard so many good things about but had never been able to actually get to.
Steve’s Pizza has been on my radar for a long time. The small, carry-out only restaurant on Bedford Road right on the northern border of the City of Battle Creek has always gotten rave reviews but it was a viral news story that put it at the top of my list of places I really needed to get to.
Frosty Boy Ice Cream, Pizza, Subs, and More
5030 Gull RoadIt was Super Bowl Sunday. I had just dropped the family off at the airport for a quick getaway to Florida to see Nana and Grandpa. The first thing I did was head to a brewery.
I enjoyed a couple of quick beers at Wax Wings Brewing Company on Gull Road but still needed to grab dinner on my way home to watch the game. I pass several pizza places so I made a phone call while sitting at the bar to place an order.
I picked Frosty Boy Ice Cream, Pizza, Subs, and More because I was curious. For as long as I can remember, Frosty Boy had always been co-branded with Cottage Inn. We’ve been there a few times for ice cream but had never gotten a pizza. We have Cottage Inn on our side of town and didn’t need to go out of our way to get one.
Frosty Boy is in the Burke Acres Neighborhood on the northeast side of Kalamazoo. The building on Gull Road is quite substantial for either an ice cream place or what is mainly known as a carry-out/delivery pizza place. Read more…
Wax Wings Brewing Company
3480 Gull Road- Kalamazoo, MI 49048
- (269) 459-9494
- Website
So. My family left me for a week. J had some time off in between jobs so she decided to take a few days and go to Florida with the kids. I can’t take vacation right now so I got stuck at home by myself for a few nights while they enjoy the sunshine and 70’s.
I decided to take them to Grand Rapids to catch their flight instead of making J go by herself and park a car there. The kids had never flown before so there was a little nervousness by all of us.
I stayed with them until they got through security then there was nothing else I could do so I headed back to Kalamazoo. I was trying to get to a brewery before it closed at 6:00 so I got on the road as quickly as I could.
I had time to myself and there’s one brewery in Kalamazoo that doesn’t serve food that I haven’t been to. This was my first chance to go out by myself since Wax Wings Brewing Company opened up last June.
Wax Wings Brewing is on Gull Road just west of Nazareth in the small strip mall with Mi Pueblo. Wax Wings takes up the spot furthest to the east. The space was last used by an Instant Cash place a couple of years ago.
Mitten Dogs and More
2625 W. Michigan AvenueThere’s no such thing as too many cheap, open late restaurants near college campuses. We all know why without me having to say it, right?
A few weeks ago, the students at Western Michigan University got another option to fill those late night cravings……hot dogs.
Mitten Dogs and More is right on the corner of Howard and Michigan across the street from WMU’s campus. The small restaurant is in the strip mall on the south side of the road right next to Jimmy John’s. This storefront used to be All Thai and before that, a BoRics Hair Care.
Heritage Hill Pizza
340 State Street SEI spent three straight days in Grand Rapids for work last week. I haven’t done that in a long time. I still go up there occasionally but some wacky schedules had me going up there three out of the five days.
I knew I was going to get home late so J took the kids out to dinner with a bunch of her friends. She offered to bring me home something to eat but I said I’d just grab a pizza on my way.
When I worked in Grand Rapids every night, I ate at Grand Rapids Pizza & Delivery quite often. It wasn’t great pizza but it was close to work and it was the greasy, doughy pizza that fills me up pretty quickly.
Grand Rapids Pizza & Delivery no longer exists but a new pizza place took it’s place.
Heritage Hill Pizza is on the corner of State and Prospect in Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill Neighborhood. This new pizza place shares a building with Beijing Kitchen just like the old pizza place did. It’s a neighborhood pizza place in an old brick one story building with the only option to park is at meters along the surrounding streets.
Juju Bird
435 Ionia Avenue SW A110- Grand Rapids MI 49503
- (616) 258-8115
- Website
- Menu
Chicken wings are the best. I don’t think I’m breaking new ground when I say that.
The schedules at work were kind of messed up last week so I spent some time with co-workers out of the Grand Rapids office that I don’t get to see very often anymore.
One of those co-workers came down to my neck of the woods for a couple of days and worked with me out of Kalamazoo. She started raving about a chicken place in Grand Rapids and said the next time I had to make a trip to the home office, I had to find this place.
Turns out, I only had to wait a day. The very next day I got called to Grand Rapids. I didn’t have an assignment for a while so before I made it to the office, I stopped at this chicken place I had to check out.
Juju Bird opened up last fall inside the Downtown Market on Grand Rapids southwest side. If you’ve ever driven north on US-131 near downtown GR, you’ve seen the market. It sits on Ionia Avenue right next to the freeway. The easiest way to get there is to take the Wealthy Street exit to Division then just take a couple of rights until you find your way to the parking. It’s a gated lot but the first 30 minutes are free.
Brewster’s Smokehouse
1420 M-89L and I went to Allegan Event over Winter Break and oh, boy did she love it. She has been begging to go back and even got B into the “Can we go, dad” thing by telling him there’s a smaller area for him.
We woke up Saturday morning and figured we’d go to a park or something. How often is it almost 50 degrees in January? But the kids really wanted to go to the “Ninja Warrior” place.
We gave in and decided to take them but told them we were going to eat lunch first. I just figured we’d find a pub in Allegan or something but along the way, I remembered a BBQ place in Otsego. I asked J if BBQ was ok…like I really needed to ask.
Brewster’s Smokehouse is between Otsego and Plainwell on M-89 just to the west of Otsego proper. The location was Upper Crust Pizza for 36 years before closing in 2016. Brewster’s Smokehouse, part of the larger group of Brewster’s restaurants in Southwest Michigan, moved in not long after.
SW Michigan Dining 